The examiner., 1882-04-01
Women in Wyoming.

the first fifty or one hundred women you may meet anywhere or in any place, and then the same number of men, with which collection will you find the most real gen. uine RoodnessP Which class will excel Tn neatness, gentility, intelligence, deport- ment, good looks, poiteness, etc., to the end of the list of good attributes The verdict will be in favor of women every time. Now to which class can be charged the most drunkenness, profanity, dlshon- esty, laziness and general noaccountive- ness ? This is what might be called self-evident proposition. The bill confer ring the right of suffrage on the women ot Wyoming is so brief, so plain and devoid of red tape, and so free from that verbose circumlocution usual in legal documents that one might readily believe that some intelligent lady had share in framing 1t. It is as follows:
 FEMALE SUFFRAGE,
 An act to grant to the women of Wyoming
 Territory the right of suffrage and to
 hold office.
 Be it enacted by the Council and House of Representatives of the Territory of Wyoming.
 SECTION 1. That every woman of the age of twenty-one years, residing in this territory, may, at every election holden under the law thereof, cast her vote. And her right to the elective franchise and to hold office shall be the same under the election laws of the territory as those of electors.
 SEQ. 9. This Act shall take effect and be in force from and after it's passage.
 Approved. Dec. 10, 1869.
 This is the bill to which Wyoming is greatly indebted for her present and pro spective prosperity. It has tended to purify the s'hlthy pool of politics" to a wonderful degree. It is very difficult to elect bad man to office in that country. The best and most competent candidate gets the women's vote, and as they hold the balance of power, the result is ob- vious. It has been my good fortune to have been thrown in company for several days with MT. Shaw, very intelligent gentleman, whose home is among the bleak hills of Wyoming Territory, where woman for the past twelve years has had tue priv ilege of depositing her vote in the ballot box and sharing in the benefits to be de- rived from properly managed self-gov- ernment. To him am indebted for much relating to this subject. The following will convey some idea of the sentiment in Wyoming concerning the system of woman suffrage.
 POPULAR INSTITUTION.
 "Do the people of Wyoming desire tc have woman suffrage abolished ?" "No they glory in it, and if it was put to vote --shere would be large majority in favor of it. It can't be abolished" "Are ladies office seekers to any alarming extent P "No, indeed; ;'' in every case where they have been candidates it has been only after long continued solicitation that they have consented" "How are elections manag- ed ?" "It has long ceased to excite unus- ual comment to see women vote. Both parties are anxious to secure their votes, and therefore put themselves upon theil best behavior. The ladies are waited upon by proper persons with fine carriages, driven to the polls, where the law requires a space of fifteen feet wide to be kept clear. The carriages are driven to this space, the ladies step up to the polls, deposit theil vote, return to the carriages and are re. turned to their homes. Everything of g boisterous or unseemly nature is immedi ately suppressed at the first manifestation and nothing occurs that could offend the most delicate. The ladies hold the bal ance of power, and it is impossible te elect any but the best of men, and in fac none will be candidates unless they have manly confidence in their record. Tht story is told of an Irishman, new impor tation, who happened to arrive in New York during 8 close political contest. Or hearing the defamation of candidates ol both sides he wrote back to bis father a' follows "Dear fyther-Come to Amerik, right off. They picks out the paanest mil they can find, and give them offs. You't stand frst-rate chance herr 1" It is re versed in Wyoming. They pick out thu best men they can find as candidates, ant no others need apply. It has been saie by Eastern people that only small pro portion of the women of Wyoming vote and the majority of them are of the lowe class. The newspapers of Wyoming em phatically deny that statement. The wo men who vote are the very best ladies 0 the Territory. The greater the degree o intelligence in lady, the stronger is he desire to vote. For thereby she yields al influence that is positive and specific and does not depend for success upon th very doubtful power of moral suasion. A the November election held in the city c Cheyenne, Wyoming, l,434 votes wer boiled, 57O of which were voted by ladies Investigation showed that nearly ever woman in the city voted, and so it throughout the country. Here we hay an instance where woman suffrage ha 3 been thoroughly tested and found to wor advantageously, and it is folly to delay it adoption everywhere. Every argument i favor of giving men the elective franchis is equally strong for putting it in tn hands of women. In very many case women are the heads of families, own an mortgage property, and pay heavy taxes and is is folly to give the ballot to ire sponsible and worthless men, and deny