The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-01-16
MADAME PEVSNER
SPEAKS TO EQUAL
SUFFRAGE LEAGUE
Declares Ballot Is Not Es-
sential Thing for Uplift
of Woman
BRING INFLUENCE TO
BEAR IN THE HOME
Says American Women Neglect Their
Home Life to Strive After Frivol-
Gus Things-Many Not Suf-
fragists in Principle

| lIdSlStS III I-TiHClplt
THE ballot Is not the essential thing TO
the uplift of woman said Madame Bella
Pevsner, the noted foreign lecturer in her
address before the Birmingham Equal
Suffrage league in Clark and Jones hall on
Third avenue, yesterday afternoon
Madame Pevsner, in her address, which
held an audience Of 200 women of the city
spellbound by her eloquence, had Tor
topic: 1.-THE Position of Women in the
Worlds History and the Modern Women
The topic of Madame Pevsner was a
broad one, as she naively admitted and
covered the field rather thoroughly. The
first part of her address was all historical
and mainly review of woman from TIE
time of the legend of Adam and the ex-
traction of the rib to be made into woln-
an. woman" said Madame Pevsner,
was made after man from man and is
| therefore a superior being The one
male present shrunk low in his seat at
this.
Through all the historical review of
| woman, the audience of suffragists was
mildly interested, but as Madame PeVs-
ner warmed to her topic and started on
| the modern woman and the ballot her
words caused the audience to sit up and
take notice.
Suffrage" she said, "is a novelty and
fad to the majority of American women.
| The leaders of fashion. of wealth-the
"haute monde"-have taken it up and de-
4 luded thousands follow not for principle
but because it's a fashion and Mrs. So
and SO is a sufragette.
Ignorant of Own Movement
1.-THE majority of the suffragettes IN
| America do not understand their oWn
movement. They do not know anything
about the great unrest that is permitting
the entire world. They do not understand
the gross injustice of the modern capital
istic system. They never investigate the
fact that tens of thousands of children
from the ages of e to 16 years labor long
hours six days of the week because OF
the lack of humane laws on the statute
books They know nothing of these ques-
| tions. but vociferously they shrek for
the balot-equal suffrage with men.
"The conditions L have mentioned exist.
| Why? Because of politics; yes, in part.
politics are not bad, it's the men without
character, without moral sensibility In
politics that are responsible for the odor
of dsrepute that politics has fallen into
Why are the men lacking in character
and moral sensibility? Are they to
blame? They are in part with women
woman is to blame in any of the down
ward movements of man. 'Cherchez la
| fa,,,p,a al.pa va when man goes wrong.
Man has always been guided by wom-
en-. He is born of woman and throughout
his life he depends on women. All of the
greatest men of history were made SO by
women. They had great mothers, great
sisters, gerat women friends and the IN
fuence of these ruled the destiny of the
greatest heroes of history.
/ "Woman is the superior being to man
and her energies should be all to elevate
him. She is the mother of mans children
and her duty is to them to teach as they
grow the true sentiments of life that
when they rise to mans estate they Will
represent women and their influence in
worldly matters will be women's infiu-
ence.
In America you women say life Is so
dry and therefore you abandon the home
life and seek clubs, bridge whist parties,
lawn parties and whatnot. You seek to
be like men, forgetting that men are
made by you. All the sweetness of life
Is missing in this. You neglect your
homes--the zone of your greatest in
fiuence.
Woman Belongs in Home
'IIome, that's where you belong. Make
a cozy corner that the tired man in
the evening time arriving from the world
of materialistic endeavor can sit with
comfort and cherish his life partner.
place for interchangeable moods for the
man to read, to study and to learn from
women of his duty to the world.
Il am a suifragist, a strong adherent
of equal suffrage, but we should not neg
lect every other way of influencing men
to see its fulflIment. The women should
not ask man for equal suffrage-they
should ask it of themselves. If you neg
lect your own home, II you are suffra-
gette because the leaders of fashion are
suffragists, equal suffrage means nothing
to you
'In New York and every large city
the leaders of the suffragettes are the
/ what is it?-theI society leaders. Their
husbands usually are large manufact-
urers and merchants employing thousands
of employees Because of these leaders.
| otHtI NOHleH SuSccptlpit 10 tne .euicts
of fashion and wealth become suffra-
gettes. In San Francisco the chairman
of the woman's committee on the investi-
cation of white slavery, an officer on
the city committee of the equal suf
frage movement is the wife of the lead
I ing merchant. In his large department
, store he employs over thousand young
, girls between the ages of IA and 20 at
s4, S. and Sc per week. Is she the proper
person TO investigate white slavery?
Woman suffrage of that sort is the
merest farce.
BE suffragettes because of principle.
. Do not neglect your own home for any
other way to influence men for equal
4 suffrage. 1t should be the very last thing
for women Man is an insignificant piece
OF clay in your hands. Make of him a
better world
>, Prolonged applause marked the finale
of Madame Pevsners address and the
meeting adjourned after few questions
had been asked of the distinguished lee
turer.
Golf TOurnamen
Pinehurst. n. c., January 15.-Matches