Judge, 1912-12-14 · page 18 of 26
Judge — December 14, 1912 — page 18: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This satirical article by Ida Husted Harper mocks anti-suffrage arguments by highlighting the physical and mental demands women already endure. The central cartoon "IS THIS FAIR?" contrasts two images: one showing women at a tax office (forced to pay taxes) and another showing women debarred from polls (denied voting rights)—the core suffrage argument that taxation without representation is unjust. The article uses ironic anecdotes to expose anti-suffragist hypocrisy: Kansas women who used horsewhips on gamblers now want ballots; a man whose wife financially supported the family opposes suffrage because "a woman's place is at home"; and men who infiltrated a women's temperance society seized control—proving women need voting power to protect their interests. The "Toasts" poem celebrates working women juggling office jobs and household labor, sarcastically asking if they're strong enough for these burdens, why not voting? The satire argues: women already demonstrate capability and strength; denying them votes while collecting their taxes is fundamentally unfair.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
T H E |_M Suffrage Snapshots. By IDA HUSTED HARPER AN ARMY of women have just ended a 400-mile walk from Edinburgh to present a suffrage peti- tion to Prime Minister Asquith. The suffragette way is quicker—they just wrap it around a stone and throw it through his window. Both branches of the movement seem to have proved that they possess the physical strength to cast a ballot. a All sorts of explanations have been made as to why those Kansas women, when they O DE RN use horsewhips on the professional gamblers if they did not leave the town. Now they have not exactly turned their spears into pruning hooks, but they have exchanged their horsewhips for ballots, and when they tell the gamblers to leave town they will gather up their outfit and go. History repeats itself. The Ceres Ladies’ Society, fifty years old—the society, not the ladies—admitted a few men as a compliment, and now WwW OM A N Wisconsin came across a man whose wife has supported the family for years by walking the tight rope, and he announced that he should vote against the suffrage amendment be- cause a woman’s place is at home. There are a vast number just like him there, judging from the recent election returns. Toasts. Here’s to the woman with many a care, Who sits all day in an office chair, And at night, when her day's work there is through, found they had won the suf- frage, built a bonfire and threw their old hats in it. Perhaps they thought that, now they were voters, they must act as silly as men, Maybe they had such swelled heads that the hats wouldn’t fit. Possibly they thought they could get new ones on election bets. But most likely they only wanted to show that now their hats are in the ring and they are ready for the fray. oO The anti-suffragists opened their campaign at Sherry's, in New York, the other day; but that does not necessarily imply that they used a corkscrew. Women have a good deal to learn about politics. There was the woman candidate for mayor of San Diego, who announced that her first act if elected would be to put through an ordinance taxing bachelors. Natur- ally the bachelors all voted against her, the benedicts did the same be- cause they didn’t want the bachelors to feel that there was such an easy escape from marriage, and the women turned her down because they thought she was quite capable of levying a tax on spinsters. oo Some months ago the women of Larned, Kan., met and resolved to TAKES MUST BE PAID UNDER PENALTY OF THE LAW) TAX_OFFICE has filed an ouster against them be- cause they usurped all the offices. Sixty years ago Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton formed & women’s temperance society and were persuaded to admit men, who, at the first election, managed to get control of the offices. The two wom- en walked out of the society and out of the temperance movement straight into that for woman suffrage., Men should have a care! Winston Churchill mispronounced a Greek word in the House of Com- mons lately, to the consternation of its members. Imagine the commo- tion in the House of Representatives at Washington if a member should make a mistake in his Greek! Women suffragists campaigning in | WOMEN DEBARRED Goes home and finds more work to do; Gets up in the morning and cooks and scrubs, And wrestles around with laundry tubs; Yet the usual hour finds her smiling there Beside her desk, in the office chair. If she’s strong enough to these burdens tote, Here's to the States where they let her vote! Minnie C.D. Smith. Let Him Observe. If you think it would not be pos- sible for a woman to be President, observe how she runs her house on a tiny allowance for six months, and you'll change your mind. Woman is a born diplomat and a past master in economics, The Lucky Dub. Rub-a-dub-dub! Rub-a-dub-dub! He lives at the sign of the Elbow and Tub. His wife keeps the place, and she sets a good table, But to vote, sirs, he swears that she wouldn’t be able! At the recent women’s convention it was shown that the women are past masters of parliamentary law. comicbooks.com