Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1919-05-27

gainst their having the vote are based
ION prejudice, not on reason. Those
who must pay the taxes should have
voice as to the amount of tax and
the way in which the money should
be spent. If woman owns property
! she has to pay taxes on it. Isn't it
fair to let some of their tax money be
used to print their own ballots? We
might say that women are represent
ed by their husbands, fathers and
brothers. No, this can't be true. For
instance, here is a man who has a
wife, widowed mother, four or five
unmarried sisters, and half-dozen
unmarried daughters; his vote repre-
sents himself and all these women
and it counts only one, while the vote
of his bachelor neighbor next door,
without female relative in the
world counts for just as much. But
if a woman commits a crime she can't
be represented by her father, hus-
band or brothers, she has to repre-
sent herself.
/ Since the object of taking vote
is to get at the wish of the majority,
it is clear that the only fair and &C
curate way is for each grown person
ohave one vote, and cast it to repre-
sent himself or herself.
American men are the best in the
world and if it were possible for any
men to represent women, through
kindness and good will toward them,
American men would do it. But a man
is by nature too different from a woH
man to be able to represent her.
Whatever his good will be, he cannot
fully put himself in woman's place,
and look at things exactly from her
point of view. Unless men and women
should ever become alike. women
must either go unrepresented or re-
present themselves.
Women are citizens. No one denies
that fact, for the constitution of the
United States, the law which super
sedes all law, declares them citizens.
The government of our nation and of
all the states recognizes women's re-
sponsibility and forces them to bear
the burdens of citizenship. Woman
citizens especial sphere is the ac-
iknowledged cornerstone of our Re-
public. When we say that women
would be eligible to an Office. what do
we mean? Simply that if majority
of the people in any place would
rather have a woman to hold a GER
tain position than anyone else, and If
she is willing to serve, they should be
allowed to elect her. Women are serv-
ing as officials already.
My opponents may say that women
don't have time to attend to political
duties. How much time must she
spend on her political duties? If she
belongs to the well-to-do class and
hires others to do her work, she has
plenty of time, and if she does her
own house-work, she can take ten
minutes to stop on her way to mar
ket to vote once or twice year. She
can find half an hour a day for the
newspaper and other means of IN
formation. She can talk with the fam
ily and friends about what she reads.
If she does this now, she will then do
it more intelligently and will give
and receive more from what she says
and hears. Women as majority have
more leisure than men to devote
their time to such as this. Where wo-
men have the full ballot they have Of
ten defeated bad candidates for high
er Offices, and no riotous uprising
has ever followed. This particular OBJ
lection is a libel on our American
manhood.
| You may say that if women vote
they should fight. If no men were al
lowed to vote except those able
and willing to do military and police
duty, women might consistently be de
barred for that reason. But as long as
the old, the infrm, the halt, the lame
and the blind are freely admitted to
the ballot. box, some other reason
E.. ovo1,,Itncr women