The sun., 1903-05-03

influence of woman In politics has been
DISTINCTLY elevating. In the primary In
the convention and at tho polls her presence
ba. ipspired respect for law and order.
ESperience has shown that women nave
voted their Intelligent convictions Iney
| understand the questions at Issue. ana they
vote conscentiously and fearlessiy
"While we do not claim to have the purest
,o,ltics in the world In Utah. II Will Do
readily conceded that the woman vote
| Ia terror 10 evildoers. and our cour%
is therefore, upward and onward. Two
of the current objections 10 woman SUI
frape are next dealt with: 'One oi the
b1aaboos Of the opposition was that women
would be compelled to ait on juries. Not
n sir olc instance of the kind has happened
In tlo State, for the reason that women are
never summoned The law simply ezempts
them. but docs not exclude them. An
other fayorite argument OF the anu-sui-
fra qis,s Is that II the women vote they
ought to be compelled to fight. In utah
the law excmpts them from military ser
vice. They are no more called upon TO
f,oht tban are men of non-military age.
Especially important Ia tho experience
OF Wyoming, because there woman SUI
frage has been operative for third OF a
century As long ago as 1871 Gov. o. a.
Campbell said In message to the lerri-
torial legislature There Ia upon our
statute books an Act granting to the women
of Wyoming Territory the right OF SUI
fraee' which has now been In force two
years 1t is simple justice TO say that .ne
women, entering for the first time IN the
history Of the country upon these ne" ana
untried duties. have conducted themselves
in every respect with as much tact souno
Judgment and good sense as men,. Eleven
years later Gov. Hoyt declared that under
woman suffrage we have better laws better
officers, better institutions, better morals
and higher social condition in general
than could otherwise exist Not one OF
the predicted evils, such as loss OF native
delicacy and disturbance OF home reia-
tions, has followed in it's train Thirteen
years later, namely, in 1895. United STATES
Senator c. B. Clark OF Wyoming wrote
as follows to the Constitutional ConVen-
tion of Utah, which was considering
woman suffrage plank so far IA the
operation of the law in this State Is con-
c,rned, we were 30 well satisfied with twenty
years experience Of it under the Terri
torial government that 1t went into our
State Constitut ion with but one dissenting
vote. although many thought that SUCH
section might result in it's rejection by
Congress II woman suffrage does moth
ing else, it fulflls the theory Of true repre-
sentative government, and In this State
at least has resulted in none OF the evils
prophesied. It. has not been the fruitful
source Of family disagreements here. 1t
Il Women
do generally take advantage Of the right
to vote, and they vote intelligently. 1t has
been years since We have had trouble
at the polls-quiet and order. in my opin-
ion. being due to Two causes, the
presence of women and our EN-
cient election laws One important feature
might mention, and that is that, In view
of the woman vote. no party dare nominate
notorioufly immoral men. for fear OF defeat
by that vote. Regarding the adoption OF
the sys tenn in other States see no reason
why its operation should not be generally
the same elsewhere as II Ia with us. 1t is
surely true that. after many years expert
ence. Wyoming would not be content to
return to the old limits as, in our judg-
ment, the absence Of Ill results is conclusive
proof Of the wisdom Of the proposition.
In 1890, H. v. 8. Groesbeck, Chief Justice
Of the Supreme Court Of Wyoming, thus
summed UP the results Of twenty-seven
years' experience: Equal suffrage brings
together at the ballot box the enlightened
common sense OF American manhood and
the unselfish moral sentiment OF American
womanhood. Both Of these elements
govern well-regulated household and both
should sway the political destinies OF the
entire human family. Particularly do
We need in this new commonwealth the
homo influence at the primaries and at the
polls. We believe. with Emerson, that
all the vices are represented In our politics,
some of the virtues should be-" Finally.
in 1902, jus tice Corn OF the State Supreme
Court, made the following public statement
with reference to the working OF woman
suffrage: "Women OF all classes vote
very generally. Bad women do not obtrude
their pres ence at the POLLS and l do not
now remember ever to have seen notori-
ously bad woman casting her vote. Woman
suffrage has no injurious effect upon the
home or the family that have ever heard
of during the twelve years have resided
in the State. 1t does not take so much Of
vo,nens time as to interfere with their
QOmeftlC Outice, Vi WIN shSA' SAN'~"A ~
charitable work. 1t does not impair their
yomanliness, or make them less satis-
factory as wives and mothers. They do
not have less influence. or enjoy less re-
spect and consideration socially. My i'm
preston lie that they read the daily papers
and inform thems elves upon public ques-
tions much more generally than do women
els ewhere." Justice Corn goes on TO say
that woman suffrage has had the effect
almost entirely to exclude notoriously
bad or immoral men from public ONCE IN
the State. Political parties refuse to NOM
mate such men upon the avowed ground
that they could not obtain the woman
vote. The natural result Of such conditions
is to increase the respect in which women
are held, and not to diminish II. They
constitute a more important factor in az
fairs, and. therefore, are more regarded.
1t is generally conceded, think, that women
have a higher standard Of morality and
right living than have men. The fact
that In Wyoming they have voice In public
matters has tendency to make men re-
pect their ethical standard, and. in some
degree, to attempt to attain 1t thems elves
Jut tice Corn adds that Il have never been
an enthusiastic advocate Of woman suffrage
as a cure for all the ills that afiiict society
-. ..,,,o ,,o,, ;,, optiro cIor }vonrna.