Newspaper Page Text
VOLUME XVII.
WOMEN TO
VOTE IN
1912
Equal Suffrage May Be
Factor in Presiden
tial Election
Matter Which Chairmen of Na
tional Committees Will Be
Called Upon to Consider—
Some of the Laws for Which
Women Are Responsible, At
tributed Directly to Their Vote
and Influence.
WASHINGTON.—AImost 1,000,-
000 women will be eligible
to vote for their choice for
president of the United
States in 1912. Those worn-
w
en are to be found in the six western
states which have already granted
equal suffrage, the number of women
in each state who are eligible to vote
being about as follows: California,
500,000; Colorado, 160,000; Idaho, 48,-
000; Utah, 65,000; Washington, 120,-
000, and Wyoming, 35,000, or a total
of 928,000.
Thu^e figures are not exact, but
constitute the best possible estimate
until such time as the census bureau
gets out its figures showing the analy
sis of the population by states. It is
possible that before the election in
1912 more states may give the women
a chance to vote for the presidential
candidates, as the equal suffrage cam
paigners have such states as Nevada,
Oregon, Kansas and Wisconsin marked
as trembling in the balance on the
suffrage question.
There are in the United States to
day just 19 states which have no form
of suffrage for women, although some
cities in them have. Those states are
Nevada, Texas, Missouri, Arkansas,
Mississippi, Indiana, Kentucky, Ten-
nessee, Alabama, Florida, Georgia,
South Carolina, North Carolina, Vir
ginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Penn
sylvania, Rhode Island and Maine.
On October 12 last California joined
the states granting equal suffrage to
women, the vote on that occasion be
ing 119,056 for and 117,408 against the
measure, or a majority of 1678 for
equal suffrage, with some minor towns
to hear from. California had rejected
the proposition in 1896, Oregon and
several of the other western states
have several times rejected the
amendment, and Massachusetts in
1895 voted on the question and refused
equal suffrage, the vote in this state at
that time being: Yes, 109,204; No,
187,840, or 78,636 majority against
equal suffrage. Since then the ques
tion has not been brought to the ref
erendum in this commonwealth.
In the western states the question
has come before the voters quite reg
ularly, for, according to some of the
opponents of the equal suffrage in that
section of the country, “a ‘yes’ vote
settles the matter and a ‘no’ vote sim
ply means tbe question comes up
again in a couple of years.”
Kentucky Pointed the Way.
Kentucky was the first state in this
country to give women the right to
vote. In 1838 that state gave the
school suffrage to widows with chil
dren of school age, and in 1861 Kansas
gave the school suffrage to all women.
Year by year from then on the move-
Jrwtntim Inlhtin.
NUMBER 7.
ment for woman's suffrage gained
strength throughout the country, but
it was always granted in modified
form as the right to vote on school
matters, local tax questions, municipal
suffrage, etc. In 1869 Wyoming gave
the full suffrage to women, being the
first state in the country to do so.
School suffrage was granted to the
women of New Hampshire in 1878, by
Massachusetts in 1879, by Connecticut
in 1893 and Vermont in 1880. In addi
tion to the six states in this country
which have given the full suffrage to
women, there are many countries
which have given a modified form of
suffrage to women and full suffrage
has been granted the women by the
Isle of Man, New Zealand, South Aus
tralia, West Australia, and in 1902 full
suffrage was granted the women of
Federated Australia and New South
Wales.
In Utah the reports show that 75
per cent of the women voted In Bear
River, 95 per cent voted in Garden
City, 95 per cent voted in Grouse
Creek, 90 per cent voted in Keysville,
90 per cent voted In Logan and 90 per
cent voted In Nephi.
In Kansas the reports from these
same sources show that 80 per cent
voted as Eskridge and 80 per cent
voted at Miltonvale.
Seem to Prize Vote.
In Wyoming the reports state that
the women voted as gtrongly in pro
portion to registration as did the
males, if not to a larger extent. In
Denver, Colo., in the election of 1909,
no less than 30,000 women voted and
only about 500 of that number were
classified as vicious women. In other
words, in that Denver election 43 per
cent of the vote was cast by women
and only 40 per cent of the vote was
cast by males.
Both houses of the National Parlia
ment of Federated Australia for the
session of 1909-10 passed a resolution
saying that after 66 years of woman’s
suffrage in varying parts of the coun
try and nine years as a common
wealth, the reform has justified the
hopes of Its supporters.
Relative to the percentage of wom
en voting in the states where they
have that right, the woman’s suf
frage organizations point out that
men do not exercise their right to vote
as they should, and that, therefore,
the question as to women doing so is
not very material.
They point out that in the presiden
tial election of 1904, the vote cast was
only 13,961,560, while 21,000,000 men
were eligible to vote. Then again, they
say that in the city election in Phila
delphia, in 1903, the Reform party re
ports that 49 per cent of the men fail-
ed to vote, and that in the same year
in the election in New York city 60,000
registered voters failed to cast their
ballots.
Their Choice of Political Offices.
