The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1915-09-08
MARY AND JOHN N
SUFFRAGE j | ||||G|'| SPEECH |:
Mrs. Lora s. LaManes Makes Plea
Ye,terday IN; Her Talk For
Equal Suffrage for
Everyone.
woMENs VISION Isl BROAD.
This 10 shown In. Many Ways Which
Speaker Pointed out-How
our Constitution Falls
short.
woMEN's VISION BROAD

Mrs. Lora s. 3LaMance delivered
suffrage lecture Monday afternoon
in the Y, w. C. A. auditorium before
a. very interested audience OF women.
Beside prominent Keokuk women,
there were several present from
Hamilton and one OF the most inter
ested listeners in the audience was
suffragist from Virginia.
The speaker was introduced by
i Mrs. Leonard Matless In q very appro-
4 pirate way. speaking Of the service
Mrs. LaMance had given in helping
/ to secure suffrage in several states
and of the interest the women OF
Iowa have just now In suffrage. MIS-.
1 Lasfance has a clear style OF enun-
ciation. uses plain Anglo-Saxon words
and IL one Of the clearest. most loEt-
cal speakers who has appeared In
IKeokuk in many day. She IL rath-.
er plain In appearance, but thinks as
| she talks and her face reflects the
earnestness she feels in the theme
she IL discussing. She had for q
subject, shall Mary Help John?" She
said in part:
/ az have taken two common names,
/ Mary and John, two OF the best loved
4 names in all OF history. Mary. the
4 name OF the mother OF Christ, and
/ John, the name OF his beloved dis
ciple. The name Mary was originally
Marah. signifying grief and bitter
ness. In general sense 1t 1s an ap-
propriate name for woman. for II any
one has seen heartache 1t has been
| the women Of the race. We shall call
our woman nor Marah but Mary. for
\ AZ H1A~ lat to-
passing with the years.
II wonder how many OF you have
stopped to think what christianity has
done for women. Followers Of all
heather religions hold their women as
chattels. The Mohammedans only
give immortality to the women who
4 die In child birth, others believe that
death ends all for a woman. The
Jews alone among ancient people held
/ their women in respect. Sarah, the
wife Of Abraham, was the arst to de-
clare women's rights and the first to
demand home in which there should
be one wife and one husband. Ac-
cording to the custom of those days
when no son was born to her. she
gave Hagai, her hand maiden, to Alb
raham and to them was born a son
Ishmeal. Then, after few years
when sarah's own son was born. she
declared for q home'in which there
should be one wife and one husband
and one family. Women have ever
since been standing for the integrity
OF the home and that's what we are
still advocating and that's the prin-
ciple back OF the suffrage movement
still. We don't all have Just exactly
the same problem Rachel had, but
these are certain things which men
ace the safety and happiness of chill
| dren still.
Jewish Woman Assembly.
'Thea Jews had an assembly OF
women who served in the temple and
who stood in high places. When the
Jews were taken into captivity and
came into contact with heather ma
lions and idolitrous people. the wom-
en- were gradually held in less and
less esteem, until when Ezra led the
remnant back out OF captivity they
stood for men and men only. A rabbi
could not speak without congrega.
ton and It took ten men to make q
congregation. ten thousand women
would not have made congregation
So you see the significance Of Christ
speaking to one woman alone at the
IL.
honored women They were last at
the cross and first at the tomb. After
the resurrection Christ appeared first
to Mary. And 50 christianity has al
ways put men and women on the
same plane. During the dark ages
when learning and all the refining
things Of life almost went out OF
existence, when wars waged every
where, and when might made right,
women were held in no repute be-
cause they could not go to war and
bear arms.
when our forefathers. the pil-
grims and the puritans came to Amer
lea they brought with them along
with their religious principles be-
| lief that women were the property Of
men and one law actually said that
q man had a right to whip his wife
provided the stick were not thicker
than his finger They had limited the
size Of the stick: we must give them
credit for that They brought with
suffrage for men. At the close Of
the revolutionary war. eleven out of
the Thirteen colonies gave only partial
suffrage to the men. In some colo
MES only one-sixth voted; In two OF
them, only one man in fifty voted.
When the colonists came to make
laws for new republic. they did the
stupidist thing that any set of men
ever did,, they took English laws
laws drawn up q hundred years be-
fore for monarchy, as a basis for
q republic. That's why our constitu-
ton boldly declares that all men are
created free and equal and then re-
fuses political expression to one-half
of those same free and equal inhabi-
tants Of this SO called democracy.
| Don't FIT Democracy.
Nov these laws didn't fit a democ-
racy and whenever q law pinched
iman's toes he changed that law to At