The History of Woman Suffrage Volume IV Part 155

Lyne, Sir William, Premier N. S. W.

Onslow, Lady.

Parkes, Sir Henry, Premier N. S. W.

Reid, Sir G. H., Premier N. S. W.

Turner, Sir George, Premier Victoria.

Windeyer, Lady.

NEW ZEALAND.

Hall, Sir John.

Seddon, H. J., Premier.

Stout, Sir Robert, Premier.

Vogel, Sir Julius, Colonial Treas.

CANADA.

Hall, Sir John, M. P.

MacDonald, Sir John, Premier.

SOUTH AFRICA.

Schreiner, Olive.

TESTIMONY FROM WOMAN SUFFRAGE STATES.[501]

No attempt is made to give here the ma.s.s of testimony which is easily available from the States where women vote, but only enough is presented to show its nature and the character of those who offer it.

In the four States where women have exercised the full franchise for from six to thirty-three years, not half a dozen reputable persons have said over their own names that any of the evils which were so freely predicted have come to pa.s.s or that its effect upon men, women or the community has been other than good. The small amount of criticism which has been openly made has been anonymous or from those whose word was ent.i.tled to no weight. There is not another public question on which the testimony is so uniformly one-sided, and similar evidence on any other would be accepted as sufficiently conclusive to demand a unanimous verdict in its favor.

In 1901 Amos R. Wells, editor of the _Christian Endeavor World_, wrote to twenty-five ministers of several different denominations, choosing their names at random among his subscribers in the equal suffrage States, and asking them whether equal suffrage was working well, fairly well or badly. One answered that it worked badly, three that it worked fairly well, and the twenty-one others were all positive and explicit in saying that it worked well. One point upon which they laid stress was the increased intelligence and breadth of mind of the women, and the good influence of this upon their children. Mr. Wells said in summing up: "Woman suffrage makes elections more expensive, but it is a grand school for the mothers of the republic."

COLORADO.

In 1898, in answer to the continued misrepresentations of the Eastern press, the friends of woman suffrage issued the following:

We, citizens of the State of Colorado, desire, as lovers of truth and justice, to give our testimony to the value of equal suffrage. We believe that the greatest good of the home, the State and the nation is advanced through the operation of equal suffrage. The evils predicted have not come to pa.s.s. The benefits claimed for it have been secured, or are in progress of development. A very large proportion of Colorado women have conscientiously accepted their responsibility as citizens. In 1894 more than half the total vote for Governor was cast by women. Between 85 and 90 per cent. of the women of the State voted at that time. The exact vote of the last election has not yet been estimated, but there is reason to believe that the proportional vote of women was as large as in previous years. The vote of good women, like that of good men, is involved in the evils resulting from the abuse of our present political system; but the vote of women is noticeably more conscientious than that of men, and will be an important factor in bringing about a better order.

This was signed by the governor, three ex-governors, both senators, both members of Congress and ex-senators, the chief justice and two a.s.sociate justices of the supreme court, three judges of the court of appeals, four judges of the district court, the secretary of State, the State treasurer, State auditor, attorney-general, the mayor of Denver, the president of the State University, the president of Colorado College, the representative of the General Federation of Women's Clubs, the vice-regent of the Mount Vernon a.s.sociation, and the presidents of thirteen women's clubs.

I am confident that recognition of woman suffrage in the const.i.tution of proposed States will not in any way hinder, delay or endanger their admission. That question is one belonging to the State and not to the general government, and the opponents of woman suffrage will not, I am sure, deny to the new States the right to settle that question for themselves.

HENRY M. TELLER (Rep.), _U. S. Senator_. (1889.)

Instead of rough or vicious men, or even drunken men, treating women with disrespect, the presence of a single good woman at the polls seems to make the whole crowd of men as respectful and quiet as at the theater or church. For the credit of American men be it said that the presence of one woman or girl at the polls, the wife or daughter of the humblest mechanic, has as good an effect on the crowd as the presence of the grandest dame or the most fashionable belle. The American woman is clearly as much of a queen at the polls, in her own bearing and the deference paid her, as in the drawing-room or at the opera. I feel more pride than ever in American manhood and American womanhood since seeing these gatherings on Tuesday, where men and women of all cla.s.ses and conditions met in their own neighborhood to perform with duty and dignity the selection of their own rulers, and to give their approval to the principles to guide such officials when chosen. No woman was less in dignity and sweetness of womanhood after such partic.i.p.ation in public duties, and I do not believe there is a man of sensibility in Colorado to-day who does not love his wife, daughter, sister or mother the more for the womanly and gracious manner in which she helped so loyally and intelligently in this election.

