eeting occupied en have got accustomed to it M20 not like thapother thing. When they found their wives and daughters to ards go hone with them fen the beginning of «new of ideas and talk it over, it was for the family—a and of unison is related that the Japanese Gt jo vent a commission to the “he op seta dray BD gehion te women see uti, But i Say be sid vat trth of ity, tbat these eis feof and Hat thas provements nd teadition pla aned fisting tbat itl eof beautiful thin ee seemed to say Wine: 9 isa child no more. da deliverer. Go ont into thy m. Work Memption of mankiiMhgulfer as he did, if need be, prison and obloquy: ppenny, meanness, ad inje Phe weapon of Christian h represents the paca esertion of conic re is becoming con erted tots use. Adopt it, O swith clean ods and a pure heart! Verif the apostle —"D Chuist Jesus there is neither d nor free, neither male nor fentale, but a new ure,” the harbinger of a new ereation! Viewrornr 14B American Women Should Not Have the Right to Vote (1909) Emily P. Bissell (1861-1948) Soctal Issues of the Progressive Era_119 Emily PBissell, an active opponent of woman suf- frage, testified before (Congyess and lectured Sn var tus states on the issue. A 1909 pamphlet waitten by Bissell, from which this viewpoint is taken, was pub- the and widely distributed by the Now York Sate ‘Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage. Tn addition to working against suffrage, Bissell was hhewily involved in public welfare activities. She orgauved the Delaware Chapter of the American Red Gross. As the first president of the Consumers League of Delawace (1914), she helped secure pas- sage of state laws regulating child labor and setting haximum hours for women working in industry Bis- Sell did not find such activites inconsistent with her tnti-suflrage position, arguing that women had {greater influence in promoting beneficial legislation precisely because of their position as non-voters, Zemoved from the political process. “Let them {men} erugglo with the vote,” she wrote in a different pam- phiet "Let us aim at legislation. It takes fess ime, Jind gets greater results.” "Why issulfeage diferent from reforms opening up hhigher education and work opportunities for women wha desie them, according to Bissell? What opin- oe rere heats ofthe pala process does ‘She profess inthis viewpoint? What distinctions does Bissell make between “good” women and “bad” women, and how important are these distinctions to her argument? hore are three points of view from which ‘woman today o1ght to consider herself—as m individual, at a member of « facily, as @ member of the state. Every woman stands in those three relations to American life. Every woman's duties and rights cluster along those three lines: and fay change in wornau’s status that involves all of them needs to be very carefully considered by every ‘thoughtful woman “The proposal that women should vote affects each cone of these three relations deeply. Its then a pro- posal that the American woman has been consider- fh for sity years, witbout accepting it. Other ques tions, which have been only individual, as the higher edaton for su india women dase ot the opening of various trades and professions to such heel omen as doo oo ener them hve nt required any such thought or hesitation, They aro individual, and indwiduals have decided on them fand aocepted them. Bat this great suffrage question, involving not only the individual, but the fully and the stato, has hung fire. There are grave objections to ‘Fm Bry. Bse, "A To Won ti Sls Quan Eee ire tom Sayre [Now ta EVE WIE120 _ Part I: The Progressive Era, 1895 woman suffrage on all these three counts. ity years Uf argument and of effort on the part of the sufrug fits have mot in the Teast changed these arguments, because they rest on the great fundamental facts of Truman nature and of human government; The suf Frage is "a reform against nature” and such reforms are worse than valueless, Lotus take these three points of view singly: Why, in he fist pace, the voto a mista for women individuals? Twill begin discussing that by another {quetion, “HHow many of yon have Teisare € spare ser pout the vote?” The claims upon. woman's Tino, in this twenticth century, are greater than over before, Wma, br progress Bas ten wp many important things to deal with, and has alzeady over: ietted horself beyond her ‘strength. 