THEi RURAL NEW-YORKER 
965 
A Discussion on Suffrage 
A Veteran on “ Votes for Women.” 
I see from time to time in your paper 
some allusion to the moral and political 
propriety of female suffrage. It would 
seem also that the “Hope Farm Man” 
favors this modern and progressive idea, 
typical of his modern and progressive 
course. If it be any significance I here¬ 
with add a Western whoop to the same 
purport. I do not deem it worth while 
to allude to the common arguments of 
woman’s mental capacity, or to the jus¬ 
tice and equity of having something to 
say about their property rights. Such 
questions are stale and do not give the 
meat of the controversy. Neither do I 
Physician Heal Thyself—From a Woman’s 
Point of View. 
A certain man had a dirty habit which 
lie indulged in as often as meal-time came 
around. This habit apart from being dis¬ 
gusting in itself made extra work for the 
already overtaxed housewife. The heart 
of this woman was of the sort the poet 
had in mind when he wrote: 
The heart that is soonest awake to the 
flower 
Is always the first to be touched by the 
thorn. 
That dirty habit was a th-n to her 
sure enough. In her field, which was 
the dirty habit; sings perhaps a little 
gayer song as she remembers the teasing 
laugh of a dear friend of long ago as he 
accused her of nursing her wrath to keep 
it warm. She hopes some time when 
death’s long sleep is over for that dear 
friend and for her she will hear his ring¬ 
ing laugh when she tells him she learned 
to turn about and nurse her cheerful¬ 
ness to keep it warm and glowing. 
Who can doubt that life in the home of 
him of the dirty habit and her of the 
singing is better for the change? Who 
can bind the sweet influences of a heart 
that sings? Herein is the lesson that 
must be learned before any forward step 
in the race toward the goal of perfection 
can be taken. “Physician, heal thyself.” 
This woman’s view of the suffrage 
question is characteristic. It is what 
one knowing her would expect. The 
greatest Leader of all time said : “And 
I. if I be lifted up from the earth will 
draw all men unto me.” Woman de¬ 
manding the suffrage seem to me like 
seek to answer the charge that the re¬ 
finement and moral tone of the female 
sex is lowered by contact or familiarity 
with political turmoil. The former is 
self-evident and the latter has been dis¬ 
proved at every polling place where 
woman has exercised the just right so 
long withheld. Woman has not been de¬ 
based by such contact, but the environment 
i f the ballot box has been move peaceable, 
more refined and decent from the first 
moment of the advent of the fair sex at 
the ballot with her ticket. From the 
time of common law days, when woman 
had no legal or property rights, and 
since then more than a century of miti¬ 
gating legislation, every adVance toward 
enlarging woman’s rights has been a step 
marked plainly by the improvement of 
society. Who now dares to swell up 
with alleged masculine superiority, and 
assert that when the words- were inserted 
in our statutes that she might “own, 
use and convey” her “sole and separate 
property” did not mark a white stone 
on the road to ultimate justice? 
The above are urgent questions, but 
yet do not touch what I consider to be 
the vital reasons in favor of woman’s 
right to vote in the interest of her own 
property, and to select her own rulers. 
I now come to what seems to me to be 
The Finest Daisy of Them All. 
The Summer Boarders at the Rural Mailbox. 
the overwhelming propriety and necessity 
of our wives, daughters and sisters help¬ 
ing us to govern as best they may. To 
put this in concrete form my belief m 
the propriety of female suffrage as a 
national. State and municipal bless'ng is 
founded upon the immeasurable moral 
superiority of their sex; their natural 
and instinctive morality, virtue and 
decency; their natural tendency to be 
good. The morality, virtue and decency 
of 1.000 average women, as compared 
with 1,000 men, is too overwhelming to 
admit of comparison. 
I do not assert that every woman is 
better than every man, but I do assert 
their average is immeasurably higher. 
Let any man who is a denizen of an aver¬ 
age community devote a few moments to 
thinking, if he has anything to think 
with, and consider how few females have 
a blemished reputation. Then take a 
census of the lords of creation in the 
same vicinity. If the good weighs as esti¬ 
mated by approved civilized standards, 
and was placed in a balance with the 
virtues gleaned from a like number of 
men at the other end, the latter will go 
so high that corn thereabouts will be 
two dollars a bushel. Nearly all women 
are by nature modest and virtuous. If 
otherwise in rare cases it may be gen¬ 
erally traced to the wiles of some man. 
It follows as axiomatic that this differ¬ 
ence will be reflected at the ballot box 
and there redound to tin- welfare of the 
community. It is only human that some 
of this sex I so venerate will make fools 
of themselves, but when the male sex 
furnishes less than 10 to one of that 
class I will apologize. 
Some years’ extensive experiment in 
female suffrage have shown no debase¬ 
ment of manners, morals or habits. The 
same delicacy, high moral aspirations 
and tendency to do good, which dis¬ 
tinguish womankind everywhere, shine 
brightly through the haze of political 
gloom in the same degree as in the do¬ 
mestic circle. I regard the love, purity 
and virtue of woman as the cement 
which holds society together. If women 
were no better than the average men, 
L<>d pity the world! We need all the 
goodness of her kind at the polls. Herein 
is founded the basic reason and necessity 
f"r female suffrage. l. b. cbookek. 
peaceful, this woman was a tactician. 
