Northern Oklahoma College - Roundup Yearbook (Tonkawa, OK)

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'I' ' f 'j ,Q 1 ? 1 CL',,szt,o iw fs .,-,rag me vga usda Woman's Place Irma Johnson, '15 Do you believe in manhood suffrage? Well then, why don't you believe in woman's suifrage! You ask us to walk with you, dance with you, marry you, why dont you ask us to vote with you? If Women haven't brains enough to vote with you they haven't brains enough to be in your home. In the ideal Republic, Plato says that women should have the same education as men and do the same work. To one who has not made 21 Study of the history of universal suffrage the present agitation seems doubtless some sudden and unprecedented activity on the part of a group of people. To those who have not made a study of the question of suffrage, from the time of the Greek republic to those of our oWn,thepresent agitation is but a final scene of the great drama of the growth of democracy. The right to vote is a right which has been extended as civilization has in- creased. In England bef0re 1332 Woman was a political enigma, today she is stepping in to occupy a position equal to man, In Saxony women vote on the Same terms with men, in Russia they vote on all eleCt.iVe offices and on other matters for which men are permitted to vote, and in practically all the rest of the countriesguch as, Vlfegtphalia, Prussia, Switzerland, Roumania, Italy, and Bohemia they vote by proxy on the various offices open to them. Tgday Conventions are held frequently, and the requirements for voting are restricted. The Wgmen have as Clear 21 title to the ballot as the men have. They are g-0V'e1'1'1ed, but Without their Consent, S11H'1'2.gG is Pl right of l3Ofl'l SGXQS alike. The denial of the franchise to woman degrades her to the same category with idiots, lunatics, and criminals. To this George W. Curtis says: A woman has the same right to her life, liberty, and property, that a man has, and she has consequently the same right to an equality of protection that he has. If I have a natural right to my life and liberty, I have the same right to everything that protects that life and liberty which any other man enjoys. Iask the same for every Woman. Women cannot be adequately protected while men alone make the laws. Vot- ing is the quietest, easiest, most dignified and less conspicuous Way of influ- encing the public affairs. They need the lO2lllOt to protect their business interests and to get the social and personal rights that are now denied them. Woman's mind would be broadened and elevated by a study of public ques- tions. Woman's suffrage would increase the strength of the home element in politics, secure the election of better men to oiiice, and introduce higher moral standards into government. You cannot expect women to move mountains but they can have an influence for the betterment of politics and cleaner oiiicials, improve the conditions of election booths, better the atmosphere of primaries and conventions, improve the conditions of Women and children, suppress gambling and restrict the sale of liquor. In England women have exercised municipal suffrage without detriment and with great, advantage., In Wyoming the results have proved so satisfactory that an 132

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' nw., W 7 i i t 9 5 ' ' 1 f 1 ' ' ' ' Y I i 1 . , , 5 l , Ai , I 4 4 f Ma .' M, , V 2 Q 2 i -5 X Y. Li! ,Ast f. 712-- 4 Lgl V 4 ' K X XX ff , X f A S t Z V xg 1 sf xy R. v- ' ,, Llnaraw- .. -- ,mx , YESTERDAYS, TODAYS, TOMORJROWS Cecil Artis, '17 All the troubles we have had, D We may lay to the yesterdays. We could not help them or if we could, We didn't do it always. The crimes, the sorrows, pains and faults, As you see are past and doneg That was the work of yesterday, For today has just begun. Are we Watching today our word and deed? No! There's a slip, ia slide, We'll cheer up, We may do better yet, Anyway, we have tried. Do unto others--the golden rule-' As you would have theni do unto you, And if you come out right, in the end, The end will come right for you. But what can we say of tomorrow? That page is yet white and olearg Let us do the right and trust in God, So we may have no fear. Then We may say of toniorrow. For toniorrow will be today, That we're well content, 'twas 21 Then we'1l call it yesterday day well spent, 131

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l ff the law continued upon the statute book for twenty years. I 1889 when it was admitted to the Union the constitution contained this idea. Pennsylvania wants equal Sufffagey because, She SaYS, it will correct the notorious evils of the common- Wealth. A. Caswell Ellis says: Sooner or later it must b,e recognized that the duties of a true mother to her child and her home are not confined to the kitchen and the back-yard, nor can she evade the responsibility as a citizen by turning it over to her any more than the husband can successfull f t ' tl f als to his wife. 5 uin over ie amily religion and mor- Jane Adams says, If women would fulfill liel' traditional responsibility to her own childreng if she would educate and protect from danger factory children who must find their recreation on the streetg if she would bring the cultural forces to bear on our materialistic civilization, and if she would do it all with the dignity and directness fitting one who carries her own immemorial duties, then she must bring herself to the use of the ballot -that latest implement of self-virtue. May we not fairly Say the Amercian people need this implement in order to preserve the home? Some people have said that women are disqualified physically to do the actual work of the government, YVe do not expect it. What we do want is some one with sufifiicient knowledge and common sense to elect honest men to oiiice to attend to these things. VVomen do not need to cease to be domesic because they take an interest in public affairs. There is no state that requires one to bear arms to serve as jurors as a qualification of Suffrage. Men cannot represent women, because women are unlike men. VVomen as a class have tasks, interests and occupations which they alone can edequately repre- sent. What! Would you have the women unvoiced in the governmental affairs? Have nothing to say of hers and her own child's protection? One fifth of the earth's territory is established under Woman's Suffrage. The women vote as independ- ently and as intelligently as the men. They do not neglect home for politics. There has been no harm come to men, women,children, or to the State, but on the con- trary much good has been accomplished when women have been given equal suff- rage. ' There are five reasons why we should have Woman's Suffrage: 1. Because we are for democratic government. 2. Because woman's moral influence is needed in public life. 3. Because modern industrial and commercial life has taken woman out of the protection of the horiie and she needs the protection of the ballot. 4. Because we need woman's house-keeping instinct in municipal affairs and in matters pertaining to Cllildfen- 5. Because of justice. 133