Gertrude Foster Brown

“ The privilege of citizenship brings with it the obligation to defend the government of which that citizenship is a part. The right to vote is a right which might well be dependent on the loyalty of the citizen, and on his willingness to defend and maintain his country.
Men say even to-day that the vote has no value, that they do not care about it. Let them live for a time in a country where they would not be allowed to vote, where the people are governed by an autocratic power, and how long before they would be willing to sacrifice anything, even life itself, for political liberty? ”

“ Life would be unthinkable to us without this liberty. To stifle one’s thought, to be afraid to let a suspicion of it leak out would mean to make life unbearable. Freedom of the Press is a right that we enjoy more than any other nation. Freedom of Worship has so long been unquestioned that we forget that it has been little more than a short century since it was established. Freedom of Assembly is a right which we accept without question. ”

“ It is the untold sacrifices of countless men and women that have made liberty possible. That it shall be maintained, and that the world shall not be allowed to slip back, is a debt that every man and woman owes to the past. ”

“ The chain so formed is practically endless, and its inevitable effect is to raise the cost of government unwarrantably. Every such expenditure, every unnecessary public salary, every dishonest public official, every tax-dodger, every incompetent piece of public work, adds to the burden of taxation which the people have to pay. ”

“ In certain intimate matters it is a woman’s task to question girls. Contrast the picture of an open court-room: the judge on the bench, the jury, if there is one, composed of men, the room filled with men of all descriptions, and the frightened, trembling child, with this private room with the young offender telling her story alone to an experienced woman. Which offers the best chance for saving the girl from a ruined life? ”

“ Recreation: The modern city so far has made little provision for the natural irresistible desire of youth for play.
This is all the more dangerous because young men and women are being drawn in great numbers from the protection of the home, for work in factories and shops. They have a freedom from restraint such as they have never had before. They have money which they have earned; they are eager for amusement. When they come to the end of a day of exhausting work their love of pleasure will not be denied. If they are not given the right kind of amusement, they will take the wrong kind. ”

“ At the foundation of our national existence has been that belief in the principles of liberty, justice, and opportunity which the Constitution expresses. The rights given us by the founders of our nation have been the ideals which other democratic governments have sought to follow. They have been sufficiently elastic to meet the growth of the world’s belief in democracy, and to provide for all new developments in the ideals of human liberty. ”

“ The success or failure of government in the United States, and in every political division of the State, rests with the men and women who have the power of the vote.
One of the great dangers of a democracy is the carelessness and indifference of the voter. If a government “by the people” is to be a success, the people themselves must [Pg 73] see to it that honest, responsible, and efficient officials are chosen.
Every Person in the State Is Either a Citizen or an Alien. Citizenship Is Conferred by the National Government and the State Has No Power to Confer or Withhold It. ”

“ The machinery of democracy is cumbersome and very imperfect. It is often heartbreaking to try to move it. It does not easily register the popular will. But in spite of the imperfections, and the discouragements, and the downright corruption, the foundation on which it is built is the best that the world has yet found. There are many labor-saving devices still to be invented for the bettering of the machinery of government—protective measures to be found against political corruption and to safeguard the interests of the people. ”

“ It is the business of government to assure justice and equality of treatment to all citizens.
This becomes more difficult as population increases and life grows more complicated. Nearly every human being to-day is dependent on the work of other people for most of the necessities, as well as the comforts and conveniences, of life. The food that we eat, the cotton and wool in the garments we wear, the coal that heats our houses, we owe to the toil of other people who in return may be dependent on us for something that they use. ”

“ When he realizes that the size of his income, the comfort of his family life, the welfare of his children, and their getting on in life, depend to an appreciable degree on government, he and she will begin to take a livelier interest in politics. The discussion of these affairs in the home will serve to stimulate the interest of the entire family in what is, after all, an important part of their business.
A small community has one problem all its own. If there is some offense against the public welfare, no one wants to complain. ”