In the states where full suffrage
has been granted to women for some
time experience has shown that wom
en do not to. any great extent run for
political office. Going through the
records of those states it will appear
that, for the most part, women have
been candidates for educational posi
tions and for the office of county or
state treasurer. Those are the two
classes of offices which they seem to
have singled put as being most desir
able from their standpoint, and to
which they have been most generally
elected.
In several of the states giving full
equal suffrage women have sat on ju
ries and have done acceptable service,
but there are no statistics available to
show the number who have done such
duty.
Laws Women Have Helped to Make.
The male mind naturally inquires as
to what laws the women in the equal
suffrage states have been responsible
for? For this■ question the women’s
suffrage organizations have evidently
primed themselves. Here are some of
the laws adopted in the equal suffrage
states since women had the right to
vote, which they maintain have been
championed by women, and that wom
en are practically responsible.
IR WINTON, WILKINSON COUNTY, GEORGIA, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 1911.
Colorado gave equal suffrage In
1893, and since that time the women
claim responsibility for securing the
passage of laws forbidding the insur
ance of children under ten years old;
establishing a state home for depen
dent children, with two of the five
members of its trustees to be women;
statute requiring three out of the six
county visitors to be women; estab
lishing a state Industrial home for
girls, three of the five trustees to be
women; statute making women equal
guardians of their children; statute
raising the age of protection for girls
to 18 years; requiring one woman on
the board of the State Insane asylum;
establishing parental or truant schools,
providing for the care of the feeble
minded; providing for tree preserva
tion; requiring public school teachers
to teac^ humanity to animals; making
the Humane society a state bureau of
child and animal protection; establish
ment of juvenile courts; compulsory
education; establishing state traveling
libraries, commission of five women;
against the employment of child labor
in mines; providing accident and for
eign life insurance companies that
have to be sued be made to pay the
costs; restricting hours of labor for
children, and for women; free em
ployment bureaus; making It a misde
meanor to neglect to support aged or
Infirm parents; abolishing system
binding out girls of the Industrial
school; and in Denver other beneficial
legislation has been secured by them.
Work of Women In Idaho.
Idaho gave equal suffrage in 1896.
Since then women claim to have been
instrumental in securing these laws.
Making gambling illegal; raisingc-the
age of protection for girls to 18
years; establishment of libraries and
reading rooms; requiring 3 per cent of
the school funds to be expended for
school libraries, the books to be chos
en by the State Board of Education;
establishing the State Library com
mission; providing for a department
of domestic science in the State uni
versity; providing for a course of do
mestic science in the Academy of
Idaho; establishment of the industrial
reform school; pure food act; statute
giving married women the same right
to dispose of her property as men.
Utah gave full suffrage to women in
1896. Since then the women claim
these laws as a result of their efforts:
Requiring that women teachers be
paid the same salaries as male teach
ers; raising the age of protection of
girls to 18 years; establishing free
public libraries in cities and towns;
requiring in all educational institu
tions supported by public funds in
struction in physiology and hygiene;
creating a state art institute; provid
ing free lecture courses each year at
the capital on sanitary sciefite. hy
giene and nursing; curfew bell; mak
ing it a misdemeanor to sell tobacco,
etc., to minors; providing for the pro
tection of dependent boys under 14
and girls under 16 years and the pun
ishment of persons responsible for
their care, neglect or ill-treatment; re
quiring the establishment of kinder
gartens in all school districts of a
population of 2,000 or more.
Record in Wyoming.
Wyoming gave equal suffrage In
1869. These laws made since that
time women ciaim chief responsibility
for: Equal pay for men and women
teachers; raising the age of protection
for girls to 18 years; making child
neglect, abuse, etc., punishable; for
bidding the employment of boys under
14 and girls of any age in the mines;
forbidding the employment of children
under 14 years in any public exhibi
tion.
In ten years of equal suffrage In
Colorado only one woman has been
convicted of illegal voting. Relative
to the intelligence of women as voters
the equal suffrage organizations point
out that the 1907 report of the Na
tional Educational commission says
54,183 girls were graduated from the
public high schools as compared to
33,202 boys from the same schools,
and there were 116.841 more girls
than boys in the public high schools.
THE BIG STORE TREATS
YOU RIGHT
Bill Siggins Says:
“The only thing 1 ever see any one get for nothin’ was a
zero with the rim knocked off.”
We want to commend Mr. Siggins’ saying as wise and
true. In these days you see so much of the something for
nothin’ that you don’t know where to land. Our idea has
been, is, and always will be===a good, square deal to
all. We only handle goods of known values; goods that
their trade mark is “HALLMARK” of quality. We believe
in the advertised lines===as we know a brand of merchant
dise that has stood the test of the ad man’s work for years
must be right. Each week we are going to tell you
of one line well known that we sell, and we want you to
watch for same.
We want you to come to Milledge*
/
ville; come to the big store
and let us show you.
W. S. MYRICK & CO.
Milledgeville’s Only Department Store
SI.OO A YEAR.
