Elmore County Republican. [volume] (Mountain Home, Idaho) 1910-1915, 1915-02-20
ABE LINCOLN ON
WOMFN'S SUFFRAGE

Editor Gilmore County Republican. .
1 he enclosed Clipping Is taken from
the editorial column of the Idaho
Daily Statesman of February 18TH
Something that Abraham Lincoln
wrote in 1886 is being sifted through
the arguments f,,r national woman s
suffrage III an effort TO demonstrate
that the emaacipator favored that
propaganda
He may have been in harmony with
woman s suffrage as it is contem-
plated today, but nothing that he
ever said bears out the deductions on
the suffragist.
His statement was printed in the
New Salem oIurnal and was as fol.
lows:
| go for all sharing the privi-
eyes of the government who as
s.st in bearing its burdens; con-
sequently | go for admitting all
whites to the right of suffrage
who pay taxes or bear arms, by
no means excluding females.
There is nothing on the records
showing that he ever so much as
mentioned woman's suffrage at any
other time. 1t must also be borne in
mind that Lincoln at that time was
only twenty Seven years of age.
III the statement may be legitimate
ly applied to woman's suffrage at all,
it could only be construed in fairness
as being opposed to the present de-
mand.
Before Lincoln's mind had matured
and before he had an opportunity to
take large view of great public
questions, he only went so far as to
say that women who pay taxes and
bear arms should be permitted to
vote. OF course, that would hardly
)e satisfactory to the suffragettes.
This is intended purely to correct
AN erroneous impression of the rec
ord"
Whether the attempt to mislead the
reading public by drawing conclusions
that are utterly unwarranted and can
only be made to appear as having
any claim to Justice, by changing a
word SO as to change the perfectly
apparent meaning of the paragraph
vas done with malice aforethought,
cannot say; but one thing is GER
tainly true. The practice that lis so
often resorted to, of stating an un-
truth, and then attacking the state
ment to befuddle the public is scarce
ly less injurious to cause than to
make quotation truthfuhy, then in
referring to 1t, leave out, add or
change word or two and then COM
ment ON it in it's changed form. Had
Lincoln sad he Was in favor of ex-
tending suffrage to all whites who
bore the country's burdens, one might
stretch the imagination sufficiently to
claim that he meant one who bore
his or her proportion of ALL the
burdens OF the state; but he does
not so state. Instead, he says plain
ly that he believes in sharing the
privileges of government with those
who ASSIST in bearing its burdens.
One doe nots have to bear a certain
of each and every kind
Of state duty, another, another kind,
yet both would be ssistinag in bearing
It's burdens. But to remove any pos
5sibility of doubt as to his opinion,
he continues, consequently | go for
admitting all whites to the right of
suffrage who pay taxes OR bear
arms" not as stated in the editorial
pay taxes AND bear arms
There is nothing in Lincoln state
nent whereby 1t could be claimed
that he was in favor of women vot-
ng who did not either pay taxes or
bear arms, nor is there any sugges-
ion that he was at all in favor of
he right to vote being enjoyed by
men who neither paid taxes nor
bore arms.
From this one statement Of Lin
,olns, 1t is fair to presume that he
lid not approve Of giving all white
men the right to vote simply because
hey were men, but In addition there
%, they should either pay taxes or
pear arms. And when that test Is
applied to all white men, | don't be-
ieve there will be murmur heard
rom the women. History does not
show in one single instance, where
lincoln was so ungallant as to even
suggest that women should bear
1rms. He was broad enough to UNI
ierstand there were other methods
md ways in which women could as
st in bearing the country's burdens
besides fighting. The article sug-
,ests that at the time the statement
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