The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1895-03-23
EQUAL SUFFRAGE.

IVOAL OH NN0Is
A talented clerg, man in u state dur
ing the equal suffrage campaign four
years ago, gave the influence OF his voice
and pen against the passage OF the equal
suffrage bill, and early IN the morning
OF election day he fastened to the polls
feeling that he could spend the day in
no better way than in doing what he
could to prevent the giving OF the oppor-
tunity to vote to woman.
Afterwards, relating that days exper-
fence, he publicly stated that when he
found that every vender Of Intoxicating
drinks in the city was working with
might and main against the suffrage bill,
he felt SD overwhelmed with shame to
he Identified with such c%o-la5orers that
he st%raightway cast his own ballot in
favor of the bill.
The liquor dealers of whatsoever city
or state are wiser IN their generation
than are the children of light" They
well know that the ballot in the hands Of
the mothers of our country would mean
a death blow to their nefarious traffic,
hence they are found always and every
where opposing any movement towards
giving the ballot to m The propri-
etor Of the Sioux Falls brewery worked
as ~zealously at Pierre against the equal
suffrage bill as he did in favor of result
mission, and he voiced the sentiments of
the entire liquor element when he said:
IF equal suffrage wins the vlmins will
beat u.s.
AS mothers realize more and more
what a powerful Weapon the ballot might
be ia their hands for the protection of
their homes, the greater is their desire
to obtain this weapon that they may
WELD it to protect their sons and daugh
tiers against those who are plot
ting their destruction.
The strongest argument for or against
equal suffrage Is the testimony that is
given by those who have seen it tried.
Every COVE nor of Wyoming for more
than twenty years has testified to the
good results OF equal suffrage. As the
governors Of territories are appointed by
the president they are not dependent on
the NOLcS VI tlo "oulcu, ncuCo buclI
testimony is impartial.
Gov. Campbell who was III Office when
the suffrage bill passed, said IN his mes
sage two years later; 1T Is simple JUS
tee to say that the women, entering for
the first time pon these new and I'm
tried duties, have conducted themselves
in every respect with AS much tact,
sound judgment and good sense as men,
Gov. Hoyt said 10 ms message in 81:
ELSEWHERE DIRECTORS persist III calling
this honorable statute Of ours an expert
ment. We know 1t is not. Under 1t we
have better laws, better officers, better
institutions, better morals, and a higher
social condition in general. Not n OF
the predicted evils. such rs loss OF native
delicacy and disturbance of home Iela-
tiops has followed in It's tram
Hon. N. l.. Andrews, speaker OF the
Wyoming house of representatives, said
in 10: Il came to this territory In the
fall OF II with the strongest prejudice
possible against woman suffrage. The
more l have seen of 1t, the less my OBJ
jections have been realized and the more
1t has commended itself to my Judgment
and good opinion. Under all my obser-
~vations, it has worked we'll, and been
productive Of much good. The women
use the ballot with more independence
and discrimination with regard to the
qualifications OF candidates than men do.
Ii the ballot IN the hand Of woman COM
pels political parties to place their best
men in nomination this, in and OF itself,
ID IA sufficient reason for sustaining
woman suffrage"
The editor of a New York paper op-
posed to equal suffrage, wanted some
strong testimony against 1t; and wrote to
a lady Of his acquaintance in Wyoming,
the wife of a United States judge and a
leading member of the Presbyterian
church, asking her to write IN account
of the practical workings OF woman
suffrage for his paper. She replied: II
came to Wyoming three years ago from
Missouri and brought with me fully the
usual amount OF conservatism; and l re-
garded with peculiar suspicion the idea
Ut womaD's entering the political arena.
My observations have materially modi-
fled my views upon this subject. The
women are less governed by party con-
siderations than are the men, and both
political parties have come to recognize
the necessity OF nominating their best
men, or at least not nominating bad men,
il they desire to succeed. The only ele-
ment that would desire the repeal Of the
equal suffrage law, is the vicious and the
cnrrn