Municipal Suffrage
No. 4. What the women might,
could, would, or should do, to make
Knoxville a better place in which to
live, if they had the ballot and one
of the commissioners was a woman to
look after our municipal housekeeping.
If all women felt fully the responsibilities
of their position they would demand the ballot for the
protection of home and children.
Child welfare depends on woman's work.
Why do we find the study of the
welfare of children such an ail important study at the present day? Because
it has been neglected in the past. Men
said women needed no education to look
after the simple wants of the home.
Women did not need to be independent
thinkers, their fathers, brothers and husbands could direct them as to their duties and course of conduct.
Thus it came about that only in exceptional cases were women able to overcome this handicap and do their whole
duty. We are beginning to awaken to
the fact' that not only did this suppression of [wo]man's intellect and will prevent
her from composing great music, painting beautiful pictures and writing great
dramas, but it prevented her from doing
the great work for which nature intend-
ed her. In consequence of this mandate
against woman's development, the human mothers in many instances have
been but little better than animal mothers.
We are beginning to wake to the fact
of the great mortality of infants, owing
to mothers ignorance. Mothers are beginning to know that the blindness of
hosts of children is due to the sins of
their fathers. While mothers were kept
in ignorance of the evils of impurity they
were careless in demanding it. Oh, the
sin and sorrow that the human family
has been made to bear by the short
sightedness in men, that they did not
insist that the mothers of the race should
be educated, even if all others had to
go without. The 'Highest educational advantages are now within the reach of
women and what do we see? That the
state is slow to avail itself of the serv-
ices of competent women.
For twenty-live years women have
been educating themselves in clubs to
deal with all sorts of questions, yet in
the southern states few of them are invited, to help in the public work. They may
do volunteer work of a splendid character,
but the state ignores them entirely. In Knoxville we have splendid organizations of mothers connected with all our schools, yet a law was passed by our legislature as late as 1907, which bars
women from being members of county
boards of education. Why was this
done? In the interest of education?
No, indeed, it was done in the interests
of the professional politicians. The politicians thought they could manage
school boards composed of men with
more ease than those composed of men
and women. No doubt they were right.
Our leading schoolmen are loud in their
cry concerning the illiteracy of Tennessee, but what one of them has asked
to have women given an official call?
No they will use the women as the
monkey did the cat's paw, to pull the
chestnuts out of the fire, but they take
good care not to give the women any
of the chestnut's.
We need women on our school boards
and we need them badly. Our public
school children have no mother, but are
left to the cold comfort of a male parent
only. How long will man's ego continue so large as to make him blind
to plain truths? And now long will
women consent to he blindfolded and
['muzzled' handwritten on clipping]. L. CROZIER FRENCH.
Equal Suffrage Rally.
The management of the Gay theatre
has invited the Equal Suffrage league
to have talks of three minutes made
by members at the close of each series
of reels, on Wednesday February 19.
Twelve talks will be made. The first
will be at eleven o'clock a. m., and the
last at ten p. m. The subjects will be
as follows:—
1—Fundamental Principles of Re-
publican Governments.
2—Where Women Have Their
Rights Now.
3—Who. Will Take Care of the Babies?
4—The Washington Pageant.
5—Elevation of the Home.
6—To Reduce Vice.
7—Equal Pay.
8—Will Give Us Cleaner Cities.
0—Protection of Women and Children.
10—Better Schools.
11—Success of Woman Suffrage in
Western States.
12—Poem by Mrs. Gilman.
• These are things of which women
want the vote. Should they not have
it?
