The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1896-12-01
WOMAN AS SENATOR.
Mrs. Cannon, the First Elected 10
That Office.
She Was Chosen in Utah-Dofeated
Her Husband for the Place.

"we have just elected woman In our
state senate" the people Of Utah are say
Ing with great show of pride. Martha
Hughes Cannon is the first woman ever
elected to q state senate In America Her
home Is In Salt Lake City. According TO
the Nm Francisco Examiner, Mrs. Cannon
Is a remarkable woman with remarkable
views. She is remarkable inasmuch as
she ran against her husband in the same
district and beat him into the senate by
satisfactory majority of 1000 votes. An
gus NJ. Cannon her husband Is an elder
In the Mormon church, standing in the
first order of precedence for appointment
as one of the twelve apostles
The newly elected senator Is called the
fourth wife of Mr. Cannon. She and his
other three wives lNe in friendly COM
munion, and not one has the least legal
claim to the name she bears. Every polyg-
amous husband had the right to choose
one woman for his legal wife when the
law against polygamy was enforced. Be-
ing very gallant, Mr.. Cannon refused To
make choice. To choose was too much
to expect of him, since he had just taken
two sisters to himself with one swipe
Martha Hughes Cannon is doctor by
DTblttSiOn anu dn tANtiiohp DIuNblOc
She is described as being a small woman,
between 30 and 80, with mass Of brown
hair plcntifully sprinkled with gray; bril-
liant hazel eyes, ever on the alert; "a clear
skin and very small feet and hands. She
has clear voice, fine flow of words and
Is not conceited. Sho is we'll groomed and
always wears good clothes of an incon-
spicuous kind. She has two children, a
girl of IL and boy of Z.
Mrs. Cannon is Democrat. Her hus-
band Is Republican. She got into poll
tics In this way: In 1893 the Democratic
women of Utah wanted suffrage They
formed woman's Democratic campaign
club and started in TO raise funds for the
campaign. The supreme court decided
against them, and out went the suffrage
clause. This didn't worry the women's
clubs. They worked right on, and this
year they got the suffrage.
Mrs. Cannon made 40 speeches, and
when her party decided that they ought to
have a woman In the senate committee
asked her II she would run. She said Eyes"
and went to the nomir,sing convention as
delegate. She was duly nominated and
finally, after much hard campaign work,
was elected. She didn't ask man or
Woinbn w Nott htit tnu eut uluD
bother herself about kissing unattractive
babies. She studied all the questions Of
the campaign and made lot OF speeches,
staying right with her party and speaking
for that On election day she won't early
TO the polls. voted and then attended to
her patients.
The senator eleot announces that she
will take special interest in all sanitary
ht1lo MI, ,t. oll tpsv a.
tionnl matters. She Is a strong believer in
woman suffrage and says that it will help
women and purify politics.
women arc better than men," sho IL
won't TO remark "Siaves arc always bot
ter than their masters A slave learns
obedionce, self control and unselflshness.
That's why women will do the world of
politics good They have boon slaves so
long. They will teach some of the slavish
virtues
This fourth wife OF man doesn't seem
to realize that most women would look on
her ms n slave, Notwithstanding her recent
political victory. But 10 Is natural that
she should be Mormon Her father ana
mother were Mormons, and she believes In
the religion just as a child brought up in
the Methodist or Baptist faith believes In
~ Cht biihhS IlhAht WIN ~ lbt hail hn
much of slave as a single wife, for " a
husband has four wives each one has three
weeks Of freedom every month In the year.
Plural wives, she says, look upon marriage
as a sacred duty and not as means Of
gratifying vanity. Consequently polygamy
Is froer from jealousy and unhappiness
than monogamy.
Mrs. Cannon stands with her party on
the saloon question, but IL was visit to
Europe that strengthened her views.
81 don't believe any one who has lived
In Europe much can scare up such n ter.
rincally strong hatred Of the demon rum.
e. Besides, prohibition doesn't prohibit" sho
often asserts
When the antipolygarny law went into
effect. Mrs Cannon took her children and
vent along wi.ha great many other plural