The Washington herald., 1914-05-31

stronger civil administration, and higher
civic ideals than they have been able to
get by dropping a piece Of paper into
ballot box" in the States where they
vote.
Every one of the woman suffrage
! States has tried the experiment long
enough not only to give outside observ-
fulness, but to merit severe criticism
| from both men and women, suffragists
and anti-suffragists. who are living un-
der it.
Little of value can be indicated from
woman suffrage in such States as Wy
oming, Idaho. Utah. and Arizona as to
| to how II would work in New York,
Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts,. In
dustrial, social. and political problems
are altogether dissimilar. California,
however, a large State with several i'm
portant cities. has already shown that
| its enfranchisement of women has pro-
duced none Of the promised improve
ments in government; but on the con-
trary, as explained in Senate Document
No. 160, sd Congress, by the former sec
retary of the California Political Equal
ity League, the largest suffrage organiza-
ton in California, the only beneficiary
of the amendment is the Socialist party,
the prime mover in bringing about wom-
an suffrage in that State. Miss Annie
Book, one Of the women who worked
hardest for suffrage in California, point
ed out that political corruption and
trickery, unforeseen and unnecessary bur-
dens, and a marked change in their So
! cial status generally had convinced Cali
was dearly bought
Colorado as an Example.
Colorado. which has had suffrage twen-
ty-one years, is just now the focal point
of the country's interest 1t gives us
vivid demonstration of the truth Of Mr.
Mallin's observation that twenty years
of woman suffrage had so weakened the
government that it was incompetent to
deal with the recent disturbance"
Civil war, necessitating Federal inter
vention, has arisen twice in Colorado
during the last decade. The woman suf-
fragists say they are not to blame. that
they cannot help 1t. That is just the
point-if they had kept out OF politics
from the beginning. had not allied them
selves with warning factions and tied
themselves to contending interests. they
would row be able to help the situation
as disinterested women, and their mo-
tives could not be questioned. They
point out that finally 1t was the women
who asked for Federal aid. yet Mrs.
Whitehouse confesses that the situation
nad become SO unsafe DefOre the United
States government sent troops into Colo
RADIO that the requests were made 10 the
Secretary of War "at the instigation of
the Austrian government, on informa-
ton received through its agents in Colo
RADIO" Furthermore, Mrs. Whiteside ad-
mits that 'the italian Ambassador who
represents a number Of his countrymen
in Colorado, is to make a similar appeal"
State Failed Completely.
Here. then, we have the dlsgraceful
spectacle of State with a whole gener- |
alton of woman suffrage failing SO COM |
pletely In self-government and efficient |
administration that two foreign countries
have demanded Federal action to restore |
law and order. Thus we see Colorado, |
the pride and boast of the suffrage ora
tor for twenty years. becoming a black |
spot on our national map; giving such Q
graphic example of the effeminacy and |
helplessness Of an administration not |
only placed intpower." but almost born |
and raised under the "beneficent influ- |
ence" Of woman suffrage, that foreign |
nations are making 1t the subject Of In
ternational complaint
One of the main contentious of the
anti -sunragists il that the women Of
America are stronger factors in remedial !
and protective legislation without thet