The Detroit times., 1912-05-07
MAKES BRILLIANT PLEA
FOR WOMAN SUFFRAGE

then evolution has got to go back 100
years To say women are not respon'
sible is TO put them in the parasitic
class. Men don't want TO put them
In that class, Men know more about
their own affairs than women, and
women know more about their Own
affairs than men, and both togethet
know about all therc is 10 know oil
the needs OF our present economical
conditions
Miss Forbes-Robertson's address
had been along the lines OF coop
Grafton between men and women.
She spoke broadly of the woman
movement and stated that the night
for the right OF the ballot Is but one
part OF that movement.
This campaign Is in the hands
OF women, but IL Is necessary that
we have the cooperation or men,
the speaker said, in introducing her
su ubiect. 1--WE assume that a great
many men don't understand the cam
paign as II should be understood.
| II is only reasonable when we con-
slider that a great many do not un-
derstand the single tax movement.
the Socialist movement. and even the
principles OF the Republican party.
One OF your local papers, which, l
understand, can see little benefit In
the suffrage cause. stated that the
suffrage parade in New York last Sat
urday had proven a disappointment.
IL stated that we had expected very
nearly 20,000 in the parade and that
there were only 10000 or 10000, and
therefore, the parade was a disap-
pointment Truth is, that we ex-
pected about 10000 in the parade
and we had that number there. The
parade In every way was an unqual-
ified success.
The suffrage movement, or rather,
the feministic movement. has been
growing for 100 years. 1t has now
narrowed down TO movement for
votes in which the women OF 2S ma
tions are interested. That many ma
tions were represented In the last
international suffrage congress and
10 nations were represented in that
congress by men"
Miss Forbes-R Robertson then re-
viewed for her audience the actual
progress made in the nations toward
obtaining the right TO vote. AT last
she referred to her sisters of Eng
land-she is a native OF that country
herself--and said:
THE women in this country have
read wonderfully distorted accounts
of the situation in England. You
have read Of women throwing stones
and people here have imagined that
all the suffragists OF England are
stone-throwers. Such is not the case,
however. The number of stone-
throwers is comparatively small
when compared with the number
seeking full suffrage for women in
other ways
Miss Forbes-Robertson then re-
viewed the work in the United
States. Her reference TO the presi-
dent OF the national suffrage league
carrying a banner on which was
printed Catching up with China" in
the New York parade provoked much
mirth.
''You see," she said, "this move
ment is not a sporadic outburst, con-
fined to unsexed females or disap-
pointed old maids. l am trying to
think Of the countries where there
Is no suffrage movement and the only
ones / can think of are Thibet and
Central Africa. Women all over the
world are asking for certain changes
and reforms. They are coming to
question the old Institutions. IL
seems to me-being optimistic--that
when we have such n movement we
will have to assume there is some
good in 1t unless proven other wise.
Men created the feministic move
rhau In
and machinery. Until then the world
was ruled by class and not sex. The
invention or democracy was a good
thing. but the trouble was that the
men did not follow 1t up; they sub
stituted sex rule for class rule"
The speaker then described the
wonderful changes wrought by the
invention of machinery and its ef-
feet In the status of women. She
stated that one I'm every four women
now go outside the home to earn a
livelihood. The conditions under
which she works are made entirely
by men. she said, and she has no
voice when II comes to saying what
she shall receive for her labor, what
hours she shall work and under what
conditions.
"On all sides we hear that women
don't want the ballot" she contih-
| ued. I'VE hear the men say they
would be willing to grant us the
right to vote IL all the women want
ed II. 1t Is true that majority of
women in this country do not want
the right TO vote
This Is largely true because the
women have not been brought up TO
understand anything about politics
and how 1t affects her. We saw men
relegating interest In politics to a
small band Of politicians and we were
told that tt was unclean. II we had
waited until every woman had asked
for the right to vote we would never
get It,. OF course. II the men insist
on that condition we will have to be-
gin and carry on our propaganda un-
I'll all the the women are educated to
the point when they wish TO vote. but
II Is Herculean task and one which
the men themselves would not like to
undertake.
Thrust at Bridge Players.
We are told by some women that
II Is unladylike to vote. But we who
are active In the movement get some
happiness out OF It, and better a per-
fectly happy woman than a perfectly
lady-like lady. There is the class that
As,N