The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1910-03-04
LEGISLATIVE LhBOPS.

No set OF men Is watched with
more distrust and frequently meas
ured with harsher iudgment-than
are members oilegislative assemblies
1t is an oft told tale that their work
is nominal and their reward liberal,
when really on consideration lew
people will endorse either the one
proposition or the other. lust as
the superficial critic refers to the
short hours Of bank clerks from .
A. NJ. to 3 T., NJ, so they speak OF
the legislators session from T. NJ.
to . or 3 J.. N. But lust as the
bank officer does his heaviest work
after the doors have been closed, so
the legislator in meeting delegations,
drafting bills and attending to his
duties in committee room does the
heavy work which is afterwards re-
corded in the legislative hall. True
there are members, who, like certain
college students, are never caught at
work between meals, but these are
the politicians who insist ulon hav-
ing some Job and are consequently
sent to the legi, laturc AS the place
where they will do the least harm.
1t is common today to criticisc our
state legislature for having done so
little up to date. 1t is true that
scarcely any bills have been passed,
but there is no reason why the har-
vest will not be large in the near ia.
ture because large majority OF bills
are now ready to he reported out Of
committee. Onc committee states
that out OF 100 bills assigned them
they have reported on 10. and will
be ready with the rest at an carly
day. This represents more pcrsis-
tent labor than the average lay man
would imagine.
The result Of the next thirty days
at Annapolis will be more momen.
tous than has ever been known in
the past. Catching the tendency Of
modern legislation to act with more
aud more paternalsm. the Public
Service Commission bill, the Pure
Food bill, the State Wide Local Op.
ton bill. the billlookipg to increased
representation from baltimore City.
the proposed State Banking Law
and the General Assessment law
alone represent more important leg
islation than one General Assembly
often has before it during a session;
but in addition to these there are
both general and local bills in great
numbers which in their effect on
many people will be Of the utmost
importance and largely determine
the public welfare
1t is to be hoped that Committees
will continue to bring measures out
as rapidly as possible, so that il they
die it may be on their merits Or dc.
mcrits-and not by stranguIation.
SUFFRAGETTES LOSE FIGRT.
isy its action in failing to accept
the favorable report on the female
suffrage bill the House was rs con-
servative in its attitude as was the
State at large on the restrictive sui.
irage amendment last November.
Then, the proposition before Il
people was that the government of
the state would he greatly improved
il a large class of illitcratcs were
eliminated, while recently it has been
urged to improve conditions by
doubling the number of qualified
voters. Both propositions i,ll by
the waysidc.
There are two ,istnctivc sides to
the proposition to place the ballot in
woman's hands. As an abstract
question the right cannot be success.
fully denied. Step by step woman
has been placed on the same level
with man, her property rights being
absolutely recognized and adequately
protected, and her education as zeal.
ously iostered by the State as that
of man. Few except in n iacetious
spirit will deny her mental equality
and her moral superiority, and by a
parity of reasoning they must admit
her abstract right to take part in
framing, either by direction or in.
direction, the government which she
must obey and to which she must
turn iorprotection Other rights ofliic,
liberty and the pursuit of happincs
But it is not an unusual thing to |
possess rights which II is not cxpcdi- |
ent to exercise, and the objections to
female suffrage are so numerous and
weighty that it will probably be
sometime before the necessary votes
will be secured for the adoption of
universal suffrage in the state with.
out regard TO sex. Nor is the fair
sex in position to say that they are |
upjustly deprived of an inalienable !
right for it is fixed principle of law
that the elective franchise is not a
right but a privilege at the disposal
OF the body polite.
The time may come when woman
may grace legislative halls and in
terpret law in halls Of Justice, but it
will be at the expense of the home in
which she now presidcs as an I'M
crowned queen, aud when her new