The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1913-05-12
BALLOTS As WELL As BOUQUETS

1t has been well said that there is |
danger in a nation having too many
holy days and holidays. Some nations
OF Southern Europe have so many
saints days that the observance there
of interferes seriously with the prOduc
tive tillage of the fields and the out
put Of the factories, and the United
States, with five national holidays ev-
cry year, is said by some Of the pessi-
misticaIIy inclined to be heading in the
same direction. It is probable that we
have about as many holidays and an
niVersaries as We can prOfitably OBJ
serve.
Mothers Day" however, beautiful
custom that has sprung up Of late
years, is one we should have had from
the foundation of the world, and is one
that we can profitably observe till
Gabriel sounds his trumpet. A mother
never knows any rest" said a wise
woman once, and so Mothers Day"
won't interfere with the work, nor the
play like the useful saint it is named
after.
Mother generally does everything,
from tying the babys loose shoe lace
to carrying life by main strength
and devotion thru the valley Of the
shadow, as a matter of course, so it is
no wonder that nobody thought of
naming day in her honor until a few
years ago. And we are afraid that
now the custom has been inaugurated
that 1t will make more work for her
than for any one else. Everything
else does.
The worst thing about it is that man,
the egotst, when he has graciOusly al
lowed some mother or some mothers
daughter to put a white flower in his
buttonhOle, feels quite noble over what
he has done, when it should remind
him to think of what he has left un7
done until he is ready TO hire some
husky to kick him-not to speak Of the
mental kicks that should hurt wOrsel
We often hear wiseacres and cynicA
particularly those OF the later school,
argue that men are as good as wom-
en-, that women are no better than
men. But it is difficult to understand
how any but a machine made human
can think so.
The joy and sorrow of motherhood
puts woman's character on a plane I'M
attainable by man. He cannot compre-
bend it, he cannot sound its depths nor
compass it's extent. But he should
know it is above and beyond him, as
well as all around him, and realize that
motherhood gives to the meanest
woman a sainthood that the grandest
man can never attain.
SO well it is that this mothers day
has been instituted and may it lead US
all, daughters and sons, to think not
once year, nor once a day, but bear
always a consciousness of what we
owe to mother love. A man in love ali
ways carries h s love in his soul even
when minimizing it is ever with him
but it takes a strong reminder TO
make the average man remember that
he loves his mother.
Mothers Day was well and prettily
remembered in Ocala. The white
flower symbols were numerous and
beautiful, and many who had not the
fortune to wear them were reminded
of their meaning by seeing them. The
churches observed the day with ap-
prOpriate sermons, in which the
preachers were naturally inspired by
their purest and tenderest thoughts.
The boys were more considerate than
usual, and we are reliably Informed
that several of the girls washed the
dinner dishes.
1t may be that before the day is
celebrated in Florida twice again the
mothers and the sisters will have the
ballot, and if not in two years we are
quite sure they will have it in four or
six. They would appreciate the white
slip of the ballot as much, tho in a
different form, as they do the white
flowers, and even as we men ennoble
ourselves by remembering them in ro-
nance, we would help ourselves by en-
franchising them in reality.
The principal argument against equal
&. CHI Ia ~
shielded" you know the rest; its as
old as the Constitution and ten times
as rickety. 1t is the exceptional wom-
an who is shielded and the shielded
ones are likely to be exposed unarmed
to the sings and arrows of outra geous
fortune at any time. "Woman's sphere
is the home" and our laws make it
comparatively easy for some man to
take her home away from her unless
some other man interferes, which he
seldom does unless he has something
to gain by it. Women shouldn't vote
because they can't bear arms" but
they have to bear everything else, in
Guiding children, which is the greatest
of all sacrifices and services to the
state. ct is natural for man to con-
troll the government" but it is the ma
ture of brute force, which we are
slowly growing out of in other dtrec-
tiOns and can accelerate the progress
by growing out in this one.
There is nothing against equal suf-
frage of any more weight than there
was a few years ago against women
going out in business to make their
own living We all know that many
OF the best and most reuned women
are found in the offices and stores, and
their contact with the business world
has strengthened their characters
without impairing their attractions. 1t
would be the same way in politics,
and why it should hurt a woman any
more to go to the polls than to rail-
road station or a bargain sale is some
thing no man can prove by unpre-
JUDGED argument.
So let us give women the ballots as
we'll the bouquets, so a not distant
mothers day will be their fourth of
July.