ical structure, or rather
in consequence of the same, our people has become a people with modern
thoughts and modern ideals, with a constitution sufficiently robust
and strong to withstand the ravages of the struggle for existence,
instead of remaining a sickly and atrophied organism, afraid of
everything new and opposed to material struggles from fear of the
wrath of Heaven and from a passive desire to live in an ideal state
of peace and well-being.

In view of the fruitful results which those institutions of liberty
and democracy have brought to our country; and considering the
marked progress made by us, thanks to these same institutions, in
all the orders of national life, in spite of a few reactionists and
ultra-conservatives, who hold opinions to the contrary and regret the
past, I do not and can not, understand how there still are serious
people who seriously object to the granting of female suffrage,
one of the most vivid aspirations now agitating modern society.

I remember very well that in the past, not so very long ago, the same
apprehension and fears were felt with regard to higher education for
our women. How ridiculous--the same people argued--is it for woman
to study history, mathematics, philosophy, and chemistry, which are
not only superior to the assimilating power of her deficient brain,
but will make her presumptuous and arrogant and convert her into
a hybrid being without grace or strength, intolerable and fatuous,
with a beautiful, but empty head and a big, but dry heart! However,
we admitted the women to our high schools and universities and made
it possible for them to attain to the degree of bachelor of arts
and graduate in law, medicine, and other professions. Can it be said
that those women have perverted the homes of their parents or that,
when they married, they were a source of disgrace or scandal to their
husbands? We are now able to observe the results, and if these results
are found to be detrimental to the social and political welfare of
the country, it is our duty to undo what we have done and to return
to where we were before.

Fortunately, nobody would think of such a thing. From the most
cultured centers of population to the remotest villages, public opinion
fervently approves and applauds the education of women, and even the
most backward peasants send their daughters to the cities and go to the
greatest sacrifices imaginable in order to make it possible for them to
ascend to