Omaha daily bee., 1897-03-11
NO BALLOT ron THEM.
Reasons why Massachusetts Women
Oppose woman Suffrage.

-
New York Sun.
The Massachusetts Association Opposed &c
the Extension OF Suffrage TO Women has
published a tract entitled Tested by Its
Fruits the purpose OF the author or authors
being to survey the practical workings oil
woman suffrage where 1t has been tried,
There is not yet sufficient material for just
conclusions concerning the value of this par
ticular method of amelioratlng politics and
the condition OF mankind, but some OF the
points made by the Massachusetts association
merit attention on account of their clearness
of statement.
l. THAT the suffrage proposition demands
that the responsibilities of the ballot shall
be imposed upon all women. because some
women want to vote. The so-called refer
endum of the question OF municipal suffrage
for women in Massachusetts, in 1895 resulted
in the expression of a desire for the ballot
on the part of o., 204 women in the whole
state, out Of 575, 900 entitled to vote. This
Is under 4 per cent.
2. That where woman suffrage has been
tried on a large scale. as recently In South
Australia, when the vote was nearly doubled
in the election of 1896 for members of Par
lament, the only apparent results were the
Introduction of afternoon teas and similar
social functions Us a part OF the electioneer-
ing machinery, and a somewhat better order
and less smoking at the polls. The status quo
in politics was not otherwise changed by the
addition of the votes of about 10, 900 women.
The balance of parties was not affected; the
character of the public officers elected was
in no respect improved, and 1t is remarked
in passing that so influential and numerous
a body of women as the Woman's Christian
Temperance Union OF South Australia in
Cured severe criticism for giving its sup
port to a candidate of VIGOROUSLY immoral
life merely because he had previously figured
as a champion Of woman's suffrage.
3. There is no evidence showing that In
.hn ,rnnty or mara Gtatng nf the nnlnn Where
women are allowed to vote for school officers
the condition of the schools is relatively
better than in states where women are not
allowed to vote, or that it is better in these
states than before women had the ballot.
The privilege of voting in school elections is
not very generally or eagerly grasped by the
women voters. In Connecticut, in 1895, in a
large number of towns no women voted on
school matters. In the whole state the vote
was less than 1000. barely 1 per cent of the
number entitled to vote. In Boston in 1881
only 725 women voted, in 1888 there were
10, 400, in 1889 the number dropped to 1O,O5l.
The conclusion is that the vote of women
at school elections is not a constant element,
but "a luctuating and uncertain influence,
aroused to a capricious demonstration by
appeals to class or religious antipathies, but
otherwise ordinarily dormant
4. That in Kansas, after a seven years
trial of municipal suffrage for women, with
out any conspicuous change in the character
of city government, the people rejected de-
cisively, by a majority of $1,000, a constitu-
tiona1 amendment giving to women the full
ballot. D, .s .-... a.,.ra.-F. .
5. The case of wyoming, where women
have had full suffrage for nearly thirty
years. The Massachusetts, women opposed to
woman suffrage have made an examination
of the Revised Statutes of Wyoming with a
view to ascertaining how far the influence
of their sex in politics there has elevated
,,bl;o r,oroJc n puriHed fbe avs They
find that in Wyoming the laws provide for
the liquor traffic for fees ranging
from $500 annually down tot 81 annually, and
that the restrictions upon the rum dealers
are far less stringent than the average of
those in force in other states. Looking at
the divorce laws, they find eleven causes of
divorce specified, and a residence of only SIX
months required. They find gambling legal
Ted and promoted in Wyoming as 1t Is
scarcely anywhere else in the union, showing
chat "the women of Wyoming are not afflicted
with narrow prejudices on this subject
On the payment of $3.50 a quarter to the
sheriff. any one in Wyoming, man or woman,
may carry on any of the games enumerated
in sections 1,459-63 of the revised statutes,
Faro, monte. roulette, lansquenette, rondo.
commonly known as twenty
one; keno, props. or any banking game
with cards, dice, or any other device.
They quote, further, section 1865 as evil
dence mat III wyoming; Win lull WoHiai
suffrage, the gambling evil is forced upon
every community in the state, whether 1t de-
sires to tolerate the same or not, for this
section is as follows:
No town, city, or municipal corporation
hereafter have power to prohibit, sup
press or regulate any gaming house or game
as provided in this chapter.
Finally they point to section SIS, defining
homicide"
When committed by accident or misfor-
tune in the heat of passion upon any sud-
len or sufficient provocation, or upon n sud
len combat; provided that no undue adj
is taken, nor any dangerous
weapon used, and that the killing Is not
lone in a cruel or unusual manner.
In all this the Massachusetts women OPP
posed to the extension of suffrage to their
tex remark sarcastically that they "fail to
'ecognlze the gentle and humanizing infiu-
,nce OF woman"
1t may be said, however, as to Wyoming
n particular, that by the last census the
male population exceeded the female almost
.wo to one, while in Massachusetts, the
women outnumber the men. And 1t may
DO remarked in general that the conclusions
If this pamphlet on the whole subject are
negative rather than positive, although they
re very interesting on account OF their
orcible ald lucid presentation.