“Aunt Sarah, I am surprised to hear you talk in that manner about woman’s sphere,” replied Mary, “knowing what a success you are in the home, and how beautifully you manage everything you undertake.  I felt, once you recognized the injustice done woman in not allowing them to vote, you would feel differently, and since women are obliged to obey the laws, should they not have a voice in choosing the lawmakers?  When you vote, it will not take you out of the home.  You and Uncle John will merely stop on your way to the store, and instead of Uncle John going in to write and register what he thinks should be done and by whom it should be done, you too will express your opinion.  This will likely be twice a year.  By doing this, no woman loses her womanliness, goodness or social position, and to these influences the vote is but another influence.  I know there are many things in connection with the right of equal suffrage with what you do not sympathize.

“Aunt Sarah, let me tell you about a dear friend of mine who taught school with me in the city.  Emily taught a grammar grade, and did not get the same salary the men teachers received for doing the same work, which I think was unfair.  Emily studied and frequently heard and read about what had been done in Colorado and other States where women vote.  She got us all interested, and the more we learned about the cause the harder we worked for it.  Emily married a nice, big, railroad man.  They bought a pretty little house in a small town, had three lovely children and were very happy.  More than ever as time passed Emily realized the need of woman’s influence in the community.  It is true, I’ll admit, Aunt Sarah, housekeeping and especially home-making are the great duties of every woman, and to provide the most wholesome, nourishing food possible for the family is the duty of every mother, as the health, comfort and happiness of the family depend so largely on the common sense (only another name for efficiency) and skill of the homemaker, and the wise care and though she expends on the preparation of wholesome, nutritious food in the home, either the work of her own hands or prepared under her direction.  You can not look after these duties without getting outside of your home, especially when you live like Emily, in a town where the conditions are so different from living as you do on a farm in the country.  Milk, bread and water are no longer controlled by the woman in her home, living in cities and towns; and just because women want to look out for their families they should have a voice in the larger problems of municipal housekeeping.  To return to Emily, she did not bake her own bread, as you do, neither did she keep a cow, but bought milk and bread to feed the children.  Wasn’t it her duty to leave the home and see where these products were produced, and if they were sanitary?  And, knowing the problem outside the home would so materially affect the health, and perhaps lives, of her children, she felt it her distinctive duty to keep house in a larger sense.  When the children became old enough to attend school, Emily again took up her old interest in schools.  She began to realize how much more just it would be if an equal number of women were on the school board.”