The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-10-03

take from him all he possesses, but
 stands a man among men, the peer or
 any, the vassal of none, but in the
 United States woman or child stood
 in some respects a chattel or slave. in
 some respects a nonentity. In some
 states the very clothes on her back
 were not her own. But what was in-
 finitely more important, her child was
 not her own. The child who was bone
 of her bone, flesh of her flesh, whom
 she had gone down into the valley ol
 death to meet and who she had brought
 back by birth bangs of times more ter
 ribIe than death itself. That child was
 not her own, but could even be given
 away by the will of her husband. Now
 a woman stands an individual among
 individuals, one who longer must
 submit to be governed as the vassals or
 old but with ballot in her hand, can
 say how she shall be governed. Will she use it? For generations we nave ] looked upon that man as a stacker who
 did not exercise his prerogative of the { vote; we have looked with contempt
 upon the man who was too lazy too lg-
 norant or too indifferent to go 10 ehe
 polls. If we are consistent, will we not I look upon women in the same way! 'Is a woman really needed at the
 polls? Is a woman needed Tn the
 home? Isn't this country home, nade
 of the great aggregate of homes! lsH I a woman held largely responsible that
 her children shall be properly ted, i clothed housed and educated. Then dp
 we not need the womans viewpoint Tn these same things where the nation IS concerned? During pioneer conditions, when a woman lived maybe twenty
 miles from her nearest neighDor,
 milked her own cows, raised ner oWh garden stuff, spun, wove and made the
 family's clothes and kept her children
 x h a U n.
 then, the vote of the woman was nor
 needed, but was there any great need
 of the vote for the man? Did not ms
 isolation make him a law unto hlmselI
 as it did of woman to herself! But
 times change, and sometimes in sim
 gle city block we find as many people living as lived in an entire state an
 hundred years ago. Now, 1T woman
 is to have pure milk, undecayed vege-
 tables, untainted meat, if garbage ana 1 sewage is to be disposed of in Sucn
 way that the life and health of her
 family is not menaced, she must nave a means of registering her opinion
 That means is the ballot. If we LOOK upon that woman as thinker. who does not do her duty in caring for her immediate home must we not do the same for the woman who neglects her
 municipal home?
 There are those who say. I think i exactly like my husband; I'll let him , east my vote.' This wonderful unanfm- . ity is interesting when we think Of the friction in the average household over almost trivial matters. Shall John nie have a new suit this winter. or be compelled to wear Jmmys? Shall Mary be allowed to go to parties With the little boys? Shall we pay cash for our igroceres or run a charge account? All 5 these things call for hours of earnest . | hon the wife is perfectly willing her hus- | band should without consulting her } register her opinion on the gravest matters that affect her home her chll- dren, her very life itself. Doesn't 1t look ike either indifference or ignor- ance of the mighty issues involved Perhaps it is both. If there were to be a convention to decide whether women ; were to wear their skirts inches or 14 inches from the ground, whether they I, were to be two yards or six yards . around the bottom, and women were
 to be compelled to abide by the de- cision rendered, could you imagine any o woman allowing her husband to vote = for her? No. indeed; she'd be right c there And then the woman's view ;. point is needed. Some one has said: B l Why not let the men do all the singing 6 in church, letting the women sing only O doubles the noise. This we know is [ not true. The harmony is not complete e until the soprano and alto has been added to the tenor and bass. Now IS y the harmony in American politics com I plete? American politics are weak to- l day exactly where women are strong. $ There is not lack of business talent. eX- e ecutive ability or smartness, but there I is- lack of conscience and humanity. c Moral and humanitarian interests are $ neglected and here it is where women L. rtrn l. is where men and women. advocate ana g opponents, of woman suffrage all unite t in believing that woman will do her d best work.
 e Many people have objected to a y woman exercising the right of fran ' chise because they thought 1t would d make woman more masculine and less O attractive to the masculine element oi - the race The difference between men y and women is natural. temperamental e Fundamental. as well as functional. Io y me one of the wonderful things in the e universe is that the things Of nature have kept their individuality through s out a million years. A million plue t iays are born. but the markings on the e tiniest feather of each tiny wing IS e identical By their side thousant t peacocks are born, but no one ever saw u A peacock feather on a blue jay s wing q Surely the God of the universe whe Il marks the sparrow's wing as well as IS fall would not make so grave blundei ' as to let the registering of her opinloi e change the divinely appointed nature 70 of Gods highest creation-ra wom3n. a ..Throughout the ages one Of the nos' d salient characteristics of woman mas e been her loyalty to duty wherever sht IL found it. She has consistently tired te e do her duty by her children, by hei home. by her neighbor. even though T s was the distant neighbor on the Jer' , Iicht, road The late war proved thal ' we men realize their duty toward theh ,, tcountry and were willing. nay eager to cn it. even if it meant giving dp ease ,s comfort pleasure, putting asiie oie " ii3eas and outworn ideals believe
 there never was time when woman
 was so well equipped with a nina mooe
 ready to study the needs or the age
 IT believe there never was time whef
 lher conscience was so aroused ana en-
 jlightened So I believe that she Wit
 jtake hold of the duty of franchise SC witf
 the same determination that she met
 the stern tduties of 1917-1S and as the
 Istrong woman of 1920 looks back al
 lthe woman of 1910 and wonders how
 lthat delicate woman rose to tasks of
 |the World war, so 1 believe that the
 woman of 1880 will look back at the
 woman of today, wondering Why she
 so dreaded the thought of registering