The constitution was adopted Nov. 5, 1889, the woman suffrage amendment receiving 16,521 ayes, 35,913 noes; an adverse majority of 19,392.

In 1890 the first State Legislature conferred School Suffrage on women to the extent of voting for trustees and directors.

The political campaign of 1896 was one in which reform of all kinds was unusually in evidence. Three women sat as delegates in the State Fusion Convention at Ellensburg. Mrs. Laura E. Peters, president of the suffrage club at Port Angeles, was a Populist delegate and was chosen a member of the Platform Committee. Through her efforts a suffrage plank was inserted in the platform of that branch of the convention.

The president of the State Suffrage Association, Mrs. Homer M. Hill, said in her official report: "The People's Party was composed of Silver Republicans, Populists and Democrats. At the State convention these met in separate sessions. The Democrats voted down a resolution demanding that the Committee on Platform bring in a report favoring the amendment. The Silver Republicans passed one 'commending the action of the Free Silver party in presenting to the people the proposed amendment to the constitution.' The Populists inserted in their platform a plank declaring that 'direct legislation without equal suffrage would be government by but one-half of the people,' and unequivocally favored the amendment.

"Although each of these three parties had its own platform, the combination formed the People's Party and made its fight upon one composed of eleven planks, or articles of faith, to which all three agreed, but equal suffrage was not one of them. Therefore the so-called union platform, minus suffrage, was the one generally published and used as the basis of the campaign speeches. Because of this no speaker of the People's Party was obliged to mention the amendment, and it was avoided as an issue in the campaign; the State Central Committee permitted each speaker to say what he pleased personally, but he was not allowed to commit the party or to urge men to vote for it. Nearly every one, however, advocated equal suffrage.

"The Republicans, in convention at Tacoma, adopted the following: 'Firmly believing in the principle of equal rights to all and special privileges to none, we recommend to the voters of the State a careful consideration of the proposed constitutional amendment granting equal suffrage;' and this always was published as part of the platform. A few of the leading Republican orators advocated the amendment and none spoke against it. Its defeat is commonly attributed to the fact that 20,000 of the People's party did not vote upon it, and that the Republicans passed the word a short time before election to vote against it.

"Mrs. W. Winslow Crannell, who was sent out by the Albany (N. Y.) Anti-Suffrage Association, did not hold a meeting of women or a public meeting in the State. She conferred with men whom the anti-suffrage representative, Alfred Downing of Seattle, already knew, and her coming tended to arouse the loyal support of the suffragists.

"The Prohibition party gave official indorsement. The Social Democratic party and the Socialist Labor party both inserted suffrage planks in their platforms. The latter claims 9,000 votes in the State."

The Fusion party was everywhere successful and the Legislature of 1897 was composed of reform elements. Mrs. Peters had charge of the Equal Suffrage Bill, which was introduced on the first day of the session by the Hon. J. P. de Mattos, and proposed to amend the constitution by striking out the word "male" from the suffrage clause. This passed the House on February 4 by 54 ayes, 15 noes. The bill was amended in the Senate and was strongly supported by Joseph Hill and W. V. Rinehart. The amended bill passed the Senate on February 25 by 23 ayes, 11 noes, and was returned to the House.

Here it reached a vote March 11, the last day before the close of the session, only through Mrs. Peters' slipping up to Speaker Charles E. Cline's desk and whispering to him to recognize L. E. Rader, who wished to present it. As the Speaker was a staunch suffragist he did so. The bill passed by 54 ayes, 15 noes, and was sent back for the signature of the President of the Senate and then returned to the House for the Speaker to sign. Mrs. Peters thus relates what happened after he had done so:

By the merest accident, Senator Thomas Miller, a friend, obeyed an impression to examine the bill to see if it were all right, when lo and behold! he discovered that the true bill had been stolen during the short recess and an absolutely worthless bill engrossed and signed. Senator Miller at once made the fraud public and Speaker Cline tore his signature from the bill. On Thursday morning, the last day, a certified copy of the true bill was sent to the House, where it was ratified and returned to the Senate. I then requested the President of the Senate to make me a special messenger to take the bill to the Governor for his signature. As I happened to hold the peculiar position of having voted (at the State convention) for both those gentlemen, and as I had taken pains to remind them of that fact, and as both the Governor and Lieutenant-Governor were suffragists, I found no difficulty in having my request granted. I said that the bill had been delayed, deformed, pigeon-holed and stolen, and I would not feel safe until it was made law by the Governor's signature.

I was duly sworn in as special messenger, and very proudly carried the bill to the office, where Gov. John R. Rogers affixed his signature to it and declared it law.

The history of the campaign which followed, as condensed by the president, Mrs. Hill, shows that active work did not begin until the convention held at Seattle in January, 1898. The executive committee was called together after its adjournment and the situation thoroughly canvassed. A resolution which welcomed work for the amendment by other societies under their own auspices was unanimously passed, as it was realized that there was not time in which to bring all suffragists into line under one management. Money was scarce and hard to obtain, and public attention was divided between the Spanish-American War and the gold excitement in Alaska. The association at once turned its attention to the obtaining of funds, the securing of the favorable attitude of the press and the formal indorsement of the amendment by other organizations.

Clubs were formed in wards and precincts to hold meetings, assist the State association financially, distribute literature and circulate a petition for signatures of women only, asking that the voters cast their ballots for the proposed amendment. It was impossible to prosecute the petition work thoroughly throughout the State, but the largest cities—Seattle, Tacoma, Spokane and Olympia—with many country precincts, both east and west of the mountains, were very satisfactorily canvassed. It was found that over 88 per cent. of all the women asked to sign the petition did so. The rest were divided between the indifferent and those positively opposed. No one received a salary for services. Less than $500 was collected, and $5.47 remained in the treasury, after every bill was paid, the day before election.

