Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-06-06
CONGRESS RECOGNIZES
THE SOCIAL REVOLUTION
Its Approval Of the Suffrage Amendment
Is an Admission That the World Has
Changed In Century

Changed In Century
T'HE attempt to discover why Congress
L has approved the equal-sutfrage
amendment TO the constitution is the
most fascinating occupation open just
now to those who have any attention to
spare from considering the progress Of
the peace negotiations in Paris.
We do not mean why thirty-six Repub
leans voted for it and seventeen Demo
Gratis against it or why eight Republi-
cans voted against it and twenty Demo-
Gratis for it. The explanation for the
party alignment on it in the Senate is
easy to find and is of little moment in
comparison with the larger issues in
volved.
The subject which deserves serious
consideration at this time is connected
with the social changes which have pre-
ceded the agitation for equal suffrage
and are at bottom responsible for the i'm
pending change in the political status of
women.
There have been women of undoubted
political genius from the time Of the
semimy ythical Semiramls to that OF Vic
toria, queen of Great Britain and Ire
land and, by grace of the gallant compli-
ment of Beaconstield, empress Of India.
And there have been women who, through
the destinations of their sex eNerted
over kings, have affected the course Of
events. But these have been exceptions.
The task Of government has been per-
formed by men. They have demanded
the protection of their lives and their
property, including their homes. They
have insisted on the passage of laws
which would protect their children and
their children's children. And when it
was necessary they have taken up arms
to fight other men unwilling to grant the
protection which they demanded.
The women were busy with the tasks
of the home. In less complicated and
mechanical civilization they practiced
many arts. They spun and wove fabrics.
They made them into garments for their
families. They gave their children such
religious instruction as they received
They impaired to them knowledge of the
secrets of life. They trained them in the
household arts. And social system
grew up with the family as the unit and
the head of the family as its political
representative in the state.
The only respectable" occupation open
to a woman outside of her own home was
| that of teaching or nursing in a quiet
way or domestic service. If woman
was so rash as to appear on a public
platform to make a speech she risked her
reputation. The proper place for a
woman was in the home, according to the
accepted opinion of the time-it was not
more than seventy years ago-and if she
left the home she did so at her peril
But now there are women doctors and
women lawyers. The factories are filled
with women workers. The large retail
| shops employ women almost exclusively
as salespeople. The offices of business
and professional men are filled with
women stenographers and women secre-
taries. We are no longer scandalized
when a young woman studies Greek and
Latin, chemistry and the higher mathe-
| matics Colleges have been established
exclusively for the higher education of
women and women are admitted on the
same terms as men in many great uni
versties.
The women's colleges at first set out to
train women as if they were to enter into
the same occupations as men, because
they wished to prove that woman was
as good as man, if not little better
Wiser counsels are now prevailing and
| an attempt is making to train women fol
the purely feminine. functions which
they must perform if the race is to be
preserved. But the right of woman tc
as much education as she or her friends
or the state is willing and able to pay fol-
is no longer disputed, even by the ex,
treme anti-feminists.
The home of today, however, is moi
what it was in the days of our grand
mothers. Instruction in sewing anc
cooking is left to the public schools. Re
ligious instruction is left to the Sunda,
schools or is neglected altogether. Mos
if not all of the clothing is made outside
of the home and the domestic arts O.
weaving and spinning have been trans
ferred to great factories. Much of tn
food consumed is prepared in cannin,
factories or in bakeries. The cured meat
| are DOuSuJ Tcduy lOi use anu The wash
ing machine and electric iron and vacuum
cleaner have reduced the household wor
until the modern housewife is a woma
of leisure in comparison with her imme
date feminine ancestors.
So many women are employed outsid
of the home that it has become almos
impossible to get any one to assist tn
mother in the care of her family. W
are giving our attention almost exclr
! sively to the needs of the workers outsid
J Of the homes. Social reformers are d,
manding legislation for the protection {
women and children. They are also d,
manding better housing conditions, $
J | that the workers may have healthfl
| .nrrn,indinps where they sleen as well /.