The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1889-06-21
THE BALLOT FOR WOMEN

| THE BALLOT FOR WOMEN
They win be Independent In Pol,tics-
| Qualified by Education to vote-Numer-
| Gus Objections Answered.
In public meeting in the interests
OF woman suffrage held recently In
Portland. Me-. Mrs Livermore spoke
Us follows:
II the experience Of the Maine Wo-
man Suffrage Association should be like
that of the Massachusetts, Woman Suf-
frage Association, you will by and by
hail the day when the remonstrants
entered the work as one OF the most
fortunate days in the history Of the
work. Let US have fight Then We
are aroused, and il we believe in our
cause. we 60 to work in earnest The
remonstrants of Massachusetts have
given us power. Now they have re-
treated. They could not afford to help
US.
I read the remonstrance in the pa
pers this morning. l read all the
names, and read between the lines. !
talked with one OF the remonstrants.
and she told me her objections to wo-
mans suffrage. She told that her OBJ
jections were the same as those Of Mrs.
Kate Gannett Wells, who headed the
list of remonstrants in Massachusetts.
Now Mrs. Wells is a personal friend Of
mine; we have worked together in
other matters, aud regard her as a
large-hearted, noble woman do not
desire to say any thing against her,
but will answer the objections that
she makes to woman suffrage. What
are her objections? Women do not know
enough to vote. Does she not exagger-
ate the amount of knowledge necessary
to vote? The temperance question is
up. Don't women know enough to vote
on that question:? They have made
the temperance sentiment in this couu-
try. They are called fanatics. they are
called cranks, they are called lunatics.
II so, George Washington was fanatic,
Abraham Lincoln was a fanatic, the
apostles were fanatics, William Lloyd
Garrison was fanatic, and, be it rev.
erently spoken, the Lord Jesus Christ
was a fanatic. Grant the women of
this land suffrage. and they will vote
overwhelmingly in favor of an amend
ment to the constitution that shall pre-
vent the manufacture of liquor.
What are some of the other questions
that come up? The terrible increase
Of emigration. Never have emigrants
come here in such numbers as now.
Never have such a class of emigrants
come here as now. Shut down the
doors on all the sweepings Of the old
world America is not to be made a
penal colony. Look at New York City
under the control OF the worst sort of
foreigners. Boston was under their
control until the women rose up and
helped the men to dislodge them.
Look at Chicago under the control of
foreigners. Do not women know
enough about these things to know how
to vote?
Can not women be trusted with the
ballot? Carol d. Wright. chief of the
National Bureau of Statistics, is author
| ity for the statement that there are
more Protestant women in New York
than Catholic; that in the entire South
there are more white women than black
women and black men combined. We
need not fear that if the women were
given the ballot the foreigners would
overpower us.
Women do not know enough to vote!
Why, my dear friends. the average
woman is better educated than the
average man. The girls stay longer in
school than the boys do. More girls
graduate at our high schools than boys
Then, after girls leave school. they join
clubs. and seek for more enlighten-
ment There is a network of wOman's
clubs all over the country. So there
are mems clubs, you may say. Yes,
but don't know woman's club where
there is a bar. If we do not know
enough to vote. there is an inference
on the other side that will leave you
to draw.
Mrs. Wells says that If the women
are allowed to vote. all the bad women
will vote. Massachusetts has 10000
more women than men. In her jails
and penitentiaries are $685. men and
785 women. In a State where there
are 20. 600 more women than men. there
ought to be more women in the prisons
than men. If the bad women were al
lowed to vote. they could not overpow-
er the men. Women are not given to
the deeds that send men to State pris-
on. OF the women at the Massachu-
sets RefOrmatory prison, 81 per cent.
were sent there for crimes committed
while drunk. Shut up the grog-shops,
and 81 out Of every 100 OF these women
will not 60 there. So you see you
need not fear the bad women.
What will the ballot do for women?
1t will do a vast deal 1t will lift them
up more than anything else to plat
form of equality with men. Do you
expect all manner of dire result from
it? Do you expect they will simply
duplicate mems votes? have been in
Kansas since the women were allowed
to vote, and they told me women were
the most independent voters in Kansas.
They will not duplicate the mems
votes. My husband voted the Republic
can ticket If / could have voted, I
should have voted for Fisk. My hus-
band voted for protection. / should
hara rnfad for frao frado Still MO