Western Carolina Democrat and French Broad hustler. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1913-1915, 1914-11-05
A REPORT.

ILDOr0 interested Ill Cn0 CAUSE u 0qudI
suffrage. From all parts of the state
they are asking for literature and in
formation upon the subject, and SO
with your permission Mr.. Editor, per-
NIT me to make a few statements con-
corning this burning question, stating
in the first place, that for many ideas
herein expressed l am indebted to
! Chief Justice Walter Clark of North
Carolina, hat splendid advocate of
suffrage who has so ably and Loyalty
spoken in our behalf.
Often men say that this right will
ibe conferred upon women when all wo-
men want it. What an argument, or
rather, no argument at all!
In this country a large per cent g
the voters do not go to the ballot Dox.
Nearly every year in some state legis-
lature a bill is introduced to impose
penalties upon those who neglect to
vote. These bills are invariably voted
down. The fact that many men are
Indifferent to the responsibilities and
privileges of citizenship is never con-
sidered a reason for DISTINGUISHING the
more patriotic minority. 1t is claimed
that the acknowledgements of women is
unnecessary because every woman can
vote through her husband. Who casts
the vote for the drunkard's wife?
Many women are widows or unmar
ried; more than 9,00O,0 900 in this coun-
try. Who expresses their wishes in
public affairs, and the government
which they are helping to support?
Wage earners are most seriously af.
fected. In the United States we have
six million women wage earners, six
million, subjected to all the laws of
the land, social and economic condi-
lions, that beset the nation, sharers
in the toll that develops the country,
hearing her proportion of the burden
of State and National Government,
without any representation, and
scoffed at and derided because she de-
mands the ballot.
We have several millions of men of
doubtful character, without property,
and Of little intelligence, yet every one
of them can vote. Why this discrimi-
nation?
' The ~unfailing argument of the
neglected home, less interest in do
mesticity have been brought forward
SO continually that 1t seems they have
been sufficiently answered. We know
that churches and charitable organi-
cations are largely maintained by wo-
men. This does not interfere with
their home duties. A man is not sup
posed to neglect his store, his law
Office, his banking business, his farm
because he casts his ballot.
Jane Adams, say Australia, a
suffrage country, has the highest birth
- oo,,xR~ry -ao~lol hry thA
English race, and New Zealand, an
other suffrage country, has the lowest
infant death rate Of any country In the
world" 4
Ever since women began voting In
Wyoming, forty six years ago, It has
been found that the woman voter IL
more apt to be guided in he choice
by the individual merits or the can
didate than by party considerations.
Legislators are wise enough to listen
to the voice of the people when they
are to speak by the ballot.
A North Carolina man fippantly re-
marked in a newspaper article that he
was in favor of giving women and
children of six years the ballot. This
was a way of saying that women had
no more sense than children Of six
years. Quick as a flash the women Of
our state caught his meaning. He
began to apologize the next day, and
then he apologized some more, and.
then he apologized again, and ever
since he has kept a silence so deep
that it can almost be heard.
Another North Carolina nan re-
marked that the only advocates of uni
versal suffrage were long-haired men
and short-haired women. Perhaps he
had never heard Of Abraham Lincoln,
Theodore Roosevelt, Champ Clark,
William Jennings Bryan, Washington
GLADDEN. and numerous others. Sec
rotary Bryan says, II shall support the
amendment Tin Nebraska). / shall
ask no political rights for myself that
1 am not willing to grant to my wife"
Champ Clark declares, Woman suf-
frage Is as inevitable as the rising Of
:tomorrow's sun. Whenever the sub.
!ject comes up for a vote in Missouri 1
am going to vote for woman suffrage"
That women havs had no electoral
experience is a one-sided argument.
"A boy of twenty-one has had no more
experience than his equally intelligent
sister of the same ago. Their oppor-
fIuu1LlCS dnU CAPC1 ACASCS d4O 4uAtC LAC
same.
In the south a frequent objection is
that the negro cooks would vote.
Maybe SO, but does anyone think that
white men of the south should be dis
franchised to prevent the vote of their
negro janitors, chauffeurs, walters,
gardeners, or other employees? Incl
dentally it may be remarked that
many thousands of intelligent, white,
southern women do not keep negro
cooks. Women as a sex are not bellig-
erent, but they are pleading for justice.
This argument occurred in a little
North Carolina school house between
two boys. A small freckled faced,
red headed orator contended that the
Declaration of Independence entitled
women to vote, for it said that Cali
men are created free and equal, and
-