The State association issued 5,000 pieces of literature of its own, a booklet of thirty pages containing testimonials from leading citizens of the four Free States—Wyoming, Colorado, Utah and Idaho. Early in the campaign Mrs. Carrie Chapman Catt, chairman of the national organization committee, sent 62,200 pieces. Henry B. Blackwell, editor of the Woman's Journal, shortly before the election forwarded from Boston 500 pieces to each of the thirty-four counties in Washington. This literature no doubt helped to swell the vote for the amendment.

Forty country newspapers were regularly sent free to State headquarters; the city papers at half-rates. The press was courteous in every instance, and either advocated equal suffrage, kept silence or opened its columns to both sides. The Seattle Daily Times strongly favored it.

The Christian Church Convention, which met in Tacoma early in the campaign, gave hearty indorsement to the amendment. The M. E. Church Conference followed at the same place with a vote of 27 ayes, 26 noes; the Congregational Convention at Snohomish with one dissenting vote. Presbyterian and other ministers throughout the State quietly gave their support. The ministerial associations of Seattle each received a committee from the E. S. A. One of the members of the Ministers' Association of Spokane read a paper on Equal Suffrage, which was interestingly discussed, showing eight in favor, three opposed and one doubtful. The Christian Endeavorers at their convention in Walla Walla passed a resolution calling attention to the approaching election, and asking for the intelligent consideration of the amendment; eight of the trustees were in favor of recommending active work in local societies, but because the sentiment was not more nearly unanimous no action was taken. The Independent Order of Good Templars and the Prohibition party indorsed the amendment. The Woman's Christian Temperance Union lent a helping hand judiciously. All demands and arguments were non-sectarian and non-political, being based upon the claims of justice as the only tenable ground on which to stand.

Many of the most self-sacrificing workers came from the liberal and free-thought societies, which are generally favorable to equal rights. The Western Central Labor Union of Seattle extended courtesies to the E. S. A. and kept suffrage literature in its reading-room. The Freemen's Labor Journal of Spokane, State organ of the trades unions, supported the amendment. Single Taxers, as a rule, voted for it. The State Grange in convention formally indorsed it and promised support.[460]

On Nov. 5, 1898, the amendment was voted upon, receiving 20,658 yeas, 30,540 nays; majority opposed, 9,882. As in 1889, the adverse majority was 19,392, a clear gain was shown of 9,510 in nine years.

In 1899 a bill was prepared for the State association by Judge J. W. Langley, amending the constitution so that whenever an amendment giving the right of suffrage to women should be submitted to the people, the women themselves should be permitted to vote upon it. John W. Pratt introduced the bill in the House, but it was referred to the Committee on Constitutional Revision and not reported. Near the close of the session Mr. Pratt brought it up on the floor of the House. A motion to postpone it indefinitely was immediately made and, practically without discussion, was carried by almost a unanimous vote.

ORGANIZATION: For twelve years before the women of Washington were enfranchised, Mrs. Abigail Scott Duniway of Oregon was in the habit of canvassing the Territory in behalf of woman suffrage, traveling by rail, stage, steamer and on foot, and where she found halls and churches closed against her, speaking in hotel offices and even bar-rooms, and always circulating her paper the New Northwest. The Legislature recognized her services by a resolution in 1886, when accepting her picture, The Coronation of Womanhood. There was not during all this time any regularly organized suffrage association. When in the summer of 1888 the women of the Territory saw the franchise taken away from them by decision of the Supreme Court, a number of local societies were formed and soon banded themselves into an association of which the Hon. Edward Eldridge was president until his death in 1892. Afterward A. H. Stewart was made president, Mrs. Laura E. Peters, vice-president, and Mrs. Bessie Isaacs Savage, secretary. Mrs. Zerelda N. McCoy was president of the Olympia Club, and Mrs. P. C. Hale, treasurer.

On Jan. 21, 22, 1895, the first delegate convention was held in Olympia, and a State Equal Suffrage Association formally organized. Mrs. Savage was elected president; Mrs. Clara E. Sylvester, vice-president; Mrs. Lou Jackson Longmire, secretary; Mrs. Ella Stork, treasurer. In April a special meeting was held in Seattle and the State was divided into six districts for organization and other work, as it was evident there would soon be another amendment campaign.

The second convention was held in Seattle, Jan. 29, 30, 1896, with the Hon. Orange J. Jacobs as the principal speaker.

Throughout 1897 the efforts of the suffragists were directed toward securing a resolution from the Legislature for the submission of an amendment, and no convention was held.

In January, 1898, the State association again met in Seattle. Mrs. Homer M. Hill was elected president; Mrs. Peters, vice-president; Miss Martha E. Pike, secretary; Mrs. Savage, treasurer.

The management of the exposition held in Seattle for three weeks in October, kindly accorded space to the Red Cross, Equal Suffrage Association, W. C. T. U., Kindergarten and City Federation of Women's Clubs. Mrs. Carrie Chapman Catt, with Miss Mary G. Hay, paid Washington a visit during this month. She spoke in the first M. E. Church at Seattle to a large audience, and the Woman's Century Club tendered her a reception. At Tacoma the Woman's Study Club arranged a lecture for her in the Tacoma Hotel parlors, which was well attended by representative people. Mrs. Emma C. McCully made the preparations for her at Ellensburg, and Mrs. Lida M. Ashenfelter bore the expense of the meeting at Spokane.

