Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1917-01-04
Extracts From
"Why Man Needs
Wonan's Ballot"
nv Clifford HOWard)

Woman suffrage is no longer a ques-
ton merely of woman's rights. 1t mas
ceased to be a partisan or an argument
atiye question. 1t has become big,
vital. economic necessity. We grant
that woman needs the ballot; but,
more than that, the time has now
come when the ballot needs the woman.
The nation, the state, the man needs
the woman's ballot.
1t will be found. however. that
the great majority of men do
not see that they have anything
to gain by granting the franchise
to the woman. Those who
favor the doctrine of equal suffrage are
animated wholly by a sense of justice,
of fair play, or of chivalry toward the
opposite sex They want to see the
woman enfranchised because they be
!ieve it will prove benefit to her; be-
cause they believe it is a right she
ought to enjoy; but they do not see in
it any particular profit to themselves. =
However, there is one class of men
who do realize the bigger import OF
this big question Wherever you go
whether it be to California or to Kan
sas or New York or to England or Aus
tralia, it matters not where-you VIII
find woman suffrage opposed full
strength by the saloch men, the gamb-
lers, the corrupt politicians, and the
traffickers in vice. And why? Because
these men are afraid of the Woman'S
vote They know what it means. They
know that to grant the woman the bal
lot means an instant and a powerful
menace to their business and to their
corrupt and evil practices. They know
that the woman will exercise her pol
itical authority in behalf Of decency
and purity; that business and poll
tics and party interests will weigh not
at all against her simple, primal no.
tons of right and wrong. They know
this, and therefore they fear her.
1t will be found that many of the
prejudices and arguments against
woman suffrage are based upon condi-
tons that no longer exist. Our nation
has moved forward with such prodi-
gious speed that only the most nimble-
witted among us are able to keep pace
with II.
Fifty years ago, for example, there
was but one woman's college in Amer
lea, and that was not much more than
a seminary. Today there are a hun
dred and fifty women's colleges, to
make no mention Of the many co-edu-
cational institutions. Seventy per cent.
of the graduates of our high schools are
girls, and today there are more young
women preparing for college than there
are men. In the educational status of
woman, therefore, there has been a
most remarkable change. Our fathers
opposed woman suffrage on the ground
that the women were not deserving
and were not capable Of liberal edu-
cation. and behold. today the women
are fast becoming the better educated
half Of society.
Sixty years ago there was not wo-
man physician in the United States.
Today there are more than eight thous-
and OF them. There was not a woman
lawyer: today there are nearly three
thousand. There was not a woman
clergyman; today there are nearly six
thousand. And SO with all the pro-
fessions and technical callings. In our
fathers days none Of these was open
to the women. The women were not
considered capable Of filling them.
Sixty years ago there were but five
or SIX occupations open to women
teaching, sewing, housekeeping, and
the like-and. all told, there were but
comparatively few thousand women
who were earning their own living. To-
day there are more than three hundred
occupations open to women and there
are today upward of six million women
who are supporting themselves by their
own labor.
(On Saturday other extracts from
Towards article will appear-Ed)