The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1911-09-25
WHY WOMEN SHOULD
 NOT HAVE BALLOT
Anti Suffrage Addres S
 Made at Guilford
Miss Chittenden Says It Is Contrary to Idea of De- mocracy-Part Played By Differentiation of Sex.

when the people of the state are daily
 nearing argument upon argument in
 advocacy of the cause of woman's s
 suffrage, probably nothing could be
 more interesting than a recital of the
 objections which some women find to
 having the use of the ballot placed
 in the hands of their sex, and that
 was the motive which actuated a large
 number of the fair sex when they
 filled the town hall here last week
 and listened to an able talk on the
 subject, 'The Inexpiedency of Grant
 ing the Suffrage to Women" The
 address was made by Miss Alice Hill
 Chittenden, prominently identified
 with the New York Anti-Woman's
 Suffrage movement and well-known
 for her able thinking and clear insight
 into this moot question.
 She said in part
 Woman is not being deprived of
 an inherent right because she is not
 allowed to vote on election day. Suf-
 frage is not a natural or inherent
 right of the individual; not a gift of
 nature bestowed upon a child at birth
 If it were, there would be no need
 to insert a clause in any constitution
 defining the qualification of voters. The men in the District of CoIum-
 bia could not be deprived of the ball.
 lot, as they now are under the present conditions of government in that ter- rftory, and no state, however, power full, could withhold the franchise from it's women citizens. It is a
 strange logic which argues first that suffrage is a natural right, and then
 d<,<7ID |. L = ballot whether they wish it or not.
 Natural rights do not have to be fore ed upon a person. s.s
 eThe rapid changes in economic de- velopment in this country during the past half century have forced many women into industrial life, and, there fore the claim that the working girl Or woman needs the ballot, not mere 'ly to insure an increase in her wages, but also to control the conditions un-
 der which she works. appeals very strongly to many people. There are no absolute facts to prove that the ballot would. Or would not, help the question from analogy and ask what the ballot has done for the working man? Has the mere casting of vote on election day raised his wages or shortened his working hours? If so, why has he joined the trades union Or participated in strikes? It is the union organized in nearly every trade which has raised mems wages-not the ballot During the recent business depression thousands of men all over the country were out of work. These men had vote, but that vote did not assure them a job. It is the law of supply and demand which regulates the employment of both men and wOmen-not suffrage. LIZ
 Under the present conditions of government woman as a bipartisan citizen is a power in any community, for, untrammeled by party affiliations or obligations, she can go before any legislative committee Or board of of ficials and urge the passage of any law or measure, and her recommenda- tions will be considered on their mer- it's, and not because she voted with this or that party at the last election. There are probably many in this au- dience this evening who could speak with authority on this subject, and cite instances where they have been sponsors for some remedial measure which is now on the statute books.
 tSThere is undeniable magic in the work progress, and the phrase. When | you oppose the extension of suffrage to woman you retard her progress appeals to many as an argument in it's favor. But progress to be genu- inc must conform with natural laws, l and. the increasing tendency on the 1 part of woman to assume the func- tions of man is at distinct variance | with two natural laws. First the es- | sential and intended differences in sex I activity, and second the great law of l velopment of the race has been a con- tinuous growth in specialization. The | of civilization shows, that as 1 civilization advances the respective functions of men and women are more l definitely developed, and subtle diff ! more pronounced. A recognition of | this difference does not imply super iority of one sex or inferiority of the | other In this dualism of human life l one supplies what the other lacks. The | six nations of New York, one of the | most savage tribes on this continent, paid great deference to the councils | of their matrons, and the semi-bar- | barians of ancient Lycia gave so much power to their women that they | were said to live under female gov Among the early Saxons of northern Europe man and woman held the same position in governing the tribe But with the growth of civili- | zation has come the recognition of the ! differentiation of sex activ- ty, and, therefore, as constitutions nave been written a clause has been inserted eXempt1ng women citizens rom certain duties which sovereign state has imposed upon its male citi- zens.
 "One frequently hears that to with lold the suffrage from women is con- rary to the spirit of Democracy Now Democracy is very hard term to de- inc. As matter of fact the United l. States of America is not pure De- nocracy Ours is representative government. The people elect repre- entatives into whose hands they en- rust the government If Democracy means that each individual must vote we shauld have a pretty hard time with our 96, 900 900 people in this coun- ry if they all voted, and under those we should have to give he ballot to children, as we'll as to : yomen. because children are indiyid- lals-they are persons and they havel wrongs to be righted. But 1t is the amily and not the individual which s the unit of the state. It is not the individual interest which government must Nconsider, but rather the interest if the whole. It seems to me this whole idea of woman suffrage is an exaggerated case of individualism l Give me the ballot the suffragist ex Iaims T care not whether other wom- ! n want it Or not. I will show the world what I can do with it. But in his one remark she entirely upsets fer boasted theory that woman suf-I rage is in the line of Democracy | Trusting the ballot upon a major ty of women, who do not want ii will never make for Democracy, fo,