 |
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
|||
|
||||
|
||||
|
Maryland State Archives Maryland Suffrage News Collection MSA SC 3286 msa_sc3286_scm7805-0079 Enlarge and print image (1M) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||
|
||||
|
||||
|
Maryland State Archives Maryland Suffrage News Collection MSA SC 3286 msa_sc3286_scm7805-0079 Enlarge and print image (1M) |
| 73 MARYLAND SUFFRAGE NEWS MARYLAND Published Weekly by the JUST GOVERNMENT LEAGUE OF MARYLAND SITiN.'.Charles Stmt DEDICATION To the poor women without hornet, to the little toilers who should be in the schools and playgrounds, to the white slaves in their tragic bondage, and to the children who die, these pages are dedicated 1 May every woman who is not too idle to have a thought, or too vain to have a soul, or too rich in gold to have a heart, join in the great struggle for women's freedom I Purity, Liberty, Justice—these we must work for! WHY THE P1LGRJMAGE ? IN spring the young man's fancy turns to |K>etrv. The sages and philosophers say so; it must he true. These same sages have made no pronouncement concerning the springtime fancy of the suffragist. With- out consideration of the sentimental emotions, we surmise that her thoughts trend toward county campaigns. There was the time when suffragists sat grandly in automobiles and spent man) dollars in reaching a few hundred souls. Then came the hike, the delightful, joyous hike, when several thousands of people in a county came miles to see the band of women who dared walk tgj miles to tell the story of votes for women. Although hikers rejoiced in the great out- of-doors and marvelled at the economy of the trip, valuable speakers were automatically debarred from a campaign because they could not endure (he physical hardship! of such a journey. The problem was, then, to com- bine the elements of economy, publicity and physical possibility. Thus it was that the prairie schooner expedition came into being. The initial campaign was planned through the counties of Southern Maryland. Drum I'oint and St. Leonard's loomed big. History reminded us of Lord llaltimore, Leonard Calvert and Margaret lirent. Governor's Spring, Matlapany and "Preston" called for attention. St. Mary's City, the one-time capital of Maryland, breathed sentiment, anil thus evolved the pilgrimage to the home of Margaret lirent. a pilgrimage replete with romance, publicity and work. An average of 15 miles is covered daily, three and four meetings held, and the story of the "I'irst Suffragist" and the suffrage movement is told to wondering crowds. The prairie schooner is symbolic of faith, hope and enthusiasm. It was horn in the days of tumult and war, and to the forty-niners it meant opportunity and wealth. The suffrage schooner is equipped as carefully as its predecessor of the gold days, but with the bloodless weapons of a timely propaganda. The earavaners seek for the treasure of suffrage sentiment. One thousand miles they will journey to gather from the hos- pitable counties votes for a real democracy. There will be romance and work, rod the prairie schooner is symbolic of faith, hope and enthusiasm. DEMOCRACY DEMANDS WOMAN SUFFRAGE UNIVERSAL suffrage has in a short time developed from an ideal of a very few women into one of the great questions of the hour. When a certain policy is supported by one-fifth of the entire electorate and earnestly desired by a considerable minority of the other four-fifths, that l>olicy cannot be disposed of in such fashion as immortalized by the incom- parable I'owdle of < >hio. The question must now be settled by the entire electorate for the entire country, Bowdlerizing and empty compliments "to the fair sex. Ciod bless them." must give way to careful consideration. The first point to be weighed in discussing universal suffrage is: Are women human beings? fn a country governed as is Russia or Germany such a point needs no care. All people are divided into classes, each class having a greater or lesser share of privileges and power, and women are quite easily disposed of by labeling them the lowest class politically. In this country, however, we have no political classes. All men are horn free and equal. The natural meaning to be inferred from this phrase is, free to govern themselves, equal in governing themselves. This is democracy. We Americans are strong believers in democracy. In several wars we pledged to it our lives, our honor, our fortunes. That slavery should exist in this country we held to be inconsistent with the principles of democracy. We fought the Civil War and added amendments to the Constitution. That professional politicians should select our candidates for office we held to be contrary to the spirit of democracy. We promulgated direct primary laws. So far. so good. There is still yet another phrase, another principle which we hold to be a great truth, an inalienable corollary from "all men are born free and equal." and for which we also stand ready to battle for with blood and gold: a just government derives its |>owers from the consent of the gov- erned—not from the consent of one-half of the governed, but of all the governed, excluding, of course, the criminal, degenerate and minor. Such is democracy. All law-abiding persons of mature age are entitled to a voice in the government. To safeguard themselves in their pursuit of life, liberty and happiness, men enact, through their representatives, their demands into the organic law of the country. If the representatives refuse to obey the behests of the electorate, they are retired anil others chosen who will obey the public's de- mands. Women are confronted by the same everyday problems of exist- ence, they must ohey the same laws, yet they have no voice in making or changing them. This is not democracy, for it is government without the consent of the governed. FARM WOMEN NEED THE BALLOT iiy Mks. 11. j. Bran, AS I am familiar with farm life my interest is stongly with the wives and daughters of our farmers, particularly the daughters. It is a life that can be made full and beautiful, hut that so many have not reached this point is more from lack of ability to grasp its opportuni- ties rather than because the opportunities do not exist. The farmer is naturally anxious to improve his land, to keep abreast of his neighbors by having the latest thing in machinery and the best breed of stock, in which he is usually abetted and commended by his women folk ; the comforts of the home, so dear to the female heart, are put aside till some future day when cash is nut so scarce. Little amusement is provided for the young people. If the father i> prosperous and the farm large, the work is endless, the women's part ex- tending from the early daylight hours till after dark. At night the older people retire early, having the comfortable feeling of having gained a well- earned rest. They fail to remember this does not satisfy the craving for auiu-einent that it an essential to the normal young man and woman. Here is where suffrage would be of such help and profit to the average farm women. I f they were interested in outside questions that wotdd benefit all the neighborhoodi if they felt they must know about the politics of county and State or be behind their neighbors in intelligence, thev would at once have a new interest. They would feel the necessity of holding meetings; this would mean a suitable meeting place: then the advisability of good roads, getting good schools and using the schoolhouse for literary gather- ings and neighborhood dances. They would find thev were not only the dish washers and bread makers, but being voters the men would meet them on equal terms wdten public questions were to he discussed ; that when the tax rate was to he fixed the matter would he spoken of freely before the women and at a neighborhood meeting at which both sexes attended, instead of at the saloon or the corner grocery as heretofore. It is only because our farm women have not yet fully grasped the immense difference woman suffrage would make in their lives that they are still indifferent about it. To be a voter in Maryland would so broaden and brighten their lives that I urge them to read the literature on the subject, subscribe to the brightest little suffrage paper published, the Maryland Suffrage News, and then I am sure each and every one of them will become a suffrage worker. Mention the Maryland Suffrage News When Patronising Our Advertisers. |