Thus far we are on safe ground; and here, as it seems to
me, the claim for suffrage may securely rest. To go farther in our
assertions seems to me unsafe, although many of our wisest and most
eloquent may differ from me; and the nearer we approach success, the more
important it is to look to our weapons. It is a plausible and tempting
argument, to claim suffrage for woman on the ground that she is an angel;
but I think it will prove wiser, in the end, to claim it for her as
being human.
FIRST-CLASS CARRIAGES
In a hotly contested municipal election, the other day, an active political
manager was telling me his tactics. "We have to send carriages for some of
the voters," he said. "First-class carriages! If we undertake to wait on
'em, we must do it in good shape, and not leave the best carriages to be
hired by the other party."
I am not much given to predicting just what will happen when women vote;
but I confidently assert that they will be taken to the polls, if they
wish, in first-class carriages. If the best horses are to be harnessed, and
the best cushions selected, and every panel of the coach rubbed till you
can see your face in it, merely to accommodate some elderly man who lives
two blocks away, and could walk to the polls very easily, then how much
more will these luxuries be placed at the service of every woman, young or
old, whose presence at the polls is made doubtful by mud, or snow, or the
prospect of a shower.
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