Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1909-06-04

MRS. GABRIELLE STEWART
far as appearance goes, she is well
groomed, becomingly dressed and has
a diplomatic rather than an aggressive
manner Her mind is logical, her man.
ner of argument calm inc her person
atty magnetic, and she is anything but
mannish. The suffrage movement of
today counts thousands of women
who, like Mrs. Henry Willard, Mrs.
Clarence Mackay and Mrs. Gabrielle
Stewart Mulliner, are noted for their
social tact and charm as well as for
their intellectual qualities.
The present suffrage movement In
this country frowns upon the mascu-
line woman. 1t makes, On the other
hand, an appeal to the mothers of the
land that 1t may help them do more
for their children and to the home
women in every state in the Union
that they may be able to vote for laws
that will protect the Preside and better
existing conditions.
Woman's suffrage wants the support
of every wife and every mother, and it
hopes sooner or later to have the sane
ton of every husband and every ia
ment of the entire human race. Let
me quote from a recent speech of Mrs.
Gabrielle Stewart Mulliner:
I do not start from the mistaken stand
point that all men are ~uneducated, tricky,
dishonest, incapable voters and officehold-
ers, who have made a failure of our gov
QrnmaDf and that ali woman arc rp6nqd
uplifted, educated angels who will reform
the government and turn the United
States into a forest of Arden or a Utopia,
but I do say hat there is something
wrong with the present system when,
building on our constitution, which prom
ises so much, the people of America can
be laboring under the burden of 30 much
suffering and want and ignorance and
crime.
Some one has made mistakes and some
one has Incorporated the functions OF
self government when there is a bread
line and when there are supplies of poi
soned food, when the milk supply is dead
ly, when children cannot get schooling,
when people starve to death, when men
and women commit suicide because life
is so cheerless. There Is something wrong.
Men have had the affairs of the nation In
their control now since 1776. and they have
not been able to work out the problem to
the satisfaction of any one. themselves
included.
have no desire for suffrage for women
for the sake of casting a ballot. but 1t is
what 1t stands for. 1t means that one
can have a voice in selecting the men
who make and who enact the laws.
Eve women who pay taxes" says
Mrs. Henry Willard, "who by ever In
creasing hundreds of thousands are
compelled to earn our livelihood in
shops, in factories and in offices, are
simply raising the banner of 1776, No
taxation without representation"
Mrs. Clarence Mackay Is devoting
her large fortune to the advancement
Of the cause. She has opened head
quarters In the Metropolitan Life
building, New York. where she works
earnestly every day.
ITO my mind" she said recently,
1.-THE real Importance Of giving women
votes would be found in this-that a
multitude of practical questions which
are now left quite unsolved would be
taken up and solved. We see u OPP
portunity. There are schools which
educate the children of the women of
today, and these need constant care.
There are the injustices and the OPP
preston suffered by these women who
have to make a living for themselves.
There are hospitals to be worked for
and public charities to be improved.
The woman of leisure should devote
her energies to working with her sex,
standing shoulder to shoulder with the
wage carriers, ready to help the cause
which unites all women upon a COM
mon ground because they r women
and for the sake Of their womanhood."
MAUD ROBINSON TOOMBS.