The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-01-17
LETTERS TO EDITOR
Explains Nine. Pevsner's Lecture

On Wednesday afternoon Madame
Bella Pevsner lectured to large audience
at the Clark-Jones hall on The Position
of Women in the Worlds History and
the Modern Woman
To the initiated, those mysterious souls
who have undertaken an open advocacy
of woman suffrage, her talk was not un-
lintelligible. but there were some in the
gathering who caught a word or phrase,
separated 1t from its context and made
it appear that the distinguished speaker
was warning them against using the bal
lot-thus The Age-Herald reporter.
Madame Pevsner is herself a suffragist,
has been one for 2s years; so to be thor
oughly understood she must be inter
preted from the woman suffragist's stand
point
No body of women is more staunch in
upholding the home than the woman slif-
fragists, but we do not understand 'the
home to mean the four walls in which
we live.
One after another the duties that for
merly belonged exclusively to the in
dividual household have become the com
mon duties of the community, such as the
care and protection of children: their
schools and Fairgrounds; the regulation
of morals, health and cleanliness: the SUI
pervison of food, milk and water build
ing inspection; prevention of disease and
fire: collection of garbage sanitation and
other regulations essentially domestic.
Most of these questions few short years
ago were considered the individual horne
makers, but the modern city is now a
big, cooperative housekeeping business,
and what was the familys duty has been
transferred to the municipality. So that
she who would best serve her home and
her children must concern herself with
the city's laws, their making and their
administration.
To properly do this. she must use the
ballot influence is very well so far as
it goes. only it doesn't go very far
What woman today. given 10 yards OF
cloth to sew. would say, II do not ap-
prove of the sewing machine the method
my grandmother employed is good enough
for me, and shall make use of no mod
ern fool The ballot is the quickest
most effective, most dignified weapon
which women may use to defend the
home. SO that when the assertion is
made that "woman's place is in the
home we suffra gists say. Amen
As to suffrage being a novelty. fad.
promulgated Ky the fashionable and
blindly followed nv the mass of women
Olive Schreiner says:
'It is the perception of this fact tina;
not for herself, nor even for fellow
women alone, but for the benefit of hui
manity at large she must seek to read
just herself to life, which lends to the
woman's most superficial and seemingly
trivial attempt at readjustment a certain
dignity and Importance. 1t is this pro-
found hidden conviction which removes
from the sphere of the ridiculous the at
titude of even the feebest woman who
waves her poor little womans rights
flag. Possibly not one woman in 20.gt
could draw up a succinct account of the
causes of the disco ordination in woman's
present position, and the benefits to flow
from readjustment, as probably not one
private soldier in the army knows of the
conditions which have made war inevi-
table. he knows his land needs him. he
knows his own small place and work.
Women. actuated by motives other than
self seeking, have become alive to the
great common, human need"
1t was my privilege to sit recently in
the convention of the National American
Woman Suffrage association in Philadel-
phia. A more impressive. earnest
thoughtful body of women has never,
believe. been called together. They were
there to learn. under the tutelage of such
women as DR.. Anna Shaw, Jane Adams
Leonora O'Reilly, julia c. Lathrop, Car
rie C. Gait and women of that calibre
Mrs. o. II. p. Belmont was there. bnt
Notwithstanding her great generosity te
the cause, comma nded little more atten-
tion than the humbest worker
The dominant force of that convention
was not money, birth, fashion or even
beauty, but it was intellect, brain, per-
ception, wit and gray matter.
Madame Pevsncr's plea was against the
misuse of the ballot.
PATTIE R. JACOBS