National Republican., 1886-08-25
WOMAN SUFFRAGE.
Its Practical Workings in Wyoming
and tho EIeotioneoriDg Qualities Dis
PLAYED by Women.


and tho ElectioneoriDg Qualities Dis
played by Women.
Mr.. i. Q. Pierson, OF Cheyenne, Wyo-
ming territory, who has been in the city for
few days, gave a reporter Of the REPUB-
LICAN some interesting particulars about
the practical working Of woman suffrage In
Wyoming and the manner Of electionoerlng
adopted by the women.
1.-THE woman suffrage idea will never
amount to much in Wyoming or anywhere
else" said he 'fOr the simple reason that
women don't want TO vote. All this talk
about their controlling the elections out
there is rubbish. At first the thing was q
novelty to them, and the voting gave them
food for excitement and gossip, but true
to their nature, they soon began TO fall
again into their natural sphere, and the only
ones who care much about the elections
now are a few very strong-minded women,
few more who have offices, AMI some
Others who are controlled directly or indt-
rectly by the aforementioned. | don't be.
lleve that one.h0lf the women now go near
the polls and am sure that In few years
more they will take as little interest In pol
itics as their sisters In the east do. While
the fever lasts however, the men out there
have lots Of fun watching the electioneer-
ing methods OF feminine candidates and
their supporters. As q candidate q woman
is superior to a man In only one particular
house to house canvassing. She can kiss
dirtier babies than a man can look at
and fondle sore-eyed kittens that he would
probably kick out the door. But In all
things else that go to make up a successful
seeker for votes she is an utter failure.
"Talk about bitter factions In Indiana,
why one feminine candidate for q little
school trusteeship In Wyoming causes
more disturbance and more family jars than
all the factions in all the states OF the
Union. She begins her campaign by giving
tea party, to which she invites her sup
poiters. This is terrible mistake at the
outset, for the houses in Wyoming are so
small that their dininC-room capacity Ia
| limited to dozen or two, at most. As
| consequence, those who do not get invita-.
tlons or are uncomfortably fixed at the
festlvity become at once deadly enemies Of
the candidate. Then there Is almost invar-
iably row Of some kind before the guests
| depart, since crowd Of women Of differ
ent social standing cannot get on
| together through an evening, especially
when tho restraining influence OF man is
not present. l have known instances OF
actual llsticuff at these teas.
| "IIaying started out in this way the candi-
| date then sets her special friends to canvass
| ing the locality. This they do well, as l
| huNt oulhs bub Nutu ~ CuIlcb W bbCIOu COu-
claves Of the committee, II is seldom that
any two can agree as to the best method to
| be followed. 1t very often happens that
before the first week Of the campaign has
passed the committee breaks up, it0 men,
bers joining the rival candidates or letting
election matters alone altogether. II must
be confessed, though, that the men have
much to do with these disturbances. IL a
mans wife is candidate for an Office he
| naturally objects to seeing his house turned
into a political meeting place or an old
maids tea drinking rendezvous. He does
not like, either, to be thrown in the shade
and known as Mrs. So-and-So's husband.
| Consequently, unless he is of peculiarly
angelic temperament, he does all he can In
this way OF sowing the seeds OF dlssension
and breaking up the meetings which dis
turb the peace of his household Wiser men
take matters coolly, knowing that after the
fist excitement of novelty has blown over
their wives will let voting and electloneer-
ing alone"
"Do the women do any stumping ?" asked
the reporter.
occasionally; but they don't engage In
joint debates any more. Not long since q
joint debate at Cheyenne wound up with 0
hair.pulling match, and ever since this style
OF campaigning has fallen into disrepute.'