WOMAN SUFFRAGE.
This week the national capital has
had the advocates of woman suffrage
present in force. By their numbers
and speeches they have endeavored to
inject some spirit into a campaign that
has lagged for several years past. Senate and house committees have given
them a patient and respectful hearing,
without any prospect that the granting
of the proposed reform will follow with
a precipitate haste.
From the viewpoint of these advocates, the lines written by an American
lawyer-poet, William R. Wallace, have
no basis in reason or fact. Wallace,
who perhaps wrote poetry for a living and practised law for pleasure,
penned these often-quoted lines:
"For the hand that rocks the cradle
Is the hand that rules the world."
It is difficult really to see what woman has to gain by privileges and pow-
ers additional to those already possessed. In the three factors that control
modern civilization her position is pre-
eminent: home, church, and school. This
is to say that her spirit directs in their
activities. As to the home, there will
be no dispute as to her control. While,
in church, she does not fill the pulpits
or, in the main, the administrative
offices, its internal affairs and religious
status are governed almost solely
through her initiative and according to
her ideals. In school, nine-tenths of the education imparted to the young
of the land comes through her as the
teacher and guide. For real power
and helpful service, it is impossible
to think that better opportunities and
wider avenues could be offered and
opened.
