The Black Hills union and western stock review. [volume] (Rapid City, S.D.) 1904-19??, 1909-01-29
WHAT THEY CAN GET.
Rose Bower Says Suffragists Will be
Satisfied,

| Satisfied.
| Sioux Falls, S. D., Jan. 20.-Mis
Rose Bower, of Rapid City, who i
at Pierre looking after the interest
of the South Dakota women suffrag
lists at the legislature, has writer
the following letter to the Press, O
this city:
To the Editor of The Press:
Whether South Oak. owes NORTH
Carolina anything or not, South Da
kota owes her women something
and l shouldn't wonder they'll ge
it this session, the taX-paying wo
men. Anyway, suffrage bill witt
property qualification has been in
troduced, and while l can't see just
why woman's suffrage should be
qualified and mans not, the men do
and so l reckon We'll have to be
thankful for what the men see fiji
to give us.
81 don't believe the English tax,
paying women would take the par
liamentary suffrage and leave the
wage-earning women out in the cold
and we have five millions of them
in the United States.
And now South Dakota would
still keep the ballot from the wo-
man who has nothing but days wa
ges and shaky job. And why?
Because women are corruptible. In
the notorious Denver election of
which certain South Dakota legis-
lators have been pleased to rant,
two women were indicted for illegal
voting-and men by the score. DR..
Charles Aked, speaking at that no.
table suffrage meeting at Carnegie
hall, while the anti's were in session
at Berkeley theatre, with notably
slim audience, said:-
Why do l expect women to be
less corrupt and less corruptible
than men? Because they are less
ignorant, less drunken and less
criminal. There is not high school
in America which is not graduating
more girls than boys. The drunken
ness of American women is motor
iously insignificant compared to that
of American men. Only five and a
half per cent of all the criminals
of America are women, and in the
oldest suffrage state, Wyoming, wo-
men form no appreciate percentage
of the criminal body
"Apropos to this question of limit
ing the suffrage l picked up story
or two in Denver last election day
which it occurs to me are applicable.
A former Rapid City man, at pres
ent on the Denver police force, was
my informant. He told me of
man in that notorious election of
four years ago who voted seventy
five times and quit because they cut
the price. He said he could do it
for two dollars, but he never would
for fifty cents. Another was get
ting his two dollars as fast as he
could travel from poll to poll when
he was challenged by two women
who came in contact with him at
the polls of whom he thought, more
than likely, that they shouldn't be
subjected to the communicating in
fluence of polling booth. This
man did not vote any more that day,
but there was one who did-one
who happened to be in closer prox-
unity to one of the bosses when he
was challenged, arrested and con-
fronted by the patrol wagon. The
boss said to the policemen in the
vehicle, No you don't and showed
in negro bystander instead. The
negro had free ride, getting his
release at the station, and the man
under protection of the boss went
on voting.
Eyes, 1 rather think equal suff-
rage ought to be equal suffrage, but
please, mister, we'll take anything
we can get.
Rose Bower
Pierre, S. d., Jan. IS. 1909.