In December, 1899, the State Teachers' Association passed a resolution strongly indorsing equal suffrage. The Mental Science Convention took similar action.

Since the defeat of the amendment in 1898 no State conventions have been held. During 1900 the corresponding secretary, Miss Pike, visited many towns and conferred with representative women in reference to again taking up the work; while the president, Mrs. Hill, endeavored to secure the interest and indorsement of the various political parties.

LEGISLATIVE ACTION AND LAWS: In 1886 the Legislature amended the Homestead Law and gave to widows possession of the homestead, wearing apparel and household furniture of their deceased husbands, and the right to comply with the legal provisions for securing homesteads in case the husbands had not done so; it further declared that the homestead should be inviolate from executions for the payment of debts, either individual or community; it amended the community property law, giving husband and wife equal rights in the testamentary disposition of it. It also enabled married women to act as administrators.

In 1890 the Legislature conferred School Suffrage upon women. The act was approved by Gov. E. P. Terry on March 27. The same Legislature passed a bill requiring employers to provide seats for their female employes, and enacted that all avenues of employment should be open to women. It amended the community property law so that husband or wife could prevent the sale of his or her interest.

In 1891 a bill was passed which made a woman punishable for the crime of arson, even though the property set fire to might belong to her husband.

The Legislature of 1893 appropriated $5,000 for the Woman's Department of the State at the World's Fair in Chicago. A bill passed this year provided matrons for jails in cities of 10,000 or more inhabitants. The "age of protection" for girls was raised from 12 to 16 years. Unfortunately the title of this bill was omitted and in compiling the code it was excluded, but the Supreme Court afterward legalized the action of the Legislature.

In 1899 the age was raised to 18 years. This was accomplished through the efforts of the W. C. T. U., under the management of Misses Mary L. and Emma E. Page. The penalty is imprisonment in the penitentiary for life or "for any term of years." No minimum penalty is given. Deceit or fraud may be considered force.

Married women were granted the right to act as executors of wills in 1899.

Dower and curtesy are abolished. The testamentary rights of husband and wife are the same in regard to their separate property. If either die without a will, leaving only one child, or the lawful issue of one, the widow or widower takes half the real estate. If there is more than one child living, or one child and lawful issue of one or more children deceased, the widow or widower takes one-third of the real estate. If there is no descendant living the survivor receives one-half the real estate, unless there is neither father, mother, brother nor sister of the decedent living, when he or she takes all of it. The surviving husband or wife has one-half the personal property if there is issue living, otherwise all of it, after the debts are paid.

The old Spanish law in regard to community property obtains. While each retains control of his or her separate estate, the control of the community property is vested absolutely in the husband. This includes all acquired after marriage by the joint or separate efforts of either; lands acquired under the homestead laws; lands purchased with money derived from profits or loans of the wife's separate estate; lands purchased by her with money saved from household expenses; and the court has held that even her earnings outside the home are community property unless she is living apart from her husband. The husband can not convey this without the wife's signature, and he can not dispose of more than one-half of it by will. Upon the death of either husband or wife one-half of the community property descends to the survivor, and the other half is subject to testamentary disposition. If there is no will the survivor takes half and the heirs of the deceased half; if there are none he or she takes the whole. The survivor has the preference in the right of administration.

A married woman may make contracts and sue and be sued in her own name. Husband and wife can not enter into business partnerships with each other.

By an act of 1879 father and mother were given equal guardianship of the children, and in case of the death of either the guardianship passed to the survivor. But in 1896 the Legislature enacted that the father might appoint by will a guardian of both persons and estates of minor children to the exclusion of the mother.

The same Legislature passed a law making the expenses of the family and education of the children chargeable upon the property of both husband and wife, or either of them, and provided that in relation thereto they might be sued jointly or separately.

SUFFRAGE: Since 1890 women may vote for school trustees, bonds and appropriations on the same terms as men, but can not vote for State or county superintendents.

OFFICE HOLDING: In the fall of 1894 Miss Ella Guptil was elected superintendent of schools for Clallam County. Her right to hold the office was contested by her opponent, C. E. Russell. Miss Guptil asked the following Legislature to make her position definite, and in February, 1895, a bill was passed and approved by Gov. John H. McGraw which removed all doubt, and she assumed the office.

At the present time (1900) there are seven women county superintendents. Women may sit on the school boards of all cities and towns. They are not eligible to any other elective office.

In 1897-98 Mrs. Carrie Shaw Rice served as a member of the State Board of Education. Women do not sit on other boards.

The law requires women matrons in the jails of all cities of 10,000 inhabitants and upwards, but not at police stations.

Women are employed in subordinate capacities in various State and municipal offices. They are also librarians in many places.

They can not serve as notaries public.

OCCUPATIONS: It was enacted by the Legislature of 1890 that: "Hereafter in this State every avenue of employment shall be open to women; and any business, vocation, profession and calling followed and pursued by men may be followed and pursued by women, and no person shall be disqualified from engaging in or pursuing any business, vocation, profession, calling or employment on account of sex: Provided, That this section shall not be so construed as to permit women to hold public office."

EDUCATION: All of the educational institutions are open to both sexes alike.

In the public schools there are 1,033 men and 2,288 women teachers. The average monthly salary of the men is $42.13; of the women, $34.53.

FOOTNOTES:

[456] The History is indebted for the material for this chapter to Miss Martha E. Pike of Seattle, corresponding secretary of the State Equal Suffrage Association.

[457] See History of Woman Suffrage, Vol. III, p. 776.

[458] For further information see Appendix for Washington.

[459] For addresses and other proceedings see the Woman's Tribune, Oct. 5, 1889, and the following numbers.

