Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1912-05-18
AN ARGUMENT FOR
WOMAN SUFFRAGE

(By DR.. Esther C. Pohl, OF Portland.
Anyone who will take the trouble t,
catalogue the reasons why mai
should vote will have a pretty length!
list Of reasons why a woman shoult
vote; but above and beyond the claimi
which men and women have in com
mon, there are reasons why womeI
should vote which are associated Will
the divine function Of motherhood t
which no man can lay the slightes
claim.
The bible story Of creation mus
have been mixed in translation. Surely
woman was created first and given 9
helpmate because of the handicap oI
maternity. What would an able-bod-
led man want a helpmate for? Al
any rate, God In His wisdom intrusted
the female of the species with the
larger part OF His creative work, and
ultimately Kipling saw that 1t was
good and said: "Her instincts never
fall; therefore, we are constrained ia
believe that God was right, And II
her Instincts never fail by all means
give her a vote, for the so-called logic
and reason of her mate fails all toe
often.
The mother instinct rarely fails be-
cause her subconscious motives are
race-protection and ace-betterment
Mans logic and reason Tor lack Of it,
often fails because his motive is self
interest. Woman is moved by love ia
protect the thing she has created and
nurtured in her body-the thing fol
which she has labored and suffered
the ordeal OF blood and pain, and gone
down to the gates Of death to bring
into this world. Man is moved by
self-interest to guard the thing fol
which he has labored, the work Of his
head and hand, II you please, which
is usually represented by the symbol 5
Man has surpassed woman in the ere
alton OF great works Of art, and nC
one loves a beautiful statue like th'
man who created II. Nature has en-
dowed woman with the divine func'
tion OF creating men, and no one loves
man like the woman who created
him. The child OF today is the mar
OF tomorrow. He is the most valuable
asset Of the country, and In fosterlnl
his life and health, his physical, men
tai and moral growth, the state needs
the help OF an intelligent, eniranohiset
motherhood
The status Of a state is determined
by its men--and the status Of It's mel
10 determined by their mothers. i
the women OF this state are not bis
enough to vote, develop them by al
means, the ballot included, for the sak'
Of the next generation OF men. II II
a common observation that sons usu
ally resemble their mothers anC
daughters their fathers. A siss!
woman 10 apt to have a sissy son, ant
while may be pleasant for a dom
mating lAan TO have a nice little Biss!
to say "dltto, ditto, dlttl," until II get
monotonous, her Sissy sons must be !
grieyous disappointment In his ripper
wiser years, Isn't the price too high
II is far too high And It fall
largely upon the high-splrlted girl VIII,
has the luck or lll-luck TO resembl,
such a father She cannot squeeze
into her mothers mold because she II
her fathers daughter and there ISM
a slaylSh cell In her system So while
such men cruelty and bllndly hold
their women bond, nature wisely and
cruelty keeps the balance even, and
with every generation the free spirit
OF such father is enslaved in the
daughter, and the slaylsh spirit OF
such a mother is liberated In the SON
with tho beautiful result that many
responsible women chafe and fret be-
cause they are denied the right to do
their full duty, while many careless
men find that duty so irksome that
they shrink from burdcning their ire
sponslble souls with t. This in q
cruel but a saving law, for II all men
we're like their fathers and all men
ike their mothers, the female Of the
species would have dwindled and the
race would have Joined the order OF
extinct animals long ago.
Lord save us from the slssles-male
and femalel Big men and women are
lust and generous, but Sissles never
aro. They are an against Ms. The
,lnsy woman doesn't want to vote, and,
ike the dog IN the manger twhat a
srous metaphoril, like the pampered
,eodia IN the parior would prevent
,shsr women from voting. Tho sissy
san rarely boshera about Tosipg, bPt