| Show THE CAUSE OF WOMEN still much easier to suffer than to work for reform the old truism of the declaration of independence and its application today to the question of the franchise the chicago teachers federation in arms the declaration of independence sagely remarks all experience hath shown that mankind arc more disposed to suffer while evils are than to light themselves by abolishing tho forms to which they are accustomed this truism is even more applicable to womankind who never have been in the habit of taking the initiative in the early days of our republic the idea of their being included in its provision provi tion for equal rights would have been apo preposterous to be considered neither they nor their ancestors had known any thing but subjection and as this was opposed to be a part of the divine plan probably alie forefathers were as conscientious in incorporating it into law as the foremothers fore mothers were in ing it and yet it does seem strange that it should have required all the powers of church and state to enforce what was so clearly a divine decree nowadays men who are not quite sa religious as they used to be declare that it is contrary to nature for women to do various progressive things they have set their minds on doing and instead of trusting nature to enforce her own laws they come to her assistance with ironclad statutes however women of late years have thoroughly proved that if they can get around the man made statutes they find no obstacles placed by divine or natural law in the way of doing a thousand things heretofore declared it took women a great many centuries to leam this fact and there are some lessons yet ahead of them chev and theira still suffer a groat many chili because they lack the courage to abolia ab olih the forms to which they were accustomed even in the early das da s it was to endure than to rebel who tried both would certify aday women who enjoy to the fullert ful left gained for them ibyle pioneer reformers would the remaining disadvantages than make a fight to abolish them it n only when the heel grinds the worm down very hard that it turns an of this is been in the chicago teachers federation women teachers every where arr paid lew than men and kept out of the higher positions but chicago is notorious for its treatment of its public school force when the mu funds run low the first reduction in expenses is a cut in the teachers salaries when alicy run stall lower the salaries are not paid at ai the struggle of the teachers federation led by avro women to compel the big corporations to pay their taxes ia familiar the jast ja st indignity was to deduct their salaries for an enforced holiday on labor day the teachers are selected for victims because women form about 04 per cent of the nearly and consequently there is no danger of retaliation in the form of a ballot these women teachers at lat have been goaded to the point where they have determined that they will hava this means of retaliation and the federation has voted to join the state suffrage association in the effort to get us much suffrage a the legislature has power to give they have aoker for a vote for all tax officials members of the legislature and aldermen not an inconsiderable amount in 1801 the legislature of illinois ap act w aich was intended to confer full school suffrage on women and they proceeded to vote for trustees county auperin eu perin ten denta on bonds location of school houses etc after the supreme court biad rendered four decisions on the question the women found left with only a vote for the and every two years for three trustees of the state university A jn all the atles the school board is appointed instead of elected their suf frages liim amounted to very little the supreme court established one point however viz that the lagi has power to regulate the suffrage for nil offices by itself it can ore enable women to vote for elector state board of equalization blerk of the appellate court county collector county surveyor board of as pes board of review district trustees highway and nil cars of cities and towns it that alie suffrage has thou atil it worth while to include only a few of the mt important of these in ita 1111 v but it also vill ak alie franchise for taxpaying tax paying women on questions submitted to taxpayers tax payers hut other women in chicago hjalm ahe teachers ore with indignation for weeks during he mim mpr and early fall an epidemic of ty fever he it has ever known has raged in that city the wretched sanitary twenty fave hundred circular sere ant out to the club women of h i ing them to join in an effort to for women a voice m municipal As rerun the state federation Federa tinn ot ats cluba has endorsed indorsed Indor sed bialond bil lond vill aid in he contest ww TABO adama and house will und thear ngi tance tho legislative work will le in charge of mrs catharine laugi Tc Culloch a practicing lawyer of CM caliro and former auditor of the agnation uli her cf 1 work in last legislature he 1 ill waa secured giving mothers equal jhc thc fathers of aren m although thio fenre nen re will 1 the support ot several louania lou anil t at capable women it will 1 1 arr p by the ma ya ot both partia ml y lle full force of those elements in chicago that will fight to the death any direct participation ci of women in this government of the city the opinion has been frequently expressed in this column that it ii not probable the influence of the suffrage societies alone will bo strong enough to secure the franchise in various states but eliat they will have to be reinforced hy other organizations of women for thirty the national and state suffrage associations stood absolutely alone in theia demand for alic ballot and were ostracized by all others in consequence about twenty years ago the comans womans christian temperance union through the strong personal influence of frail ces E willard and in the face of violet opposition established a department of franchise and possibly a majority of the members are now strongly in favor of it with this single exception not one of the countless organizations of women throughout lie country places the franchise among its objects the case of illinois cited above offers the instance of one uniting with a suffrage association in the effort to obtain it and yet pr all of these organizations are marching straight toward the ballot box although they are not aware of it A long time ago the wisconsin suffrage association secured