The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-12-26
WOMAN SUFFRAGE
"A STUDY OF THE PROBLEM IN
 COLORADO.
ssWomen Don't Change Politics as Much as Politics Change wo- men"-Investigations of Women in tn Equal Suf-
 frage Paradise.

Elizabeth McCracken, in Outlook
 The question as to the granting to wo- men of those political privileges now held chiefly by men; of the imposing upon women of those political duties as yet performed mainly by men; the question of woman's suffrage, in other words, un- less it threatens the immediate commun- ity in which we live, is a problem re- garding which a few Americans, it is true, have the most ardent possible con- victions. either pro or con, but in respect to which the majority of us in America whether men or women. are, if not in- different, still somewhat neutral. This neutrality is the result of a real per plexity. Mere presentations of the pro- blem faii to compel our instant inter- est; do not succeed in gaining our vivid attention.
 We go to hear the suffragist's speech; her burning words leave us cold. Why has she not melted IS to a belief as fiery as her own in her solution of the pro blem? The anti-suffragiet, before the echo of his antagonists words has ceas ed, replies to her address. We hear ap preciatively his brilliant oratory, but why do we not. illumined by its light pledge allegiance to his answering of the question? Open to conviction, We find ourselves curiously unconvinced; always ready to listen to reason" lnvoluntar- fly responsive to it under other circum- stances. we listen to the very firmest reason concerning equal suffrage, and are left but little impressed, strangely unresponsive. Has the abstract question so meager vitality. or do those persons to whom it is unmistakably a living is- sue in their methods of presenting it be- fore audiences to whose actual eXperi- ences it is unknown?
 At a college settlement. one winter, the girls belonging to a club in which I was especially interested challenged an or ganization composed of boys of approx imately the same age as themselves to debate with them this subject: Resolved That Woman Should Vote.
 Both clubs chanced to be unusually in- terested in the question,and the challenge was at once accepted by the boys Their eagerness to argue the negative side which was, needless to say, the side ap- portioned them-the exultation with which they found and read anti-suffrage essays, addresses and even sermons; the enterprise they displayed in collecting columns of unfavorable statistics; in short, the zest with which the boys un- dertook to debate this subject: Resolved That Women Should Not Vote, stimulat- ed not only the girls. but more than one resident of the settlement, to really stren- uous exertions in the direction of fram- ing arguments for the affirmative side, One resident who had the privilege of Miss Alice Stone Blackwell's acquaint- Rnce actually contemplated calling upon Miss Blackwell for aid, after hearing a rumor from one of the girls t6 the ef- feet that "one of the boys had written 10 Dr. Lyman Abbott"
 The girls lost the debate; to their cha grin, and to my great surprise. Argu- mentatively, they had presented a far stronger case than the boys; as even those persons in the audience whose sym pathies were entirely with the negative side admitted. Logically, the affirmative side wins I said to one of these.
 ''Yes." she granted. but the advisa- bility of woman's suffrage isn't a ques- tion of mere abstract logic"
 ''Why not?" demanded one of the girls.
 Because it contains certain elements of sentiment" replied her opponent.