The Washington herald., 1915-01-24
'SUFFRAGISM IS
WOMANS CROSS"
Mrs. George P. White Says
Ballot Does More Harm
Than Good.
GOVERNMENT BY FORCE
Fairer Sex Should Not Be Asked to
Fight or Vote, Is Ants
Argument.
By MRS. GEORGE p. WHITE.

BY MRS. GEORGE =. WHITE,
The oldest, as we'll as the most COM
mon plea for woman suffrage is the at
tempt to apply the war cry OF our revo-
lutionary forefathers to the case of
votes for women"
Taxation without representation" they
tell us, was the cause that drove our an
CestOrs to fight the British and gain their
independence. They do not, of course,
recall that it was national representation
in the British Parliament, and not Il
question of individual voting that was
associated with this question in 1776. But
about the first thing the suffraEists did
after their organization in 1S4S was to
parody the Declaration of independence
by a ''woman's declaration which is
worth reading and comparing with the
original document by Thomas Jefferson,
in order to get a clearer insight into the
workings of the typical suffrage mind. a
little while afterwards, came the ''Wom-
ans Bible" another parody on the di-
vine document of Christianty-but that
is another story. Most of the present
day followers OF the cause" do not men,
tion these parodies. and the older element
would fain forget them. hut they re-
main indelibly impressed on the move
ment. and proclaim its origin and its
force to consist in a CeaselesS desire to
initiate the things done by men.
OF course, accuracy and a sense of
proportion could not be hoped for under
these circumstances. The inaliena BILE
rights 10 life, liberty and the pursuit OF
happiness" in the Declaration OF Inde-
pendenCe were applied by the feminists
to mean that a woman has right" to
vote if it makes her happy to do so; the
list of expressions and usurpations OF
the liberties OF the American colonies by
George III were made over into A list
of grievances for the individual woman
who was dissatisfied: the grinding taxa
ton imposed on our whole country at
that time by a monarch who Quartered
large bodies of troops on our people. DIS
missed legislatures. and repealed laws
at will. has been altered to serve as an
excuse for a woman's lodging the tax
collector because she doesn't vote.
And the "Woman's Bible likewise
seemed necessary to feminists who saw
in the Christian Bible nothing for or
about women, and forgot Esther Judith.
and other national heroines in tho Old
Testament, and Mary. the Mother OF
Jesus. in the New Testament. names
which are more celebrated today ny Jews
and Christians than most OF the Bible
men.
Taxation Suffrage.
What has taxation to do with suffrage?
Very much under feudalism. very little
under democracy. II taxation suffrage is
the thing desira BILE. then Germany and
Russia are the most democratic nations
on earth There the thing is worked out
scientifically, so that the Prussian land
lord has six times the representation
given the peasant in other German states.
and though more men vote in Germany
in proportion to population than in any
other country. the system Of electors
which has survived the Holy Roman
Empire" has put the whole nation under
the domination of Prussia and POtsdam.
In the German ReiChstag only a major
ity vote is necessary to pass legislation
apparently a more democratic system
than required in our Congress and IeEis-
latures in many instances-but that ma
jority vote does not often register the
will OF the maiority of the people. but
the will of the Kaiser and the mobiles.
In America, we are, or at least be
lieve We are, more free than in Russia
or Germany, and why? Because suffrage
is not based on taxation or inherited
property but on manhood. and gives the
multi-millionaire and the street sweeper
an equal vote. But how did tho street
man with millions? By paying taxes. by
intelligence. by education? No, but by
force of arms-by becoming the million
aires equal on the firing line.
Every great government and every
great change in government has been
brought about as the echo of war. This
is history. not theory. Politics. as SEN
ator Root once said. is modified warfare.
The only way to decide a question of
government was to go out and fight
till one faction won control. Finally this
troublesome system was avoided by a
show OF hands to signify on which side
the warrior would highland the bal
lot was born. Later. some tribes out
fought and disarmed and then enslaved
others. only to he overcome, in turn, by
more vigorous and younger races. The
nations with the most warlike ability de-
velOped the most independence in the in
dividual. As the Norman, the Celt. and
the Saxon learned that his king depended
on his strength at arms to keep the
kingdom. he demanded the registration
of his own opinion in the councils OF
the government. not as taxpayer or
according TO his riches. but as a unit of
the force on which government rests.
Government by Force.
lFNNN Aufpl rs NOulu nav e us lf'lltNt
that government is merely A human
itarian enterprise-"pu housekeeping"
as the suffragiSts say. They forget that
if we were all perfectly just and honest
and obeyed the golden rule at all times
we wouldn't need any government or
any laws besides the sermon on the |
Mount. But government is the embod- |
ment OF the force for which the majority |
OF the men will fight to preserve It |
against other forces. In the nature OF
things. ii limits the freedom Of the few
for the good Of the many-imprisons
criminals. protects life and property. |
safeguards our rights and liberties, not
by opinion, but by force.
1t is for this force, this protection, that |
We pay taxes to maintain police, judges, |
legislatures, not as public housekeep-l |
ers, but as officers to carry out by foEce. |
II necessary, the common will or the /
policy of the majority.
In taking the ballot. the man assumes !
sovereign responsibility for the main
tenance of the laws and the enforcement
OF judicial DEGREES. He becomes at once |
liable to jury service. to police duty, to !
take his place on the firing line in de-
fense of the government and its laws. |
Consequently. he gets his right to vote,
not as a natural inheritance Of his "hu-
manity" but, because he assumes a cor
responsibility and duty in |
carrying out. by force, II need be his
decision at the polls.
who Pays Taxess