Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1914-11-01
Danger in Unused Ballots
BY Joseph Gilpin Pyle.

the. deposition of woman from the high place she now occupies and
the high services that she now renders in modern society. They
stamp it as a measure Of social and political retrogression. They
Know and believe IL Q be against economic law, against boogic law,
against the fundamental law of evolution, and fraught with the
most disastrous consequences to the State and to the race.
tits against economic law. 1t proposes to to set TIVE persons to
GO the work Of one. With men alone voting, we were tolerably
governed. With women alone voting, we should, after a period suf-
fcienty long for the. accumulation Of practical experience, be tM-
erably governed. There is no more sense in placing t'c"sarae bur
occupation; a mistake which modern efficiency has set itself rcso-
lutcly to eliminate.
It is against biologic law and the law of evolution. Nature, in
the development Of the sexes, has indicated clearly by difference
of function what was her intent. All evolution is a process Of de-
veopment from lower to higher by progressive differentiation of
organs. indicating and requiring always a corresponding difference
Of function. Government, business, all human activity bows to
this method by progressive specialization. Not the dispersion Of
work among the largest number, but its assignment to those who
can do it best or to whom it seems most appropriate. is natures
method. Only in 50 far as he adheres to it can man hope to win
the best results or to gain them most economically.
Nowhere is this differentiation more plainly insisted upon by
hottest of the functions has been set aside i1revocably fer woman.
Not only does she bear the child, but for months before and for
many years afterward she is the controlling formative influence in
it's life and character. When the word mother ceases to mean
all that j. has meant in the past, society will begin to disintegrate:
ppatibl!e,, o., the whole, with the complete discharge Of the duties
Of citizenship. One or the other, or both, must sutfer:
fortune, miss tits womaniy occupation. The world rid and NJ ali ! its Is DOORS nrs
education, the professions, art, literature, are open to them. Be-
cause they have been denied the greatest of privileges and services
let them not demand that other and more distasteful services be
thrust upon the great mass, who are unwilling to receive them and
whose lives are already full to OVERLOOKING: "@. d. ,+"" |~
Politically, il is certain that, in so far as the woman vote
would fake any change, it would be for The worse. Pretty nearly
all Of the worst political ills Of the country arise from two sources;
the unenforced law and the s%tayathome vote. It is certain that
the volume. of each would be increased under woman suffrage.
The unenforced law is the product of legislation enacted for
sentimental reasons or to fit exceptional cases; instead Of being, as
every law should be, the expressed wish of a decided majority Of
tn whole community; t is certain, by the nature Of the case, by
woman $ susceptibility to the appeal Of sentiment and Her neces-
sarily less complete familiarity with the working conditions Of the
law, and it is abundantly proved by the statute books of any State
that the number of unenforced laws would be multiplied. Hence
increasing disregard for the law and increased opportunity for the
-orhi4rary ovouoica nj n ou+bon;4r ~ II, -. Ia - c-..
ism and graft on the other; the form Of government would become
nor more and more paternalistic: ending inevitably in bureanracyy;
which is the nearest form Of despotsm existing anywhere.
With men only voting, the absentee on election day is the
curse Of politics. When a full vote is poned, it is extremely rare
majority Of women eligible to the ballot would always be absent
from the polls. Statistics of states where votes have been given
to vote, and many more will refuse to do SO on any terms. There
" will u be no neglect on the e., part Of those whose votes are agreed
wall Of good government.
But the great and what should be the only conclusive objection
It, while the great majority are utterly, opposed to It. Al any
rate, whatever may be ones opinion on this subject common fair
frag. 70 women until a : majority Of them have declared, in m cleo lee
ton held expressly to test their opinion on the question, and with
women alone voting, that they want it. F&@ z '~
The elective franchise is not a privilege, but a burden. Every
conscientious man feels it 50. It costs time and labor. With more
citizen will deny that the ballot, with it's necessary preliminary
study and activity, is one of the heaviest taxes that he paws to
the deciding voice have no moral right to thrust this work upon
protesting women. TO do SO is monstrous. 1t is equivalent to the
levy OF a nigh tax on q certain class Of the community because a
few members Of that class have asked for It. &&&
The farmer has often been forgotten in general legislation for
the benefit OF others. Let not the farmers wife be forgotten in
considering the extension Of the franchise. For her voting is a
hardship too great to be endured. Aside from the preliminary prep
arahon already spoken OF, she must go to the polls, often in IN
clement weather, riding or walking several miles to get there and
back. As comparatively few women. on farms keep help, the house
must be closed and all work be dropped for part or the whole Of
the day. Any one who knows farm life knows that thsis inpos-
sible, No granting Of the ballot to woman can prevent the actual
disfranehisement by circumstances beyond their control Of the wo-
men who certainly well deserve and are as well qualified as any
to use the ballot. This consideration defeated a proposed sf-
frage law this year in a state where the vote was close.
This array Of objections, Inconvenience, positive injuries and
more than threatened disasters should make men hesitate to con
slider the extension Of the franchise to women even if there were
the gravest need for it. There is none. In practically every state
and soon in all, woman has every right before the law that man has.
She has changed the old discriminatory laws into perfect equality
Of treatment by her influence, without the ballot. It is seriously
proposed to grant that at the moment when there is no longer a
pretext Of need for it. Woman has raised herself, raised man, hui
manized the race, elevated civilization, by the way Of love; BY an
influence most powerful Of all upon husband, father, son and bro
ther, by the law Of self-giving instead Of selfseeking, that is the
highest precept yet enumerated for progress Of any kind. She does
not, as a whole, wish to change her functions or her methods. Those
who nrOnOSa IN fOiSt nnOn har q ohonr 90 d;oe +nons+ ~ 10, :. 49,. I