The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1920-09-25
THE WOMAN VOTE.

1
state the need of the white woman
vote, if this state is to be saved to
| democracy. For many weeks The
| Journal has sounded a warning note
against the manner in which the state
| papers were treating the question of
the woman vote in this state.
| When the Anthony amendment was
| ratified, if the newspapers of the
state had Immediately started their
campaign to impress upon the women
of Florida the need of the white WON
! ans vote, much good would have been
| accomplished. Instead, with the time
of registration all too short, most of
the newspapers have INDUCED merely
in sarcasm or flippancy towards one of
the most serious duties which Florida
women have ever faced.
There are in the southern states
more white women than there ara ne
gro men and women combined. II the
white women vote there can be no pos
| sible chance of republican victory in
| the South. The Journal has not been
able to secure the estimates from the
1920 census, but estimates made ON the
census of 1910 give the preponderance
Georgia has 1890 more white women
than colored women, Alabama 66,440,
and in every southern state but two
| the white women out-number the COL
ored women. In these two states, as
the colored men also outnumber the
| white men, conditions are little
changed.
Yet over in Jacksonville, according
to the Times Union, we find 3,776
women registered, 2,049 of whom are
negroes and 1,727 of whom are white
women. The newspapers of Jackson
vile are making an urgent appeal to
| the white women to register and news
papers all over the state are warning
the white women who are failing to
register that such failure may sound
the knell of the democratic party in
Florida.
| 1t is declared that there is a sinis-
ter influence working throughout the
state, and that an effort is being made
to prevent registration of white wom-
en- and to induce negro women to the
| register. One newspaper states that
one negro woman, on applying for reg
istration declared that she would be
/ 5dAlSCu SLlS ICSiSLCAONB eAAAA
| that many lodges and other organiza-
! tons in the state have declared that
unless the negro women register they
will be suspended.
| While the republicans are working
so urgently for the negro woman's
vote, we hear men declaring that their
wives shall not vote, and women say
| ing at public meetings that they do
not believe in the ballot for women"
One of the most prominent men in
Pensacola. one who has always de-
| clared himself to be a Jeffersonian
| democrat, a man who is we'll acquaint-
| ed with the needs of this state politi
cally, and who has been a candidate
for office on a number of occasions,
recently stated to a group of women
that If his wife voted he would stay
drunk for a year His wife is one of
the most intelligent women in this
/ country, and has always been interest
ed in the ballot for women. OF course
this man spoke in ject but what a
sinister influence does he exert, where
he might be lending his influence to
bring about that very thing for which
jefferson Equality. 1t was JEFF
ferson himself who said that we
should never be a free country until we
| gave to the women the same rights
which were allowed to our most be-
nighted men"
At a public meeting the other day,
| two progressive women made earnest
pleas to the women present to register
| for the two coming elections, and sew
eral women present declared that they
| had not decided to register because
| they were mot in favor of suffrage"
| 1t is not question now as to wheth-
| err or not the women are in favor of
suffrage The responsibility of the
ballot is theirs. That the country
would have gone republican without
the acknowledgment of the southern
women is almost a foregone conclu-
sion. In many southern states the re-
publican influence is so strong that
it was believed that it would take the
woman vote of the South to assure
democracy for this section.
| No one can doubt but that the south
ern women will register and vote, if
they can only be convinced of the ne
| cessity of their vote Jacksonville is
giving to the white women of Florida
an object lesson which they cannot af-
ford to overlook.
Here is Pensacola, at the registra-
| ton office in the court house, the
white women are far outnumbering the
coiored women. But this should be
| true in every precinct in the county.
Is is true? That is an important
| question. a few days ago The Journal
underworld to find out on just what
days the women might register in the
! outlying precincts and was told that
the precinct officers were compelled by
| law to have their books open two days
In the week, but that they might
choose these days to suit themselves.
There was one precinct in the county.
precinct 25, at which at that time no
registration officer had been placed.