The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1912-01-18
Voice d the People
The Califb rnin Sufrugists.

TO tho Editor Of The Tlmes-Dlspatch:
sir,-fo9r Correspondent OF January
Il, Mrs. Georss Douglass Miller. Of
from Mr n, a. gives long quotation
Now York. as 10 the reason why 80
many women voted In the Los Angeles
election. She admits that the anti
They wanted and used the ballot for
the same reason that the suffrasists
want the ballot, namely. for securing
tho men and measures, best suited In
desirable ends.
But why did these anti-suffragists
use an Instrument that they persistent
~ repudiatc? They repeatedly assure
us that the indirect influence OF wo-
man is entirely sufficient for the ac-
complishment of all worthy ends. Here
seems to have been an easy oppor-
tunity for tho vindication of their
claims. They should have brought TO
pear all the indirect influences" of
their potential nrmory; why vote?
II seems Illogical unnecessary, con-
Trajectory.
Tho effort to represent tho suftra-
glsts or California rs favorable to the
hendish methods Of the McNamaras Is
a transparent injustice. At the time
when Samuel Gomrers addressed SUI
frasc meetings In Los Angeles and
other California cities at tho time
when men on Labor Day made a DEM
onstration Of friendliness towards the
at the time
when Miss Mary Foy, suffrage work
or, with her friends. waved tho yellow
banner towards tie marching labor
men and cried, Vote for us and We
brothers had not confessed their guilt.
Thousands of labor people and thou
sands of good citizens of both sexeB
believed in their innocence. and want
instinct for fair play. to give them a
chance for vindication from the foul
charge then believed to be unjustly
resting upon them.
Later the McNamaras confessed their
crime. 1t was an awful blow to in
Vulnerable upright mon and women,
who, while In hearty sympathy with
all righteous purposes of the labor
evil methods those brothers employed
This effort to confound equal suffrage
with such means and methods Is un-
fair and misleading.
Again: that the s%mpathies of wo-.
men are easily touched is no reason
why they should be denied the ballot;
II is rather reason why they should
have 1t. Our criminal system and
our p>nal institutions would receive
no damage if the mercy that mends
Were n factor in their administration.
The Governor of Virginia has just
recommended the adoption of the
Colorado. a State which has enjoyed
the benefits OF equal suffrage for six
teen years
AS to the action of the Los Angeles
women in the matter Of prohibition. q
knowledge of some salient facts III
that community mobiles our judgment
OF them. Los Angeles is in the midst
of wine producing country, where
drunkenness Is far rarer than in the
whiskcS- ridden sections OF the East.
The prohibition law proposed was of so
drastic a nature that tn, majority of
the temperance people themselves con-
sidered ii unwise and undesirable, and
therefore voted ngainsi II. which seems
servat.sm and fairness OF feminine
Judgment.
AS 10 the preference Of Mr.. Max
Eastman and his wife for retaining
thcir individual names that is hardly
q nj spark to fire explosive wrath.
Customs differ in vnrio,Is parts of the
world as TO this usage In Switzerland.
for instance. n man takes his wife's
name il he likes hers better than his
own. There is no natural law concern
ing nomenclature. IF a person he'll
rather be called Miss Belinda JOINS
than Mrs. John Green what matters ii?
Has any righteous natural instinct
been violated
citing is not compulsory, and II the
G!sta TIL pon-voting Is
best let them simply stay away from
the polls. That would be consistent
and diSnifei, and all that is necessary.
II is we'll to remember John Stuart
freedom OF action which does not i'm
pinec on the liberties of others.
MRS. JOHN II. LEWIS.
Iynchburr