Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1921-01-05
WHY WOMEN WILL NOT ENJOY
THEIR WORK ON THE JURlES
Is There a Tendency to Penalize the
New Voters who Sought only
Voice In Government

! is not strange. Nobody with a sensitive
mind ever did enjoy forced contemplation
| Of misery and error.
There can be little justification. therefore,
| for the solid old buccaneers who. with minds
| that san e"ipUrn in the twilight OF the
! sixties. HHNc always disdaincd the prrten-
! sionS of sufragists and.now experience some.
| thing like ecstasy at the spectacle of women
| surprised and shocked and saddeued by their
| first full view of the procession Of broken
and tormcntcd humanity that passes every
| day through the criminal courts. They
wanted it, say the c!nics, now let them
have 1t 80
But women didn't seek the vote because
they wanted To- serve on juricS and hold
office and compete with men in what might
be called the hard labor Of American citi.
z"nShlp. They have enough work to do as
In" homekeepers Of the country. and their
traditional seryic" is peculiar and indis
pFnsabl". When they demanded the right to
vote they wished primarily to have a voice
in the making Of laws which, because of the
extent 10 which economic forces have upset
and changed the social tradition that once
was their chief shelter and defense have
grown to affect very intimately their lives
and their opportunities and the lives and the
opportunities of their children.
In the course Of time there will be a new
general conception of the nature OF women's
rights. There will be a reaction from tue
state Of mind that has led a good many
people to suppos" That since tn" elective
franchise became a privilege of all citizens
women hav" lost their oldest right that Of
protection from the rougher edges Of the life
about them. When that time comes women
will be- wise to accept immunity or partial
immunity from jury service. They hav"
nothing useful to learn in ,thr criminal
courts. What is reflected there is too often
nbnorua. and repeIent. The work Of juricS
can b" done by men in all but exceptional
cases.
The lord of creation. bluudering amid the
hanging confusions Of his world has never
been either the perfect being that he imagined
himself 10 b" or the monster Of selfshIcss
once piInricd in the speeches of the more
ardent frmniStS He has always been will.
ing enough 10 respect the rights of women.
! The difficulty with him was tu recognize
them and formulate codes in keeping with
changing times. Once he knew what was
expected Of him. he strove nightly TO do il.
He has ahorod on the earth and over it and
bored through tempests and crossed oceans
and built and torn down for the things
needed to express the inartirulate moods Of
his reverence for bears claws and the tusks
OF unrulv beasts in the early days. aud for
diamonds and limouSines' and empires and
the like in these later generations.
Few men labor for themselves They may
60 out to tame wilderness to fight in
wars; they may burn themselves ont at OBJ
srurr toll or 90 blazing to inches in the
halis Of fame. but each is always and for.
ever in the service of n still Presence that
waits to.tako in her hands the results OF all
this travail or to smile and be glad or beau
tiful because of triumphS finally achieved
Men who laho" only for themselves are eX.
c"ptional and almost abnormal types. So,
80 say Of the whole masculine world that it is
hrutally self rcntcred is to show that you
know littlr Of I'll" animating processes Of
civilization and the profo@nd"r human i'm
pulses.
It is in their general attitude toward col
Irrtve wOmanhOOd that men reveal. IL not
deficient philosophy Of ethics. at least an
inability to cope with drifts and forces that
divert them from what might be called the
g n:ral purpose uf their lives. Social and
economic complex ties have multiplied amaz.
irgIy with the development of machinery and
the progress Of industrial expansion. aud
before them most mNu still remain bewil-
dorrd They hav" been aStoniShed 10 find
women in competition with them in the prac-
iical affairs Of life" and a good many Of them
SUPPOSE thpt women hay" accepted this new
condition voluntarily.
The fact i that the forces of evolution
have driven women out into the world into
the PXpoSrd places Of industry and the social
struggle where deprived of the security that
was theirs when their place really ras in
th" home. they must look to H." laws for
their safety
The period ~ what has been called fcmi-
nine emancipation found the masculine mind
uuprcpar"I Women in n" abstract or
women in he Immediate circle Of his family