The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1881-03-03
WYOMING WOMEN.
How.they Vote III the Territory and.the
Moral Effect.

How.they Vote In the Territory and.th,
Moral Effect.
Mrs. L. F. Stevens, of Laramie City, Wy
oming, read q paper before the Female
Suffrage Association, Friday, giving thi
result of her observation ofthe operation o
equal suffrage in that Territory. She be
gins and closes with arguments fo7 cqua
suffrage, but the body other article is de-
voted to the subject asapplied to Wyom
ing and is as follows:
For the last six years it has been my
fortune to be citizen and voter Of Wy.
oming. will try to give briefly some
account of the operation of women voting
there. When Wyoming Territory was
organized, in the article defining who
should be voters, no allusion was made to
sex. All citizens 81 years of age, ninety
days resident in the Territory, were made
voters. From that day the women Of
Wyoming have had, and, Judging from
the use they have made of it, have enjoy
ed the right of voting. They nearly all
vote at every election. At least as
large a percentage Of them as OF
the men vote. So far they have
held but few Offices, although eligi.
BILE on exactly the same conditions as
the men. They have never made them.
selves candidates for party nominations,
as understand is usual for men to do
who want Office. They have taken no
part in caucuses or conventions, but
should they see fit to do SO 1 have no
doubt they would receive all the defer
ence due them, and their wishes would
have respectful consideration. Though
absent from caucus, their influence is
very strongly felt in the consultation of
both parties. 1t has come to be known
that man who isin:emperate, or immor-
al, or dishonest, cannot draw the vote of
the women of his party. There are a
large number of women in each party
who will not vote for such men. In Lar
annie City, where there were % saloons,
at the election two years ago, every Coun-
ty official elected was q strictly temper
ance man, and of irreproachable charac-
ter. At the election last Fall the candi-
dates of both parties were claimed by
those who were personally acquainted
with them to be with one or two excep-
tions, SO far as character and habits were
concerned. all suitable persons for the
Offices for which they were nominated.
Lam told by those who used to attend
elections in the States that the method
of canvasses and elections is much better
in Wyoming than where women do not
vote. In the first place, they say there
is not near 80 much of personal detrac-
ton and abuse of candidates, and at the
the election there is better order. Two
or three days before election each party
sends to every house in the precinct sew
eral of its tickets and circular setting
forth their claims. The night before
election all saloons are closed and are
not allowed to open until the voting is
done.
Excepting the Inspectors and Clerks
of Election, and one challenger for each
party, no one is allowed to remain within
fifteen feet of the polls longer than is nec-
essary to vote. One man of each party
stands in the hall to furnish tickets, but
has little to do, as nearly every one brings
their ticket prepared as, they whnt; it.
The tickets are printed, or may be written
on paper furnished by the County, uni.
form, for all parties, in shape, color and
texture, and without distinguishing marks.
Espionage is not possible. There is no
opportunity of soliciting votes near the
polls. 1 am told by those whose duties
kept them at the polls all day, that, from
morning until night, there was not the
slightest breach of decorum in or about
the court house. This is remarkable
when we consider, that between the hours
of nine and five, twelve hundred and one
ballots were deposited in one box, dispos-
ing of twenty-three Offices, carrying with
them annual salaries amounting in the
aggregate TO as many thousand dollars,
aud more than thirty candidates living
within ten minutes walk of the polls.
have never seen anything like rudeness
at the polls, and have never heard any
woman complain of any.
There is less likelihood of woman's
encountering rude treatment at the polls
than in any other place of public assem-.
bling. know by repeated experiences,
that women are nowherc treated with
greater Difference than where they hold
the ballot in their hand.
am told that here in Colorado it is
frequently asserted that only the lowest
and worst class of wcmen in Wyoming
vote. The worst class can, and believe
generally do, vote. But I wish-to assert
with all earncstness that nearly all wo-
men vote, and that those recognized as
the best and leading class are the most
Jealous political workers and the most
unfailing voters.
Ipresume there are men and women in
the Territory who arc opposed to women's
suffrage, but I have not met them or heard
of them. There is certainly nothing like
a party opposed to it. It is accepted on
all hands as an accomplished fact, and
the people Of Wyoming are proud of the
fact.
Three years ago one man introduced
into the Legislature bill to do away
with woman suffrage, but his nation re-
ceived no second, and he and his measure
were promptly laughed down and out.
Many Improvements that may bcexpec-
ted from women's voting have not yet
been accomplished or even attempted in
Wyoming. To all Of lis taking part in
politics is new thing. Most of US have
come 10 the Territory within five or six
years, are comparative strangers to each
other. Many brought prejudlces against
voting that required time to overcome.
There are probably not one.half as
mauy women as men in the Territory.
A large part Of the men are unmarried rail
road employees, stock ranchmen and mi
ners without families. We are not in q
situation to control or even to make great
innovations. There has been no attempt
at concert of action as women, and prob.
ably it is best there should be none.
Solidifying in that way would be likely to
produce a counter solidifcation.-Dcnver
Tribune.
DISCIPLINE IN CHILDHooD.-Young
people who have been habitually grati-