Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1904-05-06
WOMEN AS VOTERS.
How tho Rights Of Franchise Are Ex.
ercised In Colorado.

How tho Rights Of Franchise Are Ex.
ercised In Colorado.
The charge that women helped to do
the ballot box stuffing that elected
Congressman Shafroth Of Colorado, has
revived the whole subject Of woman
suffrage, Suffragists and anti-suf-
fragists have hurled accusation after
accusation at each other, newspapers
have been swamped with communica..
tions and every sort of testimony has
been heard from the glittering gene
rality Of the suffrage leader to the pos
tive II saw her do it" Of the actual
witness of the direful deed.
About any assertion that one chooses
to make about woman suffrage can
find a proving instance in Colorado.
If he wants to prove that the propor-
ton Of educated women who vote is
above that Of the ignorant he can point
out community after community where
such Is the case. If he wants to show
that the women of the latter type are
the only ones who vote in numbers he
can find still other communities.
If he wishes to show that a town
has been purified morally and beauti-
fled physically by its women voters, he
can put his finger on that town. And
again, his opponent in the argument
can point to towns that were cleaner
In every way before women received
the ballot.
About the only thing that can be
positively proved by Colorado in
stances is that the ten years of woman
suffrage in that state have proved alb
solutely nothing. AS one woman, a
woman. who, by the way, has yet to
cast her first VOTE. said:
"Ten years is not a very long time
by no means long enough to form the
basis Of but one true answer to SO
grave and many sided a question
Women in Colorado, in the use they
have made not made-of their
political power have helped-and then
they have hindered."
more interest outside Of the state than
it does in it. The right Of the ballot
has not created an interest in using It.
About the same proportion Of women
vote in Colorado as are struggling for
the right to vote in New York. All
the others go serenely on. their way
and after the excitement Is over. re-
mark surprisedly over the breakfast
table:
"Why, yesterday was election day
wasn't 1t?"
The women engaged, or even inter-
ested in politics in Colorado. form a
very small part of the total feminine
population, and of these the aspirants
for political office are surprisingly few
The women who vote do so for about
the same reasons that they would here
IL they got a chance.
A few Of them have earnest convic-
tions on the subject Of suffrage, and
use their power conscientiously and
consistently. A few Of them vote be-
cause their club or church society has
endorsed a certain measure and pledg-
es their support, but more than all the
others vote because their husbands or
fathers tell them to.
OF all the women Of Colorado who
vote for convictions sake there Is none
more thoroughly convinced than Mrs
Elizabeth Cass Ledyard Goddard OF
Colorado Springs. Mrs. Goddard be-
longs to the Goddards Of Providence
and the Republican party, and both are
equally dear to her heart.
After these two things In her affec-
tions come dogs. Not pet dogs, she
does not own single one, but the stray
NANCY, street dog, with the city dog
catcher for its hereditary foe.
No dogs are ever killed in Colorado
Springs for lack Of a tax tag; Mrs
Goddard pays for them all. Whenever
stray dog is picked up, Mrs. Goddard
is Immediately notified by telephone
and, no matter what her engagements
may be, she posts down to the city
pound, pays the required fee, sees Mr..
Doggie equipped with collar and tag
and then returns home again. Every
year she pays the tax on more than a
hundred dogs Of various degrees Of or
neriness.
Mrs. Goddard is the leader Of the
Colorado Springs women, both social
ly and politically. AS Mrs. Goddard
votes, so do all the women Of her set
Not to vote or to vote other than the
Republican ticket is to be put on her
blacklist.
A woman of many social and philan-
thropic interests, she drops them all
when election time comes around and
devotes herself exclusively to the bus
mess of vote getting. She does not go
out among the poorer classes Of women
or even out Of her own particular set.
But for the votes Of that set she
pledges herself, and never once has she
failed to deliver the goods.
1t Is probable that not one Of her
friends would exercise the privilege of
voting if it were not for this energetic
woman. She makes a social issue of
it, and so great is her authority that
no one dares stand against her.
Mrs. Goddard is purely disinterested.
She has never held nor will she hold a
public Office, nor will she consent to
use her influence for appointments. She
believes in women in public office, but
she does not care for office herself.
Her own activities in office holding are
limited to the Colonial Danes, the
Daughters of the American Revolution
and similar organizations.