The Washington herald., 1917-01-28
ANSWERS LETTER ON SUFFRAGE
Quotes Figures on Women's Vote at
Laat Election

Editor The Washington Herald: In
the Congressional Record of Tuesday,
January %, Mr.. Emerson is reported
to have said: But the male voters of
the country would have defeated the
President and his party because of
their failure to keep that promise had
it not been for the female voters In
these suffrage States Last fall
thousands OF husbands, fathers, and
sons voted for the President and his
party because they were asked to by
wives, mothers, sisters, and sweet
hearts, for the reason that the Presi-
dent had kept the country out of war"
How does Mr.. Emerson arrive at the
conclusion that the women in the suf-
frage States elected Mr.. Wilson? Had
Ohio given Mr.. Hughes its twenty-four
electoral votes, he, Mr.. Hughes, would
have been the next President even
without the votes of North Dakota C3),
New Mexico 90, and New Hampshire
%, all of which States are normally
Republican. This shows that the men,
not the women. elected Wilson. II the
women used their influence with the
men of their families and induced
them to elect Mr.. Wilson, that then
was the indirect influence that suffra-
gists so deprecste And why waste
time, strength. and money in order
lnal women should vote
Have the women of Oregon less in
huence with the men of their families
than the women of the other Western
States, or do they wish their husbands
and sons to go to war? And what is
the matter with the Illinois women,
as that State gave Mr. Hughes 2o2,32o
majority, If the slogan. He kept us
out of war" which Mr.. Emerson
claims, elected Mr.. Wilson?
An analysis of the Illinois vote
Chat being the only State in which
the votes of the men and women are
kept separately shows that practically
the same proportion of men and
women voted for Mr.. Wilson. There
are about the same number Of men
and women eligible as voters in the
State, as there are more aliens among
the men of voting age than there are
among the women. So the result of
the election would have been the same
in that State without the women's vote
as with it. as the number of electors
is based upon the population in the
state and not upon the number of
voters. So we may presume the same
result would follow in all suffrage States
Again in the far Western States the
men greatly outnumber the women. In
Nevada there are 22O.7 men to 100
women, and in Wyoming. 2l91, etc, so
ii would be very hard for the women's
vote to turn the State from Republican
to Democratic as all OF the above
named States are normally Republican.
it would seem that Democracy is taking
root in the West through educational
propaganda or for some other reason.
Mr.. Emerson also says: But they
say (the suffrsgists) the President and
his party promised to assist them to
get Federal amendment which would
provide for woman's suffrage"
How could they substantiate such a
statment, when Mr.. Wilson has many
times over stated his theory that suf-
frage was a question for each State
to decide for itself. which is the
basic principle of Democracy. Both
the Republican and Democratic plat
forms declared the same principle. 1t
was Mr.. Hughes and not his party
who advocated a Federal amendment.
Why did the Congressional Union
start out to defeat the Democratic party
and say that they had S50o.oO0 to
spend for that purpose, and why did
they campaign in the suffrage States,
against all Democratic, friends as
well as foes? The Democratic Presi-
dent won in all but one of the eleven
suffrage States. showing that the
women's vote cannot be delivered any
more than that of the farmers or any
other vote. ANTI-SUFFRAGIST