The Calumet news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 1907-1938, 1912-02-03
ROOSEVELT FOR
WOMAN SUFFRAGE
THAT is HE BELIEVES IN 1T lF
THE WOMEN THEMSELVES
WANT 1T.

New York. Feb. 3.-Theodore Roose-
volt discusses "Women's Rights; ard
the Duties of Both Men and Women
in an editorial in the current issue OF
The outlook. lie says i'm part:
Much. indeed, has America owed 60
the fact that her two greatest men,
Washington and Lincoln, though they
did not neglect rights, were even more
concerned with duties.
believe In woman's rights. / be-
lieve even more earnestly i'm the per-
formance of duty by both men and
women: for unless the average man
and the average woman live lives of
duty. not only our democracy but civil
izatiOn itself wiz perish. / heartily
believe in equality of rights as between
man and woman but also in full and
emphatic recognition of the fact that
normally there cannot be identity OF
function. Indeed, there must normal
ly be complete dissimilarity of func-
tion between them. and the effort to
ignore this patent fact is silly | be-
lieve i'm woman's suffrage wherever the
woman want it. Where they do not
want il the suffrage should not be
forced upon them. I think that IT
would be we'll to let the women them
selves, and only the women, vote at
some special election as TO whether
they do or do not wish the vote as a
permanent possession. In other words,
this is peculiarly a case for the re-
fererdum to those most directly affect
ed-tl.at is the women Themselves. !
should be entirely content TO abide the
decision, either way; for, though l do
not think that the damage prophosied
frcm woman's voting would come, or
has come where IL has been tried ]
also think that very much less effect
would be produced, one way or the
other. than the enthusiasts believe
In other words. | do not regard the
movement as anything like as import
ant as either its extreme friends or
extreme opponents think 1t rs 50
much less important than many other
eforms that have never been able
to tlke very heated interest in II.
Deprecstes Di5orderly hnties'
If the woman suffrage movement
were to be Judged only by these advo-
Gates of It who dlscredit themselves
ana their sex by disordorly antics in
public. and who assail the foundations
of private and public morality In their
endcavor, not to raise the sense or
moral duty in man, but to lower the
SC nse of moral duty i'm woman, should
certainly oppose the movement. but
do not believe these undesirable
APOSTLES are In any way To be accep-
todas exponents OF the cause, and
call attention TO the fact that they are
prominent, not i'm the region where
woman suffrage does exist but In re-
gions where IL does not exist.
/ pin my faith TO woman suffragists
of the type of the late Julia Ward
Howe Julia ward Howe was one OF
the foremost citizers Of this Repub-
lie: she rendered service to the peo-
pie such as few men in any generation
render; and yot she did. first OF all,
her FUN duty in the intimate home re-
lntlons that must over take precedence
of all other relations.
In our Western states where the SUI
frage has been given to women am
unable to see that any great difference
has been caused, as compared with
neighboring states i'm similar social and
industrial conditions where women
have not tho suffrage. Yet what slight