The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1912-10-11

these functions, the manner III which
they shall be discharged, the rates
that are to be paid for their communi-
ty service, and all that, are the most
vital of political questions; they are
the very essence of politics as II af-
fects the lives of the people with an
intimate and sensitive insistence, and
if the woman is to occupy and fill her
sphere she must go out of the house,
out of the kitchen, out of the door
yard and into that larger home we
call the city We are beginning TO
perceive that the whole city is the
home; that woman bears a relation to
that city; that she owes il certain du-
ties, and our cities will never be all
we hope TO see them until woman is
free TO exercise her influence on all
their affairs -
Mr.. Whitlock's assertions are only
too true. Woman as a home-maker
is a rost lamentable failure unless
she attends to the health and welfare,
moral as we'll as physical of her fam
lily, and especially of her children.
She, more than anyone else, is held
responsible for what they become.
She is responsible for the cleanliness
OF her house; she is responsible for
the wholesomeness of their food; she
IS responsible for the children's health;
she, above all, is responsible for their
morals. How far can the mother con-
troll these things? She can clean her
own rooms, but if the neighbors are
allowed TO live in filth, she cannot
keep her house from being filled with
bad air and odors. She can cook her
food well, but if dealers are permitted
to sell poor food, unclean milk or
stale eggs, she cannot make the food
wholesome for her children. She can
care for her own plum bling and refuse,
but if the plumbing in the rest of the
neighborhood is unsanitary, if gar.
bage accumulates, she cannot protect
her children from the sickness and in
lection resulting. She can take every
care to avoid fire in her own home, but
if halls, opera houses and all public
buildings have been badly built, if
the fire escapes are inadequate, she
cannot guard her children from the
horrors Of being manned or killed by
fire. She can open her windows to
give her children the air we are told
is so necessary, but if the air is laden
with infection, with tuberculosis and
other contagious diseases, she cannot
protect her children from these dan
gers. She can send her children out
for air and exercise, but if the condi-
tons that surround them on the
streets are immoral and degrading,
she cannot protect them from these
dangers. Alone, she cannot make
these things right. Who or what can?
The city can do it, the city govern
ment that is elected by the people to
take care of the interests of the peo-
pie. And who decides what the city
government shall do? First the Off
Gals OF that government, and second,
those who elect them Do the women
elect them? No, the men do. So it is
the men and not the women who are
responsible for unclean houses, bad
plum bling, unwholesome food, danger
from fire, risk of tuberculosis and
other diseases and immoral influences
of the streets. In fact, men are re-
| sponsible for the conditions under
which children live, but the women
are held responsible for the results of
those conditions. Then, if women are
to be held responsible for the results.
In simple justice, must they not have
something to say as to what the con-
ditions shall be? There is one simple
way OF doing this-by giving them
the same means that men have and
permitting them TO vote. Women are
by nature and by training, housekeep-
ers. Let them have a hand in our
city housekeeping, even if they in
troduce an occasional! housecleaniup
Short Life OF Dollar pil.
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