Women were especially drawn to the plight of the children of the nation's poor. Street urchins, such as these in Winnipeg's North End, brought into question the future of the nation. Reformers found it difficult to believe that youngsters reared in the streets would ever grow up to be respectable, law-abiding and, above all, hard-working adults. Suffragists argued that a mother's vote would help erase such conditions.
