The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1913-05-16
A SQUARE DEAL FOR WOMEN

his sin on Eve the woman has never
had square deal" and has largely
been the burden-bearer of the world.
Even in this age of refinement. civ
ilization and enlightenment the door
of opportunity" is just beginning mea-
gerly to be opened to her.
Suffer not a woman to teach, said
ST. Paul, writing to Timothy, and it
was a long time before she was per-
mitted to do so. Now, our schools
are largely taught by women, and
never once has it been said that She
has been a failure in the school room.
And again, under the injunction,
Let your women keep silence in the
churches" she sat mute for ages, but
now that the chains that have bound
her so long have been loosened, she
is largely the strength and stay of the
churches.
The women of today are delivering
the Masters message everywhere,
and are making the cross triumphant
in all lands and in all languages.
1t has been but little while since
a woman just from China occupied
ole of the pulpits in this city, and
thrilled her hearers as they had rare
ly been thrilled before.
No sooner is the door of opportu-
nity" opened to women than they
seize upon it with such avidity and
zeal and make every department il
which they are engaged bear such
rich and luscious fruit that their
brothers of the sterner sex are com
PEELED to sit up and take notice
We can remember when it was said
that when women began to teach and
to preach that they would lose their
womanly modesty, would become
coarse and mannish, and would never
again occupy the place that they once
did when their usefulness was confin-
ed to the precincts of the home. They
possessed more stamina than we gave
them credit for, and in no age of the
world were they more sweet, gra-
cious and amiable, or more modestly
dignified. than they are today.
When they began occupying places
behind store counters, at the tele-
graph keys, telephone boards, type
writer desks, and especially when
they began to drive automobiles and
ride horses cross-saddle, it was loud
ly and almost everywhere proclaimed
that they were unseXing themselves,
and the sacred precincts Of the home
would never be home any mOre-but
the homes are as sweet and pure as
ever they were, and pleasanter, be.
cause the mothers have a wider and
more extensive knowledge of the
modern economics, which make the
home more sanitary and healthful.
Today the economies of the home are
revelations.
Read in another column what Miss
Mayes says so beautifully and fluent
ly on this subject
And so the same awful things are
as freely and unceremoniously pre-
dicted if the women are given the
right to participate in the voice CT
the government.
They can mix with and jostle
against men on the streets, in the
stores, at the bargain counters, at the
markets, in the theaters and church
es, with their modesty, sweetness,
dignity and amiability preserved, but
if they go to the polls and quietly de-
post little ballot in one of the box
es about which, under the law, no one
can be closer than ten feet, these
dear women are going to unsex them
selves again, and all the sacredness
of the home will be destroyed
In the states in which it has been
tried. the governors of those states,
the judges from the bench, and the
congressman and United States sen
ators selected from them, deny the
allegations in toto.
They are just as modest, just as
sweet, just as amiable, just as wo-
manly in those states as they are in
any of the states. and in the political
autonomy of those states their in
fiuence has been potent for good, and
in all movements for the uplift of hui
manity one may implicitly count on
the full measure of their influence.
When salt shall have lost its SAVIOR.
and the mother the instincts and love
for her child, then these prophets OF
evil may talk to US Of woman losiug
her womanly modesty and purity by
her rendering her help in shaping the
affairs of this nation.