She tried every maneuver known to her 
only to be beaten back by the utter in¬ 
difference of the man. Then she laid back- 
on her arms and considered. “Here I am 
getting sorer and sorer from the pricks 
of that thorny habit, while the thornbush 
so to speak sees • reason for changing 
its nature.” Changing its nature; the 
words stuck in her mind until she resolv¬ 
ed that the tender heart would change its 
nature and not be so easily pricked. 
If this were a goody-goody story in¬ 
stead of a plain chronicle of fact the 
dirty habit would have been conquered. 
No, the dirty habit flourishes undimin¬ 
ished, but the housewife sings about her 
work, sings even when cleaning up after 
woman challenging man to a duel, he 
with the choice of weapons. Who can 
name the woman’s weapon? Elusive, ever 
changing, her very strength her unex¬ 
pectedness, accepting the man’s weapon, 
her own is ruled out and she must do bat¬ 
tle with a clumsy contrivance that has 
never yet accomplished anything to be 
supremely proud of even in abler hands 
than hers. The ballot, whether in the 
hands of man or woman, or both, will 
never bring about the fulfillment of the 
Golden Rule: "All things whatsoever ye 
would that men should do to you, do ye 
even so to them.” 
Do women observe this rule more than 
men? The Golden Rule is not the cri¬ 
terion by which men and women are com¬ 
monly tried in order to reach a correct 
judgment concerning them. If it were 
there would be no support for the theory 
that given the ballot woman will uplift 
it. “Physician heal th.vsself.” c. 
A Talk on Cancer. 
The May issue of “Health News” from 
the New York State Department of 
Health presents some interesting facts 
with regard to cancer. Cancer is said to 
be essentially a disease of later adult 
life, 00% of all deaths from cancer in 
New York, in 1013, ocurring after till¬ 
age of 40. 07% occurred after the ago 
of 30 and the average age at death, from 
this malignant disease is 5!) years. This 
is in marked contrast to tuberculosis, 
which is a disease of early adult life, the 
average age at death from this disease 
being 36. The death rate from cancer 
is gradually rising, while that from tuber¬ 
culosis is declining. The increase in the 
number of deaths from cancer may be, 
in part, apparent, because of better diag¬ 
nosis on the part of physicians and more 
complete reports, but there seems to be 
no question that this disease is somewhat 
rapidly increasing in prevalence. The 
hopeful side of this matter lies in tin- 
fact that cancer has been found to be 
curable when it is so located that it may 
be removed early by surgical means. 
When neglected or temporized with by 
palliative measures, or when so situated 
that it cannot be removed, it is nearly 
always fatal. The death rate from can¬ 
cer will be markedly checked when phy¬ 
sicians learn to recognize all cases at an 
early stage and when people learn to seek- 
competent medical advice at the first ap¬ 
pearance of a suspicious sore or tumor. 
The following facts with regard to 
cancer should be generally known : Can¬ 
cer, in its early and curable stage, gives 
rise to no pain or symptom of ill-health 
whatever. Any swelling in the breast of 
a woman past 40 should lead at once to 
the seeking of competent advice; a large 
proportion of such swellings are cancer¬ 
ous. Any bleeding, however trivial, after 
the change of life, and irregular bleeding 
during that period, call for a physician’s 
investigation; in very many such cases, 
this unusual type of bleeding means com¬ 
mencing cancer. Any wart, or sore, oc- 
curing on the lower lip of a man past 
40 is probably cancerous and should be 
removed at once. If this is done, cure is 
practically certain, if neglected, the re¬ 
sult is likely to be fatal. Any sore or 
swelling occurring on the tongue or in¬ 
side of the mouth of a man past 40 
should be submitted to expert investiga¬ 
tion at once; a large proportion of such 
sores are cancerous. m. b. d. 
“Viavi; Crotalin.” 
Fan you tell me the composition of 
“Viavi,” also, if it cures; is the cure 
permanent? What is your opinion of 
“Crotalin” as a cure for nervous fits? 
w B. 
“Viavi” is composed of five letters, 
and upon these five letters, together with 
the remaining 21 of the alphabet, skill¬ 
fully combined into words, and the words 
so cleverly arranged as to convey the 
idea that “Viavi” is a mysterious and 
miraculous healing agent, the value of 
“Viavi” rests. An analysis of this nos¬ 
trum, made for the American Medical 
Association, showed that it contained 
“nothing but extract of h.vdrastis and co¬ 
coa butter.” If you think that these 
two simple, and, in their place useful, 
substances can do what “Viavi” is said 
to do. you may well believe the state¬ 
ments of its promoters. I do not. The 
story of Viavi and the two San Francis¬ 
co brothers who conceived the Viavi idea 
and quickly became multi-millionaires 
reads like a romance, but it is a sorry 
romance of human credulity played upon 
by keen and unprincipled men; of enor¬ 
mous wealth gained by fraud and quack¬ 
ery. If you wish to read it, send 10 
cents to the American Medical Associa¬ 
tion, 535 N. Dearborn St., Chicago, Ill- 
and ask for their pamphlet upon Viavi. 
This pamphlet is published by the na¬ 
tional association of American physicians 
and surgeons as part of their work of 
enlightening the public with regard t<> 
“The great American fraud.” 
The latest report with regard to the 
use of crotalin in epilepsy that I have at 
hand is from the Epileptic Colony at the 
North Carolina State Hospital. This re¬ 
port from the physicians who there tried 
it in a series of cases condemns it un¬ 
qualifiedly. Its use increased, instead of 
diminishing, the number of convulsions 
suffered by the patients to whom it was 
given. m b. n. 
