Ashland tidings. [volume] (Ashland, Or.) 1876-1919, 1912-06-06
WHY WAGE-EARNING WOMEN
SHOULD VOTE.

more tnan seven mllllOn women IN 4
the United States daily leave their /
homes to go out in the world and /
fight beside men for their living. /
They work under greater disadvan- !
tages and temptations than men,
they work for longer hours and low
er wages, they bear the greater bur
dens of our industrial system, yet
they have not the protection which
men have of the ballot.
Good laws are even more necessary
to the woman, for she is the mother
of the next generation, and upon the
conditions under which she works
depends largely the health of herself
and of her children. The stunted
growth and impaired vitality of the
English working people today are the
direct results of lack of legislation
in their behalf when the introduction
of machinery made possible the great
exploitation of labor.
1t is of the utmost importance that
there should be good factory laws,
that a woman should work under
sanitary conditions with protection
for life and limb, that she should not
work long hours, nor late at night,
etc. Yet she has no representatives
to make or enforce the laws so neces-
sary to her and the community.
Working women have gained
everything themselves, inch by inch,
through the union. Without a voice
in the government, they turn to the
union for protection. They give it
their allegiance. But the union can
not do everything. They need good
laws to protect them at home as well
as. at work And they need good
laws far more than the rich. Ii food
is impure, trust prices eXhOrbitant,
dwelling houses unsanitary, public
schools bad, public hospitals poor,
street cars abominable, police protec-
tion inadequate, the rich can pay for
private services. The poor have no
choice.
All these things directly concern
women. Her home, her children. are
her especial province, but she cannot
demand the laws necessary for their
protection.
Formerly women did not have sep
| arate interests. Everything now
made in the factory was then made
in the home. There materials were
woven, clothes, rugs, candles, soap,
matches, butter, cheese, etc, were
made. There women did the work.
They did not come in contact with
the outside world nor share its re-
sponsibilities That was left to the
men, and men made the laws to pro-
tect their own interests. Women had
none. They were not even taXpay-
ers. Everything they had belonged
to their husbands. A man could even
will away his unborn child. But
when the Introduction of machinery
removed work to the factories, wOm-
en- were forced to follow. They no
/ longer made at home the things they
needed; they had to go into the world
and earn the money with which to
buy them. The status of women was
entirely changed
The form of any government and
society depends upon economic con-
ditions. A change in industrial life
! brings in laws and customs. Condi
| tions under which women work and
| live are constantly changing and laws
must be changed to meet them.
| Women are now in daily contact with
the world; they do their work in the
world and share its responsibilities
with men. 1t is not their choice. 1t
has been forced upon them. The pro-
portion of self-supporting women is
rapidly increasing. Self-protection
requires that they should vote. Prog
ress demands it.
The grounds on which men have
obtained an extension of the fran
chise are. First, government must
rest on the consent of the governed;
second; taxation without representa-
tion is tyranny. These arguments
apply equally to women. There can
be no democracy where half the pop
ulation is governed without it's con-
sent.
1t is said that all the women will
not vote. Well, neither do all the
men. But it would be unjust to dis
franchise all men because a portion
! of them do not use the ballot.
1t is said that 'women's sphere is
in the home" but this does not apply
to the seven million women in
America who must leave their homes
in order to live. Besides, no woman
can keep her home pure in evil sur
roundings. A corrupt city taints
every home in it. Where women
vote, the home-ioving women are
among the strongest advocates of
suffrage. And this has not been
found to make them less womanly.