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Show ' "WIMMEN" IN POLITICS Of all the arguments against woman suffrage there is only one real sound objection, and that is on account of the passing of the old-time precinct pre-cinct voting place. What formerly was a great American masculine insti-tution insti-tution is now refined, effeminate, and we 'might say downright uninteresting. uninterest-ing. The great game of "getting-the-votcs-in-the box" is quite blase a mere legal routine. Woman whose fine hand has shaped the nations now has invaded the last stronghold of man, and driven him like a stag at bay to seek shelter and protection only in the memory of the days that used to be. For woman, wo-man, lovely woman, is "in" politics, and has taken mere man from the only place he had his last say. When it comes to serving on the election board, a woman can wield a wicked pencil, cast a cautious eye, and use a stubborn judgment. It used to be you could spit tobacco juice on the floor when you went in to vote, but now the women will try to' find some law to put you out if your nails are not properly manicured. It used to be you could cuss out the election officials for kidding you about being a Democrat or vice versa; but now since women are guiding the destinies of the ballot emporiums you can't even get into the place if one of the women suspects you're not on her side of the offense. And as for smoking in the booths, that's taboo. The last election there were enough burning cigar stubs outside the door to keep the sheriff and card passers warm without splitting up and burning any empty boxes from the grocery store. It's awful. No more fights at the end of the ropes. While standing around the polls we used to argue so loud over points in the election law they would call for the riot squad for the "bloody 7th," and here would come the sheriff to arrest us, and his posse to fix things up, depending on our political complexion. But it's all different now! I guess! When a point of law comes up some woman says it's so and so, and believe us, it's so and so! And another an-other reason it's so and so is because a woman who has got nerve and brass enough to push herself into the sacred precincts of precinct politics that we still believe (although very timidly admit) was designed by the Almighty for men only as we were saying a woman who has reached that point already has reached several other points of supremacy in her own house hold, and it's a foregone conclusion that what she says is law. But read on, for we eulogize woman before we quit. A woman plays politics like she washes dishes without gloves. She can be the sweetest wife and the meanest partisan that you ever saw. But she has positive qualities'. She can elect her string of candidates almost without votes, for her intuition and enthusiasm make up the deficiency. All the energy and self-expression which had been pent up since Adam's time was let loose when the 19th Amendment became a reality, so what else can you expect. How long we must suffer the inconvenience of femininity in our once riotous and profane precincts only the political theorist can theorize, theor-ize, but in the language of the common observer, it will be a dickens-of-a-while. Like the visit of a mother-in-law, the woman in politics has come to stay. We've got to let her make the best of it. Woman has cleaned up politics, but she will never quite be able to clean out the politicians. She has almost dmibled the expense of elections, but she has saved many a doubt as to whether she has the political sagacity to help run the country, She has gone politically wrong many times, but she has also proved that men don't always go politically right. She has intruded on our fine tastes of masculinity, but she has shown that the female of the species does have some concern in life besides lipsticks, cigarettes, and writing letters to movie stars. Women arc getting so they vote like they shoot. They can now not only kill their husbands, but can kill their husbands' votes. Truly, it is not good for man to be alone not even in politics. |