The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1875-10-13
WOMAN'S SUFFRAGE.
The Actual Results in Wyoming Ter
ritory.

! TlLOry.
! The experiment of wOman'S suffrage
in Wyoming Territory the oniv place
where it has been tested on an extensive
scale-is said to have disappointed both
friends and foes, as neither The good nor
evil predicted has resulted.
The incompletcness Of the experiment
perhaps is iE q great measure owing to
the condition of the Territory, and the
smaller proportion which the woman
voters bear 70 the whole population.
! Whilst the Territory is twice the size of
our largest States, it has only the popu-
lation of our ordinary County, and of
these the women voters form only one
tenth. So it is not TO he supposed that
so small Il handful Of women could cf-
feet great oralund political revolution
! in the condition Of the Territory. Be-
sides, all officers of Importance are ap-
pointed in Washington, and to that
extent the right Of suffrage is restricted.
AS to ottice-holdin@, very little change
has been effected under the new SYSTEM;
only two women having been elected to
office, as most women prefer to vote for
men rather than women. Again, in
the matter of mixed jurics, where so
much good was anticipated, there have
been 50 many necessary exemptions
among the women, and the system has
been productive of so much inconve-
nience, that it has been abandoned,
never TO he revived. No noticeable i'm
provement in public morals seems to
have resulted from the new suffrage
movement. but matters remain pretty
much in the same condition as before
the women assumed share in the
rights of government, and became the
active guardians of the public Interests.
The effect of the new system is TO Sc
cure better order ut the polls, as ladies
are everywhere treated with the utmost
respect. Another consequence is to in
crease the cost of running for Office, as
| the majority Of the women will not vote
unless taken to the polls in carriages,
which entails heavy expense upon the
candidate. Upon the ladies themselves
| the operation of the new system is said
not to have been attended with any
marked influence; neither has it been
productive Of those family disturbances
which many anticipated the wives for
the most part voting with their hus-
bands. Neither of the political parties
has been the gaincr by the suffrage
movement. 1t Was introduced by a
Democratic Legislature, and the repeal
Of the law by Il subsequent Democratic
Legislature was only arrested by Hepub-
lican voters in the council.
TO sum up the whole matter, the re-
suits in Wyoming, OF woman suffrage,
have been 80 inconclusive, either for
good or evil, that they furnish no strong
reason for departing from the good old
ways trod by our fathers and mothers.
We Of the South are IL conservative peo
pie, and have no fancy for the new
tangled theories, political, social, reli-
gious, and moral, which prevail in other
Sections. Our women fulfill zcalously
their appointed work in the home Cir
Gle, and have neither ambition nor apti-
tudc TO mingle in the exciting contests
OF the political arena. They WELD a
more potent influence in the domestic
circle than they might hope to attain
elsewhere, as all the agencies which
move the youthful mind are under
their control. Upon the mothers Of the
country are TO depend its veal or woe,
and not upon the woman suffrage move
| ment,