PersonallyIfeelthatitisexactlyasmucha“right“ofwomenasofmentovote。Buttheimportantpointwithbothmenandwomenistotreattheexerciseofthesuffrageasaduty，which，inthelongrun，mustbewellperformedtobeoftheslightestvalue。Ialwaysfavoredwoman’ssuffrage，butonlytepidly，untilmyassociationwithwomenlikeJaneAddamsandFrancesKellor，whodesireditasonemeansofenablingthemtorenderbetterandmoreefficientservice，changedmeintoazealousinsteadofalukewarmadherentofthecause——inspiteofthefactthatafewofthebestwomenofthesametype，womenlikeMaryAntin，didnotfavorthemovement。Avoteislikearifle：itsusefulnessdependsuponthecharacteroftheuser。ThemerepossessionofthevotewillnomorebenefitmenandwomennotsufficientlydevelopedtouseitthanthepossessionofrifleswillturnuntrainedEgyptianfellaheenintosoldiers。Thisisastrueofwomanasofman——
andnomoretrue。UniversalsuffrageinHaytihasnotmadetheHaytiansabletogovernthemselvesinanytruesense；andwomansuffrageinUtahinnoshapeorwayaffectedtheproblemofpolygamy。
IbelieveinsuffrageforwomeninAmerica，becauseIthinktheyarefitforit。Ibelieveforwomen，asformen，moreinthedutyoffittingone’sselftodowellandwiselywiththeballotthaninthenakedrighttocasttheballot。
Iwishthatpeoplewouldreadbookslikethenovelsandstories，atoncestrongandcharming，ofHenryBordeaux，bookslikeKathleenNorris’s“Mother。”andCorneliaComer’s“Preliminaries。”andwouldusethese，andothersuchbooks，astracts，nowandthen！PerhapsthefollowingcorrespondencewillgiveabetterideathanIcanotherwisegiveoftheproblemsthatineverydaylifecomebeforemenandwomen，andoftheneedthatthemanshallshowhimselfunselfishandconsiderate，anddohisfullshareofthejointduty：
January3，1913。