"f3STTOq
The Commoner
tf"
Vplr. H, -NO.
18.
j-kr- T'vrir',
M'
on all other things, but wo wero agreed that tho
time had come for tho extension of suffrago to
woman on equal terms with man. It is true that
'the republican party said that it aught to bo
LEFT to tho states, and that tho democratic
party RECOMMENDED to tho states tho aaop-
tlon of it.
I am not willing, howovor, Co put tho form
boforo tho substance. Tho roal question is
whether woman ought to vote; if the democratic
party believes, as it said in its platform, that
tho time has come for suffrago to bo extended to
woman on oqual terms with man, and recom
monds all tho states to adopt this, you will And
It vory difllcult to And any logic that will sup
port you in opposing its adoption by a national
amendment to tho constitution.
WOMEN HELPED DEMOCRATIC PARTY
Objections to a national amendment como
only from tho states that b.avo not yet adopted
tho amondmont; just as rapidly as tho states
adopt woman's suffrago, tho states' rights idea
disappears and thoy are ready to join in mak
ing woman suffrago national. If any party
ought to bo friendly to woman suffrage, it is tho
democratic party. In tho first place, the demo
cratic party builds upon an ethical foundation;
tho foundation of democracy is human brother
hood and that is an ethical. Second, in tho last
campaign, tho women saved us when tho men
would have rejected our party. ,
I havo told you of a record made, a record
that has no parallel in all our political history,
and yet that rocord, submitted to men only,
would havo been rojected. It was tho women
who held the balance of power and converted a
dofeat into a victory. We made our fight on
what our President had done in securing econ
omic roforms and then wo found that the visit
that ho made on ono occasion to the state of
Mow, Jersey, when ho voted for woman's suffrage,
had an influonco sufficient to give him a second
term in tho White house.
What was it that influenced these women my
tr6nda? My good friend from Montana, who
has contributed so largely to this victory in tho
west by his splendid management, has spoken
- of tho protest against a return of tho govern
ment to tho hands of the predatory interests;
and that is true. It is true that wo could not
have won, If wo had not drawn' to our party a
largo percentage of the progressives of tho west,
but oven with all the progressives whom wo at
tracted to our partywe Would still have failed
had it not been for the appeal that tho Presi
dent's course made to the women.
And why did the women respond, It was,
because he stood as tho champion of peace ad
peaceful methods as against the more warlike
methods advocated by tho republican candidate
Did these women lack patriotism? No! Tkriow
tho mothers of this country; U any country eyer
attacked us these mother's w6uld give tlleir sons;
they would button on thfclr Uihifdrms and send
them out with thoir blessing. But these moth
ters are not going to give ai'cirsons in unneces
sary wars. They did not believ it was neces
sary to wage war against Mexico, and they did
not believe it necessary to fchd their sons .
across an ocean, throe thousand miles wide, to
march under tho banner of a European monarch
and 'die on European soil in tho settlement of
kings' disputes. It was the mother instinct that
led these women to cast their vote as they did.
Wo need these women, in the fights'
we have ahead of , us; ' wo, 'need
the mother's influence and the mother's
solicitude. To my mind tho mother arugment
is tlie strongest argument "in favor of woman's
suffrage. The mother's investment in tho child
is different from the father's investment. I lovo
my children as well, I think, as a father can, but
I do nqt put myself in the same class with my
wife when it comes to the lovo of a child; and
I do. not put any father In the same class with
thBrnl'other. If you want to know vhy a moth
er's love for a child is tho sweetest," tehderestr,
strongest thing in the world, you will find the
explanation in the Bible. It says: "Where your
treasures are, there will your heart be also." Tho
child is, the treasure of tho mother; she invests
her life in the child. Two thousand years ago,
when the mother of tho Gracchi was asked:
"Where are your jewels ? she pointed to lier
sons, atfd said, "These are my jewels." '
Tli'mother.'B life- trembles in the balance at
the babe's birth, and fdr years i is the object
of her constant care. She expends upon it her
nervous force and energy, and "ho endows it
with tho wealth of her love. She dreams of
what that child is to be, nd do; and, oh, if a
mother's dreams only came true, what a differ
ent world this world would bo! And tho most
pathetic struggle that this world knows is not
tho struggle between armed men upon the bat
tlefield; it is the struggle of a mother to savo
her child when wicked men set traps for it and
lay snares for It. While ou givo the ballot to
a man who conspires to rob a homo of a child, it
is not fair, and you know it is not fair, to tio
tho hands of a mother as sIk struggles to pro
tect her home and save her child. If there is
such a thing as justice in this world, the mother
has a just claim to a voice in shaping of the en
vironment that shall determine whether her
child will realize her hopes or bring her gray
hairs in sorrow to the grave.
The mother should also have a voice in es
tablishing the nation's standard of honor,
which is, after all, tho important thing. Who
says that the husband is tho only ono who
should have a voice in det rmining whether the
ties that were formed at the marriage altar
shall bo severed by the husband's departure for
tho battlefield.
Who says that our standards of honor aro not
safo in the hands of women? Woman has a
sense of honor that man will never surpass. We
need the votes of women more than women need
the ballot. We need the votes of women to help
us in the great fight against the saloon, the
monster evil of our day, and wd need the votes
of women to help us create a public opinion that
will make us potential in the wor'd's affairs.
The only substitute for war is friendship built
upon the spirit of brotherhood, and woman,
who, as has been said, was the last to leave the
cross and the first to find the sepulchre, is need-
ed in this country to help us crystallize a moral
sentiment that will enable us to lead the world
up to higher ground and to build a peace that
shall endure. ' ' i
THE LIQUOR QUESTION K ' ' '.
