Wheeling majority. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1907-192?, 1910-04-21


4. Has the women vote purified
politics. and have we banished sa-
looms?
l.. In answer to the first question. |
Yes, most emphatically. 1 do not
hesitate to say that the best women |
of Colorado have far more conscience
in filing their responsibilities as |
voters than the men of the same |
class. 1t is also true that women OF
standing in the community have
great. influence with men who are
not particularly interested in pub
lie affairs.
We are constantly asked by visi
tors to Colorado, sBut how do prom-
inent women, with their many dut-
les and Obligations, have time fol
politics?" To speak to ones grocer,
butcher, stationer, to conductor on
4. car or 10 a cabman, takes only one
Instant Then this timid visitor
asks, "How do you have time to
yote?" as if voting was like eating
or bathing. My Dear Madam Be
indebtedness, it takes just about
one hour in the year to cast al the
ballots necessary and allowable.
2. Does net the vote of the dis
reputable, low class of women count
erbalance the better. element? No,
lie women of the half-world gener /
lily do not vote. They are constant
y changing their residences ano
| .neir names. They do not wish tt
give any data concerning themselves
| .ueir age, names or number anGi
street; they prefer to remain uni
! deatified. Occasionally some disrep
uLable master compeIs these slave
| to vote for his oWn purposes, but
that is a rare occurance.
8. Is is not the case that womel
generally vote as the men of theil
Households dictator Such has mo
been my observation or. experience
mongl the laboring class, if the wife
| 4nnot vote as her husband desires@
nd he is not willing that she shoull
make her own choice, she refuses
20 vote at all. | have been surprised
| It the honest maintenance of Opin-
ION in this regard among the wives
Of laboring men. One of the most
cultivated, beloved and influential
women of the State was sitting as
.ldelegate in one party convention,
not long since, while her husband
was tat the same time addressing
f.lother assembly representing oppo-
site party views. But the situation
excited no comment. Suffrage makes
women individuals.
| A. Has the woman vote wholly
purified politics, and have we ban
ished saloons? No, to both questions.
1t would be beyond reason to expect
such a result Women have been in
churches and in society since the be-,
ginning of time, but there are still
| vicious minds and sinful deeds in
both religious and social circles. The
most we assert is that if we pour a
clear stream into. muddy one, we
shall have moving of the waters"
for betterment. The presence of wo-
men at the polls as officers and vot-
ters has brought quiet and order,
while party conventions are much
freer from personal wrangles, pro-
fame language and vulgar illusions,
gates.
l. All thinking women admit that we
have made some mistakes since we
i have had the right of suffrage. But
that has been the experience of all
ewly-enfranchised people Ia the
beginning of equal suffrage in Colo
RADIO, the women voters had no guide
except the traditions a.ad the advice
of the men of their families and ac-
Quaintances. That teaching was the
old one Of party politics. We fol-
II lowed a blind lead; and to me it was
a terrible awakening to discover that
my party was just as bad as the other
! and the other party fully as hign-
minded in it's purposes as mine. 1ut
in spite of any mistakes, disappoint-
ments or discourageme..its, there is
an Incredible uplift in the thought
that one is no longer classed with
criminals, paupers and idiots. !"
4 There is a splendid womanly indie
fpendence in being voting citizen
and an. absorbing interest in full
filling the duty Of citizenship, and
VotioR and respect on the part of
men. who look upon their sisters not
s p1aythings, nor as property, but as
ent of the Colorado State Fedora
equals and fellow citizens.
Mrs. Mary c. C. Bradford, presi-
ton Of Women's Clubs, said in an
address given at the National Suf-
frage Convention in Washington, D.
c., on February Is, 1904:
l am to tell you what a federation
of Women's Clubs has been able to
do in free State where back of in
fuence is the ballet. The ballot is
like the key. e The Colorado club
member is woman with keys at
her girdle, and with these keys she
gains entrance to prisons, and places
where detectives are kept and carries
1 a sweetness and light, and better
administration Of justice. Instead of
woman's influence being lessened, it
is greatly increased. =.
During the last Legislature, there
were so many men with bills, that
they wanted Endorsed by the club
women that the social science depart
ment of the State Federation had to