The Daily Missoulian. [volume] (Missoula, Mont.) 1904-1961, 1913-01-13
LOCAL SUFFRAG|STS
SPEAK WELL
SPLENDID ADDRESSES ARE DE-
LlVERED IN HELENA AT
STATE MEETING.

At the meetings of the state central
committee of suffragists in Helena
during the past week there were some
stirring speeches made by the state
leaders, among them being MISS
Jeanette Rankin and Miss Mary
Stewart, both of this city.
The closing meeting of the session
held in the Unitarian church was ad-
dressed by Miss jeanette Rankin,
state chairman. Miss Rankin outlined
excellent arguments in favor of the
equal suffrage cause in Montana ana
declared there is no palpable reason
why this state should not adopt the
regime when surrounding states nave
embraced it. There are, she SAID, sui
frage parties in other states, but such
a political organization is not needed
in Montana for the reason that all the
parties in it have pledged themselves
to the suffrage cause. The asltatloh
for the equal voting franchise mas
spread to Montana from states all
around it. This would not be so, had
the regime proved unsuccessful in
other states. The principle of the
contention Is just anu ISiit- 40 "
natural consequence of the industrial
revolution which drove women out of
their homes into the workshops,
Mothers are compelled to send their
children to labor in factories and are
unable to say a word as to the length
of a working day those children are
to work. Washington has adopted
woman's suffrage and there is now in
that state an eisht-hour law, conse-
auent on that adoption. Thousands of
children die every year from playing
in streets alive with germs of disease
because their mothers have no say in
the administration of cities. The hu-
name, as we'll as the commercial side
of the economy of life should be rep
resented in politics.
Miss Stewart.
Following Miss Rankin's address,
Miss Stewart delivered a discourse,
saving that Woman's suffrage was not
a new question. 1t began in the Gar
den of Eden. 1t is another step in the
evolution Of society. This is the age
of woman. All other ages have seen
the advancement of man., and, until
now women rave not been advanced
as individuals. Men have ben doing
all the talking. Women are going to
AXE a hand in it now after having
had a long lesson in patience PreJu-
dice is the greatest enemy of suf-
frage- Women can meet reason but
cannot argue against prejudice. Men
for chivalrous reasons do not want to
see the Women they love enter the
dirty work of politics. Strangely 1t
does not jar their instincts of chiValry
to see them in factories or
scrub floors The victory of suffrage
means the victory of democracy. Mer
call the refusal to give women the
vote, chivalry; it is s~elfishness. Won
en- do not want the vote merely for
the novelty of putting a ballot in a
box; they want the recognition of the
right to vote, the recognition that
they have a mind, soul and individu-
ality, recognition as proprietors with
the men of the universe. The trend
of present day government Is to bring
home and politics together and to
control such matters as child labor,
food laws and factory inspection.
Woman needs woman mind and hand;
thew feel the need of helping those
who need help under the existing
conditions. Human beings are ever
contesting for individual rights
against class rights. Women want
the right as individuals to help the
human race.
Mrs. Darroch.
A third address was given by Mrs.
Darrock, of Glendive, who was to have
spoken on Monday but was prevented
from attending the first session by
the delay of her train in reaching the
city. Mrs. Darroch said the Woman
on account of her sex is not prevent
ed from participating in great move
ments. The development Of modern
problems in political economy de-
mands that woman take her place in
the world.
Dr.. Rheem.
DIR. l.. NJ. Rheem, secretary of the
Helena Commercial club, in an ad-
dress complimented the speakers and
confessed he felt cheap to belong to a
bunch" who refused to give women
the vote, He declared that if he had
his way the question would not re-
main unsettled ten minutes. The only
argument against Woman suffrage
d you want your wife, sister or
daughter to 90 to the polls among d
lot Of drunken reprObates ?"-has no
sense. Tn best way to know what
politics is is to run for office. The
human race has ever fought what is
good for it. The spectacle of the
women of America begging for the
right to vote might we'll be compared
TO the prediCament of all the great
inventors and d~iscoverers, whose
works were ridiculed before they were
tried out, Women want men to give
them but n word. When it is con
sldered how many words women have
given to men, it seems a fair trade.
Women would Improve the moral tone
Of politics, They are natural rulers.
The divine right has been given them.
Mar is given the best government
possible by his mother. The mother
can manage 20 children easily, and a
husband with them.
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