The Waxahachie daily light. [volume] (Waxahachie, Tex.) 1894-current, 1917-01-31
SUFFRAGE LECTURE
DELIGHTED MANY
CLIiB WOMAN GAVE GAVE COM
MON. SENSE TALK "WHY
WOMEN WANT To VOTE.
Speaker Wanted American Women
TO Have a Part in Moulding An
Ideal Government Tor
the People.


Miss Lutte g. Stearns of Milwau-
kee, a director in the central fedora
ton of womenss clubs, delivered an
address at Sims library last night
ON suffrage that proved highly ca
tertaining and instructive. Miss
/ stearns is not an extremist in any
sense of the word. but gives strong
and foreeful reasons why the wo-
men of America should be recog-
nized at the ballot bo1. She showed
very coaclraivelv tfat the granting
of suffrage to wcmen was no more
| than they woro entitled to and fur
Their that it would work to the hene-
fit of all MANKIND.
In opening her talk on "Why Wo-
men Want to Vote" Miss stearns
stated that suffrage simply meant
opportunity that women wanted to
help in bringing about the ideal
democracy in America. She referred
to the change that had come about
among the English women since the
war, stating that they were being
saved from the disgrace of leisure
and she asked for similar rights for
American women even in times Of
peace. She named the twelve states
| in the west in which the women were
doing their part and pleaded that
this special privilege" be extended
TO the women Of Texas.
The speaker insisted that 1t was q
matter of political expediency as no
party could hope to win hereafter
which did not recognize the right Of
women to the ballot She told Of the
many reforms brought about In the
enfranchsed states and showed the
| falsity Of many in the contentious
urged against ballots for women. For
many years Jane Addams of Chiea-
90, the leading woman Of America.
had no vote while Jack Johnson was
! voting regularly. She proved, ac-
cording to the census of 1910. that
there were more white women in
Texas than all the negro men, wo-
men and children combined.
TO the argument that women did
uol wish to vote. she showed that
/ zoe, 600 women voted at the last
election in Illinois. 100000 in Kan
sas. $4,000 in Montana, and 100000
in California. the women of the west
swinging a republican and progress
siye vote of four years ago to the
democratic column this year.
| To the charge that politics is dir
! ty business. she stated it was time
/ then that women should clean 1t up.
She wondered what had made poll
tics dirty ii men had had the hand
ling of the government so many
years. She gave the testimony of q
Chicago policeman who testified that
before the women had the vote it
was ''hel' at the polls and that now
| it was Heaven" not a single arrest
being made at the polls on election
day.
Miss stearns said that the bad
women did not vote as they were
obliged to give their real names ana
residences. She ridieuled the silent
influence" argument. stating that po-
litical and social evils cannot be
cured by the absent treatment"
that you mus do il by the laying
ON of hands, Gao of the world
wide crimes Wcmoa wish to abolish
is war. Net ere Of tho countries in
Europe in which women have par
liamentary vote il ct war. She proph-
esied that the women of England and
France would be given the franchise
as a reward for heroic services, The
new premier of England, Lloyd
George, is a suffragist. Four OF the
largest Canadian provinces have Civ
en- political freedom to women since
the war began.
Miss Stearns stated that Texas
would soon be Lone Star state in
very truth ii it kept back much
longer justice and equality from its
splendid women. She advised theI
Texas women to study the man-made|
laws and stated that even superfi-I
cial examination of inequalities
would make the indifferent woman
different. She begged for support