discourse when the doll began to
scream, 'Votes for women.' The father gasped, 'What! So early?' and
fainted.

"The more you weigh the reasons pro and con," continued Harding, as he
lit one of my cigars, "the harder it is to decide. Mrs. Cadgers has
pointed out that under our present system the wife of a college
professor is not allowed to vote, whereas an illiterate Greek fruit
peddler may. But Mr. Rattler replies that the college professor, too,
seldom votes, and if he does he spoils his ballot by trying to split his
ticket. Why, demands Mrs. Cadgers, should women who pay taxes be refused
a voice in the management of public affairs? Because, replies Mr.
Rattler, the suffrage and taxes do not necessarily go together. In our
country at the present day many millionaires who regularly cast their
votes never pay their taxes.

"Mr. Rattler is particularly afraid that woman suffrage will break up
the family. 'Imagine,' he says, 'a family in which the husband is a
Democrat and the wife a Cannon Republican. Imagine them constantly
fighting out the subject of tariff revision over the supper-table, and
conceive the dreadful effect on the children, who at present are
accustomed to see father light his cigar after supper and fall asleep.
Or suppose the wife develops a passion for political meetings. That
means that the husband will have to stay at home with the baby.' 'Well,'
replies Mrs. Cadgers, 'such an arrangement has its advantages. It would
not only give the wife a chance to learn the meaning of citizenship, but
it would give the husband a chance to get acquainted with the baby.' And
besides, Mrs. Cadgers goes on to argue, a woman's political duties need
not take up more than a small fraction of her time. That, retorts Mr.
Rattler, with a sneer, is because woman derives her ideas on the subject
from seeing her husband fulfil his duties as a citizen once every two
years when he forgets to register.

"An excellent debate on the subject was the one between Mrs. Excelsior,
who spoke in favour of the ballot for women, and Professor Van Doodle,
who upheld the negative. Professor Van Doodle maintained that women are
incapable of taking a genuine interest in public affairs. What is it
that appeals to a woman when she reads a newspaper? A Presidential
election may be impending, a great war is raging in the Far East, an
explorer has just returned from the South Pole, and, woman, picking up
the Sunday paper, plunges straight into th