The central record. (Lancaster, Ky.) 18??-current, 1914-09-24


inclement weather, vIRA BoARMAN
walking or riding "illEhoCsE'
several miles to get there" but, above
all, it is the wife and mother living
at home, whose domestic duties are
supposed 10 leave her no time to vote.
The view that voting takes very
eral one among the anti-suffragis
But men vino vote assert that the ;ic
tual time spent in Il polling booth, even
at the most crowded election, does not
exceed half an hour and is usually not
more than ten minutes.
Elections Infrequent.
Elections are lot daily or even fire.
quent occurrences, as these objections
TO women voting would seem to sug-
gest. IN some places the municipal
county, state and federal elections are
all held on the general election day
the first Tuesday after the first Mon
day in November. In other places the
There are ut times special elections, AS
for instance, the recent one of April {
here in New York state to determine
whether or not there should he Il con
stitutional convention. Such special
elections are rare and seem to arouse
little interest.
There are also, since the passage of
the law providing for direct nominal
tons, primary elections, at which the
enrolled members of each political
party ought to vote. But when every
kind of election is taken into account
the most conscientious citizen is not
called to the polls more than TWO or
three times year and the actual time
spent in voting does not exceed 1T the
most liberal allowance I'm hour or two
Il year.
All men of course do not vote. In
the presidential election of 1912 the
total number of those voting was less
than 100000 while the number eligi-
b!e 10 vote was over 24.000.000. The
proportion of men voting ut this cleo
ton was somewhat smaller than ut
the preceding ones.
1t is not lack of time. however, that
keeps 50 many men from the polls. 1t
is rather lack of interest. No business
or work can be an excuse for this
failure of the duty of citizenship. us
in thirty-nine states election day is a
legal holiday. on which no business is
transacted.
A Large Class.
Working women now form very
large class in this country. 1t is eSti-
mated that there ere about S.0@0 900 or
9.H00.0O0 of them. They would have
of course. the same facilities for voting
rs are given to workingmen. Fac
tories, shops and business offices are
closed on election days.
The farmers wife has grown up as
a country girl in the open air. In her
youth she probably walked each day to
school and back and each Sunday to
church. She will not be daunted by a
distance of few miles TO do duty
which will bring her in return such
great interests.
Rich women with servants to relieve
them of household work and nurses or
@OVerneSSeS to take charge of their
children have time for whatever takes
their fancieS. II is. of course. par
ticuIarIy the wife and mother in the
home who, it is believed. will have no
time to vote. Men count eight hours
as a days work. but her mysterious
duties are supposed to keep her per-
manently prisoner within her four
walls. If it is indeed true that such
women are so hard driven. day after
day, that they cannot even make any
arrangement to leave their work for
an hour or two a year. should not such
condition be changed?
Large Property Holders.
1t would be uncomfortable to think
that the conditions of society bear SO
heavily upon women that they cannot
leave their, duties even for the few
minutes necessary for voting and that
their lives, in spite of easy means of
communication and cheap daily papers.
are so cut off from all communal in
terests that they have no chance for
forming political opinions