[460] That practically all of the best elements in the State favored this amendment, and yet it was defeated, shows how thoroughly the disreputable classes controlled politics.



CHAPTER LXX.

WEST VIRGINIA.[461]

In 1867 Samuel Young introduced into the Senate of West Virginia a bill to confer the suffrage on educated, taxpaying women, but it found no advocates except himself. In 1869 he presented a resolution asking Congress for a Sixteenth Amendment to enfranchise women, which received the votes of eight of the twenty-two senators.

No further step ever was taken in this direction until the spring of 1895, when Mrs. Annie L. Diggs of Kansas was sent into the State by the National Woman Suffrage Association but reported that the question was too new to make any organization possible. In the fall Miss Mary G. Hay, national organizer, arranged a two weeks' series of meetings with the Rev. Henrietta G. Moore of Ohio as speaker, and several clubs were formed in the northern part of the State. A convention was called to meet in Grafton, November 25, 26, when an association was formed and the following board of officers was elected: President, Mrs. Jessie C. Manley; vice-president, Harvey W. Harmer; corresponding secretary, Mrs. Annie Caldwell Boyd; recording secretary, Mrs. L. M. Fay; treasurer, Mrs. K. H. De Woody; auditors, Mrs. M. Caswell and Mrs. Louise Harden.

The second convention was held at Fairmont in January, 1897, Mrs. Carrie Chapman Catt, chairman of the national organization committee, assisting. Everything was so new that her presence and instruction were an inspiration and a help, without which it is doubtful whether the work would have continued. Officers were elected as follows: President. Mrs. Fannie J. Wheat; vice-president, Mrs. Mackie M. Holbert; recording secretary, Mrs. Beulah Boyd Ritchie; auditors, Mrs. Mary Long Parson and Mrs. Mary Butcher; member national executive committee, Mrs. Mary H. Grove. The corresponding secretary and the treasurer were re-elected.

In April, 1898, the annual meeting was held at Wheeling, in the Carroll Club Auditorium. Mrs. Chapman Catt and the Rev. Anna Howard Shaw, vice-president-at-large of the National Association, made addresses each afternoon and evening, and both filled the pulpit of the large Methodist Church on Sunday. All the officers were re-elected except the treasurer, who was succeeded by Miss J. B. Wilson.

The next convention took place at Fairmont in the fall of 1899, Mrs. Chapman Catt again assisting to make it a success. The officers elected were: President, Mrs. Ritchie; vice-president, Mr. Harmer; corresponding secretary, Mrs. Boyd; recording secretary, Miss Clara Reinheimer; treasurer, Mrs. Holbert; auditors, Mrs. Georgia G. Clayton and Mrs. Belle McKinney; member national executive committee, Mrs. Wheat; press superintendent, Mrs. Manley.

Prior to 1895, the subject of the enfranchisement of women was practically unknown in West Virginia, but now there is no part of the State in which the injustice and ignominy of their disfranchisement has not been brought to the mind and conscience of the voters.

LEGISLATIVE ACTION AND LAWS: In 1897 the Legislature appointed a committee to draw up a new State constitution, and the suffragists presented to it a petition, signed by about 600 leading men and women, asking that the word "male" be omitted from the suffrage clause. Individual appeals were made and literature sent to each member of the committee. Many signatures for the petition were obtained at the State Fair, held in Wheeling, where room for a suffrage booth in the Manufacturer's Building was given by the president of the board, Anton Reymann, while every other foot of space was rented out at a large price. The booth was decorated with portraits of the leaders, Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and made as attractive as possible.

In 1899 the Rev. Anna Howard Shaw addressed a joint session of both Houses of the Legislature in behalf of the enfranchisement of women. Her expenses were paid by the Fairmont suffrage club.[462] The lecture was a decided success, many members of the Legislature expressing themselves as favorable to the cause she advocated. The clause striking out the word "male" was not, however, reported from the committee, and the whole matter of a new constitution eventually was dropped.[463]

By an Act of 1891, no child under 12 years of age, of either sex, can be employed in any mine, factory or workshop.

By an Act of 1893 a married woman may carry on business in her own name, and her earnings and all property, real and personal, purchased by her with the proceeds of such earnings, is in all cases her sole and separate property and not subject to the control or disposal of her husband or liable for his debts. By another act of this year a married woman may sue and be sued in any court in her own name.

By an Act of 1895, a married woman may appoint an attorney in fact to execute any deed or other writing.

By an Act of 1899 employers are required to provide seats for female employes.

Dower and curtesy both obtain. The widower has a life interest in all his wife's real estate, whether they have had children or not. The widow has a life interest in one-third of her husband's real estate, if there are children living. If there are neither descendants nor kindred, the entire real estate of a husband or wife dying without a will goes to the survivor. If there are children living, the widow or widower has one-third of the personal property, and all of it if there are none. A homestead to the value of $1,000 is exempted for either.

If a child die possessed of property and without descendants or a will the father is heir to all of it; if he is dead, the mother inherits only an equal share with each of the remaining children. If both parents and all brothers and sisters are dead, the grandfather is the sole heir; he failing the grandmother shares equally with her surviving children.

The husband can convey his separate property without his wife's signature. The wife can not sell or encumber her separate property without her husband's consent.

The father is the legal guardian of the minor children. If a widow remarry the guardianship of the children of the first husband passes to the second, and she can not even appoint a guardian at her death. No married woman can be a guardian.

The husband is required to furnish support adequate to his property and position in life.

In 1897 the legal age of marriage for girls was raised from twelve to sixteen years.