school suffrage jor women but it was inoperative because there was no law requiring separate boxes for the votes it besieged the I 1 legislature for this and went through alie supreme court until it quit in disgust last year the state federation of clubs came fresh into the tight and obtained the necessary law awit jis urging all women to vote the massachusetts federation during tho present year endorsed indorsed indor sed legislative 1 measures of alie state suffrage association for cyrol guardianship for motherland the right of women take part ill alte caucuses for nominating school trustees for whom later they could vote the general federation haa taken for its principal object the next two years tho abolition of child labor which of course can lc done only by legislative enactment and ita incisi iberis cannot fail to learn fully the disadvantage of representing no constituency the state federations generally are taking up industrial conditions educational of dependent classes by the state and similar subjects all of which still carry them to alie legislature in all parts of the country women are establishing civil service reform club as auxiliaries to the national league aud heaven and earth to interest women aa they say in their circulars not only in bic civic betterment of the locality in which they live but also in the larger problems of municipal ni cipal state and national government in discussing these clubs the boston herald davs it is olmous that if appointments are to be made by tavor and as alie result of political iaal manipulation the tendency will be to restrict rather than to increase the opportunities which are given to women to obtain government offices in most of the stales of alie i union they take no direct part in practical politics their vote is not a factor that the ambitious politician nas to count upon and their individual or col influence cannot ordinarily be secured in promoting alie political fortunes of a particular candidate at tho polls those in public life who arc desirous of using official patronage for the puri pose of building up a machine would na aurally prefer to have as few women tn offices as possible and would presumably desire to displace many of those now in positions of official trust by men who could be depended upon to hustle round at election day for the purpose of getting their friends and neighbors to the polls this situation will dawn upon these ladies eventually and then they ani drop civil service reform for awhile and devote themselves to making a woman of as much to alie government as a man then there are civic clubs of women in every puttering around in municipal affair trying to effect all I 1 sort of reform even to getting women on the school boards and yet disclaiming all desire for the ballot in fact quite shocked att the idea just at present there is a craic for village improvement pro societies and women from boston to san francisco Tran cisco are organizing street sweeping i committee can departments rubbish collecting guilds and tree planting annexes they havo no money for expenses except what they beg and everybody without wages many of these women any large taxes for fliche same purposes and sup host i salaried officials to do this very work bilut clieo public spirited ladies would repudiate with indignation anything so unwomanly as wanting vote and control public funds and holders i the daughters of the american kev aro keen alivo the memory ot who fought decd to secure the light of ecat but the question or woman suffrage dropped into of their meetings would have the effect of a bomb shell and yet among their subjects of discussion arc governments policy in the philippines the foreigner as an american Citi Mii how can patriotism be made to take the of the political Machine and many other of n similar strong minded character alie political clubs of women cap the climax with their resolutions to interview the candidates and support only those who meet their requirements that is if aliey happen to be organized for reform purposes or if are a tail to a cr tic or a kite by their infinitesimal work for candidates nav old record happy in the contemptuous tolerance of the borno porno of these political clubs as for instance the prominent west end republican association of new york have a clause in their constitution forbidding the introduction of the woman suffrage question at their meetings how the men must laugh in their sleeves at nil these performances and how merciful chev are to keep so still alie opponents of equal suffrage doubtless want the women to continue amusing themselves in these harmless ways as long aa possible while ane friends realize that they are doing the best they can according to their light and this is sure to increase even now the mothers clubs are beginning to ask for lectures on the heretofore tabooed subject of woman suffrage and clubs nrc discussing can our political influence bo made practical without the ballot ethcie is nothing more certain than that allot these organizations will awaken to the tact eliat whatever their alie chance of attaining them will be immeasurably increased by he possession af a vote alien alliev ill nil for it and will got it alia suffrage societies amit keep the sacred coal alive alie education bill threatens to drive the con ien active party front power in england if passed has been liy the comans womans societies cie ties ns it was believed it would de women of the right 0 o sit OIL school boards which they have biad for over thirty years in I 1 SOO the ment changed aly government of ion dm from ft system of vestries to lint of borough councils women were eligible to alie oi and lind very acceptably but the bill was so manipulated as to shut them out of borough councils it as believed a scheme was on foot to work them off of the boards fohir to the odin antion hill ipie by to M pure women in their present right and thi IT now been nitch in alie bill it ought not to pass when the woman suffrage bill was under consideration in the upper house of alia new south wales parliament one of the senators fena tors warned his bl league that it would open the door to great fraud aa lie i pertained certa ined that you cannot judge a comans womans aige by her looks another gravila au all women wanted ha for ans to take the tarin off of cheap jewelry the imae y show that men are very K S old vor women in u now hay t catl on them but hose in the united states must con timia a face AIDA HUNTED HAll |
