Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1904-05-06

The proportion Of women holding Of
flee In the state Is but little higher
than that Of states having a more lin
tied suffrage. At different times wo-
men have been candidates for lieuten-
ant-governor, for presidential elector,
for state senator and for various less
important offices, but at present the
state officeholders are limited to a few
members of the lower house of the leg
islature, the various state charitable
boards, and the superintendents Of
public instruction.
Mrs Helen R. Grenfal was elected
state superintendent of public instruc-
ton by the Democrats, but so capable
did she prove herself that at the close
of her term her reelection was not con-
tested by the Republicans. About So
per cent Of the county superintendents
are women, and about the same per
centage are members Of school boards.
The legislation inaugurated by wo-
men since they gained the ballot has
been for the most part directed toward
bettering the condition Of their sex.
| The first bill introduced in a Colora-
do legislature by a woman, Mrs. Carrie
Clyde Holly, was to raise the age Of
consent from IA to 81 years. After a
vigorous discussion in which five wo-
men members Of the legislature argued
| valiantly for their measure, 1t was A.
nally compromised by placing the age
at eighteen.
The condition of women in shops and
factories has been bettered, and child
labor regulated. 1t has not all been ac-
complished easily, and woman suffrage
has made itself more than one enemy
by the tactics Of the determined few.
That politics with women in it is more
or less Of a social game Is illustrated
at every Colorado election. Receptions
for the women are as much a part Of
the campaign as are political meetings
for the men.
They may not be known as political
teas and the hostess probably would
resent the suggestion, but 1t Is sig
nificant fact that no sooner does man
Of social position become a candidate
for an Office than the feminine men,
bers Of his family enlarge their visiting
list to an astonishing extent, while
their invitation lists grow out Of all
proportions.
On one occasion 1t was urged against
certain mans fitness for an office
that he and his family were too exclus-
i've, that they were proud, and west
of the Missouri river there is no great
er crime than pride; that they did not
know any one but wearers Of kid
gloves and silk hats, and that even
while he was soliciting the votes of
the workingmen his family was scorn-
ing them as they rolled by in their
luxurious carriages.
| Immediately that same family was
notified that its particular duty lay In
the disposing Of the accusation Of pride.
So all that fall two Of the best known
women in town, the wife and daughter
of the candidate, trudged up and down
the streets in the dust and mud, while
their horses and coachman rejoiced and
grew fat at home.
All the fall they called industriously
on people they had never heard of be-
fore, and gave large, noisy receptions
where the formal invitation was Sec
onded by a personal visit, and an ex-
hortation to bring the baby If there
was no one to leave 1t with at home
Those receptions were the joy Of the
town, for they were just as entertain
ing to the women Of the hostesses' own
particular set who were pressed into
the service, as they were to the women
from the side streets who saw the doors
Of social preferment swinging open to
them.
No two politicians ever worked hard
er than did those two women that fall
They worked for the women vote
Of the town, and they got it, too, with
out regard to party. But their man
failed Of election all the same, and now
all the women who took their babies
to the parties wonder why their host
esses are never at home when they call
and never see them In driving past
them in the street.-New York Sun.
|