“ There is tremendous power for a party in its control of the government of a city or a State. A multitude of offices have to be filled, franchises to be granted, valuable contracts let, and there are a thousand opportunities for public plunder and private enrichment. The party in power nationally, has untold possibilities in the control of the fabulous resources of the country. In order that a party may come into power in the National government, it is necessary for it to be in control in the State, and to control the State it tries to hold minor political divisions. ”

“ We, in the United States, are the inheritors of the most courageous and forward thinking of the men and women of all nations who cared enough for human liberty to break all ties of home and country in order that they might “establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defense, and secure the blessings of liberty” for themselves and for us. ”

“ CHILD WAGE-EARNERS Children are the most important assets of a nation.
While every one, individually, would admit this statement, it is not easy to persuade the government that the protection and development of child life cannot be left safely to private initiative, any more than can animal or plant life; that, in addition to the protection of the individual family, children need the fostering care of the organized government. For many years, the government, both State and National, has dealt generously with the agricultural interests of the country. ”

“ That the whole subject of prostitution and the law is a most difficult one to deal with, there can be no question. It needs the combined intelligence of both men and women engaged not only in theorizing over the problem, but in actual efforts to grapple with it. Until public opinion supports the single standard of morality, the courts will continue to discriminate against women. ”

“ For over a century it has been a refuge for men and women of foreign lands, who have been oppressed and have longed for freedom, and who have sought wider opportunity for themselves and their children.
Native-born Americans have accepted their privileges as a matter of course, and without feeling the obligations they imply. They have demanded justice and opportunity for themselves, but they have not felt the responsibility of seeing that it was extended in equal measure to those who come to our shores. ”

“ They have not realized that it is the obligation of every one enjoying the privileges and benefits of a democracy to see that these are shared and safeguarded by all the people.
The war has brought home to the nation the stern necessity of a united country. For the safety of the nation our ideals of freedom, justice, and opportunity must be put into practice for all the people of the nation. ”

“ In protecting children, in caring for lost children, in acting as mother to the motherless, in watching over young girls, in getting evidence against cadets, she does an invaluable work. The disorderly saloon, the dance-hall, and the moving-picture theater are all hunting-grounds for the white-slaver. In getting evidence in this sort of crime she is more effective than the policeman. ”

“ Haphazard growth has cost the public dearly in actual money values. Unrestricted crowded living conditions have cost still more dearly in the moral and physical vitality of the people who have had to put up with them. These mistakes of the past cannot be remedied, but cities and villages are still growing, and the wise community is now developing a plan in advance for its future growth, which will safeguard public health and welfare, and the convenience as well as the beauty of the city. ”

“ Democracy is not static. It exists only as it is upheld.
We hear about the denials of justice and the failures of democracy more than we do [Pg 248] about its blessings. Our sense of perspective is often wrong. We talk about an act of lawlessness in the United States, even if it is being prosecuted with energy by the government, and class it with a deliberate attempt by a government to crush a people. We make no distinction between a State with deficient labor laws and a country where the laboring classes have no right to make themselves heard. ”

“ It is a matter that concerns every one of us that in producing these things that we use human life shall be safeguarded, that living wages shall be paid, and that standards of civilization shall be maintained and advanced.
As individuals we cannot control conditions even for ourselves, as individuals we cannot control them for other people; but all of us working together in government can secure these fundamental necessities for every one of us. ”

“ Crowded tenements without light or air, dirty streets with no provision for wholesome recreation, are proofs of poor government and inefficient democracy, no matter how prosperous and contented a city may look in its richer quarters.
People who are obliged to live in the crowded districts have a lowered vitality and a lessened value to the world; and the same natural impulses which, rightly directed, lead to an orderly, useful, contented life, may be the causes of delinquency if stunted or misdirected. ”

“ Unless domestic economy of the most practical kind is taught in the school-room, there is no way they can be prepared for the important business of housekeeper and mother. If every girl were taught to cook and were trained in the proper care of an infant, it would add immeasurably to the sum total of the comfort and health of family life. It would be an advantage to every boy, likewise, if he were taught to use his hands in carpentering or other manual work. Whatever comes in later life, hands that have been trained to be useful are a great asset to any man or woman. ”

