The Beaver herald. [volume] (Beaver, O.T. [Okla.]) 1895-1923, 1907-01-10
An Appeal of the Women Of
Oklahoma for Equal Civil
Rights With Men.

That was y brilliant appeal of the
women of Oklahoma for equal civil
rights with men, before the equal
nj convention. The old order of things
have passed away even in woman
suffrage advocates propaganda. In
olden days there were some manly
women who demanded mems rights, or
at least we were made to believe so,
but now-well, the persuasion comes
no longer by force or demand, but by
charm, of culture, brilliant intellect
uulity, infinite reasoning and synthetic
logic. One could not sit still and
listen to the presentation made by
these large minded and lofty souled
aud not acknowledge that they
were the self evident argument that
they were AZ worthy to be the equal Of
man in his civil rights as they are
superior to him in social life.
The State Register has been for
wpman's equal suffrage rights these
many years. 1t has argued it out by
the aid of every science history, phil
osophy and ethics-by %ethnology, ply
chology, religions political economy,
modern social states, and even ami
NAL ethics, in order to find reasons
why woman should be equal in many
and superior in some, and yet not be
fitted to exercise the power of the bal
lot for the protection of her rights the
same as man. And every year she is
proving her fitness, until now, these
women, presenting themselves before
a committee composed of men, left the
impression that the only reason why
they should not be given the ballot is
because they had shown greater COM
~prehension than men the high service
/ q he performed by it.
Every phase of the question was dis
cussed, all the former limitations and
present necessities for women To have
the use of the ballot were presented
until there remained no foundation of
the many ancient %preiudices of we'll
meaning men To refuse woncn the bal
lot, even the reason of tribute to their
character, that it would degrade them.
At first the delegates paid little at
tention To the cotcrie of women who
in one corner OF the hall faced the
committee and made their addresses
as they we're called out by the chair
man. Mrs. Kate Biggers, president
of the Territorial Equal Suffrage asso-
cation, presided. When Mrs. Brad
ford, of Denver, Col, began to speak
a change took place as il by magic.
She has had experience in politics with
the horrid men, for she was elected
state superintendent of schools of Colo
RADIO on the democratic ticket, and has
been u member of the state committee,
aud she is wife and a mother with all
and hasn't a bass voice. To hear her
tell of her political experience and the
respectful treatment by men sounds
like the recital of an ancient Italian
poet singing his love omanc under
the balcony window of his cnsmorata,
accompanied by the harp. She is a
woman Of lofty ideals, a keen, cultured
intellect, and Il dainty feminine per-
sonality, so that when she said she was
u grandmother, one looked again and
added a few years to the thirty he had
first decided upon. She carried the
men listeners before her as if a strain
Of music had entranced them. This
was surely a different kind of woman
rights woman they had seen in years
gone by or heard about.
And she was not the only one of her
kind. Evidently without and precon-
certed plan. they were ali very intel
ligent and very womanly-sweet, there
Was only a variation of the type fami-
nine that WAS all. For after the men
thought the ladies had fired" the only
big ''gun" they had, did not Mrs.
DIR. Francis Wood, of Chicksshs, take
them of their feet with her wonderful
impromptu spirited assurance of what
a woman can do when disaster comes
to the home and she ia thrown out by
the laws of naturs 90 take care of her
self whether she would or notS She
was a nurse on the firing line in the
PHILIPPINES and did her duty there like
a man. Was she masculine? One
wonders how she stays single. She as
sured the men the ballot would help
her and thousands Of working ONE
who must support themselves. And
then there were Mrs. Minnie Kent
Bailey, of Enid, Mrs, Ida Wood Nor
veil, OF wynnewood. and Mrs, Adelis
stephens, of Oklahoma City. And
then came n more, when it looked
rs though nothing more could be said,