1f she is a sworking-wonnan, her day sfull—-fuller than that of a Workingman, since sh has to attend, in many eases, Wohome duties orto sewing and mending for herself When her days toils over. she is a wife and moth ‘rahe has her hands full with the house and the chi hon. if she is a woman of affairs and charities, she fhas to oop a secretary or call ina stenograp get through her letters and accounts. Most of the eEiesupporting women of my acquaintance do not Sant the ballot, They have-n0 time to think about i Most of the wives and mothers T know do not want to vote. They are too busy with other burdens. Most tthe women of afsis I know do pot want to vote ‘They are doing public work without it better than they could with it, and consider ita burden, not a benefit, The ballot is a duty, « responsibility, and most intelligent, active women to-day believe that it eiqnan’s duty and responsibility, and that they are not balled to take it up in addition to their own share. The uta sat ‘the ballot individually. They have a perfect right to want i, They ask no leisure Na ae eT a iad question, then I ‘Mould say heartily “Let them have it, as individuals, Anat Tet we refuse to take it, as individuals, and then fhe whole matfor can be individually settled.” Bot that is impossible, for there are two other aspects ‘The suffragists cannot get the vote without foreing it snail the rest of womankind in Arperica; for Ameri- ee nouns unrestricted manhood suffrage, and an ‘coual suffrage law would mesa unrestricted woman: Jatodsulfage, from the college giro the immigrant ‘oman who eannot read and the negro woman in the Wuton field, and from the leader of society down to She drunken woman in the police eoust, The individ- tal agpeet is only one ofthe three, and afterall, the least important. Duty to the Family For no good woman lives to herself, She has always been purt of a family as wife or sister oF daughter from the time of Eve... The American saree the foundation of American strongtt and eogres. And in the American home woman hss her Pier place and her own duty tothe family. Te an arom in pbysies that two things eannot be inthe same place at the same tine. Woman, a5 an iRaividual apart from all home ties, can easily arrough get no asoans place. There are thousands of sponnen in New York to-day—business women pro” Teesonal women, working girs, who aro almost Wk ‘eeotin their daily activity. But early al hese women Tay and leave the man’ place for the wornan's, Thera few years of business lf, Its this fact which tes their wages lower than sne’s, and Keeps then Rats boing » highly skilled class. They gp back into rehome, and take up a woman's duties in the fai- We they are wase women, they give up their work they do not try to be in a man’s place and a woman's toe! But when they do make this foolish resolve to Josep on working the home suffers, There are no cil sree oe the children go untrained: housekeeping is aon up far boarding: Here is uo family atmosphere Fe ema place i vacant—and in a family, that is the weost important place of all. The woman, who tnight be a woman, is half a man instead. “Fhe fay donrands from a woman her very best Her highest interests, and her unoeasing care, must te Reno lifes if her home is to be whats ought to ve Here is where the vote for woman comes in as 2 Jourbing factor, The vote is part of man's work Ballo box, exrtridge bos, jury bos, sentry bo, all 0 tother his part of fe. Woman cannot step in and ee eats and dies of voting without ganang he plac very largely. The vote isa symbol Ci gorement ad ey tcc fat, Joe of polities to make herself an intelligent voter phere of pr ett) women Tas Be tap the subjects on which she is to vote and cast her Weer witha personal knowledge of current polities prey deta, She must take i all from her hus- aad, which means that he is thus given two votes atead of one, not equal sulrag, but a double suf frage for the man. A Man’s Place Home is meant to be a restful place, not agitated 4 by the turmoil of outside struggles. It és man’s plane (support and defend the family, and so to adminis- ee ee State that the family shall flourish im peace Fie is the outside worker. Woman is the one whose Jace itis to bear and rear Dir be the itizens ofthe state. As Thave shown, she} tan, if she wishes, go into man's place in the fora while. But inan can never go into hers. ( proves she is superior, by the way.) He cxnmot Fhe home. He is too distracted by outside inttoo tired with his own duties, to create, an atmos- phere of home, ‘The woman who makes the mistake ff trying to do is work and hers too, cannot ereate a Thome atmosphere, either She cannot be in two F plices at once. I have known even one outside char- ey become so absorbing in its demands on a woman's ‘time and thought that her children felt the differ- ‘ence, and knew