“ The whir of machinery, the noise, the constant standing or the close bending over work, the meager wages, have been the conditions woman has had to meet for years in her struggle for a livelihood; to them are now added the dangers and excessive hours of these new occupations, with their further call on her strength and endurance.
These new industries for women should be included in the laws regulating the hours and condition of women’s work. Public messenger service is too dangerous for young girls to be employed in it. ”

“ If the public school is going to prepare young people for their work in the world, some guidance in the selection of an occupation, and some practical training in a trade or profession, must be included in their school work.
The great majority of children leave school at an early age to go to work. Without specialized training they have little chance for advancement, but fill the ranks of untrained labor, to the great loss of the world and their own disadvantage. ”

“ PUBLIC EDUCATION The best foundation for a democracy rests on free educational facilities for all the people. An ideal school system is one that reaches out to every child and prepares him for a useful occupation, that is also available for the further development of every member of the State, and that will give every individual the knowledge necessary for him to do his part in government. A self-governing people cannot afford a class too ignorant to vote.
In New York State, school attendance is compulsory for children between the ages of seven and sixteen years. ”

“ It is natural that men should have given the greater care in government to business and material affairs. To counterbalance this, woman’s work and votes are needed for the human side.
To be an intelligent voter some knowledge of the structure of government is needed. Also one must know the duties of an office in order to judge of the qualifications of would-be candidates, so Chapters II to VII give an outline of the different divisions of government, beginning with the local offices, for which women will cast their first votes, and going through the State to the National Government. ”

“ A large proportion of them give up all their earnings to the family needs.
It is no longer a question of the ability of women to do many kinds of work formerly held to be the exclusive province of men; but of the effect of her so doing on the future health and welfare of the race.
Women, like men, must work in order to live, but society and the State owe it to themselves, as a vital matter of self-protection, to safeguard that work, so that future generations shall not suffer from its effects. ”

“ Undoubtedly the number of independent voters is growing. Whenever for any reason a group of non-partisan voters abstain from party allegiance, are alert to the sincerity of party promises, and are watchful of the qualifications of candidates, both parties begin to clean house and put up as candidates the best men available, in order to bid for the independent vote. Such a body of non-partisan voters may be the decisive factor in an election, especially if the two parties are about evenly divided.
The independent voter is not popular with the machine politician. ”

“ It is now admitted that everything possible should be done to prevent a home from being broken up by poverty; that if the mother is living, and is a fit person to bring up her children, it should be made possible for her to keep them. That the mother is usually a fit person to bring up her child, is proved by the experience of the Board of Child Welfare of New York City, which examined four thousand cases of mothers who applied for pensions, and found only in fourteen cases that the mother was not to be so trusted. ”

“ Through four years of continuous intensive educational work in the State the Woman Suffrage Party has come closely in touch with many thousands of women; it has learned to know their idealism, their fervent belief in democracy, and their desire to make democracy more effective. It knows also that there are many other women who have never thought about voting, but who are equally conscientious and are now eager to learn. It knows the problems of women as does probably no other organization of women.
It also has a deep feeling of responsibility. ”

“ The honesty and efficiency of government in a republic like the United States depend on the voters; on their sense of responsibility, and on the intelligence with which they use [Pg 7] their power. The feeling of responsibility of each individual, for the public welfare, cannot be too highly developed.
Democracy can only be a success in the degree that the people who make that democracy are determined that it shall deal with justice, and that it shall offer opportunity to every one within its borders. ”

“ THE PROTECTION OF WORKING-WOMEN The war has brought a revolution in woman’s work.
Because of the increased demand for labor, trades and all kinds of employment that have been considered exclusively the province of men, have been opened to women. The universal verdict is that they have everywhere made good. Work that demands the greatest exactness and care, specialized technical operations that have been supposed to require a man’s brain, have been done by them quite as well as by men. ”