The Bon Homme County independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1904-1913, 1910-12-01
WOMEN HA We RIGHT TO
VOTE IN FIVE STATES

expense would be saved In the conduct OF
elections That would be all. In this con-
nection. however, II should be said that
women. where they can vote, exercise
their right as rule to do so. They do II.
though, at the solicitation OF their hus-
bands or male relatives, who are inter-
ested, to greater or less degree as men
usually are, I'm the outcome Of elections.
Moreover there is no truth in the asser-
ton that suffrage tends to masculn,ze
women. or to drag them into the mire OF
dirty politics. Most women in suffrage
states take no part In politics beyond vot-
Ing. In Utah and Idaho, though they are
eligible to jury service. they are never
drawn on panel, and while they attend
caucuses and primaries. their participation
therein Is limited to the casting Of their
votes. The contention that suffrage tends
TO develop manish women Is utterly un-
true.
Morals Not Improved.
There Is a sort Of superstition that cuf-
frage will purify moral conditions. The
final answer to this argument Is that 1t
hasn't purified them. Colorado has long
been noted as the most corrupt and worst
governed state OF equal population In the
union. 1t Is true that 1t has made great
political progress OF late; but other states,
where women are denied the ballot, have
made greater progress. Wyoming Is the
badly governed feudal domain of a few
big interests and Is absolutely In the grip
OF railroad and corporate interests. and
yet 1t is the pioneer woman suffrage state.
1t Ii not fair to cite either Utah or Idaho
on either side OF a woman suffrage argu-
ment Suffrage Is part of the policy of the
Mormon church. which controls Utah
wholly and Idaho partly. The church Is
responsible for the adoption OF suffrage
a those states. The priesthood favors suf-
frage because women, on the whole. are
more susceptible to religious influence thea
men. The ordinary Mormon woman would
not dream OF casting a vote In opposition
to the wishes OF the church authorities.
while Mormon men have been known to
rebel
The suffrage states ara advancing no
faster In the regulation and restraint Of
the liquor and social evils than are the
non-suffrage states. Idaho. 1t is true. has
county option law, but so have Ohio and
Indiana: and Idaho has just defeated q
candidate for governor who stood pledged
to state wide prohibition. The more popu-
lous counties OF Idaho are wet" though
the votes of their women inhabitants could
have made them dry"
Character Of Officials. i,
The moral character OF public officials
In suffrage states is no higher than that
Of public officials in other states. 1t might
be supposed that women would look par
ticularly to this phase of politics, but they
do not seem to do so. One prominent poll
tician in q suffrage state, which shall be
nameless. has one. IL not two, illegitimate
children, but in a campaign In which the
very highest honor within the gift OF his
state was conferred upon him that issue
was not even raised.
Intelligent leaders Of the suffrage novel
ment realize that the average woman will
not. for the present nor in the immediate
future, cast an intelligent ballot. They
know that to make woman an Independent
political unit will require a long process
of education, but their argument is, first,
that woman Is entitled as a natural right
to the ballot and. second, that she can
only acquire political education by the
use OF It. Who shall say that this posi-
ton Is not sound?
Meanwhile the suffragists hope in spel
cihc instances to use the ballots OF women
for righteous causes They think it pos-
sible to arouse her interest In matters
which Immediately concern her sex, such
as the shortening by legal enactment OF
hours Of labor. proper sanitary conditions,
the white slave evil, and kindred matters
They know that 1t is we'll nigh useless to
attempt to persuade her to take an inter-
est In the politloo-economic questions upon
which men divide into political parties.
influence of Socialism.
The most effective influence at work
for woman suffrage is the socialist influ-
ence. Leaders of socialism believe that
working women. whose numbers are be-
ing augmented every day. can ultimately
be induced to rebel against existing social
and Industrial conditions, and that they
will turn to socialism az a means of re.
lief. In every state where a suffrage
amendment is submitted II invariably "a
ceives the support of the full socialist
vote.
1t is no. unlikely that the five states
which have given women the ballot will
DO Joined by other states in the not dis
tant future. What has been said here is
not Intended as an argument against suf-
frage because, in the writer's view, there
Is no reason, either In logic or In ethics,
why man should deny woman the right to
vote 1t is intended, however. to show
that woman suffrage can not be counted
upon under present conditions to work any
startling change for the betterment Of
American politics That Is a matter which
the years must take care OF.