Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1919-02-05

with facts. and will gain the expert"
ence, insight and training. which are
necessary for her own best develop.
ment. and at the same time will make
her most serviceable to society at
large.
Make Her a FulI.FIedesd Citizen
OF prime importance in this con-
nectiop is the fact that ninc-tenths OF
the teachers in our public schools are
women. Whatever knowledge of our
history and government. of the fun
damental principles Of our institu-
tons and the working of our political
machinery our boys get in school-to
say nothing of our Girls-they obtain
for the most part from women, ana
without the responsibility and the
practical experience of the franchise
women are but half prepared for this
vital task. They need practical cx'
perience no less than theory. just as
a student Of chemistry. for example.
must supplement his study OF the
textbook with experiments In the lab
oratory, if he is to make himself
competent chemist. In justice then
to woman, in recognition of the great
service she is capable of rendering 10
the State, and in order to give her the
best opportunities TO fit herself for
that service, We must clear away the
traditional obstacles in her pathway
and make her full fledged citizen.
TO be sure thl bill under considera-
ton docs not fully accomplish this pur-
pose. but it is step in the right direc-
ton. If the national Suffrage amend
ment is not passed by the Senate at
this session-and it now seems hardly
probabl that it will bolt cannot be
passed. even il the next Congress IS
called together in extra session. until
many of the State legislatures have ad-
journed sine die. and then two years
more must eiapse before ratification be-
comes possible. In that case the wom-
en- of Maine cannot share with their
II 90 900 sisters in the suffrage states
in the election of a president in 1929
The passage Of this bill viii! give them
that privilege, or rather it will 90 them
that measure Of justice. 1t is in the
hope that you, gentlemen of the COM
nlittee. and the legislature to which you
make your report will not assume that
the political fate f the women Of
Maine was irrevocably fixed by the
vote of September. 1917 bat
will give due weight to the sweeping
worldwide changes which have been
drawing our State Of Maine into their
irresistible rurrent. tina: this plea for
fl NO hill r..eCi.
Dental suffrage is presented.
A Glarins Inconsistency
In payaphrase Of Lincoln's Oft quoted
saying. This nation cannot endure
half slave and half free" this nation
cannot go on with "alf its women vot-
ing and the other half disenfranchised.
Is there any prospect that the suffrage
states will reverse their action? The
almost unanimous support of equal suf-
frage by bot, men and women in these
states stamps any such expectation as
utterly chimerical. No, the time is
coming, and is coming soon, when a,
woman can change her residence to
any state in this Union without forfeit
ing her political rights-a penalty that
scores OF women have already paid by
coming from suffrage states to Maine
This inconsistency is 100 glazing to last.
But it pales in the light Of still more
giaring INCONSISTENCY. that of fighting
great war with millions Of men and
billions Of money and sacrificing tens Of
thousands Of our bravest and best in
order TO make the world safe for de-
government Of the peo-
pie. and for the people-while in mary
OF our own states We exclude one-hale
Of the people from all share in demo-
cratic government. But as Maine In its
long coast line from Kittery. to East
port feels the daily pulsation Of the
ocean tides, so the great world tiGe Of
thought and aspiration. of democratic
sentiment and ideals, OF free and equal
participation in the functions of gov
eminent b. wor.en as well as men is
steadily beating against and wearing
down our conservatism. and no Mrs.
Fartingtons with their brooms will he
able to hold back its overwhelming
power. Some OF YOU perhaps heard
Raymond Robins say in his address
here last Friday. after expressing his
reg ct that Maine turned down woman
suffrage. IF you don't take it straight.
you'll get it eventually: and in
posthumous article by Colonel Eoose.
'elt. whom We all honor as great
American. occurs this incisivc state
ment: There should be no further dc.
lay in giving the women the right to
vote ''1t is ar absurdity longer to
higgle about the natter"
Colonel Roosevelt thus stressed he
of cause lie had long aIyo.
Gated. for as member of the New
York assembly he supported woman
suffrage. in his inaugural address as
governor he urged its adoption, and
years ago he wrote: II believe the
m other. to be sincere neither, must be
more than a cross between the head
nurse and the housekeeper. She must
have an interest in outside things to
Keep her own self-respeet, and when
she loses that she loses the respect OF
her children.
Names Slowness in This
To Maine belongs the honor Of inaug-
urating the grand prohibition move
ment whose recent successes have as
founded its advocates as it has dis
mayed its opponents, and in other for
ward movements We are proud that our
state has been a leader. But we must
admit that Maine has been slow to
sense the gravity Of the suffrage issue.
she has been slow to see the justice of
woman's claim to the ballot, she has
hnon c1oVu iN II, vvjp to-