The Washington herald., 1914-04-17
THE OPEN FORUM.
Alice Stone Blackwell Assails Anti
q Suffrage Arguments.

To the Editor: The anti-suffragists
hold the suffragists responsible for any
thing that any feminist may say. Sc
they must. OF course. accept RESPONSE
bility for anything that any anti-feminist
may say.
Anti-suffragists believe, that husbands
ought not to be made to support their
wives and children. A volume published
in New York last year is entitled. shall
Women Vote? A Book For Men" 1t is
written by Conway White Sans. a men,
Der OF the Virginia bar, and is dedicated
To the Anti-Suffragettes-" Referring to
the Virginia law whereby 4 man may be
sent to Jail IL he shall, without just
cause, desert or wilfully neglect to pro-
vide for the support OF his wife or minor
children" Mr.. Sans says page 81:
These acts are nothing more or less
than Insults to men. Are the men OF
Virginia and Of other States going to
submit indefinitely to a system which
places the policeman, the sheriff, and the
Z jailer in their family circles, ready, at
the command of the wife. on the charge
OF nonsupport. to arrest and imprison
the head of the famIly?"
Anti-suffragists believe that women
ought to marry for money. At a meet
ing held in New York City on April >.
1914 lit ought to have been one day
eariier). Mrs. John Martin, a prominent
anti. argued against paying women good
wages As reported In the New York
Times. she said: In every high salary
paid To men, society is the gamer. But
with women IL is the reyerse-every raise
In salary makes her less likely to
marry. This means. Of course. less
likely to marry for money When they
have chance 10 marry for love, the
daughters OF Presidents and OF multi
millionaires accept IL as delightedly as
the poorest factory girl.
From John Stuart Mills time down.
Gnti-surragists have been urging that the
path OF self-sUpport ought to be made
hard for women in order to drive them
into loveless marriages. Into marriages
Of the other kind they do not need TO
be driven. any more than ducks need TO
be driven into the water
Anti-suffragists are opposed 10 public
spirit and to all forms OF public service
for women. Votes for men," an anony-
nous little book highly praised by the
national anti-sunrage organ, SAYS
page 4s: AS much as she (womanD
turns her attention to the public good,
by so much she destroys the race she is
trying to serve"
AhI-suHEaslsts believe that every
mother ought to be narruw-minded, IRA
tiOnal and unjust. The same author
quoted above says page 40: 1t is not
by cultivating her social instincts. feel
Ing for justice, fair play and broad hu-
man outlook. that woman is going 10
help on the race. She can't be fair
minded. even, without becoming a poor
mother. Maternity. like love, must Le
blind"
Anti-sunragists disapproye of limiting
wOmen's hours Of labor. Their national
organ. in its issue OF December, 1913, de-
scribes California eight-houT law Tor
women as "A law urged by suffrag!sts, -
and publishes an article which says: No
more stupid law was ever enacted. Wom-
en- are perfectly competent to fix their
own working hours. A healthy woman
can work as many hours as a healthy
man. etc.
Anti-suffragists incite sex-antagonism.
DR.. GregUrius is the great apostle OF
''masCulism" in Germany. Not long ago
the daughter of the Servian minister of
justice took a diploma in engineering at
the technical high school in Darmstadt,
and she stood at the head of her class.
Or. Gregurious points with sCorn to a
published photograph OF this young
Woman surrounded by smiling students
whom she has Just beaten in cXamina-
tiunS. lie says: The pleasant faces
and COmTadsIy expression OF these young
men. who ought TO be angry and humili-
ated, are a spectacle OF moral degrade
ton such as | have already witnessed. -
For every foolish feminist" passage
that can bc quoted. can produce an ant
feminist pearl that will match it and
overmatCh it.
ALICE STONE BLACKWELL
Dorchester, Mass