To-night I wish to present briefly something of the manner [pg 196] in which the people express their power, the method by which the people disclose their wishes in public affairs. The Star Baseball Club, the Irving Literary Society, the City Teachers Association, the Woman's Club, the Charity Guild, these are all mere organisations of people. That is all that America is. These organizations have written constitutions. So has America. These organizations must have laws or rules of conduct, aside from their constitutions. So must America. These societies must have a policy and transact business. So must America. In adopting laws or rules of conduct these societies secure an expression of the wishes of their members. These wishes are generally expressed by their votes, sometimes by ballot and sometimes orally in a meeting.
America secures an expression of the wishes of the people by their votes. The votes of the people either in writing or printed are cast on election days fixed by laws enacted through the vote of the people. In no other way can the wishes of the people be made known. It, is through the ballot that the people exercise their powers. It is through the ballot that America is governed.[110]
I wonder if the people of America generally realize what a wonderful thing it is that a government as large as ours must depend entirely upon the wishes of the people expressed by their vote on election day. I wonder if they realize that in this way the people rule. On election day we see something of the equality of the people. If you go near the polling place, you will see the president of the bank, perhaps, or the president of the railroad walking side by side with the hodcarrier or the brakeman on the train. In the voting booth each has the same power in helping to shape the destiny of their country.
In a way this is a new method of government. Only in a country where there is a government by the people do we find such a thing as the right of all men regardless of property, [pg 197] race, or creed to exercise the same power in the ballot box.[111]
From the beginning America has led in granting the right of suffrage, the right to vote. In the early days in some of the States a man had to own a certain amount of property before he could vote, but this has not been true for more than fifty years. Now a new day has come. After a struggle for generations, the right to vote has been conferred upon all female citizens, regardless of property, social position, religion, or race. It has been a long struggle and now that victory has been won for equal suffrage, is there anyone who will still contend that in this country the people do not rule?
Who has conferred this great privilege upon the women of America? The voters of America decided that every State should grant this privilege.
The amendment to the Constitution is as follows:
“The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.”
The people did not vote directly upon this constitutional amendment, but they voted for the members of the House and the members of the Senate who voted for the amendment and they voted for the members of the legislatures of the different States which ratified the amendment. Thus the responsibility rests with the people. This is true of course as to nearly all the laws enacted by State and Nation—the people do not vote directly upon them, but they select their agents, who, under the law, are authorized to act for them.
Under this amendment we have the written guaranty in the Constitution that so far as men and women are concerned they shall have equal rights to vote.[112]