The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1915-09-18
PRIOR McNAsB, o.P., ON woMAN,s
RIGHTS.
Justice or Expediency.

vote may be put in this way. To re-
fuse the vote to women is a matter
either of pure justice or of mere ex.
pediency.
II 1t is matter of justice, that is,
II women have no right to the vote,
why do not men prove that no such
right exists /? And how can they at
once dtsprove womens right and
prove their own? This argument is
so strong that few anti-suffragists
claim to refuse the vote on grounds
Of justice. 80
They rest their refusal on ground
work of expediency But it may be
asked. "On what grounds does this
plea of expediency rest? And why
should men rather than women be the
final judges Of this expediency?" Elk
pediency is a personal matter which
all have a right to solve for them
selves. Thus when the claims of JUS
tice are satisfied in the paying of a
mans debts. no one but the man him
self has the right to dictate the man
ner of spending his remaining wealth.
Personally, / cannot see beyond the
fact that very many women want the
vote, just as men want to drink cham
payne, smoke cigars play billiards, or
Join political club Any of these
things may or may not be expedient.'
But 1t Is clear that men want them;
and that ends the matter. The twen-
tleth century is very likely to suffer
from the in0rdinate desire that some
classes have to force certain practices
on other classes, on the plea that it
Is for their good. The war has given
these busybodies the opportunity for
enforcing their own particular opin.
ions about alcoholic drinks. But the
men that detest this interference
would do we'll to examine whether
their own refusal OF the vote to women
is not part Of the same thirst for
righteousness-by force of law.
Pictures are sometimes painted of
the awful state Of things that would
follow Woman Suffrage. Whatever
that state might be, it could not be
worse than what we are undergoing
at present. We men have had pretty
free hand in Europe for three hundred
years. Look at 1t now! Our handi-
work is but sorry argument for re-
fusing place in politics to women.
If domestic ecoaomy,f the historic
sphere of women, was in the same
plight as political economy, we men
would insist on our sex being cooks
and housekeepers.
Need Of Women In Social Works.
Any experienced social worker
would readily admit that in almost
every department Of social work there
is room and need for women.
AS a priest, whose duty it Is to de-
fend the Greed and the Decalogue, l
confess that the need for more women
In certain professions seems almost a
matter of ethical duty. For long
time I have felt that the increasing
claims of medical supervision demand
an increased number of women doc
tors-from the point Of view of sexual
delicacy. We are all bemoaning the
decay Of reserve; and the publicity
of RIGHTEOUSNESS. Lewdness has left
the trenches and is fighting in the
open.
I sometimes ask myself If the un.
constituencies we all deplore is not
largely due to the lack of women doc.
tors. In olden days when doctors
were scarce and fees were high a
medical examination was a luxury
which most people; could afford only
once in life. at or about the hour of
death. But nowadays medical ex-
aminations are almost Of daily occur
renee. Gentle girls who intend to en-
ter official positions under govern
ment or in large business firms must
produce medical certificates, that is,
must undergo medical examination. l
cannot say how many medical ex-
aminations must precede q girls final
acceptance as certificated teacher.
Now all these examinations could be
quite efficiently and much more deli
cately carried out by women doctors.
May 1t not be questioned whether our
young women in high schools are sufil-
GENTLY shown in how many ways they
could protect their own sex by taking
up the career of q doctor?
+ What is said of doctors may be said
Of other professions. Women lawyers
and barristers have become crying
need.
The Wonderful Record Of Woman's
Work.
The history of work done by women
In the Catholic Church would be q
history Of the Catholic Church. Dur.
ing the last century nothing but the
priesthood has surpassed womanhood
In defending and spreading Catholic
truth. I felt this especially when 1t
was presented to me on gigantic
scale in the United States. In this
country. which does not give penny
OF public money for UNCONVENTIONAL