As voting is done at the present day, I do not see
how woman can take part in it and maintain her self-respect.
Improvements no doubt will be made in the manner of voting. The ballot
will become secret, and the count will not be disclosed until after the
voting is finished. The rum stores will be closed on voting day and an
air of respectability will be given to it that it does not now possess.
It ought to be made a legal holiday."
"Granted," said Quincy, "but what has that to do with the question of
woman's right to vote?"
"Woman has no inherent right to vote," said Uncle Ike. "The ballot is a
privilege, not a right. Why, I remember reading during the war that
young soldiers, between eighteen and twenty-one years of age, claimed
the ballot as a right, because they were fighting for their country. If
voting is a right, what argument could be used against their claim?"
"I remember," added Quincy, "that they argued that 'bullets should win
ballots.' Do you think any one should vote who cannot fight?" asked
Quincy.
"If he does not shirk his duty between eighteen and forty-five," said
Uncle Ike, "he should not be deprived of his ballot when he is older;
but the question of woman's voting does not depend upon her ability to
fight.
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