The Washington herald., 1914-03-01

4 fage that 1 believe sound, and that ]
| did not feel could be answered. But the
arguments In favor of It are everywhere
They are in the home, In the street. In
the city hall. in the State capitol. In
/ the National Capitol. In the mines. In
theS workshops. I'm the offices, and In the
homes OF the rich.f Equal suffrage Is
based upon the principal OF justice. and
he who cannot read or write Is blinded
either by prejudice. ignorance, or pas
sion."
Mrs. sherman NJ. Booth.
BY Mrs. Sherman N. Booth:
81 was brought up with three brothers
and in my early life had the same free
dom which was given to them: 1 learned
to expect equal privileges. As I grew
older my father, who was Virginian
and who inherit many of the prejudices
of the Southern chivairy. restrained me
by his arguments and protection. This
became oppressive and the entire de-
pendence and control was arresting de-
velopment which i felt 1 deserved to en-
JOY. After graduation from college. very
much against my fathers desires. left
home to teach and the Independence
which 1 thus enjoyed told me that what
had been considered protection had
really been oppression. feel that
ceutive to develop equally with men,
and that this privilege means the devel-
opment also of the race. As matter
of fact, 1t is not the belief in woman
suffrage so much as II is a desire to
help the evolution Of the race that has
influenced me. I cannot remember the
time when I have not been a suffragist-
II has always seemed to me such per
fectIy patural right and. fundamental
Justice that nothing else has seemed
necessary to be said upon the subject.
Mrs. Helen Gardener.
By Mrs Helen H. Gardener:
.I am a woman suffragist simply be-
cause 1 am an adult human unit who has
not forfeited the fundamental right to
life, liberty. and the pursuit Of happiness
I claim the right to a voice In my own
government, and the protection OF the
ballot for precisely the same-and all
Of the same-reasons that every class Of
men has claimed and fought for an equal
human status before the law, and one
more reason: The additional reason why
woman should have this protection Is
thI. as a last resort men can and do
appeal to brute force. Woman Is de-
pendent upon the might of public opinion
expressed at the ballot box and trans
lated into law.
Il am neither a minor, an idiot nor
criminal. so i have not forfeited. nor
have / delegated, my inherent right to
equality of opportunity before the law.
/, like President Wilson, object to hav-
ing trustees set over me. l have too
much self-respect to plead the baby act
and say that, for the public welfare and
civic righteousness, i do not want re-
sponsibility thrust upon me, but that /
wish to leave all Of the labor and all Of
the blame for the public welfare or the
wrongs of the world to my brothers /
am willing to do my share. The men
of the world cannot eat, sleep. dress nor
otherwise act for the entire race They
have troubles of their own"
Rheta ChiIde Dorr.
BY Rheta Childe Dorr:
81 am a suffragist because l am
feminist To a feminist the right to po-
litical equality with the other half Of the
population appears to be about the SIM
pIest and most elementary right a woman
can possibly claim. 1t Is almost too SIM
pie to argue about. Here we are, We
Americans, trying to work out the great
experiment of making a democracy, and
yet we deliberately handicap ourselves
by trying to preserve the Oldest OF aris-
tocratic theories, as far as women are
concerned. we say al just governments
derive their powers from the consent of
the governed-that is the male governed.
We say of the people. by the people.
for the people'-male people. And yet we
don't understand why our democracy
doesn't arrive.
1T cannot arrive as long as the mas
culine half of America tries to keep
house all by itself. Men have. after all,
only a limited point OF view. They have
had to work so many generations for
money that they have formed a habit of
thinking only in terms of money. Women
have worked for the same length of time,
and longer, taking care of things and
people. They have formed the habit of
thinking in human terms. The two points
of view are necessary to make a civili-
zation. That is why / am a feminist
1t follows that 1 believe in votes for
women, as means Of expressing the
women's point of view"
Mrs. Jessie Hardy stubbs,
By Mrs. Jessie Hardy Stubbs:
I'm a suffragist, first, because 1 am
a human being, with human attributes,
and it is human to desire TO share in the
whole of life; because sex is an acci-
dent and not a fault, and because woman
thrills to the oratory of liberty in pro-
portion to her desire to be free, just
as does man.
Secondly. because 1 sincerely believe
that law should be an expression of the
general will and that all people should
share in its making Since the only
method of obtaining this expression is
by the modern method of the ballot, 1,
as a public-spirited citizen of my coun-
try, have demanded and shall continue
to demand this ballot as the efficient
tool with which to do my service to the
State. i
The time has long gone by when we
longer discuss woman's right to the bal
lot. Woman emphasizes increasingly
the States need of her vote"
Miss Doris stevens.
By Miss Doris Stevens:
q believe women should vote for the
same reasons that men vote. In other |
words. believe in a real democracy and |
not a male autocracy helieye the