Litchfield enquirer., 1879-06-12
New Light?

some one offering the evidence of prominent
 residents of Wyoming Territory to the success
 full working of woman suffrage in that Territe
 ry. Our friend ought in fairness to have sent
 us both articles, so that we might have the ad-
 vantage of any new evidence offered the one
 to meet the confident assertions of the other.
 We infer, however, from ''B. 's'' reply (which
 will be found on our first page), that the for
 mer consisted, in the main, of evidence of the
 same character, if not of the same persons, as
 that which we have already laid before our
 readers in our recent issues of December 18th,
 26th, and January End.
 Our first objection to ''B. s" answer is obvi-
 ous to the most cursory reader. It rests on no
 evidence which we are allowedto test. While
 asserting in the most positive manner that wo-
 man suffrage in Wyoming is failure, his evil
 dence, carefully sifted, dwindles down to the
 statement of some ex-Mayor to the bad char
 acter of some of the woman voters at certain election; to that of another anonymous inform ant that, at another election, the keeper of a certain house of ill fame took fourteen prosti- tutes in carriage to vote and, finally, to the
 writer's own assertion that, ''some of the calm est and most dspassionate citizens of Wyom- ing, who have watched it from the beginning, have solemnly declared that in their opinion it's influence has been to lower the standard of morals rather than to elevate it."
 Such is the evidence, or rather the utter lack of evidence, on the part of the objector. How is it on the other side? Presiding Elder Mo- Crary declares that ''the very best ladies of the Territory vote" and that the recent outcrY against woman suffrage comes from disappoint- ed politicians (ex-mayors and the likeD Judge Kingman declares that at first few women voted, but that, ''at each election since, they have voted in larger numbers, and now nearly all go to the polls and have ire quently defeated bad nominations Gov. Campbell declares, after the law had been four years in effect, that -Four system of impartial suffrage is an unqualified success His suc- cessor, Gov. Thayer, declared that "In my judgment it's results have been beneficial, and It's influence favorable to the best interests of the country" The present Governor states that, "after much inquiry in all sections of the Territory and careful observation of it's workings, have to say that, so far, the facts are almost wholly on the side of Woman Suf- frage." Says the Wyoming Leader: ''Ten years experience has taught us that Woman Suffrage in Wyoming is success. It has I1 pie; it has been an incentive to elevate us and all our pursuits and interests with which our mothers and sisters have identified themselves; it has been the means of bestowng life and health on the whole body polite. The most sanguine anticipations of the most ardent friends of Woman Suffrage have been realized here in Wyoming" Such is the testimony of residents of high standing, and of a prominent paper. single private letter coming from sources prej- udiced against woman suffrage. The New York Observer, a bitter opponent of thisreform, recently wrote to lady residing in Wyoming Territory for information on that subject. The reply Gan evident surprise to the Observer) maintained in the strongest terms the success of the experiment. The lady is not even now a favorer of the weman's rights movement, and went to that Territory prejudiced against wo- man suffrage. In her letter to the Observer Reprinted in our issue of Dec 26, '78) she de- clares that ''the women of Wyoming as highly prize, and as generally exercise the right of suffrage, us do the ;" that elections are decorously conducted that, in repeated ln- stances, corrupt and immoral candidates have been defeated by the woman vote; and that the only element which desires the withdrawal of the right is the vicious and the corrupt.
 As thls is mainly mere question of evidence we will delay no further than to call attention a moment from "8.' s" hysterical "facts" to his hysterical arithmatic. Scanned closely, his objection to woman suffrage is single one: that it enables the prostitutes to out-vote the decent women, and thus tends to general im- In proof of his assertion he adduces the testimony of his friend the ex-mayor to the fact that at a certain town election 45 cut of 126 women voters were prostitutes, or nearly two moral female voters to one immoral; bad enough, surely, but better, we venture to as- sert, than like census of males in that model community would have disclosed. Conscious, apparently, that the worst possible average of the female vote would not prove his case, "B" follows it up with this statement, "It is esti- mated every prostitute can carry three votes at the ballot box where a virtuous women can carry but one," which of course leaves the ''brothel element" Tn triumphant majority at the polls. But, suppose women suffrage abol- ished? The brothel still polls three out of it's former four votes, has nc majority of virtuous female votes to overcome, and is more trium- phant than ever! Take for instance, the teYn formerly presided over by the ex-mayor. It casts S1 decent women's votes, 45 votes of fe- male prostitutes and 135 votes of male prosti- tutes. Abolishing women suffrage would have the obvious effect of wiping out clear major ity of 36 for virtue on the woman's vote, and would leave the few Lots of that West ern Sodom completely at the mercy of the 1S5 male votes the brothel interest could readily
 poll.
 Clearly "B' is no arithmetician, however estimable as theologian. Nevertheless there may be some force in his objection. In a new Territory like Wyoming, where men are in a great majority over women; and are, for the most part, reckless, brutal, and immoral to a degree unknown in older communities; no doubt the proportion of bad women to good is also much greater than elsewhere. This is an evil with which all such communities must struggle and overcome. On the best evidence attainable, it is evident that, even under such peculiarly unfavorable circumstances, woman suffrage is great help to morality. Probably there are many good women, who, taking such bad advice as ''B." gives them, refrain from doing their duty at the polls: but such, evil dently, is not the prevailing practice among the best women of the Territory. We may also hope that, with the moral help of the wo- man vote, the new Territory will soon outgrow fl,o >T kho .lo aE