Morning journal and courier., 1884-12-04
Thursday, December 4, 1884.
VOTING WOMEN.

One of the most remarkable occurrences connected with the recent election is the way in which the women of Washington terri tory voted Not less than -tenths of the adult female population of the territory availed themselves with hearty enthusiasm of the right to vote.
 Woman seems to have all the rights" she wants in Washington territory. According to noted lawyer of that region, married ladies, with and without separate property, as well as spinsters, are undoubtedly, in the territory, citizens. They can do and must endure as citizens. Wives and mothers may at any time be returned by the sheriff as qualified jurors In the home all contem- plation of the wife as in any way the agent or servant of, or even secondary to, the hus- band is done away with. She is no longer under such civil restrictions compel her to act in any capacity inferior to him. She is not subject to his authority or even restraint; and such property and rights as were formerly alienated by marriage are now re- stored. woman, whenever any of the property handled by the inmates of the house belongs to her, may be the absolute manager if not proprietor of the home, and regulate the whole premises, including children and husband the very servants being hired by her and subject to her dictation.
 The testimony as to the working of wom- ans rights in the territory is conflicting, but there is no doubt that woman has improved the condition of affairs in some places. Take Seattle, for instance, which was once 8 ''hard town" Now, according to a corre- spondent of the New York Evening Post, it's uproarious theatres, dance-houses, sauaw ! brothels and Sunday fights are things of the past The female grand jurors caused every l unclean house (except those managed by ! womenD to be indicted, and they have been | promptly suppressed. Not gambling house exists. The same results have not, however, attended the infusion of the female element | into the body polite elsewhere. In Walla l Walla no such restraint is noticeable. In Yakima county, the rich new territory on the ! surveyed main line between Seattle and | Ainsworth, the women voted almost entirely with the whisky interest. In Snohemish, La Conner and the lower inside sound the con- | trary was the case.
 Election day at Seattle was 8 novel and not unpleasant spectacle. The ways to the polling places were fenced in, and the cleo
 tion precincts adorned with green shrubs and l flowers. The urns were tasteful1y arranged l and garlanded in some cases. Many ladies
 were present offering tickets and electioneer
 ing generally. Rough men would stop, step one side, shake out their clothes, turn down the l bottoms of their pants regardless of the mud
 throw away their quids, and wipe off the
 brown traces before approaching the ballot
 box, guarded by its new divinities. At Ia
 coma the women were tellers. They, how
 ever, became exhausted before the count was
 done, and, after twenty-four hours work
 they retired from the job, and substitutes
 completed it.
 Time, and time only, will reveal the true
 value of woman suffrage. Perhaps, after the
 experiment has been thoroughly tried, it will
 be found that women are not much better
 fitted for voting than men.