, 1884-03-06
R:n Eye Oh Woman Suma 4.

given first and last why women
should not vote, but [ desire to say
in tie full light of ripe experience
that some of them are falllciOus-
refer more particularly to The argu-
ment that it viii degrade women to
go to the polls and vote like a little
man. While / am not. and never
have been. howler for female suf
frage, / must admit that it IS much
more of a success than either prohi-
bition or speculative science.
My wife voted eight years, with
my full knowledge and consent. and
today | cannot see but that she is as
docile and as tractable as the day she
won my trusting heart Now those
who know ne best will admit that L
am not d ladies' man, and, therefore,
what may say here is not said to Sc
cure favor and grateful smiles. |
am not attractive and am not in poll
ties. | believe that | am homlier
this season than usual. There are
reasons why | believe that what /
may say on this subject will be sin
cere, and not sensational or selfish.
1t has been urged that good wO-
men do not generally exercise the
the right of suffrage when they have
the opportunity, and that only those
whose social record has been tar
nished good deal go to the polls.
This is not correct.
1t is the truth that a good full vote
always shows a list of the best women
and the wives of the best men. A
bright day makes better showing of
lady voters than bad one, and the
weather makes a more preceptible
difference in the female vote than the
male, but when things are exciting
and the battle is red hot, and the
tocsin of war sounds anon, the wife
and mother puts on her armor and
her sealskin sacque and knocks things
crosse eyed.
1t is generally supposed that the
female voter is pantaloOnatic, half
horse, half alligator kind OF woman,
who looks like DIR. Mary Walker, and
has the appearance of one who has
risen hastily in the night at the
alarm of fire and dressed herself par
TALLY in her own garments and par
TALLY in her husbands. This is a
popular error. In Wyoming, where
female suffrage has ragged for years,
you meet quiet, courteous and gallant
gentlemen, and fair, quiet, sensible
women at the polls, where there isn't
a loud profane word, and where it is
an infinitely more proper place to
send young lady unescorted than
to the postoffice 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 the reason that
neither party can afford to show the
slightest rudeness toward the voter.
The man who on Wednesday would
tell her to go and soak her head, per
haps, would stand bareheaded to let
her pass on Tuesday. While, she
holds smashed ballot showed under
the hand of her gray kid glove, she
may walk over the candidates pros
trate form with impunity and her
overshoes if she chooses to.
Weeks and months before the cleo
ton in Wyoming the party with the
longest purse subsidies the most
livery stables and carriages Then
on the eventfui day every conveyance
available is decorated with a political
placard and driven by a polite young
man, who is instructed to improve the
time. Thus every woman in Wy
oming has a chance to ride once a
year at least Lately, however, many
prefer to walk to the polls, and they
go in pairs, trios and quartets, voting
their little sentiments and calmly re-
turning to their cookies and crazy
quilts as though politics didn't jar
their mental poise minute.
1t is possible and even probable
that man and his wife may disagree
on politics as they might on religion.
The husband may believe in Andrew
jackson and a relentless hell, while
his wife may be u stalwart and rather
liberal Oh the question of eternal
punishment. If the husband mana
ges his wife as he would a clothes
wringer and turns her through life
by crank, he will no doubt work
her politically. but if 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 hen
pecked, no doubt, in the matter of
national and local politics
These are Il few facts about the
actual workings G fomale suffrage,
and l do not tackle the great ques-
ton of the ultimate results upon the
political machinery if woman suf-
frage were to become general. / do
not pretend to say as to that.
know great deal, but 1 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 change might be. So far as
Wyoming is concerned the territory
is prosperous and happy. see, also.
that murderer was hung by a pro
cess of law there the other day. That
looks like the onward march of re-
form, whether female suffrage had
anything to do with it or not. And
they are going to hang another in
March If the weather is favorable and
executive clemency remains dormant,
as think it will All these things
look hopeful We can't tell what the
territory would have been without
female suffrage. but when they begin
to hang men by law instead of moon
light, the future begins to brighten
up. When you have TO get up in the
night to hang man every little
while, and don't get any per diem for
it, you feel as if you We're good way