Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-07-15
EFFECT OF WOMAN'S VOT E
Statement by Sue Il Hall, President of Den
yer Federation.
Answer to CRITICISMS Of the East
Deductions Made,After Expert
ence Of Fhkec Years.

Sue M. Hall, president.of the Civic FEEDER
alton of Denver. Col has sent the following
letter to Miss Thomas, president Of the Dis
trict Woman's Suffrage "A ssociation:
1T hardly seems worth while to refute
the statements made by some eastern pa
pers regarding the effects of equal suf-
frage In Colorado. most of them being
without foundation in fact, and all of them
advanced without regard to the actual
conditions. But to the large number Of in
quiries from fair-minded people an answer
is due. That a conclusive deduction can be
made after three years experience we do
not claim. but certain questions have been
effectually answered.
First. women do make use of the ballot
After careful Investigation the votes cest
In the two municipal, one county ana Two
state and national elections held since wo-
men were enfranchised, conservative esti-
mate places the ballots cast by women at
81 per cent Of the total number. though the
majority of population Is male.
Another phase which seems worthy Of
notice Is that more men vote now. be-
cause. as many have said to me, 1t seems
as though there Is some chance now tor
the better element to make itself felt
There may be a few women, az there are
many men. who feel they have assisted
their claims to superiority by announcing
that they do not mix in politics. but the
conscientious use of the rights of citizen
ship Is seldom neglected by the women.
An incident of the last municipal election,
which Is only one of many quite as inter-
esting, attracted some attention In my
own precinct. A white-haired lady, nearly
eighty years old. accompanied by her son,
entered a booth and, after depositing her
ballot. said In a gratified tone: 1 never ex-
pected to live to see this day.
Tells of Her Experience.
u1I,,,,,rr hoo, ,o+,,,.l,, co,nected with
four or five campaigns. and at two OF the
elections having driven to many polling
places, both In the lower wards and In the
better residence portion of the city, can
emphatically say that nothing has oc-
Cured that could shock the sensbilities of
any one. In nearly every polling place a
woman is employed, either as watcher,
Judge or clerk, and she usually takes How
ers and flags into the room, which give It
a holiday air.
"It Is quite frequently asked If the votes
of good women were not offset by those OF
the demi-monde. Consider, for moment,
the small number of that class compared
with the respectable element; but aside
from that the fact is they would neither
register nor vote II not compelled to do so
by the ward heller The situation Is sum-
med up In the following remark OF one of
those woman to woman who was cam
wasting the precinct. She said: We only
ask to be let alone. We want just as good
laws as other women do (many of us have
children to grow up in the community,
but there are enough lof you women to
tok after the lawsi However, under the
management of the gang. they were COM
PEELED to register and Ivote. That should
not be used as an argument against uni
versal suffrage, but against the present
methods of carrying elections. which we. as
women, hope to overcome by eliminating
craftsmanship from locateaffairs.
NOn-PartiHaA Ticket.
1.-THE Civic Federation, which is composed
entirely of women, called to their assist
ance all men and women desiring good
government. and nominated and elected 4
non-partisan municipal ticket IN April, not
withstanding the corporations, the liberal
element and the poiticalmachine were COM
Eined against themy The foregoing would
seem to be a conclusive answer to the
question most frequently asked-do the
women vote? And now, In conclusion. let
me say that while we, who have had prac-
teal experience Of the working of univer-
sal suffrage In the largest city where 1t
obtains. do not claim that 1t is a panacea
for all Ills. We have demonstrated that all
the old arguments against 1t are invalid
ard we hope and believe that the future
will show women to be true and loyal to
right. as they have been in the past