Evening capital news. (Boise, Idaho) 1901-1927, 1914-07-17
TO SUPPORT ISSUE At
NEBRASKA ELECTION
Defends the Right Of the
Mother to a Voice in
Moulding Of Environment
of Her Children-Not in
Doubt as to Duty.

Washington, July 17,-Secretary
Bryan in formal statement issued last
night. came out for woman suffrage.
He declared that he would ask no po-
litical right for himself that he was
not willing to grant his wife, and an
nounced his intention of supporting the
proposed state constitutional amend-
ment extending the franchise to wom-
en- to be voted upon in Nebraska next
November.
Woman, Mr.. Bryan said, had proved
herself equal to every responsibility
imposed upon her and would not fail
society in this emergency. Above all
other arguments in favor Of giving her
the ballot he placed the right of the
mother to voice In the moulding of
the environment of her children. THE
mother" the secretary said, "can just
ly claim the right to employ every
weapon which can be made effective
for the protection of those whose in
terests she guards and the ballot will
put within her reach all the instru-
mentalities of government, including
the police power"
The statement follows IN fun:
"The voters Of Nebraska will at the
election next November adopt or re-
ject a proposed amendment extending
suffrage to women on equal terms with
men. AS a citizen OF that state 1t Will
be my duty to participate in the de-
cision to be rendered at the polls. l
have delayed expressing an opinion on
this subject, partly because have been
seeking information, and partly because
my time has been occupied with ma
tional questions upon which the entirs
country was acting; but now that tha
issue is presented IN my state. I take
my position shall support the
amendment. shall ask no political
rights for myself that am not will
ing to grant to my wife.
"As men and women are co-tenants
of the world and must work out their
destiny together, the presumption Is on
the side of equal treatment that per-
tans to their joint life and its oppor-
tunities. The burden of proof Is on
those who claim for one advantage
over the other in determining the con-
ditions under which both shall live
This claim has not been established in
the matter of suffrage. On the con-
trary the objections raised to woman
suffrage appear to me to be invalid.
while the arguments advanced in sup
port of the proposition are, in my 3udg-
ment, convincing.
THE first objection which Temem-
ber to have heard was that as woman
can not bear arms she should not
have a voice in deciding questions that
might lead to war, or in enacting laws
that might require an army for their
enforcement. This argument Is seldom
offered now. for the reason that as
civilization advances laws are obeyed
because they are an expression OF the
public opinion, not merely because they
have powder and lead behind them. And
as we look back over the past, we may
well wonder whether the peace moves
ment would not have grown more rap
idly than 1t has had woman, who suf-
fers more than man from the results Of
war, been consulted before hostilities
began.
The chIId's First Teacher.
"Second-It is urged by some that
womans life is already full of care and
that the addition OF suffrage would
either overburden her or turn her at
tentIon away from the duties OF the
home. The answer made to this is
that the exercise of the franchise might
result in a change of thought and oc-
cupation that would relieve the mo-
notony Of woman's work and give rest
full variety to her activities. And sure
ly the home will not suffer II the
mother, the childs first teacher is
able to intelligently discuss with her
family the science Of government and
the art Of successfully administering
it,
"Third-Many we'll meaning men and
women affirm that suffrage would
work harm to woman by lessening
the respect in which she is held. This
argument would have more weight had
it not been employed against every
proposition advanced against the en-
largement of woman's sphere. This
objection was once raised to the higher
education Of woman, but 1t is no longer
heard. The same objection was Of
fered each time the door has opened
and woman, instead of suffering degra.
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