The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-05-11

are many women and even more men
(earnest, honest, though misguided and
tinid souls) who do not see either the
necessity or the desirability of This
stepping stone. II looms large before
,hem as an impcdiment in the path of
proghess. a rock on which our ship of
s,ate may split. 1t is my province to
explain the infinite Justice, inevitability
desirability and possibility of this step
ping stone, that hereafter you may not
shrink from using it.
My colleague viii prove to YOU that
EQUAL suffrage will benefit the children
ana women of the state Although he
reasons for suffrage are almost innum
erable | have chosen but two which
shall empha size 1t shall beSly task 10
prove to YOU thai equal sSffra ge VIII
benehl the state and the mon of the
state; that it will benefit the state. first,
because il means democracy and VIII
abolish the manifest injustice of gov
ernment of all the people for half The
people by half the people. Second, he
cause the point of view of men and
women. as the result of sex and of
centuries of different training, is very
different, and naturally and in Justice
one person cannot represent another
person Of whose experience he has ne
knowledge. Third. because the machH-
purifying hand of women and fourth,
women are fully qualified to represent
themselves in the state. ! shall provo
that equal suffrage will benefit the
men of the state by tightening them of
half the burden of government and thus
making their lot-happier and more conf
Portable. Second. by helping to estab-
liSh a single standard of morality fer
both sexes
Equal suffrage will benefit The state
because 1t means democracy. The whole
tendency of the worlds history is to-
ward democracy and away from aris
tocracy or monarchy. All progressive
thinkers are agreed that a democracy
Is the best form of government Yet
evolved by mankind. A democracy
means the sharing of the duties and
rriNileges of state by all the adult
people. not by just the adult men OF
that state. Women are adult people.
you must admit, unless you are willing
TO CLASS them as the state now classes
them politically, with idiots, criminals,
degenerates and aliens. When women
people are excluded from direct share
in government is that a democracy?
As Senator Hoar of Massachusetts says,
mo opponent of equal suffrage can be
fGlnd who does not of necessity deny
The doctrine affirmed In the Declaration
of Independence. Anti -suffragists make
government IS a male institution in
stead of a human one surely women
are human we'll as men. Our sex
viii claim that sex is the dominant fac
tor in our relationship to life. Men
ure men and human beings. Women
arc women and HUMAN beings. Their
humanity is their common possession
and should not, cannot be, the property
| of the one to exclusion of the other
| This is clearly proven by nature her
self. The first instinct with which she
! 1owers all animate lifei is the instinct
| 10 live; the second. the instinct to give
| life. As human beings we first want
| to live, to eat, to drink, TO provide the
necessities of life, to perform the hu-
man activities common to us all. After
| 'lst, we are men or women, according
to sex. Showing that government is a
human institution. not a male one, let
me show you that women are affected
in every way by government as much
as men. They are citizens, as are men
| They pay taxes in the same proportion
| They obey the same civil and criminal
| laws, they are subjects of a government
| which is every day regulating more
aod more the affairs of life-education
| health, hygiene, sanitation. travel and
| transportation. business in its every
lspect. the cost of living, the liquor
question. the conservation of huma as
| wei. as natural resources and the more
/ important social questions of crime.
poverty, the vice interests and the rela-
| tion of labor and capital
! The home, that .'womans sphere
tlaunted by antis is no longer her own.
My colleague viii show you how the
| long arm of the state reaches into and
| controls the most secluded corner of
every womans individual home. In ali
vhls government control. remember,
+; women are entirely unrepresented
: Tnryare taSed.atheir- LAWS are made for
them. their daily life down to its min