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The Commoner
JULY, 1914
H"fM ,j.t-w p4fw in, ' .v-f -'
Votes for Women
Tho voters of Nebraska will, at the election
next November, adopt or reject a proposed
amendment extending suffrage to women on
equal terms'with men. As a citizen of that stato
It will bo my. duty to participate in the decision
to bo rendered at" tho polls. I have delayed ex
pressing an opinion on this subject, partly be
cause I have been 'seeking information, and
partly because my time has been occupied with
national questions upon which the entire coun
try was acting; but now that the issue is pre
sented in my state, I tako my position. I shall
support the amendment. I shall ask no political
rights for myself that I am not willing to grant
to my wife.
As man and woman are co-tenants of the earth
and must work out their destiny together, the
presumption is on the side of equality of treat
ment in all that pertains to their joint life and
its opportunities. The burden of proof is on
those who claim for one an advantage over the ,
other in determining the conditions under which '
both shall live. This claim has not been estab
lished in the matter of suffrage. On the con
trary, the objections raised to woman suffrage
appear to me to be invalid, while the arguments
advanced in support of the proposition are, in
my judgment, convincing.
Tho first objection which I remember to have
heard was that as woman can not bear arms she
should not have a voice in deciding questions
that might lead to war, or In enacting laws that
might require an army for their enforcement.
This argument is seldom offered now, for tho
reason that as civilization advances laws are
obeyed because they are an expression of the
public opinion, not merely because they have
powder and lead behind them. And as we look
back over tho past, we may well wonder whether
the peace movement might not have grown more
rapidly than.it has had woman, who suffers more
than man from the results of war, been consult
ed before hostilities began.
Second. It is urged by some that woman's
life is already full of care and that the addition
of suffrage would either overburden her or turn
her attention away from the duties of the home.
Tho answer made to this is that the exercise of
the franchise might result in a change of
thought and occupation that would relieve the
monotony of woman's work and give restful va
riety to her activities. And Burely the home will
not suffer If the mother, "the child's first
teacher," is able to intelligently discuss with her
family the science of government and the art of
successfully administering it.
Third. Many well meaning men and women
affirm that suffrage would work a harm to wom
an by lessening the respect in which she is held.
This argument would have more weight had it
not been employed against every proposition ad
vanced in favor of the enlargement of woman's
sphere. This objection waa once raised to the
higher education of woman, but it is no longer
heard. The same objection was offered each
time she sought admission to a new profession
or ventured to enter some occupation previously
barred to her, but each time the door has opened
. and woman, instead of suffering degradation, has
Tisen.
These objections, however honestly advanced,
have proven impotent to retard woman's pro
gress. May not these fears, sincerely enter
tained by the opponents of woman's suffrage, be
found to be as groundless as those that once
forced the widow in Eastern India to ascend the
funeral pyre or as those that now exclude Mo
hammedan women from the social benefits and
responsibilities which the women of the Chris
tian world now shore?
And are not the second and third objections
above stated refuted, to some extent at least, by
the fact that in the states which have adopted
woman's suffrage (and in the other nations that
have adopted It) there is no agitation for a re
turn to the system under which man has a mon
opoly of the right to vote? Is it not fair to as
sume that an effort would be made to correct the
mistake if woman's suffrage had really failed to
give satisfaction to the people where it has been
tried?
Tf one were in doubt as to which sido of the
controversy to take, he would be justified in giv
ing weight to the fact that organization and en
thusiasm are on the side of those who favor
woman's suffrage. Organization is an evidence
of earnestness, as well as of a comprehension of
the subject. People do not associate themselves
together to secure a given end until thoy havo
reached a definite conclusion in regard to its do
sirability and feel that its accomplishment is
worth tho effort for which it calls. It is quite
evident that those who disinterestedly deslro
woman's suffrage are willing to make greater
sacrifices to secure It than those who disinter
estedly oppose woman's suffrago are willing to
mako to prevent it.
As for myself, I am not in doubt as to my
duty. It is not my purposo to discuss tho sub
ject with elaboration at this timo, but I desire
to present the argument to which I give tho
greatest weight. Without minimizing other
arguments advanced in support of the extending
of suffrage to woman, I place the emphasis upon
the mother's right to a voice in molding tho en
vironment which shall surround her children
an environment which operates powerfully in de
termining whether her offspring will crown her
latter years with joy or "bring down her gray
hairs in sorrow to the grave."
The Creator has placed upon the mother a
burden which she 'could not shift if she so de
sired and He has gjven her tho disposition to
bear it. Her life trembles in the balance at the
child's birth; her active years are given to tho
care and nurture of her children; her nerve
force and vital energy are expended in their bo
half; her wealth of love is poured out upon
them. Because the wealth of her existence is be
stowed upon them, they are a part of her very
being "where your treasure Is, there will your
heart be also." When one considers the cost to
parents, especially to tho mother, of raising a
child, it seems impossible that any one would at
tempt to lead a child astray ors rob its parents of
the priceless regard to which they are entitled;
and yet there are in every generation aye, In
every community those who are inhuman
enough to deliberately lie in wait to make a
wreckage of the lives of young men and young
women. They lay snares for them ; they set traps
for them; and the men who ply this ghastly trade
for gain are allowed to use the ballot to advance
their pecuniary interests. I am not willing to stay
the mother's hand if she thinks that by tho use
of suffrage she ,can safeguard the welfare of
those who are dearer to her than her own life.
