The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1913-04-17
rHE VOTE.

lEyEL W ~
The Times believes that "nea 'ne
women of the country. that is. a rea-
konably large percentage of h wono-
en- wish TO vote, they will vote. and
that tha change will come about With
out much fuss. Ie believes that in a
good many cases the agitation for
voman suffrage has not represented
the real sentiment of the great hooS
of women Of the state affected, and
that the right to vote has seen con
ferred. not because of the desire OF
rho masses Of the m but because
of the activity of a few Of them. we
believe, further. that when women DO
vote generally. the result will be very
much as i, is now. that some of them
will vote one way and some another.
and tina. their vote will be divided
along the same general lines, and tor
,hort the Same reasons that the mems
vote is divided.
There was a school election in Far
20 the other day in which a great
deal or interest," MSS nv
certain acute differences which have
arisen in tina, city in matters pertain
ing to ,hc management OF the schools
and the composition Of the school
hoard. Because of the interest a much
larger vote was cast than is usual at
school elections. In school elections
women vote as we'll as men. In the
Fargo election there was a good repre-
sentatior of women at the polls. About
three-fourthS as many women as men
voted. Three persons were to be cleo
ted, and there were six candidates,
three being considered representative
Of each faction. From the record
published the voting appears TO have
been very consistent, it being evident
that most of the voters voted for the
three candidates representing the fac
ton which they favored. There could
have been little "scratching'' of tick
e,s. The interesting thing tn note is
that the men and women voted almost
exactly alike. There was. of course,
4 little variation in the vote by wards.
10th in the mems vote and in that Of
the women. But there, is nothing in
the published figures to indicate that
the sex Of the voter affected the vote.
When the candidates are grouped
according to their supposed utilization
it is found that the three successful
candidates received a little nor than
"a per emf of the total vote. 4 little
more than "a per cent of the mems
vote. and 3 little more than 81 per
cent of the women's vote. The defeat.
cd candidates.. of course. received a
little less than sc per Ter Of the vote
in each case. II is Interesting to note,
also. that the only candidate
was Of the defeated three. and
that of the women's votes cast for the
candidates of her group she received
4l3 to 40s cast for one of her asso-
ciates and 4o5 for the other, that is,
she received II more women's votes
than n Of her companions and 6 less
than the other.
a great many persons who have tax.
en- al active part on the woman's suf-
frage movement insist that the en-
reimbursement of ON will be a
great reforming agency; that women
will be held together at the polls by
what we may call a class conscious.
nees. and will vote largely, il not SOL
idly, for things which men are less
likely to trouble themselves about:
and that especially in the things which
pertain to the welfare Of the family
and the home will they be found work.
ing and voting together on the right
side. Yet We find that in our neigh
boring city, in a school election, which
probably affects the family and the
homo about as much as anything,
where the contest was keen enough
to bring on a relatively large vote,
the women voted almost exactly as
the men did. II all the women had
remained at home. and the voting had
been done by the men alone. the same
candidates would have been elected.
and by the same proportionate majori-
ties.
The Times does not believe that IL
or when women are given the vote
they will use 1t any less intelligently
or less conscientiously than the men
use their franchise. Nor does It be.
iieve. that they will use it any differ
emily. They will not vote together.
any more than the men do. Their
votes will be split and scattered lust
about a. the mems are. Just about
the same. kind of candidates. will be
elected az are elected now, and issues
OF the same kind will be settled in
about the same way. But there will
be more votes cast. whatever advau-
tage there may be in that.