第26章

PersonallyIfeelthatitisexactlyasmucha“right“ofwomenasofmentovote。Buttheimportantpointwithbothmenandwomenistotreattheexerciseofthesuffrageasaduty，which，inthelongrun，mustbewellperformedtobeoftheslightestvalue。Ialwaysfavoredwoman’ssuffrage，butonlytepidly，untilmyassociationwithwomenlikeJaneAddamsandFrancesKellor，whodesireditasonemeansofenablingthemtorenderbetterandmoreefficientservice，changedmeintoazealousinsteadofalukewarmadherentofthecause——inspiteofthefactthatafewofthebestwomenofthesametype，womenlikeMaryAntin，didnotfavorthemovement。Avoteislikearifle：itsusefulnessdependsuponthecharacteroftheuser。ThemerepossessionofthevotewillnomorebenefitmenandwomennotsufficientlydevelopedtouseitthanthepossessionofrifleswillturnuntrainedEgyptianfellaheenintosoldiers。Thisisastrueofwomanasofman——

andnomoretrue。UniversalsuffrageinHaytihasnotmadetheHaytiansabletogovernthemselvesinanytruesense；andwomansuffrageinUtahinnoshapeorwayaffectedtheproblemofpolygamy。

IbelieveinsuffrageforwomeninAmerica，becauseIthinktheyarefitforit。Ibelieveforwomen，asformen，moreinthedutyoffittingone’sselftodowellandwiselywiththeballotthaninthenakedrighttocasttheballot。

Iwishthatpeoplewouldreadbookslikethenovelsandstories，atoncestrongandcharming，ofHenryBordeaux，bookslikeKathleenNorris’s“Mother。”andCorneliaComer’s“Preliminaries。”andwouldusethese，andothersuchbooks，astracts，nowandthen！PerhapsthefollowingcorrespondencewillgiveabetterideathanIcanotherwisegiveoftheproblemsthatineverydaylifecomebeforemenandwomen，andoftheneedthatthemanshallshowhimselfunselfishandconsiderate，anddohisfullshareofthejointduty：

January3，1913。

/ColonelTheodoreRoosevelt/：

DearSir——Isupposeyouarewillingtostandsponsorfortheassertionthatthewomenofthecountryarenotdoingtheirdutyunlesstheyhavelargefamilies。Iwonderifyouknowtherealreason，afterall。Societyandclubsareheldlargelytoblame，butsocietyreallytakesinsofewpeople，afterall。Ithought，whenIgotmarriedattwenty，thatitwastheproperthingtohaveafamily，and，aswehadverylittleofthisworld’sgoods，alsothoughtitthethingtodoallthenecessaryworkforthem。Ihavehadninechildren，didallmyownwork，includingwashing，ironing，house-cleaning，andthecareofthelittleonesastheycamealong，whichwasabouteverytwoyears；alsosewedeverythingtheywore，includingtrousersfortheboysandcapsandjacketsforthegirlswhilelittle。Ialsohelpedthemallintheirschoolwork，andstartedtheminmusic，etc。ButastheygrewolderIgotbehindthetimes。Ineverbelongedtoacluborasocietyorlodge，norwenttoanyone’shousescarcely；therewasn’ttime。Inconsequence，Iknewnothingthatwasgoingoninthetown，muchlesstheeventsofthecountry，andatthesametimemyhusbandkeptgrowinginwisdomandknowledge，frommixingwithmenandhearingtopicsofthetimesdiscussed。AtthebeginningofourmarriedlifeIhadjustasquickamindtograspthingsashedid，andhadmoreschooleducation，havinggraduatedfromathreeyears’highschool。Myhusbandmoreandmoredeclinedtodiscussthingswithme；ashesaid，“Ididn’tknowanythingaboutit。”

WhenI’daskhe’dsay，“Oh，youwouldn’tunderstandifI’dtellyou。”SohereIam，atforty-fiveyears，hopelesslydullanduninteresting，whilehecanmixwiththebrightestmindsinthecountryasanequal。He’sastrongProgressiveman，tookveryactivepartinthelatecampaign，etc。IamalsoProgressive，andtriedmybest，aftersomanyyearsofshut-inlife，tograsptheideasyoustoodfor，andreadeverythingIcouldfindduringthesummerandfall。ButI’vebeenoutoftouchwithpeopletoolongnow，andmyhusbandwouldmuchrathergoandtalktosomewomanwhohasn’thadanychildren，becausesheknowsthings(Iamnotspecifyinganyparticularwoman)。IsimplyborehimtodeathbecauseI’mnotinteresting。Now，tellme，howwasitmyfault？I

wasonlydoingwhatIthoughtwasmyduty。Nowomancankeepupwiththingswhonevertalkswithanyonebutyoungchildren。Assoonasmychildrengrewuptheytookthesameattitudeastheirfather，andfrequentlysay，“Oh，motherdoesn’tknow。”Theylookuptoandadmiretheirfatherbecausehe’samanoftheworldandknowshowtoactwhenhegoesout。HowcanIurgemydaughtersnowtogoandraiselargefamilies？Itmeansbythetimeyouhavelostyourfigureandcharmforthemtheyareallashamedofyou。Now，asabelieverinwoman’srights，doalittletalkingtothemenastotheirdutiestotheirwives，orelserefrainfromurginguswomentohavechildren。Iamonlyoneofthousandsofmiddle-classrespectablewomenwhogiv