The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1914-04-21

er-1S61-Kansas gave the
school franchise to all its women.
About this time the civil war was
raging and women forgot their inter
ests in the interests of others.
Before the war We had looked
to the state government only for rec
ognition of our rights, but now, by
the results of the war, the whole.
question reverted to congress and the
United States constitution. In May,
1866, the WOman's National Rights
League was organized and met in
New York. Here they appointed
Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth
Candy Stanton to present their cause
to congress, and much to the surprise
of these women the fourteenth and
fifteenth amendments were both add
ed, thus securing the negro in his
rights, and leaving women more
strongly disfranchiesd than ever.
Suffrage is said to be an out
growth of the civil war, though we
see the seeds were sown years be-
fore. This is because the first genu-
inc democracy in all the world was
Wyoming. 1t became so December
10, 1869, when it gave its women
the ballot. 1t owes its existence to
William H. Bright and Mrs. Esther
Morris, who thus became the father
and the mother of equal suffrage.
Colonel Bright was a SOutherneT,
who, in company with several other
Southerners, soon after the civil war,
migrated to Wyoming. The political
enfranchisement of the negro filled
these men with disgust, for they
knew how little qualified these for
mer slaves were to vote intelligently.
The kinsWOmen of these men were
working beside them patiently and
intelligently, yet they had not the
vote. This ranked in the hearts of
these men from Dixie. Wyoming
was made a territory in May, 1869,
with Colonel Bright as president OF
the senate. On November 9th he
introduced his suffrage bill and on
December 10, 1869, it was written
upon the statute books of the terri
tory. 1t was Mrs. Esther Morris who
first interested Colonel Bright in suf-
frage. 1t might interest us to know
that the first woman in the world to
vote equal to the men was Mrs. Eliza
A. Swain, a little gray-haired woman
of Wyoming. When Wyoming ap-
piled for statehood one man spoke
against suffrage. Numbers of the
leading men of the territory replied
to his speech to this effect: Rather
than surrender the right which the
women of this territory have so long
enjoyed as a privilege; which they
have not only used with credit to
themselves, but with prot to the
country in which they live, we say,
rather than surrender that right we
would remain in a territoial condi-
ton Throughout the endless cycles of
time The defense those worthy men
made of it goes to prove that suf-
frage is an requirement that a state
is proud of after seeing it work. The
other nine states did not get woma
suffrage as easily as WyOminS T.
they got it, and every one l.
to boast OF its equal rights
1T is strange but it &c e that
Southern men, who al. W.uel| noted
for chivalry are most violently OPP
posed to suffrage. i am inclined to
think they have lost their place, for
they have let the men of the North |
and West pass them when it came to
a race of chivalry based on justice. |
me OOuIutIu HAL dIIlluOC
stranger still when we think of the |
fact that Wyoming got suffrage
through the influence of true-heart- |
ed Southern man.
II have been amused and surprised !
at the Southern men for saying that |
woman suffrage would endanger |
white supremacy Even if the ne
gro were allowed to vote there are |
Gil, 900 more white women i'll the |
South than there are colored of Goth |
sexes. The Southern woman also !
knows about the grandfather clause |
and they know this clause is as much |
a violation of the 18th amendment |
when used to disfranchise negro men |
as it would be if used to disfranchise
negro women. If / were the men OF |
the South I'd look into the law books |
and statistics before advancing any |
other objection, for they may be sure |
their sisters are not ignorant of ex-
listing laws and conditions when they |
take their stand in any matter that |
will affect the home.
IF the men of the South wish to |
avoid a federal amendment on this |
subject it would be well to give the |
matter their serious attention before |
the progressive forces OF tne NoFCu
and West push the amendment |
through We already have few
Southern senators who endorse suf-
frage now.
I'VE hear some of our intelligent
men and women say that the home |
is woman's sphere. OF course it is,
but how can she control her home
when she can't control the conditions
that surround the home? 1t is the
mother heart and the mother voice
of the world demanding that the
child's interest, the woman's interest |
and the homes interest shall be |
heard in the government that con-
trolls them. Well, you say, if women
get into politics it will destroy home |
life. Why should it? Men attend to |
their business and vote, and any man |
will admit that his wife has more idle |
time than he Then if she has more |
idle time than he and he does not |
neglect his duty it stands to reason
that she could look after political
duties and the home.
"Chief Justice Chas. n. Porter OF
Wyoming says: I speak with alb
solute authority in regard to my
state and say that the statement that
woman suffrage destroys home life is