Introduction, Part 2

Woman; Man's Equal
by Thomas Webster

(Page 2 of 10)

Amidst her general activity, many questions arise as to what further avenues of usefulness may properly open. How far may she engage in business, and in what branches? what is her proper work in the Church, and to what extent may she perform public religious services? is she properly a citizen, and what privileges or rights should she enjoy? - are inquiries which are considered and discussed. The greatest interest is at present excited by the question, "Should women have the ballot?" and both in this country and in England it has able advocates and strong opponents.

It can not be denied that the answer of the large majority is in the negative, and that in many instances this answer comes in the form of the laugh of ridicule or in the sneer of contempt. Such is the fate of all incipient efforts for reformation; but where a cause is intrinsically just, it can survive and triumph.

Without entering into the general discussion, two points may be briefly noted. First, this question is considered only in Christian lands. It is not even heard of elsewhere. It is mooted only in countries where the Bible is placed in the hands of the common people. It is strong only where free institutions have been established, and where liberal ideas have prevailed. It is the outgrowth of Bible freedom. Secondly, many of its opponents are persons of strong intellect, of broad views, of great benevolence, and of unquestioned piety. Yet in the opposition we find also all, or nearly all, of the most ignorant classes of society. We find also in the opposition, with very few exceptions, the entire class of venders of intoxicating drinks, drunkards, gamblers, and other notoriously vicious characters. Is there any reason for such an aggregation? On the other hand, the friends of the measure, though fewer in number, are generally found among the intelligent and religious members of the community. It is true that a few of those who desired to be recognized as leaders of the movement are known as free-thinkers or infidels; and a still smaller number have been advocates of free-love and other loathsome vagaries. The opponents of the cause have skillfully presented their names as representatives of the idea, and have thus cast such odium upon it that many timid persons, dreading even an apparent association with them, have feared to express their own convictions. These odious parties, however, are very few in number, and their influence is constantly diminishing. There can be no question that four-fifths of the friends of female suffrage are to-day active members of various Christian Churches; and of them no small number are ministers distinguished for their learning, benevolence, and piety.

The signs of the times indicate a determined struggle between temperance and intemperance. The use of intoxicating liquors is the source of nine-tenths of all the dark and terrible crimes that disgrace humanity. It whets the assassin's dagger, and pours poison into the cup of the suicide. It beggars the laborer, breaks the heart of the anguished wife, and starves the helpless children. It fills jails and penitentiaries with victims, and hospitals and asylums with the injured and hopelessly wrecked. It fastens on society an army of police to be supported, and it oppresses the land with taxes. The money amassed by the venders buys our legislators, corrupts our judges and governors, and controls our political parties. Who shall stay its ravages, or curtail its power?

My conviction is, and for years has been, that the only hope is in giving the ballot to women. True, some women love strong drink, and some are vile; yet the vast majority are utterly opposed to intemperance. None so well as the drunkard's wife knows the terrible evil, or so keenly feels its pangs. Could the mother, who bows her head in sorrow as she beholds her loved boy hastening to ruin; the wife, whose once affectionate husband has been transformed into a demon; the daughter, whose cheek has been mantled with shame at her father's fall, and who has suffered the bitterness of blasted hopes and of dismal poverty, - could they have the ballot, how quickly would the rum-shops be closed, and our youth be preserved from multi-fold temptations! What other triumph could compare with this?

With this conviction, I hail with pleasure this volume from the pen of Dr. Webster. It discusses an important question calmly, clearly, forcibly. I may not agree with all of his positions, or with some of his Biblical criticisms, yet I believe the work possesses much merit, will lead to serious thoughtfulness, and be productive of good.

I also rejoice that the enterprising publishers whose names appear on the imprint have added this volume to their catalogue, and have thus given the influence of their names, and their widely extended means of circulation, to a cause so intimately connected with the interests of humanity. The Church, in its various denominations, and by its varied agencies, must ever be, as it ever has been, the leader and the guide in great moral movements.

M. SIMPSON.

Source: New York: Nelson And Phillips. 1873