The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1920-05-09
THE UNANSWERED QUESTION

w sitter johnson asserts in his open letter
to the republican national committee, thai
the woman anti-suffragists outnumber the
woman suffragists, and that the politica
party making special effort to please the
latter may have a disappointing awakening
when it discovers that it has displeased the
former. For it by no means follows that the
woman anti-suffragists will not vote merely
because the suffrage comes to them against
their wishes. Mr.. Johnson complains that
IN order to please the woman suffragists
Chairman Hays "joined in the infamous busi-
ness of persuading state legislatures to over
ride and arbitrarily thwart the well known
and emphatically expressed wishes of their
constituents for the purpose of forcing woman
suffrage on states that do not want it,, and
that he is ''obsessed with an idea that ignores
the plainest teachings of recent history The
alarmed "life-long republican" just quoted
says of Chairman Hays and his policy in this
particular:
Evidently he thinks to secure victory
by giving the leaders of the woman suf-
frage movement everything they want.
Governor Whitman tried that and was
defeated. Justice Hughes tried that and
was defeated. The suffragists tried to
prevent Senator Borah's reelection and
failed. They tried to elect two western
women to congress and failed Does Mr..
Hays not know these facts? Has he
never taken the trouble to learn that the
anti-suffrage women far outnumber the
suffragists; and does he think because
they are not so noisy, not eager for
office, that they will, one and ALL re-
main away from the polls? Already
single act of his has reused their right
eous ire. He has given responsible
place, in the organization of our party
to one of the most active and unscrupu-
ous suffragists-has done this in the
face of the fact that she has publicly
proclaimed her determination to defeat
one of the most eminent, honest and cour-
ageous of our senator's, even if the repub-
lcan party nominates hm!--and this
not because of any inability or wrong
doing on his part, but solely to wreak
vengeance on him for not voting in the
senate as she wished him TOT"
To the independent on-looker all this is
chiefly interested in connection with the often
asked and still unanswered question as to
what PERCENTAGE of American women want
the ballot and what percentage do not. The
women suffragst leaders appear to assume
that the great majority of women want the
ballot, but it was shown that even they are
at least in doubt about the matter when
they opposed and turned down the PROPOSE
ton of a woman's referendum on the sub
ject Whether such referendum would
show majority for or against, politicians
make mistake in assuming that the "wom-
ans vote" will be solid or undivided polit-
ical force. The history of the suffrage
states shows that women voters divide on all
questions as freely as men do; and if the
women anti-suffragists resent the 'thrusting
of the ballot upon them by the efforts of
their suffragist sisters as keeny as they are
said to, it is only reasonable to expect that
in so far as possible they will take pains to
vote contrary to the wishes of the said sisters.