Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1876-02-17

! SdIu No GHS HidH Hdu floldlOo thO
law of God and man and should be
punished, and they would sit there till
/ the sun rises rather than give up.
And they prevailed, and the man was
Justly convicted Women can be more
readily made to do what is right and
honest than the average man in the
jury box. It is proper to add in this
connection, however, that women have
not recently been empanneled as jurors.
This results from several causes, among
others from change of judges. Chief
Justice Howe, who originated the mat
ter, resigned, and has since died. Our
present judges, while they do not ac-
lively oppose, do not really approve of
women jurors. 1t has always been
customary to accept any plea of impe-
rative engagements on the part of
women, and, in new country, where
it is impossible to obtain hired help,
very few women can be spared from
their domestic duties.
We have had no trouble from the
presence of bad women at the polls
1t has been said that the delicate and
cultured women would shrink away,
and the bold and indelicate come to
the front in public affairs. This we
feared but certainly nothing of the
kind has happened. The best women
have begun to take an interest, and
those most feared have kept out of
sight as general thing. I will relate
an incident which occurred an one of
the elections, 20 illustrate that point,
Some unprinciplcd politicians, who
desired to deter respectable women
from the polls by making it unpleasant
to them to go there. induced a poor,
fallen women, one of the lowest and
vilest of her class, to go to the polls
and speak to the women as they came
up. She was sufficiently intoxicated
to have the courage. The first woman
she spoke to was modest lady, who
looked upon her with such look Of
withering pity and contempt that she
skunk away in shame. and could not
be prevailed on to return In several
hotly contested elections efforts have
been made to induce vulgar women to
90 and vote, but they have in most in
stances failed. Sc the charges that the
vulgar would take leading part have
not been realized. In Wyoming, as
in every community where there is
large proportion of unmarried men,
there are, indeed, many immoral wom-
en- yet the bad women do not
appear in our politics. I do
not mean to say that none such vote.
But, if they do, they conceal their
character. Women do not distribute
votes at our polls, which are now as
q uiet as church meeting.
At our first election, before women
voted, We had a perfect pandemonium.
The saloons were all open. Whiskey
was dealt out freely by the candidates
to all who would vote for them The
streets were filled with men partially
intoxicated, all armed with knives and
pistols; it was dangerous to pass
through them; the bullets were flying
at random, [ believe none were killed
outright, but many were severely woun-
ded.
At the next election women voted,
and perfect order prevailed. The min
ers and railroad laborers were still there:
the gamblers and saloon-keepers also.
(Our saloons are all kept by men; [
do not know Of one that is kept by a.
woman.) Political parties on one side
and another still gave the saloons mon
ey to distribute free rum on election
day. But at the polls, where before
it was so rough, perfect order prevailed
and has prevailed ever since.
[ have never heard of a
single case of lady being insulted or
treated with disrespect at elections.
[ remep Der case in point, which, at
the time, caused me much uneasiness
We had. at first, large proportion of
Southern men and of Northern Cop
perheads. By that mean men who
advocated secession, and came to
Wyoming to escape being drafted.
Carriages were employed by the candi-
dates to bring ladies to the polls. At
the hotel were a number Of colored
girls employed as servants. After a
while carriage drove up with four of
these colored girls in it They were
helped out, and as they went up to the
polls the crowd quietly parted; they
voted and returned to the carriage
without word said. Then [ breathed
freely; [ knew that all was safe.
If there is any fighting now, it is at
the saloons, and not at the polls, and
if the police are called out it is at the
saloons, In caucus discussions the pres
ence ofa few ladies is better than whole
squad Of police; their presence allays
strife, and the proceedings at once be-
come orderly and quiet.
The speaker drew vivid picture of
a far western courtroom, such as has
been so frequently described in news
papers.
This has been changed by the pres