and dreaded the day of the monthly meeting, and the incessant call of the telephone. ‘There are certaip times in a wife and mother’ life, such as children’ illnesses, the need of care for an ‘oversvorked husband, the evsis of some temptation for wrong tendency in « childs bfe, and so on, when lV outside interests must abdicate before the family ‘ones, and be shut out for a while. The vote, which ‘means public life, does not fit into the ideal of farni- Iy life, The wousan who is busy training a fami doing her pubke service right inthe home. She can- ‘not be expected to be in two places atthe satne time, doing the work ofthe state asthe man does. Individualism and Family Life ‘The individualism of woman, in these modem days, i thea to Use family. There is one divorce in “America nowadays to every dozen marriages. There are thousands of young women who croved into fac- tory oF mill or oftce in preference to home duties. ‘There isan impatience of ties and responsibilities, a reslossness, a lever for “living one's own life,” that is ‘unpleasantly noticeable. The desire for the vote is part ofthis restlessness, this grasping for power that Shall have no responsilility except to drop a paper into a ballot box, ths ignorant desire to do “the work of the world” instead of one’s own appointed work. If ‘women had conquered their own part of life perlect- Iy, one might wish to see them thus leave it and go forth to set the world to rights. But on the contrary, never were domestic conditions so badly attended to Until woman settles the servant question, how can she ask to nun the government? “The suffrage is ‘a reform against nature” and such reforms are worse than valueless.” ‘This brings us to the third point, which is, the effect on the state of a vote for women. Let us keep in mind, always, that in America we cannot argue about municipal suffrage, or taxpaying, suffrage, or limited suffrage of any kind—"to one end they must all come,” that of unrestricted woman suffrage, white and colored, illiterate and collegebred alike having the ballot. Ameriea recognizes no other way. Do not Social Issues of the Progressive Era 121 get the mistaken idea—hich the sulfragsts clever- Iy present al the while—that the English system of imuinieipal or restricted sullrage, or the Danish sys- ‘any other system, is ike ours. It isnot. Other forms of suffrage by which individual women can be sorted ont, soto speak. But America has equal manhood suffrage ingrained in her very stato, in her very lav Once begin to give the suffrage to women, and there is but one end in this, ‘country. The question i aways with us, "What effect “ill unrestricted female suffrage have on the state?” ‘We must answer that question or beg the subject. ‘One thing sure—the women’s vote would be an indifferent one. The marty of women do not want to vote—even the. sulfragists acknowledge that ‘Therefore, if given the vote, they would not be e votes There would bea mmber of highly ents astic suffrage voters—for a while. But when the cov- ted privilege became a commonplace, or even an irksome duty, the stay-at-home vote would grow larg- fer and larger. The greatest trouble in politics to-day is the indifferent vote among men. Equal suffrage ‘would add a larger indifferent vote among women, A Corrupt Vote ‘Then there is the corrupt vote to-day. Among mien sts bod enough, Bot among women ® would nach worse. What, for example, would the Tender- loin (red-light district} woman's vote be in New York? for good measures and better city polities? In Denver, it has been found to work just as might be supposed, and in Denver the female ward politician appeared full-fledged ir the Shafroth ease, in the fll Swing of bribery and fraud, Unrestricted suffrage ‘must reckon with all kinds of women, you soe—and ‘the anserupulous woman will use her vote for what it is worth and for corrupt ends. ‘Today, without the vote, the women who are intel- ligent and interested in public affairs use their abil- ty and influence for good measures. And the indi ferent woman does not matter. The unserupulons ‘woman has na vote, We get the best, and bar out the rest. The state gets all the benefit ofits best women, and none of the danger from its worst women. The situation is too beneficial to need any change in the name of progress. We have now two against one, a fine majority, the good men and the good women against the unscrupulous men. Equal suffrage would rake # fwo to two—the good men and the good women against the unscrupulous men and the ‘unserupulous women—a tie vote betveen good and evil instead of a safe: majority for good. ‘The, beside