Litchfield enquirer., 1879-01-02
WYOMING SPEAKING FOR HER
 SELF.

ln that 1errltOry, ana pears tne IoIowIue testimony to its excellent workings:
 FALSE PROPHET.
 CAPT. wINsoR ON WOMAN SUFFRAGE IN WIG A friend of the Leader sends to this office { clipping from St. Louis paper, which copied the following article from the Indianapolis Journal :-
 WOMEN IN WYOMING.
 THe Test of Woman Su6rage in Wyomint PronouncedG F0Iure.
 "A representative of the Journal yesterday encountered Capt. s. H. Winsor, of this city, who lived several years in Wyoming, and asked for some information concerning the operation of Woman Suffrage in that Territo ". Capt. Winsor is an educated and observ' ant gentleman. He was receiver Of the public land-office at Cheyenne. and was resident oi the Territory when the Woman Suffrage law took effect. and for several years afterward. The substance of his views is as follows
 ''I regard Woman Suffrage in WyoNing as an utter failure, and think it is soregarded by the best men and women of the Territory. So far as can be discovered it has accomplished DO good results while it has certainly worked badly in many respects For about two years after the law was passed, nearly all the women in the Territory used to vote, my Wife among the rest. But after this experience the better class became disgusted with the opera ton of the law, and quit voting.
 "As an instance of the demoralZing inf1u- ence of politics on women, remember seeing d lady, the wife of a candidate for office, standing at the counter of beer saloon drink ing beer with a parcel of colored men. could mention her hame, but will not She
 firo ly.respectable; but she was so intensely inter ested in her husbands success that she resorted to this means of getting votes for him. l saw this same lady and school-teacher of Cheyenne in their buggies driving colOred men and women. and even known harlots, to and from the polls In such ways as this 1 regard the operation of the law as demoraliZing to the women. There may be others who differ with me, but l simply give my views of several years experience of the law. 1 may add that my wife, who enjoyed the elective fran chise during the period of our residence Tn Wyoming. entirely accords with these views. v
 Capt. Winsor's reputation for truth and yer acity while resident of Wyoming, would make denial of this story supertluous, if we had only to consider it's effects upon the peo pie of this Territory. We are moved, howev er to reply to his statement at length, for the reason that similar stories have been repeatedly published abrDa1 and believed by many intel ligent readers, who had no other sources O1 information on this subject.
 Capt. WinsOr, formerly resident of this Territory and d government official, is sup posed to know whereof he speaks; but we will prove how utterly false are his asser- tions and how untenabe are his conclusions, We will prove this from the published reports of high government officers, and from the facts as they are found at the present day.
 The law conferring upon women the right of Suffrage, was enacted tn 1869, at a time when the people of Wyoming were almost accepted with good nature and general dis position to give the law fair trial. At the end of two years Gov. Campbell. in his message to the legislative assembly, expressed himself on the subject, as follows;
 ''There IS upon our statute book 'an act granting to the woman of Wyoming Territory the right of Suffrage and to hold office, which has now been in force two years. Under its liberal provisions women have voted in the Territory, served as juries and held office. IL is simple justice o say that the women en tering, for the first time in the history of the country, upon these new and untried duties, have conducted themselves in every respect with as much tact, sound judgement. and good
 
 more than the facts justify, to say that this experiment, in a limited field, has demon strated bey Jnd doubt the perfect fitness of woman. at all times and under al circumstan- ces, for taking part in the government, il furnishes at least presumptive evidence in her favor, and she has right to claim that, sc long as none but good results are made mani fest, the law should remain unrepealed."
 A two years trial, therefore, gave the la dies another chance, and while our Legislators were disposed to dissent from the governor the law was permitted to remain on our stat ute book
 Two more years passed by, and we give here Gov. Campbels. opinion of Woman Suffrage and it's effects, after an experience of four years. The Governor says to the legislature:
 ''The experiment of granting to woman a voice in the government, which was inaugural ted for the first tune in the history of our country, by the first legislative assembly of Wyoming, has now been tried for four years. have heretofore taken occasion to express my views in regard to the wisdom and justice of this measure and my conviction that its adoption has been attended only by good re- suits. Two years more of observation of the practical working of the system have only served to deepen my conviction that what we Ns done, and that our system of impartial suffrage is an unqualified success
 The legislative assembly, coinciding in the Governors views, wisely rcfrained from tampering with our election laws so far as concerned wsmen, and consequently received the cOmmendatiOn of their constituents;
 Befere the end of the ensuing two years we had another executive, Gen. J. M Thayer formerly United States senator, a gentleman experienced in public affairs, and familiar with legislative matters. In his message tc the legislature Gov. Thayer pays the following compliment to the people of Wyoming:
 Woman Suffrage has now been in practi cal operation in our territory for six years, and nas during the time, increased in popularity and in the confidence of the people In m, judgment, it's results have been beneficial, ana its influence favorable to the best interests oi the country. \ right or privilege. once grant ed. IS not easily surrendered. In thiscase it i difficult to perceive any good reason why i should be-
 At this time Woman Suffrage had becom, me of our popllar institutions, approved by all even it's most bitter enemies had beer made to succumb to its beneficent effects an( the b0ldes; politician of the male persuasion had ceased to agitate a repeal of the law.
 Our present Governor Prof John w. HOvt 3 tatChtcu dtIu icfiutu ScuIiCuldu SCHUldl whO has made the education of the masses a special study for many years: public man of ripe experience, whose investigations into our affairs have been thorough and penetrating, has been requested to give his opinion of Woman Suffrage in general, and it's practical fleets in this Territory. His Excellency has made the following statement to the editor of the Leader
 ''I came to Wyoming without prejudice on this subject. After much inquiry in all sec tions of the Territory, and careful observation of it's practical workings, have to say that so far. the facts are almost wholly on the side If Woman Suffrare The right never uues tioled- More, it is sure of ultimate. if no early recognition by every enlightened com munity- Arbitrary dictation of prerogative by the physically stronger to the weaker sex Is 8 relic of barbarian. It can have no plac, in a true civilization"
 Here We have the opinions, officially given by three gentlemen, who consecutively oc cupied the high position of Governor of Wyo ming Territory, and therefore had the bes sources of information.
 We need no higher or better authority, tt disprOve the sensational story uttered by Mir WInSoF We will add however thai ever,