The Washburn times. [volume] (Washburn, Wis.) 1896-1976, 1910-10-06
w. G. r. u.
Contributed

Thursday afternoon at the nome Vi
Mrs. Thos. Moore.
Mrs Plant is elected delegate to
the State Convention which meets
at Wausau, Oct. I'll. This conven-
ton promises to be very helpful one,
and we hope our Union will receive
inspiration and enthusia sm from. IL,
thru our delegate.
mo position could be more il tel
able than that of the anti sufferag-
lists that the ballot in the hands of
women would not lessen the evil
wrought by the saloon.
1t can be answered conclus vely
by the one IndenlabL- statement
that the liquor interests are the
lradliest foe to woman suffrage,
that their inhueiiCe has been para
| mount 10 every stale where it has
been defeated when it went bt fore
the voter S. The pr, of of this is alb
>oute.
The leaders OF the trade are on re-
cord as saying that they would far
,ther see local option amendment
to the state constitution, than one
for woman suffrage.
They know from experience that
thew can largely mp.ify prohibition,
or local option laws, but they cannot
control the votes of women.
The members of the W. G.
T. u frequently declare that the 60.
reimbursement of women would mean
the end of the liquor traffic
but the leaders OF the suffrage
movement say only that this would
be greatly diminished, better con-
trolled, and far less powerful in poll
tics.
This has been the result in tn,
four states where the womeI
vote. In G dorado, for Instance a.
the time women were enfranc hisel
there were but three towns wher,
no liquor was sold. Now there ar,
sixteen entire counties and fifty one
. cities and towns. The effect of wo
man suffrage on the tem peranc'
question, or on any other, csnnst b.
fully guaged in reference to the
whole country by those four West.
| ern states where women vote, as il
all of them men largely predominant
i Outside Of Denver the women cal
not do organized work on an exten
Isive scale because there are no
large cities and the towns are wide
ly separated. There influence Tor
, law aad order is sufficiently strong
t however, to have so antagonized tn
= liquor interests and the political ma
! chimes that they have prevented any
t of the neighboring states from Civ
o ing the suffrage to women. The fac
that the Prohibition party and tn
W. c. T. U. are unwavering in thei
! demand for the Acknowledgement O
! women ought to indicate it's necessi
< ty as a temperance measure.
There is not a prohibition stat,
that can enforce its laws, becaus
not enough puplic sentiment fo
them exists among: the voters. Kan
sas probably comes the nearest to i
and this is because the women Their,
! have the municipal suffrage. Yer
E mont, by the votes OF men. has got
en- rid of her prohibition law, ant
} Maine and New Hampshire are try
ing to do the same; in the mean tim
i they are fighting woman suffrag
and saying with entire franknes
E shat they could never repeal the la,
= If women had vote.
RI President Taft when secretary @
war said, "the anti-canteen law ha
never had a chance"
This is equally true of the prohibi
ton law, it has never had fai
chance, even in Kansas, for the Leg
islature there has removed from TIA
popular vote many officers who hay
jurisdiction over the liquor laws, an;
II certainly not in the other state:
where women have no vote for thos
whose business it is to enforce tn
statutes. f
Al The chief reason why the Ant
Saloon League has been so success
n full in getting local option laws,
is because it is composed of men VIII
;. elect the legislators, but there wi
n not be enough puplic sentiment tt
II to compel the permanent enforce
Z, mant of these laws until wome
vote. !"
Ida Hustled Casper, in Harper
Bazaar.