The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1893-04-19
Women at the Ballet Box.

KANSAS City, April 4.-The strang-
eat election contest that has ever taken
place in Kansas occurred to-day. 1t was
q municipal affair, and every town in the
State had hand, but the results are not
the most interesting feature of it.
It was an election in which women
took the leading part. It was the first
election in Kansas in which women had
full and free suffrage, and they exercised
it as fully and as freely as the Australian
voting system would permit.
The greatest interest was in Kansas
City, Kan, the largest city In the State,
and in Topeka, the capital. In Wichita
black and white women voted, and In
Kansas City, Kan, dozens of women
stood about their polls and worked" for
their friends.
In that very lively and wicked town
Mrs. Anna Potter, the wife of the Hon.
Eli Potter, millionaire land and q cat
tie owner, was candidate for Mayor,
but at 9 o'clock tonight enough votes
are In to show that she is hopelessly left.
my lady friends told me-" she said to
the Sun correspondent this evening,
"that they would vote for me, but I'm
afraid they have already learned the
ways of the men who make voting prom.
ises."
Nearly all of the women voted in
squads. Four, six and eight woald go to
the polls together and crowd up close to
the Judges. Few of them had any idea
how to mark OF fold the ticket, and each
took policeman to one eide and had
him show her how it was done.
Some of the women are accompanied
to the polls by their husbands and broth
era, who manifested much pride in their
equal suffrage relatives. The richer
went in their carrisges and voted as de-
corously as New York banker would
have done. Mrs. Potter, the woman can
didate, appeared at the various precincts
in Kansas City, Kan, early In the day.
She had two brass bands with her, one of
negroes and one of whites.
ri hired the colored band for one pur.
pose and the white band for another pur.
pose," Mrs. Potter said. That purpose is
obvious. She was working for the black
votes as we'll as the whites. zone thing
that struck me very forcibly," she said,
"was the gentlemanly conduct of the.
men. did not see the slightest breach
of good manners on their part, and
everywhere the women are receiving
courteous treatment"
Mrs. Potter and her bands visited the
precincts all the morning, but at none OF
them did she do anything further than to
call her lieutenants, male and female, to
her side, and counsel with them. She
seemed confident all day that she would
win.
In the negro districts the colored no.
men who worked" at the polls seemed
to have strange idea of canvassing for
votes. Instead of quietly asking for sup.
port, they shook their tickets in the faces
of white ladies and in loud voices de.
manded their sufrages for favorite
friends on plan of "gittin' even." 1t took
two influential colored preachers to show
the women that such conduct would do
their cause more harm than good.
"Wny, we doan mean nothin'," said
one: "we's just lecturin', dat's all"
At one of the polling places young
woman stepped up to Republican ward
striker and asked for 8 ticket. She
glanced at it and, turning to Democrat,
said "Let me have Democratic ticket;
I wouldn't vote this thing for all Kansas
City,"
With this she tore her Republican
ticket to pieces and threw it into the air.
The Democrats shouted at this, and the
young woman voted and went away.
"De Democrats" said one old colored
woman, "kaint run things after de vim
min gifts to voting"
Armourdale, the packing suburbs of
which the Armours are owners, turned
out more hard workers" among the wo-
men than any other part of the town.
One old man and his wife reached the
polls before they opened this morning.
Several women rushed to the woman to
offer ballot, but she opened her reticple
and showed that she had it.
eyes," ahe ssid, "and I am 70 years old
this happy day, and now I'm almost
ready to die; but I would have lived to
be hundred to get to vote my senti-
ments. I won't be satisfied until see a
woman in the Presidential chair at
Washington"
= days election settles the question
Women can vote and vote successfully.
Many of them had their ballots prepared,
and none submitted to meddling by ward
strikers. They came and went quietly,
and their presence put 8 stop to all
brawling at the polls.
There was never such quiet election in
the State of Kansas. The special police
were not needed. In 1887 the Kansas
Legislature passed bill permitting wo-
men to vote at municipal and school
9. tions. At the following election only
a small female vote was polled, and the
bills introduced at the succeeding Legis.
lature failed.
at every session of the Legislature
since that time the equal suffrage society
sert lobbyists to the Legislature to secure
the passage of a universal suffrage bill,
but the Legislators pointed to the failure
of the women to vote at the municipal
elections and defeated it.
T,ast summer. through the efforts of