The "age of protection" remains at 12 years. Formerly the penalty was death or, in the discretion of the jury, imprisonment for not less than seven nor more than twenty years. In 1891 it was enacted that it might be regarded as a felony and punished by imprisonment in the penitentiary not less than two nor more than ten years. Through the efforts of women bills to raise the age have been repeatedly introduced but always have been defeated.

SUFFRAGE: Women possess no form of suffrage.

OFFICE HOLDING: In 1887 Dr. Harriet B. Jones was appointed assistant hospital physician in the State insane asylum, with the same salary paid the men physicians. She was the first woman ever appointed to such a position in a State institution in West Virginia. On her resignation she was succeeded by Dr. Luella F. Bullard, who still holds the office.

To the untiring energy of Dr. Jones is due the State Industrial Home for Girls. During two sessions of the Legislature she remained at the capital, entirely at her own expense and leaving a lucrative practice, to urge the need of this institution. At length $10,000 were appropriated for this purpose in 1897 and $20,000 more in 1899. Now a girl committing a minor offense is no longer placed in jail or in the penitentiary while her brother for the same misdeed is sent to the Reform School. Dr. Jones was elected president and all the officers are women.

The State Home for Incurables also represents the work and ability of a woman, Mrs. Joseph Ruffner. Before the same Legislatures as Dr. Jones, she appeared with a bill asking an appropriation, and by persistence secured one of $66,000. The home is now in successful operation with Mrs. Ruffner as president. The Governor is required to appoint boards composed equally of men and women for these two institutions.

Women sit also on the boards of orphan asylums, day nurseries and homes for the friendless.

The Humane Society of Wheeling was organized in 1896 with Mrs. Harriet G. List as president. In 1899 she secured an appropriation of $3,000 from the Legislature to aid in its work.

A woman is librarian on the staff of the Agricultural Experiment Station. The board of education of Wheeling appoints the three librarians in the public library, which is supported from the school fund, and for several years all of these have been women.

In some parts of the State women are appointed examiners to decide on the fitness of applicants to teach in the public schools, but they can not sit on school boards.

Women can not serve as notaries public.

OCCUPATIONS: No profession or occupation is legally forbidden to women except that of mining.

EDUCATION: All institutions of learning are open to both sexes alike. Bethany College has admitted women for more than ten years, and four are on the faculty. In 1897 the State University was made co-educational, after much opposition. It has eight women on its faculty, and two of the three members of its library staff are women.

In the public schools there are 4,096 men and 2,712 women teachers. It is impossible to obtain the average salaries.

FOOTNOTES:

[461] The History is indebted for this chapter to Mrs. Annie Caldwell Boyd of Wheeling, who has been an officer continuously in the State Woman Suffrage Association since it was organized.

[462] This club raised money by suppers, festivals and a Woman's Exchange for use in the work. It subscribed for twenty-five copies of the Woman's Journal to be sent to the State University, to the six Normal Schools and to various individuals. It also offered $35 in prizes for the best orations on The Enfranchisement of Women, to be competed for by the students of the above schools.

[463] In the Legislature of 1901 a bill was introduced conferring on women the right to vote for Presidential electors, as this can be done by the legislators without a reference to the voters. The bill was drawn up by George E. Boyd, Sr. It was reported by the House Judiciary Committee, February 21, with the recommendation "that it do not pass." Henry C. Hervey spoke strongly in its favor and was ably seconded by S. G. Smith, who closed by demanding the ayes and noes on the Speaker's question, "Shall the bill be rejected?" The ayes were 31, noes 25, the bill being defeated by six votes. Speaker William G. Wilson voted against it.

The bill was presented in the Senate by Nelson Whittaker, but U. S. Senator Stephen B. Elkins came on from Washington and commanded that it be tabled, which was done.



CHAPTER LXXI.

WISCONSIN.[464]

As a Territory Wisconsin interested herself in equal rights. In the first Constitutional Convention universal suffrage regardless of sex or color had a considerable vote. In the second woman suffrage received a certain amount of favorable consideration. Early in the history of the State widows were made heirs of all the property in case of the death of the husband without children, and laws were passed by which a life interest in the homestead was secured to the wife. In 1851 the regents of the State University declared that their plan "contemplated the admission of women," and in 1869 women were made eligible to all school offices.

The first Woman Suffrage Association was organized in 1869 as a result of a large convention in Milwaukee, arranged by Dr. Laura Ross and Miss Lily Peckham, a bright young lawyer, and addressed by Mrs. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Mrs. Mary A. Livermore, Miss Susan B. Anthony and others. Soon after this several local societies were organized. Its annual meetings since 1883 have been held as follows: 1884, Richland Center; 1885, Whitewater; 1886, Racine; 1887, Madison; 1888, Stevens' Point; 1889, Milwaukee; 1890, Berlin; 1891, Menominee; 1892, Richland Center; 1893, Mukwonago; 1894, Racine; 1895, Evansville; 1896, Waukesha; 1897, Monroe; 1898, Spring Green; 1899, Platteville; 1900, Brodhead.

The president during 1884 was Mrs. Emma C. Bascom, wife of the president of the State University. On leaving for the East she was succeeded by the Rev. Olympia Brown, who has been re-elected every year since.[465] Mrs. Brown was called to the pastorate of the Universalist Church of Racine in 1878, and during her nine years of service there held occasional meetings in behalf of woman suffrage in various parts of the State.

In addition to annual conventions numerous conferences have been held, too many and too similar in character to make a detailed history of them essential. In the winter of 1884 a course of lectures was given in Racine on subjects relating to women by Mrs. Mary A. Livermore, Mrs. Julia Ward Howe, Mrs. Mary E. Haggart, Mrs. May Wright Sewall and Mrs. J. G. McMurphy.

