The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1873-03-28
Women Jurors in Wyoming.

I Ior DllcatlOn.-CiI'tStfQfl JnlOil.
LARAMIE CITY, Wyoming Ter,
December %, 1872.
To the Pennsylvania U'OmdR Suffrage
association:
1t is now three years since the act
was passed giving women the right of
suffrage, and the right to hold Office, in
this Territory, in all respects the same
as other electors. Under this law they
have been elected and appointed, to
various offices, and have acted as Jurors
and Justices, of the Peace. They have
very generally voted at our elections,
and have taken some part in making
the nominations; and although there
are some among US who do not approve
of it as a principle, 4 think there IS no
one who will deny that il has had u
marked influence in elevating our cleo
tions, and making them quiet and or
derly; and enabling the courts to pun
ish classes of crime where convictions
could not be obtained without their aid.
For instance: when the Territory was
/ first organized, almost every one carried
4 loaded revolver on his person; and, rs
a matter of course, alterations gener-
ally resulted in using them. / do not
remember a single instance where
jury of men has convicted either party
/ for shooting at each other, even in
crowded room, if no one was killed; or
| for killing any one, if the victim had
been armed. But with two OF three
women on the jury, they have never
failed to follow the instructions of the
Court.
! Again: the Courts have been nearly
pOwerless, with only men for Jurors, in
enforcing the laws of drunkenness,
gambling, houses of ill-fame, and de-
bauchery in any of its forms. Neither
Grand nor Petit juries could be relied
on; but n few women on either panel
changed the face of things at once; and
from that day this kind of vice has
trembled before the law and hidden it
self from sight, where formerly it
stalked abroad with shameless front
and bTaZen confidence in protection from
punishment.
There are comparatively so few wOm-
en- here, and those are so generally kept
at home by domestic duties, that the
Courts have been unable to obtain as
many of them for jurors as was desira-
bic. But those who have served have
uniformly acquitted themselves with
? great credit. Not q single rcrdict, ciUiI
or criminal, has been set aside trherc
/ 1CODlen haze composed q part Of the
i jury. This has not been the case, by any
! means when they have not been pres
p ent. They have given better attention
> than the. men have to the progress Of
+ the trials; have remembered the evil
+ dence better; have paid more heed to
: the charges of the Court; have been less
= influenced by business relations, and
. outside considerations; and have eX-
!. hibited keener cOnscientiOusness in
!. the honest discharge of responsibility.
And l have heard of no instance where
. they have incurred any odium or ill
n viii, or want of respect, from having
a served as jurors. On the contrary, am
i quite sure that in every instance thew
: have been more highly respected and
. more generally appreciated in conse-
!, quence of it.
/ There is one other influence that has
f grown out of the presence of women in
: the court room, both as Jurors and as
, bailiffs, that has been most apparent
f and welcome; it is the quiet order and
o decOrum, the decent and respectful be-
! haviOr, the gentlemanly bearing that
has always been observed in their pres
ence. The spectators come there better
, dressed, chew less tobacco and spit less,
sit more quietly in their seats, walk
. more carefully on the floor; talk and
, whisper less; and in all respects the
! court room assumes more dignified
\ and business-like air; and better prog
: ress IS made in dispOsing of the matter
! in hand.
: Certainly the whole effect on our
: courts and on our community, resulting
n from the participation of women in the
4 administration of the laws, has teen
o most beneficial and satisfactory; and it
! seems to me peculiarly proper that those
who suffer most from the commission
q of crime and the evils of vice, should
o take part in its suppression and punish
ment.
! There is another matter in which we
70 have been greatly benefited by this law;
= and that is the change it has wrought
% on election days, and its influence at
n the polls. Formerly our elections were
scenes of drunken revel and noise; of
ts fighting and riot. But when the women
; came to vote, they We're always treated
!, with the attention and respect every
Il where shown to women in the United
,e States. If there was a crowd around the
q. polls, they always gave way when q
is woman approached and We're silent and
orderly while she deposited her vote
and went away. If men became intOX-
-r icated, they did not remain there where
IN the women would see them. No noisy
&. discussions would arise around the polls,
r because invariably, when 4 woman
y came up, all such conversation would
~ cease. The fact has been that very few
an people gathered at the polls; and noise
,o and fighting, riot and drum kenness have
NJ been entirely unknown there. If men
nj drank too much, as they sometimes did,
ta they remained at the drinking-shOps,
he each political party by itself; and con-
he sequently avoided the quarrels and
collisions that so often occur; while the
- people went TO the polls and voted as
IN quietly as they go to church. This oil
or itself has been q gain in our community
Of no small moment.
- At first there was quite a number O.
IN women who refused to vote, but at every
"a election that number has grown less
of until now, very few, If any, fail to exer
rs else the privilege. Many refuse to vot,
as their husbands do, but I have no
heard of any domestic discord or trouble
RI growing out of such a course.
O. In conclusion, L wish to say. n
n broadly and as unqualifedly as / cal
no express it, that while I have seen
ey great many advantages and much goo,
-er grow out of this change in our laws,
he have seen none of the evils or disadvan
We tages so generally apprehended and 81
IN warmly denounced by the opponents o
At the measure. Very respectfully
rs ]. w. KING1fAN.
a associate Justice United States y"
preme Court, Wyoming Territory
, q T;EfIo ho,-r ,,.o,,- farfnu DipceS OF re(