"IF I WERE A WOMAN."

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1407, 6 April 1912, Page 11

"IF I WERE A WOMAN."

THE EEAL MEANING OF POLITICS.

If I we-ro a woman in 1912 I would givo my first and best effort to this thought, that politics are nothing move nor less than public housekeeping—the mero expression of tho common will in matters that pertain to tho common coed, Bays Judge Lindsay, tho great children s Judge of America. , . Politics is not a dirty name in itself, but has been made so by public enemies, thieves, aud traitors and, to protect themselves in their pillage and corruption, they point warning fingers at their own gniiio when honest folk approach. I would ask myself tho question: "What, when, and why is a home? The "old homo" was a close corporation. The women in it viewed the world as through a .glnss. They sewed, cooked, brought children into tho world, and reared them in love, honour, and dear indulgence. The boys went forth, and the girls stayed until such good tune as they went into homes of their own. Marriage was about tho only means of livelihood for a woman, and, failing that, she sank into tho role of a dependent. An economic earthquake has shaken the "old homo" to pieces, To-day ten millions of women and children are compelled to work that they may live, not nlono in the pleasant profession?, but in store, mill, factory, and sweatshop.. . [• The nation, the State, tho municipality— thefo th.ree have stepped.in. assumed practical control of the family in its most intimnto relations—and are Over Parents. Compulsory education laws tell when children shall go to school, how long they shall remain, nnd That Khali be studied; pure food acts prescribe what may aud wlmt may not be eaten in the home; buila'ing regulations dictato the character and composition of houses; there aro laws which specify tho ago at which boys and girls may go to work, also the number of hours, of employment for men and women each day, and •the conditions imder which labour may bo carried on; health laws, truancy laws, iuvenile courts, parental delinquency laws all assume authorities that were formerly parental; the tariff establishes tho price of food and clothing; the laws control gambling, tho liquor traffic, and How, then, can a woman look after her own homo and her children except 'through tho law, nnd how can the law be controlled except throueh politics r . If I were a woman in 1912 these two fundamental things—the real meaning of politics, and conception of Government as an Over Parent-are what I should consider prinwily, and tpsolvc upon .understandin". For a modern woman to say, "I have no place in politics, is as though she said, "In name only will. I fulfil the functions of wije, mother, sister, or communal entity."