96 MY SUMMER IN A GARDEN. 



who have ever mingled in human affairs. I 

 understand those women who say they don t 

 want the ballot. They purpose to hold the real 

 power while we go through the mockery of mak 

 ing laws. They want the power without the 

 responsibility. (Suppose my squash had not 

 come up, or my beans as they threatened at 

 one time had gone the wrong way : where 

 would I have been ? ) We are to be held to all 

 the responsibilities. Woman takes the lead in 

 all the departments, leaving us politics only. 

 And what is politics ? Let me raise the vege 

 tables of a nation, says Polly, and I care not 

 who makes its politics. Here I sat at the table, 

 armed with the ballot, but really powerless among 

 my own vegetables. While we are being amused 

 by the ballot, woman is quietly taking things 

 into her own hands. 



