An Appeal to the 7,000,000 Sisters
A scathing critique of the Payne-Aldrich Tariff Act, arguing that the tax burden is unfairly placed on the working class.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Dear Madam: You have 7,000,000 sisters in the United States who are living on incomes of less than $500 a year. To these 7,000,000 women, any increase in the cost of living is a serious thing. Now, we suppose you know that the Payne tariff bill increases the price of all these things—cotton stockings, mittens, gloves, underclothing, and kerosene for lamps. The Payne-Aldrich tariff bill is so drawn as to put 75 per cent of all the added tax burden on the shoulders of the persons whose incomes are less than $800 per year. Do you think that is fair? Do you think it wise legislation, or good statecraft? Couldn't you do better yourself if you had a vote? Tell your husband, your brother, your son, and your father, and have them tell their congressmen and senators what they think of it.
“Couldn't you do better yourself if you had a vote?”
This letter highlights the exclusionary nature of tax policies in 1909, written at a time when women lacked the federal vote in Washington Territory (following the judicial revocation of their earlier suffrage). It underscores how economic policy was used to argue for broader political participation.
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