In November, 1886, Mrs. Brown held a series of nine district conventions in company with Miss Anthony and Mrs. Clara Bewick Colby. On November 1 she received a telegram from Miss Anthony, then in Kansas, saying that they would join in holding conventions in all the congressional districts beginning on the 8th. This seemed a very short time in which to prepare for such a campaign, but by the president's deciding on places and dates without consultation, sending posters to the different towns selected and announcements to all the papers of the State, and then going in person to secure halls and make local arrangements, the date named found a tolerable degree of preparation. The canvass opened with a large reception at the home of Mrs. M. B. Erskine in Racine, which was followed by conventions at Waukesha, Ripon, Oshkosh, Green Bay, Grand Rapids, Eau Claire, La Crosse, Evansville and Madison. At the last place the ladies spoke in the Senate Chamber to a distinguished audience. The effect of these meetings was marked. Many members were added to the State association, branches were organized and an impetus given to the work such as never was known before and has not been repeated. Since then many conventions have been held by the president of the association, its several lecturers and outside speakers.

In 1896 the suffrage association kept open house for ten days at the Manona Lake Assembly; during this time the Rev. Anna Howard Shaw, national vice-president-at-large, gave one of the Chautauqua lectures to an audience of 4,000 people.

In 1898 a conference was held in Madison by the officers of the National Association, attended by the State Executive Board and representatives of various societies.

The Rev. Ella Bartlett, the Rev. Nellie Mann Opdale and the Rev. Alice Ball Loomis have each served as State lecturer for two or more years and proved most efficient. Mrs. Emma Smith DeVoe has also lectured in the State during several different seasons with excellent effect.

Among those who have aided in the work in an early day may be mentioned Madame Mathilde F. Anneke, Dr. Laura Ross Wolcott, Mrs. Ella Partridge, Mrs. Emeline Wolcott; and later Mrs. Lephia O. Brown, the mother, and J. H. Willis, the husband, of the Rev. Olympia Brown.[466]

Prof. Henry Doty Maxon stands pre-eminent among the men who have assisted the cause. He was pastor of the Unitarian Church at Menominee and vice-president of the State Suffrage Association for a number of years, attended the annual meetings regularly and himself arranged one of the most successful, which was held in his church, known as the Mabel Taintor Memorial Hall. Col. J. G. McMynn exerted an influence in favor of woman's advancement, at an early day. Many men have aided by giving money and influence, among them State Senator Norman James, David B. James, Capt. Andrew Taintor, the Hon. T. B. Wilson, Burr Sprague, M. B. Erskine, the Hon. W. T. Lewis, Steven Bull, the Hon. Isaac Stevenson, U. S. Senator Philetus Sawyer and Judge Hamilton of Neenah. The clergy generally have assisted by giving their churches for meetings. The Richland Center Club and the Greene County Equal Rights Association deserve special mention for their faithfulness and generosity. The Suffrage Club of Platteville is also very active.

One of the most important features of the work has been the publication of the Wisconsin Citizen, a monthly paper devoted to the interests of women. It was started in 1887 to educate the people on the suffrage bill of 1885 and has continued ever since, no other one influence having been so helpful to the cause. The association owes this paper to Mrs. Martha Parker Dingee, a niece of Theodore Parker, who edited it for seven years, reading all the proofs, without help and without remuneration; and to Mrs. Helen H. Charlton who has edited and published the paper from 1894 to the present time.

Miss Sarah H. Richards compiled and published an interesting history and directory of the Wisconsin Woman Suffrage Association to which the present sketch is much indebted.

LEGISLATIVE ACTION: Only one measure looking to the extension of suffrage to women ever has been passed by the Legislature. This was done in 1885 as the result of the efforts of Alura Collins Hollister, who was appointed to represent the association in legislative work at Madison. The following was submitted to the voters: "Every woman who is a citizen of this State of the age of twenty-one years and upward, except paupers, etc., who has resided within the State one year and in the election district where she offers to vote ten days next preceding any election pertaining to school matters, shall have the right to vote at such election." This was discussed at length in both branches of the Legislature and passed on March 13 by a large majority.

It was voted upon at the fall election in 1886 receiving a majority of 4,583, and thus became a law.[467]

It will be noted that this law specifies what women are to vote, viz.: actual citizens who are not paupers; where women are to vote, viz.: in the election districts where they reside; when women are to vote, viz.: when there is an election pertaining to school matters. It does not specify what women are to vote upon or for whom—they are full voters without limitation at all elections pertaining to school matters. What elections pertain to school matters? First, the general election held once in two years, at which the State Superintendent of Public Instruction and officers controlling the State University and other State institutions are chosen. Second, the municipal election which in most cities pertains to school matters, as a school board or superintendent is chosen then. Third, other elections in country villages where one or more school officers are chosen. Fourth, special elections where subjects relating to schools are voted upon. Of several suffrage bills reported at this session this one, called the Ginty Bill, was the only one which provided for a submission of the question to the voters, which shows the purpose of the framers to have been to grant State or national suffrage. The broad scope of this law practically giving women a vote on the election of all national, State and municipal officers, was pointed out to the leaders of the suffrage association by some of the men instrumental in its passage, notably Senator Norman James, chairman of the Joint Special Committee that reported the bill. It is claimed that the Legislature did not intend to pass a law so far reaching, but the circumstances of its passage, political conditions at the time, as well as the statements of its members and of the committee, show that they did intend to pass this broad, far-reaching law, giving suffrage to women.

