Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1884-09-16

WOMAN srFFxaeE IN rHE wssr.

WOMAN SUFFRAGE IN THE WEST
Womsu suffrage. which has ins. ba-,
aoopteo IN Washington Territory. doe
nos appear TO be the decided success IL
Xu'oeatcs have predicted, SAYS the New
iosk Times. fhs story OF the result. a
suo~n In the recent municipal cleo
lions, IL In perfect sccords with report
from Utah sns Wyoming. where th.
same night il employed.
Ihe women who exercised the RICH
OF suffrage appeared "a take a sor, o
fnaiieIou, delight in voting against tn,
sentiments Of their husbands. A not un
natural en- OF. Ia some localities tue,
Followed the ministers and esnpsrane,
ARltators into eru-ade against IN,
hquor interests while Ia Others the ma
'ri'y favored free whisky ticket. In
rev ca-es Was the result sefiousi,
Changed BY the accession of this Ne =
element 10 the suffrage.
Ons thing has seen very plain thus
Tar: lbs women do not object TO tbs
privileges accompanying the franchise
out they do most decidedly protest
against Its burdens. Jury duty Is p4r.
ticularly obnoxious, AID the general ef
fect has been to lead the public to lie.
iseve that women wanted to eat thei,
cake and have it. too.
Everything considered, the success of
these wild western schemes IL not suoh
as To encourage more Thoughtful oonInn-
mites 10 ru-h pell-mell into the WON ans
rights business.
A lady-an ex-iuror, too-sends "a
tue foregoing, and with il the comma
nication following:
EDITOR PosT-IsrELLIaKsuER:
Having had my attention directed ia
the above, thought perhaps few lines
from one on che scene of action might
not be amiss, although there is - much
10 De said on the question that In one
sense had better let it alone. Indeed,
Ter. It not that feel the above a one
sided view, should do 30. La the first
place, it Is too early for the friends or
enemies Of the movement To decide how
It will work for public interest, which
take TO be Its object. and which is Gov
cred by the thought, "rhe greatest good
TO the greatest number"
have never been An advocate of saf-
fraRe, and Was entirely unprepared for
tue duties before rue in the use of the
privilege given in the franchise; bot
feeling the least one could do would be
to give II fair trial, accepted the
situation. Our first active work was
jury duty. aud, tho6gh it seemed the
most objectionable as well as the most
as test of wsman's d ,wer.
was entered into. The results. IA far as
bar and bench we're concerned. exceed
ed general expectation, the women as q
rule being interested and edited. and to
ala Law abiding citizens eminently satis-
factory. lt can be readily seen that wo-
men In the jury box are cal ed upon to
exercise many powers outside of the
sphere hitherto marked out for them, a
good balance of which only few men
possess. tho1gh they have always been
open To such service. One of the papers
in this Territory gave the views of n
man on this question similar to the
above, which brought the ladies If Ia
coma out IN a fiat DENIAL mean ladies
Who had served-every word Of which
Seattle ladies indorsed.
Never having been in Utah or Wyo-
mipg, do not know how much ioy was
experienced there, but should imagine
very little in the right to go in and
share the responsibilities of straighten.
ing out the tangled up mess of public
affairs which seems To exist, and whIch
honest endeav0rs too must be con-
demned before q fair chance has been
given. The msiicious delight of voting
against Husbands" by wives may not be
worthy thought. IL 10 impDs,ibie to
tell through all the years hpw much
of woman's sense Of justice has not
only been ignored. but saorned. and
ioatinE the implied retaliation can bs
understood, from mans standpoint,
"a not unnatural effect"
IL Ia matter for profound thankful
ness that but little serious change or
harm, 50 far, has been done, and we
hope for little more grace before
Judgment is fnslly passed. There
sesms so be n line drawn between the
leadership of ministers and temperance
advocates and free whisky "A very
proper thing, by the wsy-bus there il
an implic ttion that women must be led
BY man. II would be decidedly crafty
ing to know which party were
in the majority; it is hard
to suppose free whisky, seeing
women are its greatest sufferers, and a
we'll defined line of its actual interests
has never been drawn.
| have before me part of Letter
written by a Seattle man to the Ne,o
Northeesf, in vhich. in justitic alton of
dscoutinuing his paper. he therein saws:
Gould women o ,ntent themselves with
vJting fearlessly and independently,
selecting such candidates AZ were ka0ten
10 them to no the best for the position,
they would certainly have my vote and
sHch influence as | could exert" Poor
fellowl he did not take in the situation.
He did not understand that the major
ity of women's experience has taught
them there are only a few men to be
trusted, and the women who most feel the
trust and responsibility laid upon them
are those who feel most anxious to find
out for themsclves. and In no wav can
that be done bat by going amongst
men and into places where some of the
machinery Is worked. Trnly, the out-
look is not the pieasantest. standing rs
we do on the threshhold of public
affairs, with the pressure of RESPONSE
bility on IA, and the meresf glimpse
into the intricacies before us.
w. r. THOMAS.
The letter written by Seattle man to
the Nee Northeast. is as follows:
AT the time I subscribed. was an
earnest advocate of feuaie suffrage, and
had been fromyouth:buti in view OF recent
occurrences in this county, must say
that my views have very materially
changed. Could women content Them
selves with voting fesrlessly and indie
pendently. selecting such candidates as
were known by them to be the best for
the position. they wonld certainly have
INV vote aud such influences as | could
exert in their behalf; and in my advo
sacy for female suffrage had supposed
their influence in politics would stop
there. Bat when they attempt to man
ipulate caucases, strive for and accept
seats ia county conventions and county
committees. aud TO all intenss and pur-
poses glory in the reputation of being
shrexd, active ward politicians. my
feelings change right there. | honor
the pnre. brave, fearless woman Who