The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1895-01-01
WOMEN AND THE eALLoT.s
A Claim That without 1t They Can Exert
Influence at tie Polls.

influence at tie Polls.
Mrs. Eieonora Kinnicutt of New York, |
who is not a sufragist. but who has ac-
complished important legislation for the
benefit of the city, has a suggestive ar
ticle in The Century, in which she says:
Now that the New York constitution
al convention of 1894 has refused tt, rec
ommend that the word male be sfrick-
en- from the constitution of the state,
dispassionate word on the subject may
perhaps find gracious hearing on both
sides Many of the women who opposed
the introduction of woman suffraga diff
fered from those who advocated it more
in premises than in conclusions. In the
heat of debate many misunderstood and
misjudged each other, because they
were arguing from different standpoints.
One took the side of abstract right; the
other of concrete reasons. One called
the present condition of women slavery;
the other termed the proposed condition
enslavement. But upon two points.most
women were agreed; that the politics of
the country, as now managed solely by
men, offers wide field for experiment.
and improvement, and that, whatever
share in the affairs of the state women
ask to have given to them. it is the de-
sire of none to sacrifice to it the duties
that are distinctively feminine
Universal man suffrage is heee to
stay. We cannot do away With the evils
that accompany it; we must therefore
try to overcome them, rejoicing all the
while that the great experiment is being
made in country where the chances
are in favor of success. And what better
IS
parent and permanent than by the intel
hgent and public spirited women Of the
country, through their good judgment
and vatchfulness, helping the i1.teli-
gent and public spirited men to hold
their own against the strength of mere
numbers-a task that is daily in4reas-
ing in difficulty? If worlen VILE only
assume, at election times, the resbonsi-
bility of making the men of their house
holds register and vote, and of guard
ing, as far IS possible, against careless
ness and indifference in tho matter: they
will render valuable service to the
state.
If the vote Of the present day were to
be doubled by opening the slnice sgates
to all women, we could directly divide
it into four parts; tho educated men and
the educated women; the ignorant men
and the ignorant women (the word zig
norant'' seems best to represent the per-
verso and the unlettered). Why are we
not distinctly better off-lpoking st the
question still from a numerical stand
point, and never forgetting for q mo-
ment that our government is, as DIR. ia
cobb clearly emphasizes, government
by public opinion If, BY uniting the
vote and the influence Of the two higher
groups, we make the hard struggle not
q struggle of two against two, but of
two against one?
The suffraglsts assert that women will
not take part i'll public affairs hnless
they are rewarded with the franchise.
This is a statement that.womel1, by their
disinterested, impersonal work in every
direction, are daily contradicting. w nat
they do need, before in number they be-
come the political helpmates of men, is
the conviction that they can learn. to be
helpful, and that their help isneedeG in
the body polite. This. they have never
been taught seriously And when they
set to work to find out how they can best
make themselves useful, they viii dis
cover that it is only by a mastery of
hard, dry facts, and by the onward pro-
polling power of disinteresIed effort, that
raen in politics attain tao best results.
The SO called ''coaxing'' and ''6vhee-
ding" power Of women, supposed, to be
in such force and favor with me1S, and
sometimes used as an i'll natIred ltaunt
by one kind of woman to another kind,
is an overestimated power. Men can usu
ally be coaxed into giving away only
that which they themselves do not value.
| The occasion Of first conference be-
tween two of opposite sex may be mark
ed by grace and graciousuessJ but after
that woman must depend, as do men
among men, upon the merits of hercause
and the practical knowledge anG good
sense that she is able to bring TO its sup
! port. Almost every woman who inter
ests herself in public affairs and has lad
experience with officers of government
and men of personal influence will cor
roborate this statement. She will glad
| ~ confess, too, that the more she works
the more she learns that her own hest
strength lies in the strength of the OBJ
ject that she has at heart. She vial win
Or fail, too, just in proportion to her
ability and the single mindedness of
purpose with which she keeps this object
jn'yiew.
A Registration Incident.
During the last registration in this
city there were a great many pleasant
ries reeled off at the expenseiof women
who for the first time took the initia-
tive in the suffrage business. One of