The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1910-02-28

shall Women Have Citizenship.

should women vote 900 clI tlt,lDus.
iuis is nom, tous qucston the un-
palt1ucc of which cannot Doe accurate
. is estimated because of the possible
and probable results of consequences
which may follow however i' may lc
answered In attempting to- advance
% few thoughts concerning this qucs-
. to-. ! must confess that my supply
of courage Is almost exhausted. be-
cause / realize that direful cunse-
qucnccs may follow should be- so oN
trcmcly unfortunate as to incur the
| displeasurc Of any violent suilra1cttc
/ however. shall permit neither the
ipar cf condemnation nor the posi-
/ bIlIty OF smiles of approval to affect
my personal convictions and what !
shall say will be- a direct and sincere
/ expression OF the distatcs of reason
and what consider good judgment
Some OF our suffrsgia friends con
| tend that women have an i.herent
right to vote and that they are being
denied the privilege of exercising that
! right only by the tyrannical rule of
| the men rhc right to vote is not an
| igncr,nt or na,ural right. 1t is pol
itlca right aud is conferred by the
government with such restrictions and
limitations as may be- desired, the fun
damental law oi the land being first
taken into cor sidcrat.un. The govern
mpnt may Therefore require such quail
incations of voter as is deemed wise
and cNpediout or I'm order that the
best interests of the nation as a whole
may bc subseryod The act organiZ-
ing the District of Columbia, Febru-
ary 21St. 1871. brought before the su-
premc court OF the district the ques-
ton OF whether or rot the women Of
the district had right to vote. In
rem lcriug its decision the court said:
1--WE do not hesitate to believe that
the legal fiction of the natural right
o, all citizens to vote at this stage OF
popular intelligence involves a destIuc-
tion of civil government As to the
meaning of the Fourteenth Amend
mcnt. We admit that women are clear
~ citizens in so far as citizens are
opposed to foreigners and that every
citizen is capable of being invested
with the right of suffrage. but that
can only be done by the legislative
power. AS this power in the Columbia
District has not conferred the suffrage
on women. they cannot be considered
as possessing It,"
, t. 1874 woman in Missouri who
was possessed of an unusual amount
OF mcrcdulity and being exceedingly
dcsiruus of establishing the PROPOSE
tiou tha, as citizen Of the United
states an of the state of Missouri she
= was entitled equally with her mascu
d lire friends to exercise the ri-ht OF
suffrage. carried her case 10 the su
prrmc court of the United States. The
+ court. i'm rendering it's opinion, lost
p both her admiration and respect. be.
P cause II held that the term citizen
of the United States conveyed the
idea Of membership of the nation and
nothing else: that it applied As much
r To women before the adoption of the
Fourteenth Amendment as since; that
l the qualification of citizen in 20 way
p implied the enjoyment of electoral
rights, that the union had no electors
D of its own creation, that It's electoral
hoiy was only composed of electors
i'm the states. that suffrage was not
. co-rNte. sNe with the citizenship OF
= the states, neither a. the time of the
. formation Of the constitution of the
o. United States nor since the adoption
{. ~ Amendment Fourteen; that the
a amendment did uot add 10 the priv
ilcgcs and immunitics of a citi2en'
= that it simply furnished an additiona
guarantee for the protection of sucl
As he already had that the suflrag'
not being one of civic privileges aut
=, mmuuitirs over which state ha'
no control, a provision in the sta,
constitution which confines the right o
" voting to male citize-s of the Unite,
" States was no violation of the fedora
constitution that in all states who,
this provision exists. women had no
AZ the righ, To vote
I" II is generally conceded that ever
4" right or prl,iloge carries with it dutie
" 10 De- performed and especially is thi
+" true coucrr. ing the risht of suffrage
!: n woman is to ho invested with tn,
:: light of suffrage. then it uecessarll,
+" ana inevitably follows that she mus
I" assume and be- willing to perform "a
{" the duties which would deNolye upol
4: her a, an rloctor Our enthusiastic
A: hu, less thoughtful friends who ar
= IA. .,,l ..p.yt,,t ;..1l,. 4, ,..