To awaken women to the necessity of voting at the first opportunity—the municipal election in 1887—the suffrage association undertook an active canvass of the State which lasted without interruption until the autumn of 1888, a period of over two years. The Rev. Olympia Brown gave up her church in Racine and devoted herself exclusively to the work. The association was assisted by Miss Anthony, Mrs. Livermore, Mrs. Elizabeth Lyle Saxon, Mrs. Elizabeth Boynton Harbert and Mrs. Catharine Waugh McCulloch. Some of these speakers remained a month, others a week and some only for two or three lectures. The State president attended every meeting.

On the morning of the election in April, 1887, Attorney-General Charles B. Estabrook sent out telegrams to those places where he supposed women would be likely to vote, ordering the inspectors to reject their ballots, which was done; but where they were not advised by him the ballots of women were accepted.

The next effort of the suffrage leaders was to instruct the people in the law and the circumstances of its passage, and thus to inspire confidence in spite of the refusal of the ballots. It was suggested that as the Presidential election was near at hand, politicians would not leave it uncertain as to whether or not women were entitled to vote, but would secure an interpretation of the law from the Supreme Court without proper argument and presentation of the facts, hence the State W. S. A. decided to test the matter itself. The case was brought by Mrs. Brown against the election inspectors in Racine for refusing to accept her vote, and was ably argued before Judge John B. Winslow of the Circuit Court, now a member of the Supreme Court of Wisconsin. He overruled the demurrer of the inspectors, stating that women were entitled to vote at that election and for all candidates, thus confirming the law.

An appeal was immediately taken by the inspectors to the Supreme Court, and in order to keep the subject before the people and to create a favorable public sentiment the association continued its canvass by distributing literature and giving lectures. The decision rendered Jan. 31, 1888, was written by Justice John B. Cassody and was so vague and loosely worded that lawyers were not agreed as to its meaning. He reversed the finding of the lower court, however, declaring the intent of the law to be to confer School Suffrage only.[468]

The association now found itself confronted by a large debt, the whole suit having cost about $1,500, but by active work the autumn of 1888 found everything paid. In all this Mrs. Almeda B. Gray, one of the officers of the association, was a leading spirit, contributing largely in time and money; Mrs. M. A. Fowler worked night and day, making routes for speakers and planning the campaign, other women assisted according to their ability and the club at Richland Center did excellent service. The decision still left room for litigation, the claim being made that the ruling of the Supreme Court plainly recognized the right of women to vote provided their ballots were put in a separate box.

In the following November Wm. A. McKinley was elected Superintendent of Schools for Oconto County by the votes of women placed in a separate box. His election was contested and the case was argued before Judge Samuel B. Hastings of Green Bay, who, quoting from the decision of Judge Cassody, decided that women had a right to vote provided their ballots were put into a separate box. This case also was appealed to the Supreme Court, where the decision, rendered by Judge William P. Lyon, Jan. 26, 1890, was that the votes of the women in Oconto County were illegally counted. The ground for this finding was that further legislative action was necessary before separate ballot-boxes could be legally provided. Judge Cassody dissented from this opinion.

The law then became practically a dead letter, except in a few instances, until 1901, when an Act of the Legislature provided for separate ballot boxes for women, and in the spring of 1902 they voted on school questions.

In 1895 the legislative committee, consisting of Mrs. Jennie Lamberson, Mrs. Jessie Luther and Mrs. Alice Kollock, assisted by Mrs. Charlton, secured the introduction of two bills—one to strike the word "male" from the State constitution, the other for a suffrage amendment by statute law. A hearing was granted before the joint committee of both Houses in the Senate Chamber, which was crowded. Mesdames Elizabeth Boynton Harbert (Ills.), Helen H. Charlton, Nellie Mann Opdale, Ellen A. Rose and Dr. Annette J. Shaw were the speakers.[469] The bills were reported favorably but were lost after discussion.

LAWS: Dower and curtesy obtain. A widow is entitled to a life interest in one-third of the real estate and, if the husband die without a will, to the share of a child in the personal estate. If there is no lawful issue she has the entire estate, both real and personal. The widower has a life interest in all the real estate of his wife not disposed of by will, or in all of it if the wife died intestate, unless she left issue by a former husband, in which case such issue takes it, free from the right of the surviving husband to hold the same by curtesy. If the wife die without a will and leave no issue, the widower is entitled to the entire estate, both real and personal. There may also be reserved for the widow a homestead of not more than forty acres of farm land, or one-quarter of an acre in a town, which at her subsequent marriage or death passes to the heirs of the former husband. If none exist she does not lose her homestead rights by marrying again.

The wife may dispose of all her real estate by conveyance during her lifetime or by will, without the husband's consent. He can not destroy her dower rights.

A married woman may sue and be sued, make contracts and carry on business in her own name.

The father, if living, and in case of his death the mother, while she remains unmarried, shall be entitled to the custody of the persons and education of the minor children. The father may by will appoint a guardian for a child, whether born or unborn, to continue during its minority or for a less time.

Neglect to provide for a wife and minor children is a misdemeanor, punished by imprisonment in the county jail not less than fifteen days, during ten days of which food may be bread and water only; or by imprisonment in the penitentiary not exceeding one year, or in the county workhouse, at the discretion of the court.

In 1887 a law was passed raising the "age of protection" for girls from 10 to 14 years. In 1889 this was amended by lowering the age to 12 and reducing the punishment from imprisonment for life to not more than thirty-five nor less than five years. The clause also was added: "Provided that if the child shall be a common prostitute, the man shall be imprisoned in the penitentiary not less than one year nor more than seven."[470] In 1895 the age was raised again to 14 years with the same penalty.

