=Woman Suffrage.=--For a long time women everywhere were denied the right to vote, even long after their civil disabilities had been removed. The principal arguments advanced by the opponents of woman suffrage were: that active participation of women in political affairs would tend to destroy their feminine qualities by forcing them into political campaigns, and thus causing them to neglect their children; that it would tend to introduce discord into family life by setting husband against wife on political issues; that since women are incapable of discharging all the obligations of citizenship, such as serving in the army, militia, or police, they ought not to have all the privileges of citizenship; that a majority of the women did not desire the privilege of voting; and that men could be trusted to care for the interests of the whole family. [Illustration: VOTER CASTING A BALLOT] [Illustration: WOMAN SUFFRAGE PARADE, WASHINGTON, D.C., MARCH 3, 1913] _Arguments in Favor of Woman Suffrage._--In favor of giving the ballot to women, it was argued that differences of sex do not constitute a logical or rational ground for granting or withholding the suffrage if the citizen is otherwise qualified; that women should be given the ballot for their own self-protection against unjust class legislation; that since millions of them had become wage earners and were competing with men in nearly every trade and occupation and in many of the learned professions, the argument that the wage earner should have the ballot as a means of defense applied equally to women as to men; that since the old civil disabilities to which they were formerly subject, such as the inability to own real estate, enter into contracts, and engage in learned professions had been removed, it followed logically that their political disabilities should be removed also; and that since many of them had become property owners and taxpayers it was unjust to permit the shiftless nontaxpaying male citizen to take part in choosing public officials and at the same time deny the right to women taxpayers. Moreover, it was argued that the admission of women to a share in the management of public affairs would elevate the tone of politics and conduce to better government. Women are vitally interested in such matters as taxation, education, sanitation, labor legislation, pure food laws, and better housing conditions in the cities, and it was maintained that in those states where they had been given the right to vote they had been instrumental in securing wise legislation on many of these subjects. Finally, it was argued, the fact that some women do not care for the privilege is no reason why it should be denied to those who do desire it.