The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1901-04-10
WOMAN SUFFRAGE
AS 1T EXISTS AT PRESENT IN
KANSAS.
The Arguments Used Against Woman
Suffrage Are Applied Only to Women,
says This Lady Writer--she Reviews
the Situation In Kansas.

Throughout the United States the
newspapers are making big capital out
Of the crusade Of Mrs. Nation and her
followers. and the fact that women,
having municipal suffrage IN Kansas,
have not been able to enforce the laws
through the ballot. thereby proving
the failure OF woman suffrage. Miss
Anthony is quoted as saying: In
Kansas, since 1887, Mrs. Nation, with
all the women IN the 286 cities Of the
State, has had the right TO vote for
mayor for the members Of the com
mon council and for every other officer
Of the municipality. Women, equally
with men, have the responsibility.
Therefore the duty Of Mrs Nation and
all the women Of Kansas Is to register
and vote for men and women only who
Win pledge themselves publicly TO do
their duty and to retire to private life
every officer who has failed to show
his hand" Almost without exception,
the papers have omitted the most inn
portant portion Of her statement. which
puts the question in an entirely differ
ent light The portion omitted Is this
but the same legislature that gave
women the right to vote passed a law
giving the governor the power to ap-
point. in the first and second class
cities. three police commissioners 10
take charge Of the enforcement Of the
laws for the suppression Of the sa-
looms, br0thels and gambling houses.
The women soon learned that 1t made
no difference for whom they vo.ed.
No city oficial would do aught to en-
force the law. The saloon went scot
free, whichever party was in power
The women had no political influence
with the governor, while every boot
logger. every jointist. every saloonist
and every mothers son. no matter how
low. drunken or besotted. had a direct
vote for him. In 1899 the law giving
the governor power to appoint COM
missioners was repealed Since then
the cities Of the first and second class
have had the burden Of the enforce
ment or non-enforcement Of the laws
thrown back into the hands OF the
people. Il viii be seen that for twelve
years after the granting OF municipal
suffrage women were allowed no voice
IN choosing the officers whose duty Il
was to enforce the laws, and during
this time the Joints" became thor
oughly lntrenched in Kansas The
women have voted only once under the
new law. Therefore. because women at
one election have not been able TO
overcome with the ballot the evil
that has been allowed to grow foryears
by men, woman suffrage is a failure" "
Why is II that it does not prove
man suffrage to be a failure when the
prohibition men fail to enforce their
prohibition laws? We do not hear
this used as an argument against al
lowing prohibition men TO vote. Il Is
only an argument against prohibition
when the voter Is a man, but II the
voter happens to be a woman II shows
concluslvely that woman suffrage Is
failure. This kind Of logic is illus
trated aptly by the story Of the boy
who saw his little sister eating an
apple which he wanted all to himself
He rushed up to her with a look OF
horror on his face. exclaiming: You
mustn't eat that apple; It viii give you
the cholera morbus. The little girl
threw the apple away. whereupon the
boy picked Il up and began eating it.
The little girl In astonishment cried.
Don't eat IT.: It viii give you the
cholera morbus "Oh, no, it only
gives girls the cholera morbus,' said
he. This is a fair sample Of the argu-
ments used by the opposers Of woman
suffrage. They apply only to women.
-Elnora Monroe Babcock, n. A. w. S.
A.. in New York Press.