Litchfield enquirer., 1875-08-19
woman Suffrage.

making the the Beecher Scandal m ar- gument against the movement for the greater independence and enfranchisement of woman. Unfortunately both parties to that suit are suffrage men. So,many who believe Beecher guilty attribute his down. fall to this among his other political, so- eial and religious heresies. On the other hand, those who believe him innocent at- tribute Tilsons dopravity to the loose mo- tiOns he iIabibed from Mrs. Stanton, Miss Anthony, and especially Mrs. Woodruff. We watched tho evidence with much in- terest to see if anything appeared against the ladies who have led the "New York wing'of the Woman Suffrage party. Mrs. Woodruff is what everybody expected to find her, entirely regardless of the propri- etles if not of the decencies of life. Not word appears against the rest. Bessie Turner does not offer to view from the witness stand her absurd picture of Miss Susan B. Anthony sitting in Theodore HltOns lap.
 Not only does the Beecher Scandal offer no evidence that independence is a dan- gerous thing for woman, it proves precise ly the contrary. Mrs. Hilton is just the piOus, eonfiding, "womanly" person Con- sePvatism is proud of painting as the high est type of her sex. Yet nothing is more certain than that the whole awful ruin wrought by this scandal is due to the fact that Mrs. Hilton is dependent and weak minded. not an independent and strong. minded woman. Whether we accept the plaintiffs theory that the parishioner was ruined by her confiding trust in the guid- ing goodness of the pastor, or the defend ants theory shat shc WIS srbdued by the dominating vii! oi . husband into hccom- ing all bat the destroyer ot her innocent friend, we have most crushing argu- mcnt against system of dependence that makes woman an element of danger in- stead of an element of strength in society. Nor, if Mr. .Beechers innocence is assum- ei, is Mrs. Hilton the only evil product of an evil system that ruins women's souls if not their bodies. There stands Mrs. Mculton, a lady of the highest character and approved plety, one whom Mir. Beech CT especially esteemed, compelled. they tell Us, to come into court and perjure herself by the Overbearing will of Q rascally hus- band! If such are the results of subjec- ton, ought not morality and religion to join justice in her demand for woman's emancipation?
 AS regards the practical workings of woman suffrage we have the following re- cent testimony from the Laramie Sentinel, paper published in a place where the experiment" of woman suffrage has been tried for years:
 To us the novelty has worn of, and we have had time to coolly estimate the re- suits. There are those here who can re- member the condition of things six or seven years ago, and can compare them with the present, and though we might differ somewhat as to the causes which have produced this change for the better, yet we shall be able to agree upon a few facts. We never had term of court here, held in decent and comfortable place, with its proceedings marked throughout by decency and decorum and divested of everything pertaining to levity and black guardian, tlll our ladies were summoned to attend and participate in it. We never had a grand jury here who boldly and un- flinchiugly took hold to investigate of- lenses against decency and morality, and hunt out and bring offenders to punish ment, till We had grand jury composed largely of ladies. We had had several terms of court, but had scarcely been able to punish a single criminal for any crime, however heinous, through the medium of the courts, till we got iuries composed largely of women. We did not have a sim gle election here without drunkenness, rOwdyism, quarreling. fighting, and blood shed, until our wives, mothers, sisters, and daughters were permitted to accompa- pany us to the polls. We we'll remember the time when many a man stayed away from the polls, losing his right of citizen ship, rather rather than encounter the danger and rowdyism he must meet in or der to exercise it. But all this is chang cd. Our elections go off as quietly as any other social gathering, no matter how heated political campaign may be or how important the issues at stake And we all point with pride to the result, whether or not we agree as to the cause which has produced it.