Madison times. (Tallulah, Madison Parish, La.) 1884-1???, 1885-01-10
MALE AND FEMALE VOTERS.
PecuIiarities Of the Laws Concerning
Women I'm the Territories.

Women I'm the Territories.
A curious complication has come out
of the law permitting Wyoming terrific
ry women to vote. The ballots of twenty
women were challenged on the ground
that they were foreign born and had not
been naturalized. They claimed the
right to vote on the ground that their
husbands were citizens, but the judge of
election argued apparently from his
sense of equity rather than his knowl-
edge of law) that it was ridiculous to
suppose that when women were given
the right to vote they acquired privileges
not possessed by men. He therefore re-
jected the ballots. Nevertheless, so far
as the right to vote in Wyoming terrific
ry depends upon citizenship, women dc
enjoy spec al privileges. The foreign
oorn mar must be naturalized to become
a citizen, or derive his citizenship from
his fither's naturalization. hut woman
NAV be made citizen simply by mar
rage. section 1894 of the revised stat.
ues says: "Any woman who is now or
may hereafter be married to citizen of
the United States, and who might her
self be lawfully naturalized. shall be
deemed citizea." When the suffrage
Is extended to women it will DO noo0s-
sary Oh equitable grounds to make simi'-
ar provision for the foreign born men
who marry American wives. At present
the men. in Wyoming al least, are at
disadvantage.
The humorous inequalities of the
changing laws concerning women in the
several states and territories of the
United States are not displayed IN Wyo-
ming alone. In Massacfuse'ts there Is
a similar reduction 10 absurdlty. When
the United Sales statute Oi 1900 was
lassed, relating 10 the naturallzed citi-
zens' wives, il appeared matter OF
convenience that the citizenship Of a
husband, or his naturaiiZ ltion. should be
held 20 include ur bring about the dtl-
zonshiD Of his foreign born wife also. 1t
las not contemplated that the said wife
might have any further relation TO the
state and territory of their joint resi-
dence other than that OF non-V oting citi-
zenship. But such further relations are
now brought about by the school laws
i'm some sta. rs. In Massachusetts, to-day
there is this curious result, that an alien
woman, by marrying citizen, or by the
naturalization of her hus band, becomes
entitled, upon q single years residence
i'm that state and the payment OF school
tax. to vote for school committees. III
women are to he {. needed more and
IN re of municipal citizenship and Its
privileges, II looks as If there would
have t. be an ovrrhauling ofthe statutes
that make United STATES citizenship SO
much easier for the married Immigrant
woman than the single one.
There is another bit of incidental hu-
NOR in the fact that in the states which
give women the vote ON school matters,
the newly arrived German, Irish or
Swedish woman, by force OF the statute
of the United States, if she has married
citizen within tine year, Is much more
privileged than a naive boin American
woman of mature years IN other states,
because regulation of the schools is a
matter that belongs to the staees alohe'
Comparisons are Odious as well as ANUS
| ing. and il will certainly be change
for the better when the state and federal
laws begin to take account OF women as
well as men, as individuals, each with
entire ability to ask for voting citizen
shin if it is desired. Philadelphia Led
ger.