The weekly chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Craig County, Okla.) 1905-1913, 1912-03-15
ROCKS THE CRADLE
/. CASTS THE BALLOT
(By Winfield Jones9
4. III. nhinftnin

omen will have something 70 say in
& hoosing the next president In at
EAST six states the hand that rocks
4 ne cradle will also cast the ballot
s. In the six states where women will
ote next November they constitute
4 omewhat less than one-half of the
81 1tal voting population The census
j aport is authority for the statement
i nat men are increasing in this coun-
y more rapidly than women, due to
ne larger number of men immigrants.
he excess male population is fixed at
4 900, 600 In the western states men
re not so much in the majority, how
i yer as they were in earlier pioneer
4 avs. Moreover. il seems to be gen
rally conceded that women register
4 nd vote in larger proportion than
en-. To take the woman's vote. there
,re. at approximately half the entire
oting population Of the six states
E here the feminine influence is "di-
ct" would not be far wrong.
Estimating Washingtons total yot-
x population inclusive OF the new
oman vote at 100000. Idaho's at 1885,
70. Wyoming's at $4,000. Utah's at
e 10000, Colorado's at 100000. and Cali
,rnia's at 500 900. We would have an
ggregate of nearly two million voters
the six states. Possibly the fair
1t estimate would fix the quota of
omen voters at about 100000 a
i lmber large enough to be reckoned
4 ith in any campaign
This army of women, despite the
ct that the United States is some
& mes called slow of persuasion by
sffrage enthusiasts includes one-third
the women voters of the world, the
her two-thirds being in Australia,
4 inland, Norway and New Zealand. It
more than the usual presidential
urality. If million and half vot-
/ solidly they might decide the presi-
bncy.
The women will not vote solidly,
ly more than men will vote solidly.
oout the most that can be said as in
cative af women's solidarity in poll
IS Is that they have tendency to
eak away from party lines, to choose
Q man rather than the party, and
at in their politics. as in their in
Htrial economics, they follow the
illogical law under which the fe-
ale OF all species operates as the up
ilder and conserver of life. Their
litical activity has been almost uni
rmly constructive, and the results
that activity have been almost uni-
rmly reflected in legislation directly
lated to the welfare of the home and
e lamily-childlab laws, school
VS., and industrial laws that concern
4 lmen
The exercise of the voting priyil-
i e in 1912 will be no novelty to the
men of Wyoming. where they have
/ en- voting since 1869, the franchise
wing been bestowed upon them a
ar after the organization of the ter
ory. When the territory became
tie in 1890. women suffrage was
itten in the constitution. Wyoming
men have exactly the same political
nificanee that men have, and, ac-
ding to figures from the state, so
cent of them make the most of II,
;istering and voting regularly They
en- sit as jurors and serve as JUS
es of the peace.
rhe women of Colorado are not
vices at voting in presidential cleo
/ as. They were franchised in 1893
/ that they have been voting for pres
.nts for nineteen years.
Itah women voted when the state
stin territory The territory be
he state in 1866 and the right OF
men to vote was established in the
/ stitution. A woman has once been
cted to the senate in Utah, and sew
/ have served in the house Of rep
entatiyes
aaho women viii cast their fifth
sidential votes this year. having
franchise since 1896
/ Washington women also voted when
shington was a territory In 1887
nan suffrage was declared uneon-
utional. and was not put into the
/ stitution of the new state upon it's
mission to the Union In 1910, how
II. it carried the state by a vote OF
ZEE to one.
california women will be the first in
United States to have an oppor-
itv. to vote directly for president |
8 presidential primary law passed /
Ii houses of the California legisla-
( in extra session sometime ago
other states. where women do not
q have passed laws comforting the