ant. But it would
be a falsehood and an error to affirm that even at that time Rizal
did not voice the cause of his entire race, and that no attention
should be paid to his demands because he and those with him were
few in number. He knew that his country was oppressed, that he was
defending a just cause, and that he was fighting for the rights of
his fellow-citizens, and he did not stop to reflect whether or not
those fellow-citizens had the consciousness of their rights.

We must conclude, therefore, that the few women who now speak to
us of the rights of their sex and for suffrage, represent all the
Filipino women, unless we wish to insult our women by saying that
they have so little common sense as to oppose the concession to
them of rights that will broaden the scope of their lives and of
their activity in society. It matters but little that the desire
for suffrage appears in its initial stage, in the vague form of an
indefinite proposition: the fact is that there has been an indication
of that desire, and in my judgment the plant has germinated and it is
useless to endeavor to smother it, as it will grow again. The more
we delay female suffrage, the more shall we suffer by it, because
why should we stifle a budding plant instead of allowing it to grow
and in due season produce delicious fruit?

We need not imitate the older nations who have been so slow in
recognizing women's rights. We have neither their traditions nor their
prejudices and our progress need not come by slow revolutions. We
must foster all those peaceful revolutions of ideas that will
result in social justice. Just as we accept the latest inventions
in mechanics, industry, and art, such as the automobile, the dynamo,
and the aeroplane, so must we accept the latest improvements in the
social and political institutions of the most advanced countries.

Female suffrage spells justice and vindication for the modern
woman and we must adopt it forthwith, without unnecessary delay and
formalities. The liberty of worship which gave us religious tolerance;
the popular suffrage which strengthened our collective conscience; the
free public school which emancipated our masses from the tutelage of
the _cacique_: in short, all the achievements of democracy of which we
are so justly proud would not yet be beautiful realities and we would
not be able to enjoy their mature fruits as we now do, if we had been
compelled to feel our way and make many tentative step