The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-08-15
WOMAN SENATOR TALKS
MARY c. C. BRADFORD DISCUSSES
 FEMININE SUFFRAGE.
The Colorado Politician Declares that women's Part in Politics in the West is Beneficial to Women's Character, to Political
 Methods and the Gen.
 ernl Welfare.

eral Welfare.
 New York Herald.
 The experience Of Mrs. Mary C. C. Bradford, State Senator. president of the educational bureau and active po- litical worker, affords a remarkable H. illustration of the actual working Of wo- mans suffrage. This very successful politician talks with the utmost free dom of her activities. Mrs. Bradford is of medium height with quick. alert eyes a characteristic face denoting de- termination and intelligence and pos sessed of a wonderful flow of language. She shows the results of her parlia- mentary training In legislative work. and has the most minute details or political procedure to the finest point.
 That the New York women en masse do not want the ballot Is something which evidently puzzles the woman voter from Colorado. She cannot un- derstand the anomally of up to date women passively submitting to De chased with idiots. drunkards ana i'm beciles" And, really. I hardly think the New York women understand why 1t Is themselves.
 Mrs. Mary C. c. Bradford. now Of Col orado, but a New York woman by birth, as she sat in her hotel apartments here, was very willing to chat about now 1t feels to vote ard to expatiate on what the ballot really means to the business woman.
 Asked what she considered the great est benefit accruing to women from the ballot. Mrs. Bradford said:
 "In my opinion the chief benefit is the character building which Is the result of the responsibility put upon women by the gift of the ballot. The fran chise makes women broader, more tolerant They lose the sense of per sonality and gain the inpersonal and universal view point.
 'The difference between the New York and Western women Is very ma terial In States where women have the franchise wages have advanced per cent and there has been decrease Of pr cent in the number of unfor- tunate women.
 we Western women are broa OCT in many ways. You view yourselves from sex standpoint; we are beginning to view ourselves from a human stand point For instance, you will hesitate to take many initiative steps because you are women: we. by reason of the franchise. lose sight of our womanhood aAd class ourselves with the great mass of all.
 Familiar Arguments.
 The great cry of you Eastern wo- men who oppose the granting of the ballot to women is the environment of the polling places. That is such non- sense. The argument is worn thread bare. The Turk used 1t in answer to the proposition to allow the Turkish women to leave their harems. It was put forth whom women tried to enter business offices. but she persisted all the same And what Is the result? The business office today is better ordered, more refined than in the past
 When women are allowed to vote the environment of the polling places changes. There are respectable and disreputable neighborhoods. and 1t de- pends upon where you live. As rule a respectable woman will live in re- spectable location and the environments of the booths will correspond with the class of voters. There Is always one woman judge and one woman clerk of elections, no woman need feel the least timidity in entering the box.
 ITO show you how simple this vot- ing is let me give you an Illustration of one of my own experiences. Al the special time of which I speak my youngest daughter was quite child. SC young. in fact, that I generally took her to school. This morning in Ques- ton being election day and she rather late I talked 1t over with her as to whether she could not go to school by herself. ".Come with me, mother she plead ed you can vote on our way to school. T consented and we set out. The booths were but a short distance from the house and we were soon there. The fudge and clerk both knew me. Oi ra0iateFnd and If was easily discovered that had every right to vote. The ballot was given me and I entered the booth to mark 1t accord in to the way in which I wanted and just ten minutes from the time l let' my own house was again on my way to the school house and had voted fol William J. Bryan. Nothing could DC ca sier or quicker than that could 1t? Eve were given the franchise twelve years ago in Colorado. November ' iSe3. In that time there have beer thirteen women in the Legislature. have just finished my term as clerk of the State Senate, the first woman tc have held that office In any State During my term of office there were afty-nine members--flfty-e eight men anc myself.
 "The Colorado department of educa ton is entirely in the hands Of "om en- Out Of the HIty -hlHe SouA'' thirty-three have women superintend, ents. There are nearly forty thousand more men than women In Colorado and the woman's vote has never faller below 42 per cent.
 "I wish you would let me say some thing in reply to the many statements which go forth from time to time that if Colorado had to do 1t over again she would not give suffrage to women. think the following figures will settle that question without a doubt:
 suffrage for women was voted on in 1893 and carried by majority in round number of six thousand. In 1902, after nine years of experiment it was voted on again by means of a constitutional amendment and carried by a majority of 36,00o
 That is rather strong showing, Is 1t not?
 Upon one of my previous visits here I was invited to drive with q judge of the Court of Appeals and his wife This man Is one whose decision. because of his ability and intellect, Is always locked upon as final. His wife is an