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SUFFIUGE GIUM’IONSWIW DEBATE;Dr. Young Says Russian Woman Responsible for Prohibition in That Country; Lessing Says Women Are Not Fitted for the Franchise; the Audiencee of Women Decide Suffrage Orators Are Best.EQUAL suffrage came out triumphant by a small margin, Tuesday night, according to the vote of the audience following the debate on the subject conducted in the 41st district court room under the direction of the Equal Franchise league of El Paso.It was an audience made up largely of women, with a sprinkling here and there of men—an audience that was responsive to the points scored oy the opposing debaters as well as those favoring suffrage.Mrs. ,S. J. Fennell, vice president of the Equal Franchise league presided. She announced that owing to business engagements, judge Dan M. Jackson and Gunther Lessing, who were to present opposing views were unable to appear, and that Dr. Paul McCombs and O. D. Bowen bad been prevailed upon to take their places.Women Arc Slaves.Dr. McCombs was the first speaker on the affirmative. His argument was that woman bore the burden of taxation without representation. In the padt, he declared, the powerful has always ruied the weak, and woman has always been the slave of man. He snowed liow woman, while permitted tohold property, was not given a voice in governmental affairs.“The husband has a right to collect her rents; she cannot alienate her property without the consent of her husband,” he said. “The object of all laws i should be for the protection of the { w eak against the strong, and yet laws • are not made in the interest of women. Until might ceases to be right, justice remains a beautiful theory and woman a slave. Every civilized nation has a.bolished slavery, but in every land woman is still the slave of man.Treat Her as Equal.“Men are inclined to put woman on a pedestal. Treat her as your equal, give her equal voice in the affairs of government, and she will bring joy and happiness to you. Woman has always been able to make good in all walks of life. In the schools the girls are the equals, if not the superior, of the boys.“It has been stated by opponents of equal suffrage that the privilege of voting will increase the divorce evil. To my mind the opposite is true. Under present conditions, man feels his superiority over woman, and this make3 her dissatisfied. When husband and wife recognize the right of each to be consulted in all matters pertaining totheir existence there will be more harmony in the home and less danger of divorce. As a matter of fact, figures compiled tend to show that in states where women have the privilege of voting the ratio of divorce is 10 percent less than in the states where the woman has no voice in public affairs.Wife n Comrade.“It is claimed by the opponents also that when equal suffrage comes love will cease. In former tinws man regarded woman as a plaything. Man no longer takes that viewpoint. He desires in his wife a comrade, a woman who can assist him in meeting life’s problems and the privilege of expressing her sentiments on vital public questions wall tend to bring her nearer to this ideal. Men now want women of brains, and if women could discuss intelligently the world problems there would be fewer men at the clubs. The voting experience will tend to broaden women and make them intellectual companions of men.“They say woman’s place is in the home. I quite agree with that view, but that does not prevent her from going out to the polls on election days arid expressing her views on public questions.”Vote Is Womnn'M Right.Dr. McCombs summed up bis arguments in favor of woman's suffrage, as follows: “It is her inalienable right to an equal voice in public matters; man is doing himself an Injustice by denying her the vote; her purifying influence is desirable; it will result in inestimable value in broadening her views; and finally, because it is right to abolish an injustice that has long been imposed against her.”O. L. Bowen read the paper prepared by Gunther Lessing in opposition to equal suffrage. He stated at the outset that the vjews expressed were not his own. The paper took the view that woman was not created to do man’s work; she is passive and not aggressive. It was pointed out^hat the very machine with which she sews was the invention of a man. “Woman is unfit to assume additional burdens upon her already overtaxed nervous system,” lip affirmed. “Woman has her sphere of action. for which man is unfitted and man lias his sphere for which woman is unfitted. It is a fallacy to say that woman is fitted for the franchise because some have achieved eminence in man’s sphere. It is as .logical to assume that the negro is capable of running tlve affairs of government because the race has produced a Paul Dunbar and a Booker T. Washington.Swayed l*y Sentiment.“Woman’s thoughts do not run along lines of public policy. Discuss with her the tariff, ask her the titles of the cabinet offices and she will turn to a discussion of John’s engagement to Jessie. Man will justify a conclusion by reason, while woman is swayed by sentiment.”The paper dwelt at some length upon the theory that the cell of the human body is made up of masculine and feminine cells and that the predominance of one or the other determines the sex. There are a few women, it was stated, in whom the masculine cells predominate and here a masculine woman is produced. In the same manner a femininS man is produced. But on the v/hole masculine cells predominate in man and feminine cells in woman, and these determine the spheres of the two 3exes and unfit them for each other’s places.Physician Gives Expert Opinion.Dr. Young took up some of the arguments of Lessing’s paper and answered them from a physician’s knowledge of tlie human anatomy. lie stated that it is the mental and not the physical force that counts today. From a knowledge gained by travel throughout the world I have found that there are three women fitted by mental endowment for suffrage to one man,” he said. “The Ameri-ean man hasn’t time to develop in any way except that of making money.“On woman depebds the cleanliness of the home; it devolves upon her to produce the food for her children; upon her depends the morals of her children. But what good does this accomplish if man fails to provide sanitary conditions outside the home; and what great moral influence does man exert oveh ais children? Woman has not made our economic conditions, if woman is growing masculine we have made her so. Our present race suicide is due to conditions brought about by man.Ignorant Vilen* Vote.“It used to be that foreigners could come into our country and vote in one year; I have known of them voting the next day after their arrival. Yet one of our hoys can graduate from a univers-: ity one day before he is 21 years of ag. and yet not have the privilege f voting. As for our women, certainly they can vote more intelligently upon public matters than tin- aliens who after several years of residence are still grossly ignorant of our institutions. It was three years after my arrival in the .United states before I knew there was a constitution.Dr. Young spoke of the wonderful reforms accomplished in Russia. Finland and Sweden through the influence of women. Their work, he declared, was responsible for the groat lessening of tlie evils of drunkenness, and asserted that the present prohibition in Russia Was due to the work of one little Russian woman whose influence upon leading men of the country had brought about the reformation. Woman’s efforts In Russia he also stated had brought a marked degree of freedom td the gentler sex.Preserve Women’s Influence.“The greatest point in Dr. Young'sdiscourse was that liquor had been stopped in Russia, not by the vote, but by the influence of women and it is the influence of women that we desire to preserve,” said Ralph Border, wno followed for the negative.The speaker took issue with Dr. McCombs with reference to the laws, declaring that the Texas laws, far from robbing woman of her rights, protect her.\ oting 1* a Duly.He declared that woman does not | want to vote, but that if the majority j do he is in favor of giving them suf- { , frage. “It is nod. merely a privilege to j vote; it is a duty,” said Mr. Border. “And it is a crime not to vote. While ! men show less interest in public matters than they should, women in stales where they do vote show less interest.| The vast majority of women are not interested in the vote and it would be I wrong to burden them with it. i “Dr. Young says man is a dollar chaser. So he is, but you never near of a woman objecting to that, do you? Be-i cause the American man is a dollar chaser is no reason why he is not- fit I alone to work out the problems of government. On the other hand it is his business experience, gained in chasing the dollar, that fits him to maintain government successfully.”
Newspaper Details
El Paso Herald
El Paso, Texas, US
Wed, May 19, 1915
Page 4
Full Page
Clipped by
University O.
TX, USA 25 Feb 2025
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