The Washington herald., 1911-03-19
NEW IDEAS IN POLITICS.
WT.-WOMAN'S SUFFRAGE.

seeking is the right to vote for members
OF Parliament, the CEly electoral right
which they do not now possess, and one
that is of much more Importance than
the right TO vote for members of Congress
is in America. since Parliament cXer-
Cises all the powers tLat are exercised in
America by the President Congress. and
the State governments. On" of the
smaller cities in England recently elected
a woman mayor. In Denmark seven wo-
men have recently been installed as men,
hCrs of the Copenhagen city council. and
in Finland there arc women members of
the National Parliament.
The complete emancipation of women, %
as the sufragists term it. that occurred
first in Wyoming in 1863. came without
any battle or disturbance. In fact. such
disturbances as characterize the suffragist
movement in England hate never had a
part in the campaigns nf their American
sisters. Mrs. Esther Morris, known as
The Mother Of the Suffrage" was main
Iy responsible for WyominE's stand. Will
lam Bright one Of the most influential
men in the Territorial Legislature. asked
Mrs, Morris what he could do to repay
her for a great service she had rendered
to Mrs. Bright. "Fut through a woman
suffrage bill replied Mrs. Morris. Bright
did so. his colleagues regarding ii as a
huge joke. I'nder the first operation OF
the law Mrs Morris was elected justice
or the peace and tried number OF cases.
The women Of Wyoming have become ;"
used t. voting and being candidates for
office that there seems nothing odd to
them about il. They have had the fran
chisc and exercised il at every Pr"siden-
tal election sine" WyominEs admission
as a State in 1880 and no protest against
the representation OF the State in the
electoral college has beer made on that
account. and no question Of its COnSttu-
tiOnalty has been raised. In the opinion
uG many legal authorities, there is no
possible wa 10y which the Federal gov
crnment can interfere with the right OF
d Stat" TO decide who may and VINO may
not vote at any election except whore
the question Of the rights OF negro voters
at Federal elections Is involved.
In Idaho equal suffrage was granted by
the constitution OF 1896. and the women
first voted in 1895. There is no rcStrictiun
on their holding any Office. including that
of governor. and many women have been
elected, principally as State and county
school supcrintcudents and as county
treasUrers
In Colorado there is more division Of
opinion as to the deslrabiity of woman
sunr1Ec. after trial Of it for several
years. than in the other States where it
prevails. The ofHceholdinG class, as a
rule, woU!d like 10 Sc II done away with.
The basis Of their complaint is that wO-
men voters lay more stress on the moral
chaTarI"r uf n candIdate than upon his
fitness for "ftY,C. In the city Of Denver.
whenever the women have mad" a united
cfrort for any candidate or cause they
have d. waNs won. Another allegation
mad" 10y the opponents Of woman suftra=
is that it gives a married man two votes
and halves the vote Of the single man.
II is, claimed that experience shows that
husband and wife usually vote as a unit.
Equal suffrage Was given the women OF
Utah by tho constitution OF 1886 and pub
lie opinion among the men Of the State
is stil divided a. to whether It is an
unmixed blessing. II is charged that
hero. as in Idaho. il gives the Mormon
Church undue influence. and It is stated
as a prOvabIc fact that larger proper
tion OF Mormon than OF Gentle women
vote. The Mormon women, it is said.
walk to the polls. while the Gentle wo-
men stay away unless carriages are sent
for them. II is admitted. however. that
hero. 4s elsewhere, the influence of wU-
mon no do take part in politics is cast
on the sd" OF morality.
In the StateS where women have only
partial suffrage. Kansas and Louisiana
offer striking illustrations of what may
b" done 10y women when they get to-
Cether. In Kansas wumcn vote on school,
B mi
five out OF lUj county supeTintendents OF
schools in tn" stat" arc women and there
are more than a dozen women holding
the Offices Of county and district clerk.
In Louisiana the right Of woman tax
payers to vote on taxation questions had
! hardly been granted when the proposal
to install a sewer system to rid New Or
leans of the sCoUrSc Of yellow fever came
up. and il is admitted on all sides that
ii could never have been carried. and New
Orleans would not b, the healthful city it
is to-day. had not the woman voters done
yeoman work for The cause.
That the future progress of woman suf-
frase will be much more rapid than in
the past is the prediction made recently
to the writer by Or. Anna II. Shaw, Miss
Anthony's successor as the head of the
national movement in the United States.
We have spent half a century in agita-
ton and education" said DIR. Shaw.
Now We have reached the stage of or
ganizatiOn and practical political work.
In the last election We carried one State,
Washington: we made headway toward
universal suffrage in several others. and
in New York. Buffalo. Chicago, and other
cities We contributed mere than a little
to the defeat Of lecisI9 tive candidates
who had blocked our efforts in their
States. We now have money with which
to work. and a great body of adhcrents
throughout the United States. Woman
suffrage will become more and more the
Overshadowing issue from the Atlantic
to the Pacific within a few years. and
wherever we can put the question square
ly to the men of an entire State, we will
win. sooner or later II men were not
convinced of the justice of our cause We
could never have carried the referendum
in Washington, where only men could
vote, by majority of three to one
That woman suffrage has not yet, how
ever, become dominant issue in many
States is indicated by a search through
party platforms of 1910 In only one
State, California, did either of the leading
DartiPS even mention the SubieCt There