Arizona republican., 1918-01-27
W()MEN'S USE
 1T TIE VOTE DEMONSTRATED
By FREDERICK I. HAsKIN

RS h J. HAShlN
 WASHINGTON, D. C., Jan. 22.- How have the women used the vote?
 Inasmuch as the woman vote may be within a few years as great factor in national affairs as that of men, this question is exceedingly inn portant. Nor is it any longer a mat ter of theories as some legislators seem to think. The twelve states where women have been given the vote furnish abundant evidence as to how they use it.
 The election returns in those states, for example, furnish evidence enough to settle the question whether women exercise the right to vote. With the exception of the state of Illinois, the woman's vote is not counted separate ly, but it is possible to get an ap- proXimate estimate through other statistics. Consider the state of Ari- zona: In 1912, with a total popula- tion of 222 1863, the male vote in this state was 23,9S7. Women did not vote in Arizona then. In 1916 they did Then, with q total population of 255,544 the total vote, including both men and women, was 5S,021. | Allowing for the If per cent increase in the population, the male vote l d female vote of 30,O0O. Yet there are 169 men to every 100 women in Ari- zona.
 Again, take Idaho. In 1892, 16,409 men voted in this state At the next presidential election in 1896, when the population had increased 72 per cent, 29,000 men might have been | expected to vote. As a matter of fact, the total number Of votes, in- cluding both men and women, was 57,0O0, so nearly 50 per cent of the vote in this year may be attributed to women, in a state which, accord | ing to the 1910 census has 25 per cent more men than women.
 In Illinois it is not necessary to compare the figures of successive presidential elections. The exact fig ures for 1916 are known, because the women voted on different ballots, | S76,700 female votes being cast to 1,316,007 male votes. In other words, | the women cast 40 per cent of the votes in a state where they form about 4S per cent of the population.
 From this may sbe seen that this particular question no longer re- mains unanswered. These are the figures for only three states, but the
 
 namely, that women exercise their right to vote when they have it.
 The next question is; What effect
 does the women vote have upon
 society, politics and the women them
 selves?
 When the amendment was before the house committee on woman suf- frage recently, enthusiastic telegrams were received from the governors and state officials of all equal suffrage states, urging the passage of the measure. Governor Capper of Kansas wired: Woman suffrage has beer an unqualified success in Kansas. hope congress will pass the federa amendment and give the women o1 the nation the right to vote, a right which should never have been denied them." And the governor of Wyom- ing sent this message: After forty l years experience with woman suf- frage Wyoming enthusiastically ant unqualifiedly recommends the adop, ton by the nation of the fedora amendment"
 In every equal suffrage state the women are organized under a stat' federation of women's clubs. Thi! federation convenes once a year fol the purpose of discussing all Dill: then pending before the legislature deciding which measures it wishe! to be put through and those which i wishes to defeat. New bills are alsc drawn up. Then everything is turned over to legislative committee tha is practically an unpaid lobby. Thi! committee, composed of from ten tt seventy members, remains at tn, state capitol throughout the session: of the legislature and careful! watches the progress of all bills in troduced into that body. No bil