Indeed, Colorado in this election has left very little of good argument for its sincere opponents to urge against suffrage. So nearly all of everything having any good sense in it has been disproved here, that the opposition is left with very few weapons in its armory, and all of them weak.

JAMES S. CLARKSON (Rep.), _U. S. a.s.s't P. M. General_. (1894.)

When the question was submitted in Colorado, I supported and voted for the proposition as a matter of abstract right; as every fair man must admit, when the question comes to him, that a woman has the same right of suffrage as a man. In advocating suffrage you need no platform but right and justice; those who will not accept it upon that ground would not be persuaded though one rose from the dead. I will add, however, that even the most virulent enemy of woman suffrage can not prove that any harm has come from the experiment. The test in Colorado is still too new to expect a unanimous verdict, yet all fair-minded observers are justified in predicting a higher standard of morals and of political life as a result of woman suffrage.

ALVA ADAMS (Dem.), _Governor_. (1898.)

I supported the cause of woman suffrage, not because I thought it would work the political regeneration of the country, but because I believed it was a woman's due to vote, if she desired to do so. I have also said, and I reiterate, that the enfranchis.e.m.e.nt of Colorado women has in many ways benefited the State, that it was a decided advance, and that I trusted that other States, in emulation of our example, would soon give the right to women throughout the land.

CHARLES S. THOMAS (Dem.), _Governor_. (1899.)

There is not a political party in the State that will ever dare to insert in its platform an anti-suffrage plank; for it must not be forgotten that upon this question the voting power of the women would equal that of the men. It is no more likely that the women of Colorado will ever be disfranchised than that the men will be.

HORACE M. HALE, _former President State University_. (1901.)

Few are so unjust or bold as to argue seriously against the abstract right of women to vote; and experience in Colorado and other Western States has done much to dispel the various theoretical and sentimental objections that have been raised against the extension of this manifest right.

The largest majorities for woman suffrage were given in the most intelligent cities, and in the best precincts of each city, while the heavy majorities against it were in the precincts controlled by the debased and lawless cla.s.ses, and the lowest grade of machine politicians, who rely on herding the depraved vote--showing that these elements dreaded the effect of woman suffrage, and realized the falsity of the argument that it would increase the immoral and controllable vote.

So far as I have been able to judge by observation of elections and a.n.a.lysis of returns, more women vote in the better districts than in the slums, and the proportion of intelligent and refined voters to the ignorant and depraved is larger among women than among men. The average result, therefore, has been beneficial.

No true, refined woman is any less womanly for studying questions of public interest and expressing her opinions thereon by means of the ballot.... The general effect has been decidedly beneficial.

Especially does it act as a governor on the political machines of all parties to regulate the character of nominees and platforms.

Woman suffrage is accepted as an established fact, and is very little discussed. I certainly have no reason to think that the general sentiment in its favor has decreased, or that the measure would fail to pa.s.s with as large or a larger majority than before, if again submitted to the vote of either the men or women of the State. I have no hesitation whatever in stating as my own positive conviction that woman suffrage is both right and beneficial, and that it should not and never will be repealed in Colorado.

IRVING HALE (of Col.), _General in the Army of the Philippines_.

(1902.)

It is said that equal suffrage would make family discord. In Colorado our divorce laws are rather easy, though stricter than in the neighboring States, but since 1893, when suffrage was granted, I have never heard of a case where political differences were alleged as a cause for divorce or as the provoking cause of family discord. Equal suffrage, in my judgment, broadens the minds of both men and women. It has certainly given us in Colorado candidates of better character and a higher cla.s.s of officials. It is very true that husband and wife frequently vote alike--as the magnet draws the needle they go to the polls together. But women are not coerced. If a man were known to coerce his wife's vote I believe he would be ridden out of town on a rail with a coat of tar and feathers. Women's legal rights have been improved in Colorado since they obtained the ballot, and there are now no civil distinctions. Equal suffrage tends to make political affairs better, purer and more desirable for all who take part in them.

THOMAS M. PATTERSON (Dem.), _U. S. Senator_. (1902.)

IDAHO.