The Washington herald., 1914-11-01

and warned that there were 1900 armed
and drilled men ready to night the Col
orado militia. No other State in our
Union has ever had so shameful a situa-
ton on its hands. and yet Colorado is the
one State where the votes Of women
have had the best test. Better labor
conditions and no political corruption are
two Of the most prominent pleas on
which woman suffrage is advocated. II
We find worse labor conditions and more
political corruption in State where
women have voted twenty-one years than
anywhere else in the United States. We
are forced TO believe that the suffrage
orators are wrong. Also. Colorado has
the highest per capita tax in the Union.
though sufIragists claim that votes for
women do not cost much. Besides, Col
orado defeated prohibition on November
5. 1912, when only 5s per cent Of its women
could have won the measure without
single male vote to help them. And OILY
several days ago a dispatch from Denver
stated that the bets against prohibition
succeeding this year are three to one. and
that most Of the paid workers Of one of
the political parties have been withdrawn
there because the liquor interests re-
fuse to contribute support TO the candi-
date because he believes in prohibition.
And just think OF what power that
''whiskey ring in Colorado must exert
when its withdrawal OF support leaves
one Of the great political parties without
paid workers! VIII the women OF Colo
RADIO come to the rescue and work for
the prohibition amendment sufficiently to
get 1t passed? The gamblers in Denver
are betting three to one that they won't:
and vet womaE's moral influence on th-
ballots of men alone has gotten prohibit
ton in eleven States. and no State has
ever gone dry with votes for women
How IL Happens.
Women as a sex are so highly regarded
by men that It seems impossible that
their entry into politics could cause much
harm, even If il does little good. But we
must remember that the typical woman
that represents mans ideal is Indifferent
to politics. She is a 'stay-at-home" Citi-
zen, whether ballot is given her or not
The woman is usually confident that her
male relatives will faithfully represent
her interests at the polls. as she reCOg-
nizss that her interests are exactly the
same as theirs. Neither men nor women
have a monopoly on goodness or wicked
ness. which is not divided between the
sexes, but between different groups in So
Ciety.
The selfish and corrupt men are in the
below the standard for their sex. But
these men and women are united. More
OveC they are active, and. besides, polit-
ical action appeals to them strongly. On
the other hand, the highest type Of citi-
zen is often negligent of voting. para
dOxical as that may seem, and this ap-
piles with all the gre ater force to his
feminine relatives. In no suffrage State
have a majority of the women ever voted,
in, AT he
primaries in Chicago, less than One-tenth
of the women went to the polls That
the submerged tenth" is the fraction
of women who have most pressure
brought to bear on their voting Is evident.
And this element is q great aid to tho
men who want wide open towns" and
all the rest of it Last spring morr
women voted for "Bathhouse John" in
Chicago than for the woman candidate
on a reform ticket who ran against him;
and a typical woman boss" who has
since been the comment OF the country ,
Is said to have been instrumental I'm Sc |
curing 800 TO 500 votes for the gentleman |
who has represented ChicagO's worst /
ward for nearly twenty-five years!
What the Women Want.
These are all reasons from the record |
Of suffrage why. no further extension OF
votes for women" should be made. Suf- !
frage orators, IL you will notice, avoid |
the record. and refer only to |
the hopes they have. But government is |
not founded on theory, but experience, |
and experience condemns woman suffrage !
with greater force than il demonstrates |
the unfitness of any political theory that |
has yet been tested. Freak legislation, |
weak officials, labor conditions that lead |
10 riot, have not been confined to Colo
RADIO. California, too. though 1t got suf- !
frage but three years ago, has begun to
of increased taxation, boss con-
troll. too much legislation. emotional en-
that scare capital away from /
the State. and social troubles caused by /
The displacement Of men by women in in /
iustry. Is II not fair to hold woman suf
rage accountable for these evils when
Lhey increase where women vote and I
when the suffragists themselves indorse
most OF the radical legislation from
which such situations develop?
But beyond all argument Of the rights
Dr. wrongs of woman suffrage, the i'm
Dortant question that looms up bigger
han all others is that women themselves
10 not wish to vote, and their wishes I
deserve the consideration OF men. Is IL
not remarkable, to say the least, that
woman suffrage Is the only movement
among women that other women have