The mother can justly claim the right to em
ploy every weapon which can be made effective
for the protection of those whose Interests she
guards, and the ballot will put within her reach
all the instrumentalities of government, includ
ing the police powers. If she Is a widow, thero
is no one who is in a position to speak for her
in this matter of supreme importance; if her
husband is living, she can supplement his in
fluence if they agree as to what is best for those
under their joint care; If they do not agree who
will say that only the father should be consulted?
For a time I was impressed by the suggestion
that the question should be left to the women to
decide :a majority to determine whether the
franchise should bo extended to woman; but I
find myself less and less disposed to endorse this
test. Samuel Johnson coined an epigram which
Is in point here, namely, that "no man's con
science can tell him the right of another man."
Responsibility for the child's welfare rests pri
marily upon the parent; the parent receives the
largest measure of blessings that flow from the
child's life, if that life is nobly employed, and
upon the parent falls the blow with tho severest
force if the child's life is misspent. Why should
any mother, therefore, bo denied tho use of the
franchise to safeguard the welfare of her child
merely because another mother may not view
her duty in the same light?
Politics will not suffer by woman's entrance
into it. If the political world has grown more
pure in spite of the evil influences that have
operated to debase it, it will not be polluted by
the presence and participation of woman.
Neither should we doubt that woman can be
trusted with the ballot. She has proven herself
equal to every responsibility Imposed upon her.
She will not fail society in this emergency. Let
her vote! And may that discernment which has
through the ages ever enabled her to quickly
grasp great truths made her "the last at the
cross and the first at the sepulchre" so direct
her in the discharge of her politcal duties as to
add new glories to her and through her still
further bless our race. W. J. BRYAN.
A NEW RRCOUD
Albert Sidney Burleson, forty-olghth post
master gonoral, has tho unlquo distinction of
being tho only occupant of that high offlco to
actually turn into tho treasury of tho United
States a surplus from tho postal service.' Con
gress gives tho postmaster general authority (b
use tho postal rovonues in mooting running ex
penses. If tho rovonuoB are insufficient it Is tho
duty of tho secretary of tho treasury to mako up
tho deficit from tho general revenues. With pain
ful regularity ho has been called to help out, for
not slnco 1883 has tho postal sorvlco been run
at a profit until tho fiscal year 1913. The small,
surplus accumulated by Postmaster Gonoral
Gresham 30 years ago was swallowed up tho fol
lowing year In Jiolplng to meet a deficit occa
sioned principally by tho cut from threo to two
pent letter postage. A surplus for tho fiscal
year 1912 was promised, but when suspended
expense Horns properly chargonblo against tho
revenues of that year were paid tho promised
surplus took on tho familiar features of a de
ficiency. The postmaster general, and Governor
Dockery, who as tho third assistant postmaster
general is in direct chargo of tho fiscal affairs
of tho postofllce department, entertain some vory
practical views as to when a surplus Is a surplus.
They believe that a surplus for a year is a sur
plus when tho debts of the service for that year
are paid or amply provided for and there is real
money left over. An academic estimate Is not a
substitute for actual cash. During tho closing
days of June, the governor set about his financial
house-cleaning and soon was ablo to convoy to
tho postmaster general tho cheerful news that
ho was prepared to turn Over to tho secretary
of tho treasury $3,800,000 in part settlement of
the postal surplus for 1913, as well as $2,075,
000 from other sources of income. Then fol
lowed a condition at once amusing and perplex
ing which for a time bafflod tho combined genius
and experience of the third assistant's offlco as.
well as of the accounting officers of tho treasury
department. How was a surplus to bo handled?
Clerks whohad grown gray in government serv
ice were bewildered that such an anomalous
condition could arise. Any of tho messengers
in tho governor's office could give an interesting
discourse on tho cause of. a deficit and how to
handle one, but the wiseacres wore altogether at
sea when confronted by the proposition of dis
posing of a real surplus. "Miscellaneous re
ceipts" of tho government was tho caption finally
selected under which Postmaster Gonoral Burle
son on June 27th turned Into tho treasury of the
United States his handsomo contribution to tho
general revenues. W. J. BRYAN.
The biggest wheat crop in tho history of tho
country has just been harvested, and prices
quoted are satisfactory to the producers. As a
rainmaker the democratic party has scored a
success more than equalling those triumphs that
its much more experienced predecessor, tho. re
publican party, achieved.
SENATOR SHIVELY
Tho following statement has been given to the
Indiana democrats:
Senator Shively is a tower of strength in the
administration, and it is of tho highest import
ance that he should be returned to the United
States senate. He has rendered signal service In
the support of all the policies championed by
tho administration. As the second democrat on
the senate foreign relations committee, and act
ing chairman in the absence of Chairman Stone,
ho is brought into close touch with the depart
ment of state, and I feel, therefore, a personal
interest In the success of his senatorial cam
paign. It will give me pleasure to render him
any assistance within my power.
W. J. BRYAN.
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THE FIGHT AGAINST PRIVILEGE
Tho privileged classes of mankind have
no conscience on the subject of their
privilege. History does not adduce one
instance in which a nobility or even a
monopoly, intrenched in precedent and
custom, has ever voluntarily made resti
tution to society of the rights of which
she had been despoiled. Tho iroB jaws
which clasp the marrowy bone of privi
lege never relax until they are broke.
Ridpath's History of the World.
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