CALIFORNIA AND WESTERING SUN 325 



and mistresses of men. If there were too many 

 female babies born they were slain like female 

 dogs and cats. But only yesterday an election was 

 held in this State to vote on several constitutional 

 amendments and two referendum^ and the women 

 not only voted but two of the election officers were 

 women citizens college graduates who did 

 all of the responsible work while two old-time 

 political " hackneys " shared the wage. All this 

 was within sight of the towers of the State Uni- 

 versity which has six thousand students, two-fifths 

 of whom are women. From now on the problem 

 of feminine liberty may be trusted to the women 

 themselves. 



How much the State gains by this accession of 

 a more conscientious if not more intelligent body 

 of voters can scarcely be reckoned. In the four 

 years since women have had the ballot there have 

 been developed a large number of strong wise 

 women leaders and they are already making a 

 profound impression upon the State. 



The fourth great problem, National Sobriety, is 

 now on the way to solution. A nation cannot con- 

 tinue to exist unless it lives soberly. Spirituous 

 beverages are in their ultimate effects depressants. 

 They steal the brains and scotch the balance-wheel 

 and then the human machine runs wild. All our 



