, 1884-04-12
WOMAN SUFFRAGE.

gwen ufSt anu MS why NOlhti
should not vote, but desire to- say
in the full light of a ripe experience
that some Of them are fallacious. ]
refer more particularly to the argu'
ment that 1t will degrade women to
go to the polls and vote like a little
man. While l am not and have
never been n bowler for female suf'
fragc, must admit that it is much
more Of success than prohibition
and speculative science.
My wife voted eight years with
my full knowledge and consent, and
to-day l cannot see but that she is as
docile and as tractable as when she
won my trusting heart. Now, those
who know. me best will admit'that ]
am not a ladies' man, and therefore
what l may say here Is not said to
secure favor and grateful smiles. ]
am not attractive and am not in pol
itics. l believe that l am homelier
this winter than usual. There are
reasons why l believe that what l
may say on this subject will be sin
cere and not sensational or selfish.
1t has been urged that good women
do not properly exercise the right of
suffrage when they have the oppOr-
tunity, and that only those whose
social record has been tarnlshed a
good deal go to the polls. This is
not true.
1t is the truth that u good, full
vote always shows list of the best
women and the wives Of the best
men. A bright day makes a better
showing Of lady voters than a bad
one, and the weather makes a more
perceptible difference in the female
vote than the male, but when things
are exciting, and the battle is real
close, and the tocsin Of war sounds
anon, the wife and mother puts on
her armor and her sealskin sacque
and knocks things cross-eyed.
1t is generally supposed that the
female voter is a pantaloonatic, Il
half-horse, half-alligator kind Of a
woman, who looks like DR.. Mary
Walker, and has the appearance Of
one who has risen hastily in the
night at the alarm Of fire, and
dressed herself partially in her own
garments and partially in her hus-
bands. This is a popular error. In
Wyoming, where female suffrage
has ragged for yearsTyOu meet quiet,
courteous, and gallant gentlemen,
and fair, quiet, sensible women at
the polls, where there isn't a loud or
propane word, and where 1t is an in
finitely more proper place to send a
young lady unescorted than<38 the
postofiice in any city in the Union.
You can readily see why this is so
The men about the. polls are always
candidates and their friends. That
is tho reason why neither party can
afford to show the slightest rudeness
toward a voter. The man who on
Wednesday would tell her to go and
soak her head, perhaps, would stand
bareheaded to let her pass on Tues
day. While she holds a smashed
ballot showed under the palm Of her
gray kid glove she may walk over
the candidates PROSTATE form with
impunity and her overshoes IL she
chooses to.
Weeks and months before election
in Wyoming the party with the long
est purse subsidies the most livery
stables and carriages. Then on the
cvcntful day every conveyance avail
able is decorated with a political pla-
card, and driven by a polite young
man, who is instructed to improve
the time. Thus every woman in
Wyoming has a chance to ride once
a yer at least. Lately, however.
many prefer to walk to the polls,
and they 90 in pairs, trios, and
quartettes, voting their little senti-
ments, and calmly returning to their
cookies and crazy quilts, as though
politics didn't jar their mental pulse
for a minute.
1t is possible, and even probable,
that a man and his wife may disa-
gree on politics as they might on re-
ligiOn. The husband may believe
in Andrew Jackson and a relentless
hell, while his wife may be a Stall
wartan rather liberal on the ques-
tion Of eternal punishment If the
husband manages his wife as he
would a clothes-wringer, and turns
her through life by crank, he will
no doubt work her politically, but II
she has her own ideas about things
she will naturally act on them, while
the man who is henpecked in other
matters till he can't see out Of his
eyes will be henpecked, no doubt, in
the matter Of national and local pol
itics.
These are a few facts about the
actual workings Of female suffrage,
and do not tackle the great question
of the ultimate results upon the po-
litical machinery II woman suffrage
were to become general. l do not
pretend to say as to that. Iknow a
great deal, but do not know that.
There are millions Of women, no
doubt, who are better qualified To
vote and yet cannot, than millions OF
alleged men who do vote, but no one
can tell now what the ultimate effect
Of a change might be. 10 far as Wy
eming is concerned the Territory is