There is one other reform, and, I think you. .'
have probably been looking for it. I shall take
a double portion of. water before I proceed. Wo
have to meet tho liquor question, gentlemen,. I
have sometimes been accused of traveling ,top(
far .ahead of the army. I think I, can present a( ,
very complete defense to that charge on most
questions. I havo not been ambitious to be a.
pioneer. The best definition of leadership that
I have ever heard was given by Governor Qgles
by, of Illinois. Ho said,,. "A. leader, is one wbQ r
is going in the came direction as the peqple,Tb,ut
a LITTLE BIT ahead not too far!" I have sim-.
ply taken up questions when I thought they were
" ripe for action, -and, for twenty yearss I havp. di
vided my timejabout equally between, dejfcnd,
ing the things I advocated and explaining t why ih
I was not advocating something that I did not
advocate! I think the time has come to t take
up tho prohibition question. Itris the question,
of the hour. - , ,
Up&n "what ground does the .demand' for - pro-r
hibitlon rest? Upon the only ground' upon
which any legislation on the liquor question has
ever "been built. There is just one proposition
which furnishes the foundation for every law
that has ever been passed in any country at any
time on the liquor question, namely that alco-
hoi is a harnul thing; that, when taken into
the ..body, it weakens the -physical strength,
saps the vigor of the mind, and menaces the
morals of the man. Now, if anybody can over
throw that proposition, he will not only defeat
prohibition, but he will secure the repeal of
every law ever passed on the ' liquor question.
That is the foundation,, and, it is not an open
question. Nobody will praise the saloon today.
The saloon has no eulogist. Why? Because, al
though the drinking of liquor may be practised,
it is not defended. Everybody knows -that al
cohol is injurious, and recommends everybody
but himself not to have anything to do with it.
I have heard a number of fathers, who them
selves drink, boast that their boys were teeto
tallers. Why? Because they recognized that
it is not wise to drink.
I went down to Annapolis some two' years' ago,
one of the splendid institutions of our nnnt
presided over by one of the "Vest of my friends
. (Secretary Daniels).. X spoke to .eight hundred'
and more midshipmen there, collected from' aUv creases man's expectancy according ' to
tho districts of tho country, selected by examin
atlon and competition and you can not nim
eight hundred finer specimens of manhood on
this earth than those men. They are beine
trained at government expense for a govern
ment service, and Uncle Sam is so anxious that
every one of them shall measure up to the high
est point of efficiency that he will not allow one
of them to use alcohol while he is in school
there.
If anybody thinks that lcohol is a good thing
for young men let him convince the government
that its policy is wrong. If he can compel
Uncle Sam to feed alcohol to those boys, the sa
loon will win tho greatest victory it has ever
won since it came to curse mankind. But he can
not do it and he will not try, because the history
of the human race stands back of the govern
ment's position. NoW, my friends, if Uncle Sam
is so anxious about his wards that he will not
allow those midshipmen to use alcohol, should
not a parent be even more anxious about his
sons? If any of Uncle Sam's boys goes astray,
he can get other boys to tako their place, but i
one of your boys is destroyed by this evil, you
can not replace him in your home.
I went down to Austin, Texas, last March, to
speak to the students of the state university,
and as I approached, the city I asked my com
panion about a man whom I had known there
a man of advanced years and great prominence.
I thought I had seen in the newspapers that he
had died a few years before, but was not sure.
My companion answered that he was dead, but
that before ho died he had made a speech in
Austin in. favor of prohibition. Then he told me
how this man stood before his townsmen and
reminded them of the fact that he had spoken
and voted against prohibition, but he said, "I
am now for prohibition:" And why? This was
his pathetic explanation. "I have not a son who
is worth anything. Drinlc has ruined them all,
and in my old age I am left alone." What an
awful punishment for God to visit on a father
who had thrown his influence on the side of the
saloon until it has robbed Tiim. of his own flesh
and blood! ' "'
The" liquor habit can not be defended, and if
thq liquor habit can not be defended, the saloon
can not be defended. If anybody tells you that
the saloon is a good thing for the town, let me
give you two arguments, each of which furnishes
a conclusive answer.
First: Travel over this country as I do and
you wiir often see at stations a signboard ad
vertising,, the town. The first thing at the top
is the iame of the town and the state, and un
der' ttiat the population. I have noticed that tlie
population is generally given, as thirteen thou
sand' three hundred and seventy-nine, or some
oth'er fcxa'fct number and when I read that I know
that there' are no MORE people there. They
are advertising the town, and they mention ev
erything that will attract the number of fac
tor! the number of business houses, the num
ber, of. churches, colleges, and schools but one
thing-' they never mention. I challenge you to
find; jl 'bill-board between the two oceans that
tellttio number of saloons in a town. You can
noVfind a board of trade, or a chamber of com
merce, or a commercial club, that ever sent out
advertising matter telling the number of saloons
when it was trying to draw people to a town.
The other answer was given me by a farmer
In Nebraska, who refused to sign a petition for
a saldoh. The applicant asked him, why? He
replied, "Because they donof treat the saloon
keeper fairly." The would-be saloon keeper
had heard other objections, but never that one.
The farmer explained: "You think your saloon
will bring trade, improve business and help the
town?" and he said, "Yes, sir." "Well," sala
the farmer, "if your saloon will do what you
say it will .do, bring trade, improve business ana
help the town, they ought to give you a bonus
to start that saloon to help the town, and not tax
you for it!"
"NO DEFENSE FOR THE SALOON
You can not escape the logic of it- Yo" ca
find no defense of tho saloon because you Know
that the saloon is a bad thing; and, if the so -loon
is a bad thing, then how can we defend ine
licensing of a saloon? Scientific experiment naa
demonstrated beyond the shadow of a aovu
v.4. t. ., o'o.iiii oir&n in moderate qud
titles, Impairs the physical welfare ana j
Y
rt
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