|
Main
- books.jibble.org
My Books
- IRC Hacks
Misc. Articles
- Meaning of Jibble
- M4 Su Doku
- Computer Scrapbooking
- Setting up Java
- Bootable Java
- Cookies in Java
- Dynamic Graphs
- Social Shakespeare
External Links
- Paul Mutton
- Jibble Photo Gallery
- Jibble Forums
- Google Landmarks
- Jibble Shop
- Free Books
- Intershot Ltd
|
books.jibble.org
Previous Page
| Next Page
Page 40
So far we have taken the popular position, and have discussed this
matter as though it were still in the period of debate. The fact is, it
long ago passed from the field of theory; it is now a condition. In six
of our States, women have now full participation in managing public
affairs. In Wyoming, since 1869; in Colorado, since 1893; in Idaho,
since 1896; in Washington, beginning in 1910; and in California, since
1911, women have been sharing the vote with men. In twenty-nine States
they have school suffrage, and in many places municipal suffrage.[47] In
newer parts of the world, like New Zealand and Australia, women have
complete suffrage, while in old countries, like Norway, Sweden and
Finland, they have essentially all the rights of men. In England, there
are 1,141 women on Boards of Guardians and 615 on Educational
Committees; and they are demanding full participation in all political
life. In Canada they have school and municipal suffrage. It is no longer
a time for argument; it is time for adjustment.
[47] BERTHA REMBAUGH, _The Political Status of Women in the United
States_, G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1912, gives complete information to date.
Meantime the results of woman's full participation in political life,
even where they have had the suffrage for some years, are difficult to
determine, because of the fact already pointed out that political life
in a modern democracy is so closely bound up with all the other life
about it. It is quite as difficult to estimate these effects as it would
be to estimate the effects of housekeeping or of woman's special
costume. And yet some results are clear enough to have a large bearing
on the extension of woman's suffrage in new localities.
In 1906, the Collegiate Equal Suffrage League engaged Miss Helen Sumner
to make a careful study of the actual working of equal suffrage in the
State of Colorado. Miss Sumner, aided by several assistants, spent
nearly two years in the investigation. She gathered and carefully
analyzed written answers to an extended set of questions from 1,200
representative men and women of Colorado, some opposing and some
favoring equal suffrage; and she and her assistants interviewed many
more. They also made a general study of industrial conditions and of
legislation for the State as a whole, and a detailed study of election
records and newspaper files for representative cities and counties. Her
report is a masterpiece of patient research and scientific
exposition.[48]
[48] HELEN L. SUMNER, _Equal Suffrage. The Results of an Investigation
Made in Colorado for the Collegiate Equal Suffrage League of New York
State._ New York: Harper & Bros., 1909.
Equal suffrage goes back to 1893 in Colorado; and while the influence of
women has been in no way revolutionary, this report shows that, on the
whole, political conditions have improved and woman's intelligence and
her general public spirit have increased with no appreciable loss in
distinctive feminine charm. One cannot help feeling as one reads this
report that it is what a disinterested observer would have to say about
the effect of woman's larger educational or industrial life since 1870.
In all democracies it is difficult to bring voters to the polls unless,
as in some Swiss cantons, they are fined for absence. In Colorado, Miss
Sumner shows that women cast about forty per cent. of the total vote in
the earlier years of their enfranchisement, though they were in a
minority of the total population.[49] In the work of the primaries they
were in a much smaller minority, except when some special problem or
candidate appealed to them. The more intelligent the community, the
larger the woman's vote; and it is largest of all in the best residence
districts of Denver, the capital city. The vote of American born women
is larger than that of foreigners; and while the prostitutes of Denver
have been voted in the interests of the party in power, public opinion
is steadily making this more difficult. In Idaho, all residents of the
red light district have been disfranchised by statute; and practically
they do not vote.
[49] Mr. LAWRENCE LEWIS, in the _Outlook_, for January 27, 1906,
analyzes the election returns for parts of Pueblo City and vicinity, and
he finds from 25 to 46 per cent. of the vote was cast by women, and the
proportion of women increased with the intelligence and _morale_ of the
precinct.
There is no appreciable tendency on the part of women to form a new
party, nor to favor their own sex. They are more inclined than men to
scratch the ticket and, as illustrated in the case of Judge Lindsey,
they sometimes rally efficiently around an independent candidate,
especially on a moral issue. On the whole, women vote with their
husbands, just as sons vote with their fathers; but the strength of the
family vote, as compared with the vote of unsettled people, is certainly
desirable.
Previous Page
| Next Page
|
|