Newark evening star and Newark advertiser., 1915-09-25
PrO-Suffrage

New Jersey has been flooded of lat
with the hysterical outpourings o.
Sthe opponents of suffrage anent the
"destruction of home and family
sthat will result from granting thu
SVote to women. These outpouringi
Are often nicely touched off by pretty
little poems about the patter of tiny
feet" and the sacred hearthstone."
'ees coarse the process of reaching
sroncluslons by clear thinking Is not
30 easy and exhilarating as jumping
to conclusions in leaps of eloquence
nnd ordinary common sense may seem
IA bit cold after the pleasant thrill
of sentimental verse; but after all, In
question that vitally touches the
conversation of human resources
facts are rather more important than
kelf-intoxicated eloquence and woolly-
,witted sentimentality.
Even a cursory survey of the facts
INSTANTLY reveals that women want
,the vote above all. and when they
have it, use it above all for those very
1things that the anis say suffrage will
qdestroy-the home and the family: TO
make the home more of a home and
9to secure healthier and happier con-
ditions of life for their children and
for all children.
of the woman's vote In Norway It
is stated that "as might be expected,
sthe chief interest of the women has
been to improve the condition of chill
sdren. over so per cent. of the bills
introduced into the three successive
tDiets have concerned the welfare of
\ .children. Many have been for rem
dering medical aid to poor women
8 rthroughout the country districts, and
for instructing them in tho proper
methods of caring for infants; many
,have dealt with special classes OF
Achildren, orphans, walls ana juvenile
Idelinquents."
To come nearer home and to give
tone of a vast number of illustrations
of this point, Professor Henry Kelly,
tof Iowa State University tnow prac-
,ticing law in DenVer), who went to
Colorado opposed to equal suffrage,
land was speedily converted by what
& he saw of its workings there, says In
! aan open letter to Senator A. ii. Cute,
OF Iowa: Experience clearly shows
'that Women's interest cannot be
+ ,aroused in mere partisan strife. Their
interests center around questions af-
! fecting education, public cleanliness,
public morality, civic beauty, chari-
i ties and correction, public health, pub
4 lie libraries, and such subjects as
more intimately affect home life and
conduce to the prosperity of the fam
lily. Men lose sight of these important
considerations in the scramble of par
tisan warfare for office, but women
will not see them obscured by any
thing"
The anti-suffragist paints a charm
ing picture Of the cherished, protected
wife and mother, absorbed in her
Ill f1
granting of the vote to women Will
destroy" This is an unspeakable in
suit to womanhood and motherhood.
1T assumes that womanliness and
motherloye and tenderness are super
fetal, hothouse growths based on
ignorance and stupid sellishness, that
a little thought on the question of
how to cast her vote so that 1t may
not only benefit her own home and
children, but also add to the proteo-
tion and welfare and happiness of
other less fortunate women and chill
dren, will do away with her womanly
qualities. Those who really honor
womanhood and motherhood know
that increased understanding and
sympathy on the part of woman can
bring her only increased tenderness
and depth of character.
Senator William E. Borah, of Idaho,
where women have voted for years,
says: "The mother Is no less a
mother, the home no less a home. 1t
is absurd, perfectly absurd, to sup
pose that woman will change her
sphere in life by reason of an In
creased opportunity to enlarge and
ennoble that peculiar sphere In which
she is by nature placed and from
which all the laws and politics of the
world will never take her. This Is
the same doctrine that woman has
had to meet in every single initiative
of her fight for n higher and broader
sphere of action. / know. everybody
who thinks knows, that the woman
who deals in care and sincerity with
those questions which Tighten the bur
dens and adjust the equity of hui
manity is nobler, stronger, more
womanly woman than the woman who
sits in enforced idleness, sips her tea
and discusses the decline and retire
ment of some departed social queen
Moreover, the anti-suffraglsts ut
terly ignore the diverse side of the
protected mother in picture
and totally ignore the fact that thou
sands OF women are compelled by eco
nomic pressure to spend their days In
grinding toll in factories and work
shops in order that they and theil
husbands may keep home and family
together. What of her health and
protection7 II her wages are StarVa'
ton wages, and the conditions under
which she works ruinous to hel
health, what sort of home can she
make and what sort of children car
she bear and rear? And what Of the
deserted mother and family, concern
ing whom we have recently been in
formed by G. l.. Stonaker, secretary
/ of the State Charities Aid, that ade
quate laws enforcing the support o.
i the family cannot be passed because
corrupt politicians want the votes o.
the deserting husbands7
OF this side Of the picture tho anti
DO not speak, nor of ghastly housing
conditions that exist in tenements
! nor of little children working in fac
tories instead OF playing, or playing
in the streets amidst viscious condi
tions because OF inadequate play
grounds space; of babies dying be
cause of polluted milk-all these ant
countless other things that concern
only the home and family, and fo
the betterment of which women wan
the vote, the antis studiously avoid
These are the conditions that are dis
rupting the home and the family anC
these are the conditions that the vot
Of woman would help to remedy,