The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-06-17

-gument4 as that seriously? His statement
 that gambling dene are recognized as
 fixed fnstitutions" Is absolutely incorrect
 II he found sampim,ns m r house r n ,p Denver ,
 caution to lock it behind him. Before the
 ballot was placed in the hands of Wes-
 tern women the sign, Licensed Gamb-
 ling House was familiar. TSey are as
 scarce now as prohibition majorities In
 Mir. Smith says there was something he
 could not find. He.'.never heard of any
 of the femsle political leaders suggesting
 mean that MT. smiths hearing is not
 good. It happeffs that there are no fe-
 male political leaders in the Western
 States and that is why the Ala5a ma gem tlsman failed to heas Of them, But if
 NIT. Smith will visit us on election days
 he will sec our women profoundly effect the results of oting on reform measures.
 Mir Smith says that 80 per cent of Col
 orado's women vote. The figures dont come within 20 per cent of making good
 his statement-but that is Colorado's
 misfortune. The women who are away
 from home over two hours in the year
 because of the suffrage do not amount to
 over 1 per cent. Man has always credit
 ed woman with the ability to make trou-
 ble but 1t has remained for MT. Smith
 of Birmingham to say that, by devoting
 an hour two days in the year to the
 science of government with view to max
 ing this better world in which to live,
 she can overwhelm the mighty universe
 with disaster. rn
 MT snnth has solved the suffrage prom, lem from Alpha to Omega. and he con tinues: ""sne spirit of' woman's sunrage and woman's rights has led to more di- vorces. fewer marriages and a decreased birth rate" I will send MT. Smith new IA hat, express prepaid. if he will fur nish The Mobile Herald with figures to prove that that statement was not born of a diseased imagination. There are fewer social problems to be solved in the four edual-suffrage States than in any other part of the country. There are tion in Idaho a.d Colorado than in Mir. Smiths own city of Birmingham. There were Il per cent more births for every thousand of population in Colorado. Wy oming and Idaho during the last decade than among the white population of Ala bama and Georgia. while about the same proportion was maintained in the matter of marriages. When Mir. Smith goes look ing for localities in which fashion is not concern himself about "stop-over privileges in the, Rocky Mountain States.
 To quote again: ''Still outgrowth of the Western method is that marriage, where it does take place comes to be looked upon as a commercial proposition and is considered in this light. l pass the insult contained in the first part of the sentence, to reply to the rest Of 1t by S5tinS that Ine iHslttulltH Ol iitTTids: occupies as lofty position here h the West as is accorded it anywhere on earth: OuI daughters are not yet 'commerci2I enough to sell the nselves to the insipid titled scions of an ignoble foreign nopil- ity-and I coulI take a greater pride in my country wece that universally trde.
 Mir Smith concludes his libel on the of the West by saying that "a mannish woman loses the respect and of the world
 I ha axvn a woman V est of the Mississippi and those I have seen East of it were not engaged in tears over the loss of homage and respect. I quite agree with MT. Smith that contact with coarse women soon causes a man to forget to exercise that innate courtesy and gentlemanly bearing due to every womanly woman tthe s- craze American would put it due ev- cry woman') and finds himself hardened toward the sex. That is why I live in the West. Since reading his ipdefensi- hle words of abuse of Western woman hood, I have resolved to keep as far away as possible from the conditions some of the poison in his heart may be to mine.
 Mir. Smith delights-for home consump- tion. perhaps-to contrast the Southern and Western female I could not do so if would because there are so many of Dixie's fair women among us. The na- tive population of these Mountain States is an Insignificant part of the total. l prefer to view them in their cosmopoli- Maine and Alabama. of California and North Carolina, of Michigan and Georgia, and of every State in this mighty Union. have gathered here in the shadow Of the Rocky Mountains. and it Is they who that womanheod through con tact with which MT. Smith has lost that innate courtesy and gentlemanly bearing due to every womanly woman.
 In the heart of the composite American gentleman there is composite photo of the American woman, and she is en- throned herewith the ballot or without lt-"above the level of man and little lower than the angels. l am glad that l have mingled with the men of the South enough to know that they do not have n representative in MT. Smith of Bir- mingham.
 In conclusion, I can assure MT. Smith that in the matter of the franchise, as in all other respects, the influence of wo- man has heen. and is. ennobling. Any has not. thus far been discovered. Wo- man has a natural aversion to office holding. hence our only, women officials lre they who are connected with the ed- ucational departments of our State gov she has d natural aversion to in high places hence she votes Lo keep pure men in public life. can assure him, further, that popular educa- | ton has reached a higher state of devel- | opment in the equal suffrage States than | other institutions of freedom are and l ever will be secure out in these equal | suffrage commonwealths where we no | longer subject American womanhood to | the indignity of taxation without repre- | sentation, and where we hold it to be | self evident truth that "all men (and | are created equal"
 Sincerely yours