The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1912-03-05
HAS A new IDEA
William Allen White Tells
Why Women Should Vote.
Makes Them Better COmpan-
ions for Men, He Says.
WIFE KILLED HIS VOTE
Better Than to Have Asked
Him How to Cast 1t.
Says West Will Control Poll
ties This Year.

| New York, March 5.-'I have 20
minutes in which to be interviewed" !"
announced William Allen White.
1T can be DONE said the reporter.
Lord, yes" agreed the gentleman
from Kansas. II could fall out of a
History building in half the time"
What do you want to talk about?"
Politics." it was suggested. II un-
| derstand you think we do not count
politically here in New York"
You DON'T answered Mr.. White
blithely. You think you do, but you
don't.
Politically New York is a negli-
| gible quantity. Particularly in the
present presidential campaign. That
| battle is going to be fought in the
west. You will only hear the echoes
| of it here. Anything the west gets
| out of New York will be net.
The west is not counting on New
York for any political aid. If we
should happen to get any it will be
| just so much net gain for us; uneX-
are not counting upon. do not want
to talk politics, and l do not want to
talk New 7 York'
No Roosevelt Talk
Mr.. Roosevelt? ?" was suggested.
Nor Mr.. Roosevelt" answered Mr..
White hastily. Il am a friend of Mr..
Roosevelt's and 1 admire him; you
may put that down in .passing-but
for goodness SAX let's slide into some
other subject
There's only women left" said the
reporter.
"Hurrah," said Mr.. White. MY long
suit. Let's talk about women. L am
nothing but the hired help out where
1 come from. 1 have a woman man
aging editor, and woman in charge
of my advertising, and my wife runs
the house after her own ideas"
From which one may gather that
you are in favor of equal suffrage" it
was remarked.
''Am 1 in favor of equal suffrage?''
repeated Mr.. White. 81 should say 1
am. If you have any black face
type in your shop set up my answer to
that question in it.
Why He's for Suffrage.
81 am unequivocally in favor Of
equal suffrage. But mind you, one OF
the main reasons want to see wom-
en- get the vote is because what poll
tics can do for women, not so much
what women can do for politics. Now,
sit still minute until I finish and ex-
plain what 1 mean. This is II: Ihere
are more happy marriages every day.
There are a lot more than there were
twenty-five years ago. In another
twenty-five years there will be lot
more of them than there are now.
And the reason why the happy mar
riage rate is steadily on the IN
crease is because women are steadily
improving They are better all around
COMPANIONS than they were. A man
who is out in the middle of things all
day long cannot be very good friends
with a wife who only knows how to
knit baby jackets and tell the price OF
butter.
mot that it is not all right to know
the price of butter as well. My wife
does but then she is an exceptional
woman. But a woman does not have
to be a good housekeeper to be a good
companion; and to be good COM
panion is more important when you
are married.
Wife Killed His Vote.
"And the more woman gets into
the middle of things, has outside in
terests the better friends she is with
her husband That is what 1 mean
when I say it is not so much what
women can do for politics, but what
politics can do for women.
ITO be sure my wife killed my vote
last election But I don't care. You
know women have the municipal ballot
in Kansas. But 1 would heap sight
rather any day that my wife would
kill my vote than come to me and ask
me which way to cast it
But L came to New York for
weeks rest he concluded. And 1
tell you 1 am a wreck. Why don't
thew have a curfew around here ? |
Everybody stays up till the next day. |
I'm way back around February II on