New Ulm review. (New Ulm, Brown County, Minn.) 1892-1961, 1914-04-15
Equal Suffrage
Favored by Club
Debate At Congregational
Church Shows General
Sentiment.
DR.. Buck Creates Favorable
Impression In His
Lecture.

The Mems Club OF the First Congrega-
tional Church closed an interesting and
profitable season Of literary work last
Thursday evening with the much-herald-
ed debate On Woman Suffrage. That the
question was of more than passing inter-
est was amply shown by the seventy-five
or eighty men from all walks Of life who
gathered to listen and participate.
Mr.. F. w. Johnson opened the discus
sion for the affirmative, sketching the
slow progress of womans social status,
ic detail He considered that the grant
ing of the full suffrage to women in about
dozen states and the granting of partial
suffrage in practically all the other states
was but mans tardy recognition of the in
Justice of sex basis for suffrage; and he
he closed with an impassioned plea that
all women be invested with the suffrage,
regardless of their preference or desire in
the matter.
Major Albert Pfaender, in opening for
the negative, said he had accepted only
after persistent urging by the committee
and on the understanding that his presen-
tation of the argument in opposition to E.
quail suffrage for women was in no sense to
be construed as indicating his personal
views, but merely an attempt on his part
to provoke further discussion. He then
proceeded, with the skill and logic born Of
an extensive legal and legislative expert
ence, to dissect the arguments in favor OF
suffrage, citing instances in support of his
contention that women, without the suf-
frage, had always exerted a mighty influ-
ence in governmental affairs and that only
the greatest reverence for the highest at
tributes of womanhood had moved many
thinking men to declare it unwise to
thrust this additional burdenupon wom-
an. He conceded, however, that the idea
of equal suffrage for women is growingand
that it would probably become general
within the next ten or fifteen years.
The general discussion was, in the main
in favor of equal suffrage, but some thot
the change should be brot about gradually
either by gradual extension Or by quail
tative tests. Mr.. Johnson, in closing, ap-
peared to voice the general opinion when
he branded such plan as unjust, assert
ing that if woman were given the suffrage
she would grow to it's responsibilities all
the faster.
The discussion was lively, good-temper-
ed, and interesting turnout.
Those who attended the lecture ON I'm
mortality delivered at the Methodist
Church last Wednesday evening by DR..
J.. B. Buck could not help being forcibly
impressed with the theories on the soul
and the future life advanced by the emf
nent psychologist.
The lecture was given under the au-
spices of the Mems Club of the Metho-
dist Church and was we'll attended, as
seats were at premium in both church
and the adjoining parlors. DR.. Buck
who is man ofseventy-fve years with a
vigor and directness of speech that man
of fifty might envy, has a pleasing, con-
versational style coupled with lucidity
which made an extremely abstruse sub
ject remarkably clear and as tangible to
the laymen as to the student of philo-
sophy His philosophy is new and re-
freshing and was propounded with a
strong conviction from which dogmatism
was happily absent.
After brief introduction in which he
showed the relationship Of morality and
immortality DR.. Buck proceeded to de-
fine the human soul. A simple diagram
of a dot within a circle illustrated his
meaning, the dot representing the soul,
the ego within it's sea of surrounding con-
seriousness. Man is simply the individual
intelligence, God is the universal intelli-
gence. Man is limited to his own in
telligence, God is universal. Conscious
ness is not necessarily active. We may
be conscious of things and still not per-
ceive them. Perception is active, how
ever, and leads to some form of rational
violation. Conscience, as we call it, is
simply the souls recognition Of personal
, responsibility At death we cast off the
physical body, it's purpose is accom-
plished, but the spiritual body remains,
dominated by the soul with it's inherent
qualities of rational violation.
It is impossible to prove the fact Of an
after life absolutely, but our faith, "the
souls intuitive conviction" causes us to
firmly believe in a hereafter. Morality