The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1879-10-23
NUMBER q.
Sentence Before Trial.

\ IuuEt anu jury VINO sh0ulu declare
the defendant guilty before giving him
a trial, would be considered grossly un-
just. What, then, shall we think Of the
Boston correspondent of the Portland
Press, who writes over the signature Of
Scott" without waiting till election
day, that the women will not vote?
Female suffrage is failure In Massa-
chusetts. The last Legislature passed u
law permitting women to vote for
school committee, on payment Of a poll
tax. They were to register on or before
Septe mber 18th. That was Yesterday,
so of course we DO not know how many
have r5ristered' hnt. frnm the figures Of
vArtO' 7 tOwus and cities ! havs heart
from, / should ssF thar not over J SO
names had been place. On tbe list OF 0f
a prot able voting population Of 800, 90.
rms $ one out 81 every 200. A few
strong ~ inded women have for years
been asking nss the basiar, - i VII
told that 10 great mum befs of women
cared To vote, they replied, 'sCive us a
chance aud see II Wc d0git.n They have
had the chance, but they don't accent.
Meeting have been beid slI over Ne
State TO urge women 90 register, but all
to no avail. Circular have been sent t9
ever house; appeal have been made
AAaOHkAA AAAE DIEHHf We n.
or sect. still women will not vote Inc
truth is, they do not care TOR the ballot,
never did, and probably never will.
They have a higher and holier mission.
Woman prefers to exert her Influence
on the government at an earlier stage.
She will begin with the child in the
cradle. The result of this experiment
IN this State will probably be fatal to
Woman Suffrage ON an extended scale,
and quite likely the present foolish law
will be repealed Scott ia Portland
Press, September l9th.
This summary verdict against Woman
Suffrage is rendered without waiting to
know whether the women will vote
wisely or not, on the suppOsitiOn that
very few will vote at all. The writer
probably underestimates the number Of
women who have already registered
He makes no mention of the eminent
Intelligence, respectability and moral
worth of the women whose limited
number he derides. He assumes that
no addition will be made TO their num-
ber by the tax-paying women who may
register until within fifteen days of the
next election. He makes no mention of
the hardship of wOmen's being COM
PEELED to pay 3 for the exercise Of a
mere fraction OF the general right Of
suffrage, while thousands Of men enjoy
the whole right for nothing, their poll
tax being paid for them by others. He
seems unaware that, in spite Of party
spirit, political preferences, and the /
hope of office, a majority of men do not T.
vote. He seems not to know that special I.
elections, like the one lately held in |
Boston to decide upon the purchase of 4
land for parks, although more exciting 4
than those for the choice of school COM
mittee, bring out less than one in ten of .
Of the male voters. He makes no allow
ance for the novelty Of the measure or
the force Of habit. Bpcause the great
Of women do nOeTush fOrW ard
at short notice to pay - for the privi-
lege OF helping choose a school commit
tee mau, he infers that only ! 800
women in Massachusetts would like To
vote in the choice Of Legislature, or
Governor, or President. So he hopes
aud predicts that "the foolish lawf will
soon be repealed. He even advises the
speedy acknowledgements of the 1,5OO .
women who have shown their apprecia-
tion Of the right to vote by paying for it .
i'm advance, because some other women
have not done the same.
"ScOtt" doubtless thinks women too
to vote wisely. Yet he him
self sees facts cOlOred by their preju-
diees. He does not stop to ask why /
women in Massachusetts are deferred /
from registering, and why in New .
where no poll tax is re-
quired, so many thousand women voted l
last Fall. One reason is because in l
an unequal tax has been .
put upon the voting OF women. He .
seems not to know that in Wyoming .
women have been voting for ten years /
on all questions in as large a proportion 1
as the men. Nor does he give any rea-
son fOr his uuwillingness to see an in /
telligent woman take her share in max |
ing the laws she is required to obey. |
Truly, prejudice, like pleasure and pain, /
knows no distinction Of sex.-HeHry b. /
BidckIOeU il WOBdH's Journal