The Chattanooga news. [volume] (Chattanooga, Tenn.) 1891-1939, 1920-03-26
POLITICAL RECOGNITION OF 4
SOCIAL FACT.

: and protection OF the woman VIII
y earns her living have been consum
mated by the votes OF those VIII
today are favoring political as wei
. as social rights"
The truth is that political equalit,
! ~ the least OF the alterations which
have occurred as well as the last
We have seen women given highe,
education. There was time wher
men were opposed to that. 1t was
said even then that women's place
was in the home and they didn't need
high school or college education, as II
didn't make them better cooks or
seaIpstresses. We have seen women In
this country drawn into gainful pur-
suits. There are now estimated to be
eight million women who are en-
ployed outside their homes. The place
for them may be the home. but the
men OF families nevertheless have LET
them 30 out into the world where
they are employed alongside of men
ana in many cases doing mems work
Or what was thought TO be mems
work. This was a quiet social and
economic evolution. 1t came grad
ually. But It is now condition ana
not theory. The women are in
these avocatlons. We couldn't II we
wanted to force them out of these
Jobs and We wouldn't want 10
because the world is stronger eco
nomically for women's work. During
the war we came to an even fuller
realization OF how valuable were
these nimble fingers and active
Drains and consecrated purposes to
the tasks Of civilization. Woman's
greatest function will always be aa
wife and mother. but modern inyen-
tion has made her less a slave and
modern education has given her a
broader view of life and modern So
ciety has demanded of her a wider
held OF activity. AS mother she must
also protect her young and she sould
not be helpless. The problems of
education and labor demand that she
use the ballot. The problems are most
acute to the wage earning mother.
but they affect also all of the sex and
even the protected women OF the
Weather classes resent a parasite
status.
IL things had been ordered as thew
ought to have been-if some prophet
could have convinced mankind what
was going to happen, perhaps be-
fore those eight million women
mounted the school platform, or took
their places at the factory machines
or stood behind the counters in the
stores, or went into the professional
otilces, or did the thousand ana one |
things which they are now doing
wen. we would have enacted legis- !
iation giving them equal political
rights.
1t would have saved women In
work m1hy injustlcos in hours OF
labor and in rates OF wages and con.
dltions OF employment, no doubt. II |
they had been voters from the first |
lt would have given us better sys-
TENS OF education, But we didn't
nave the foresight. In the south,
at least, there is enough of
chivalry that II we had foroseen that
women would undergo such a social
change we would have thrown the
mantle OF protection about them 40
Tor as we could. II we hadn't of
course We would have been less than
southern men. Chivalry consists I'm
something more than taking or your
nat to a woman, or assisting her off
a street car. 1t consists In doing jus-
tice to all Of the sex and making her
way as easy rs can be done, con-
sidering her weaker physIcol
strength. and lack OF experience in
business.
The vision OF today Is OF a world
where women and children are not
abandoned helpless to the remorse-
less laws OF force.
The ballot Is only a recognition
or the fact that this social revolu-
ton has occurred: that women are
IN business and industry, that they
have special interests to subserve,
and that these may not be recog-
niSed fully unless they are armed
with the ballot. or course the ex-
tension Of the ballot to women has
always had Justice on It's side. but
the crying need OF the change was
not so manifest until tho old pa
triarchal organization OF society was
moro or less broken up and women
had their peculiar interests over
and above those OF men Of their
They are no longer prop
erly represented in elections by the
votes OF men alone. They are en-
Titled TO direct participation. The
OF population in cities:
the growing number employed In In
iustry business and the professions,
their larger participation In all pub
10 affairs have Rccentuated the Issue
and brought II to a head. Delaware
IL late in ratifying suffrage because
probably It 10 one OF the Oldest
fashioned OF the states II ia to be
hoped that 1t will not prove 80 con
servative as TO leave the question
unsettled. The social and economic
changes have occurred. The political
recognition OF the fact has followed
In every other great country in the
unrlA u Mn fnll.ru -.