Grand Forks daily herald. (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1914-1916, 1914-11-02
Fallacies of Equal Suffrage

are not needed and for which hey are
unfit, would be scarcely more a htps NV,
ment of progress than TO torce 'ns"
to Deal arms and fight.
Woman in Politics an A~ntiquated ldea
The social power Of women a
grown with the growth Of civilizatlon'
but their political power has dlmln-
ished. In former times n under 10"
social conditions. women nave occa-
sionally had a degree Of power IN pup.
lie affairs unknown in the tore1lost
nations of the modern world. four
hundred years before Christ the ques'
ton of giving political power to WON
en- was agitated among the mosI CIV
ilized of ancient peoples. the Atnenl-
ans, and they would not follow the
example Of their barbarian neighbors:
The Connection Between Voting ana
Fighting.
The advocates OF woman suffrage
have ridiculed the idea of II connec-
ton between voting and the capacity
to fight. Their attitude In this matter
shows the absence of reflection on
questions of government. or the In
ability to form rational judgment up
on them. In fact. it is with nearly
all of them a matter, not Of reason,
but OF sentiment. j
The human race consists OF two
equal parts. the combatant and the
non-combatant,' and these parts are
true that some men are permanent
ly disabled from fighting. n others
may be disabled in n year or n
month, and fit to bear arms In the
next; but the general fact remains
that men are the fighting half of hui
mainly. and women are not.
The question remains, what has this
to do with voting? 1t has a great
deal to do with it, and above all in
a government purely popular.
The Voting of a Large Nom ombatant
Glass Dangerous to Civil Harmony.
Since history began no government
ever sustained itself long unless it
could command the physical force of
the nation: and this, whether the form
of government was despotism, consti-
tutional monarchy, or democracy. The
despot controls the army which COM
pels the people to obey: the king and
parliament control the force of the
kingdom, and indictments dare not
rise In instruction till they think
they have drawn away IN equal Of
greater share Of it. Finally, the ma
jortty in a democratic republic feels
secure that its enactments will take
effect, because the defeated minority,
even II it does not respect law, will
respect a force greater than Its own.
Once in our history a minority rose
against the majority, in the belief that
1t could fight 1t out. 1t may not be
creditable to human nature that II we
would have a stable government II. is
necessary to keep the balance Of pow
er on the side of.law: but the business
OF government is to shape itself to the
actual. and not the ideal or millennial
condition of mankind.
Another Source OF Discord.
There is another reason why ths
giving of the suffrage to women
would tend to civil discord. In the
policies of the future, the predomi-
nant, If not the engrossing questions
will be to all appearance those of fl
anc n the relations OF labor and
capital. From the nature of their oc-
equations. as well as other causes,
women in general are ignorant Of
these matters, and not we'll fitted to
deal with them. They require an ex-
perience, q careful attention, a delib.
GRAFTON and GOODNESS Of Judgment, with
a freedom from passion, so rare that
at the best their political treatment
is full Of difficulty and danger. II
these qualities are rare in men, they
are still more SO in women, and fem
mine instinct will not in the present
case supply their place. The peculiar
danger Of these questions is that they
raise class animosities, and tend to set
the poor against the rich and ths
rich against the poor. Now, most Of
US nave a occasion to observe how
mositles OF women are. They far ex-
ceed those of men. If, in the great
strife between labor and canitaI
which, without great restraint on both
sides, Is likely to be a fierce ono
women should be called to an active
part, the effect would be like throw.
ing pitch and resin into the fire. The
wives and daughters Of the moor
would bring into the contest a wrath.
brothers. "A-
Practical vs. Sentimental Government
Government should be guided NV
principles; but they should be .ans
and no crazy, sober and not drs'nT
They should walk on solid rrounS
and not roam the clouds hanging tn .
bag Of gas. 'eos
Rights may be real or unreal. PRIV.
ciples may be true or false: hut aven
Etne pest and truest cannot safely Ia
pusned TOO Tar. or in the wrong d.
bid enth,sia. d pass into NOR.
and turn ron . or wild fanaticism.
So the best Of d n o1ess,ng to e curse.
must pc kept within bounds of rea.
son or they will work misch,sf -.
greatest and most difficult Of scisn.
Ing with interests OF ,d government. deal
cated, and a~ntagonistic, becomes
Of tsUsn Ea,ae when 1T deserts the way
x"..s