the indent ve and the comupt vote, there would be. in equal suffrage, a wel meaning, unorganized vote. But government is not ran in America by unorganized votes—it is run byCe 122 Part Hl: The Progressive Bra, 1895-1920 ee _pAecmancennisinestentenn ent aRU NST organized parties, To get results, ono vote is absurd. ‘An effectual vote means organization; and organiza- tion means primaries and conventions, and caucuses and office-holding, and work, and work, and’ more ‘work, A ballot dropped in a box is not government, for power. This is what men are fighting out in pol- tied, and we women ought to understand their prob- Jem, One reason that I, personaly, do not want the Dallot is that I have been brought up, in the middle ‘of politics in a state that is full of them, aad 1 know the labor they entail on pubbie-pirited men, Plies, tome, does not mean unearned power, or the regis tering of ono’ opinion on public affais—it means hard work, Incessant organization and combination, continual perseverance against disappointment and betrayal, steadfast effort for small and hard-fought advance. Thave seen too many friends and relatives in that batle to want to push any woman into it. And tnless one goes snto the battle the ballot is of no force. The suffragists do not expect to. They expect and urge that al that will be necessary wil be for ‘cach woman to “register her opinion” and cast her Teallot and go home. ‘Where would the state be then—with an indiffer. ent vote, a corrupt vote, and a helpless, unorganized vote, loaded on to its present political difficulties? Where pul the state be with dxbled nesro wore in the Black Belt? Where would New York and Chicago be with « doubled immigrant vote? 1 have theo friends, sisters, one of thom living in Utah, the other in Colomado—both suffrage states. The one in Colorado belongs to the indifferent vote, She s 100 busy to vote, and doesn’ believe in it anyhow: The tone in Utah goes to the polls regularly, not because she wants to vote, but because as she says “The Mar- hone vote al thelr women solidly, and we Contes have to vote a8 a duty—and how wo wish we were back again under manhood suffrage.” Is the state benefited by an unwilling electorate such as that? For Further Reading Jn Jone Cag ome rt Mie eta Sufgian, 1980-1890. Brooklyn, NY. Caron Publishing, 1s Mary H. Grant Pricate Woman, Publ Peron: dn dazu of the feof fete Werd Howe. Brackiyn, NY. Caron Polishing 104, Florence Howe Hl, ule Wrd Howe and the Woman Safa ‘Movement. New York Ara Press 1999, ‘thomas | fabs, The Home, Heavon, and Mother Party Fomale AnteSuffagts ix the United Stats, 1868-1800. rookha, NY. Carn Publishing, 1094, Sheila M. Roshan, Wows Proper Place: A History of Chang ing Ideal nd Prac, US7O fo te Present. New Yok: Basic Books, 1078, Anne irr Scot ane Andress MacKay Sot, One Hate Pee "The Fit for Woman Suffage, Piadelpbie Lippnctt, 1975, Viewrornt L5A, " Hetch Hetchy Vall Should Be Preserved ( John Muir (1838-1914 John Muir was an explorer andr pliyed a leading role in starting the wwetnent in the United States. The { Sierra Club, a conservation and enviro nization, Muir's writings and campaig tstalchont in 1890 of Yoneite Nal farea in California he had explored year bis comacts with President, Theod helped persuade the president to sot Of heres of other federal lands 32 pa Pe following viewpoint is taken fro Muir 1912 book, The Yosemite, ¢ Hetch Hetchy Valley: The valley beca of an intense national debate when t Francisco in 1890 and again in 190 dam it to create a water supply for the the leading advocate of the “preserv that argued for maintaining, the val wildemess areas in their natural state How docs Muir characterize pre dat? Are ie views fundamentally ¢ ‘conservation beliefs of Gifford Pincho ‘opposing viewpoint? What does the » versy over the project reveal about cl ‘an values inthe early twentieth cent Ye: [Valley] is so wondert apt to regard i as an exception oh valley of ts kn inthe wo is not so poor as o have only one of a al other yosemites have been disoove ra that occupy the same relative p: {Sierra Nevada] Range and were forw forees in the same kind of granite. O Hetch Hetchy Valley, is in the Yos Park about twenty miles from Yosem accessible to all sorts of travelers by that leaves the Big Oak Flat road at cows a fow miles below Crane Flat, taincers by way of Yosemite Creek hhoud of the middle fork of the Tuol Tt is said to have boon discove Screech, a hunter, in 1850, a year be ery of the great Yosemite. After my the autumn of 1871, I have alway “Tuolumne Yosemite,” for it is a we fom fbn Ny The Yori Ne Yr Cay.