The Washington herald., 1914-07-12

her readers how they can be sure OF get
! ting pure feed-clean milk and meat.
/ Strangely. she does not once mention or
| suggest that they must depend on their
votes to get il, or point out examples
! Of how they got better meat and clean
er milk after women voted in the nine
suffrage States!
! But how about the working girls?
Surely she needs the ballot There are
S0o0,OO of her the suffragists tell us-but
/ forget to mention the fact that the CEN
sus enumerates only 100000. of which
20 per cent are engaged in domestic
I service, and 80 per cent are under twen-
! ty-one. Besides, IS per cent OF them
cease to be wage-earners at twenty-five
But, nevertheless. il the ballot Is of ben
eft to that small minority of working
Women who. after maturity, serve in fac
tory or shop. they should have il. But
what is the truth about it? How has the
ballot helped waEe-earninE men? Or
wage-earning women in suffrage States?
The truth of 'le matter is that the vote
; itself is not the mighty power it is often
| imagined, whether in the hands of men
or women. There are men who believe
( the ballot is the open sesame to every
form of progress, like the mild socialists
but even with them the stronger element
is always demanding direct action" and
depending on strikes and favorable la
Dor contracts rather than on politics for
improvement.
Attitude of Labor.
The American Federation Of Labor. for
instance. has not considered the ballot
of sufficient power to urge its members
to rely on their votes TO get high wages
High wages depend on laws of supply
and demand. and on organization Of en-
p!oyes in lines of industry demanding
skill and training. The unskilled worker
is almost universally not organized, and
though he possesses a vote very much
larger than that of any other class. he
cannot get better pay until he learns
trade that commands high wages by TAX
ing advantage OF natural laws. When
trade conditions are bad. unemployment
and low wages follow, and no man can
be found foolish enough to say that his
ballot is the sole cause or remedy. Each
political party in turn is accused CT
plotting or accomplishing the financial
or industrial ruin of our country. and
the defenders of each assure us that un-
less the government is run, by their
candidates. no progress can be made
and yet the plain men and women know
that periods of panic, prosperity and
depression depend on crops and credits
on natural laws; and that progressive
legislation" enacted by either Democrats
or Republicans, is more often a hindrance
than a help to business man and wage
Garner alike. There are many things
that neither politics nor legislation can
remedy: that lie within the sphere #
education. of home training, of intelli-
gent pordonal effort.
Depends on Skill.
The labor leader knows that he must
depend on his skill, whether he bargains
collectively or individually. and that his
position is secure in proportion to his
knowledge and fitness for certain pay
ing trade. The healthy. skilled engineer
or structural worker from Europe is
offered job at once in America and the
union hands him a card and calls him 4
member in good standing five years be-
fore he is allowed TO take any part in
politics through the exercise of the
franchise. On the other hand. thousands
of native Americans with college educa-
tons and a vote, minus a trade or pro-
fession that pays, must rot only face
unemployment, but accept low wages
even when successful in getting positions.
Why is this so. if the ballot is a factor
in getting wages?
When all the facts are considered. it |
is all the more surprising that DR.. Anna |
Howard Shaw, president of the National |
Woman Suffrage Association. should |
come forward last week with the rather |
time worn promise that woman will get |
the same pay as men for the same work |
as soon as they get the vote" Why |
all this talk of ''as soon as women get |
the vote when they have had It in
Wyoming for forty-four years, in Colo
RADIO for twenty-one, in Utah and Idaho |
for eighteen? In one breath, the suf-
fragists tell US that votes for women" ]
Is bound to come because nine States