SUFFRAGE: By the law of 1885 every woman who is a citizen of this State of the age of twenty-one years and upwards, except paupers, etc., who has resided in the State for one year and in the election district where she offers to vote ten days next preceding any election pertaining to school matters, shall have a right to vote at such election. By the present interpretation of this law the suffrage of women is limited to school officers and questions. Suffrage may be extended by statute but such law must be ratified by a majority of the voters at a general election.

OFFICE HOLDING: There is no law authorizing women to hold any elective office except such as pertains to schools, but they have been eligible to these since 1869. Eighteen women have served as county superintendents at the same time; nine are acting at present. They sit on school boards in a number of cities.

In the Legislature women act as enrolling and engrossing clerks, and as clerks and stenographers to committees. They are also found as clerks, copyists and stenographers in the various elective and appointive State, city and county offices.

In the State institutions they are employed as teachers, matrons, bookkeepers, supervisors, State agents for placing dependent children, etc. The Milwaukee Industrial School for Girls, supported partly by public and partly by private funds, is the only institution managed entirely by women.

There are no women physicians at any of the State institutions. One woman was appointed county physician in Waukesha, and one or two have been made city physicians.

The office of police matron was established by city ordinance in Milwaukee in 1884. There is none in any other city.

Women act as notaries public and court commissioners.

Women could not sit on any State Boards until the Legislature of 1901 authorized the appointment of one woman on the Board of Regents for the State University, and one on that of the State Normal School. It also authorized the appointment of a woman State Factory Inspector.

OCCUPATIONS: No profession or occupation is legally forbidden to women.

EDUCATION: In 1851 the regents of the State University took a stand in favor of co-education. In 1866 an Act reorganizing the university declared that in all its departments it should be opened to male and female students; but owing to prejudices it was not until 1873 that complete co-education was established, although women were graduated in 1869. All institutions of learning are open alike to both sexes.

In the public schools there are 2,654 men and 9,811 women teachers. The average monthly salary of the men is $41; of the women, $29.50.

FOOTNOTES:

[464] The History is indebted for most of the material in this chapter to the Rev. Olympia Brown of Racine, president of the State Woman Suffrage Association since 1884.

[465] The other officers at present are: Vice-presidents, Mrs. Ellen A. Rose and Mrs. Madge Waters; chairman executive committee, Mrs. Etta Gardner; corresponding secretary, Mrs. M. Geddes; recording secretary, Miss Emma Graham; treasurer, Mrs. Lydia Woodward; State organizer, the Rev. Alice Ball Loomis; district presidents, Dr. Abby M. Adams, Mesdames Kate Taylor, M. A. Fowler, L. A. Rhodes, Augusta Morris, Alura Collins Hollister, L. M. Eastman, Mary Upham, Emma Shores and Sylvia Rogers; press committee, Mesdames Sarah Buck, Clara F. Eastland, Jennie Beck and Dora Putnam; finance committee, Mesdames Anna Gile, Donald Jones and J. B. Hamilton.

[466] Besides those mentioned above, Mesdames Nancy Comstock, Josephine DeGroat, M. A. Derrick, M. A. Fowler, M. M. Frazier, Laura James, Dr. Sarah Monroe, E. A. Rose, S. A. Rhodes, Burr Sprague and Lydia Woodward all have been most valuable helpers. Among generous contributors have been W. H. Crosby, Charles Erskine; Mesdames L. J. Barlow, Laura C. Demmon, Almeda B. Gray, Mary E. Hulett, Emma V. Laughton, Mary Merrill, Margaret Messenger, Hannah Patchen, Dr. Laura Ross Wolcott, Emeline Wolcott and Park Wooster; those who have aided by the pen are Mesdames Marian V. Dudley, Clara Eastland, Hattie Tyng Gardner, Etta Gardner, C. V. Leighton and Minnie Stebbins Savage.

[467] The State constitution provides that the suffrage may be extended by a law submitted to the electors at any general election. If it receives a majority vote it is held to have the force of a constitutional amendment.

[468] The open letter addressed to Judge Cassody, March 28, 1888, by Mrs. Brown, in regard to this decision, was pronounced by the best lawyers as unsurpassed in logic, legal acumen, keen sarcasm and righteous indignation. [Eds.

[469] E. P. Wilder, associate editor of the Madison State Journal, chief official organ of the Republican party, made an excellent address at this time in favor of woman suffrage, which was afterwards printed as a leaflet.

[470] This is believed to be the only case on record where the age of protection has been lowered. The amendment was urged by Senator P. J. Clawson of Monroe, Green County At its next meeting the county suffrage society passed the strongest possible denunciatory resolutions, and thereafter its members worked diligently to defeat Mr. Clawson for the nomination to Congress, which they succeeded in doing.



CHAPTER LXXII.

WYOMING.[471]

It is said that a contented people or a happy life is one without a history. The cause of woman suffrage in Wyoming has not been marked by agitation or strife, and for that reason there is no struggle to record, as is the case in all other States. In its story Mrs. Esther Morris must ever be considered the heroine. A native of New York, she joined her husband and three sons in 1869 at South Pass, then the chief town of Wyoming. She was a strong advocate of the enfranchisement of women and succeeded in enlisting the co-operation of Col. William H. Bright, president of the first Legislative Council of the Territory, which that very year passed a bill conferring on women the full elective franchise and the right to hold all offices. Gov. John A. Campbell was in some doubt as to signing it, but a body of women in Cheyenne, headed by Mrs. Amalia Post (wife of Morton E. Post, delegate to Congress), went to his residence and announced their intention of staying until he did so. A vacancy occurring soon afterward in the office of Justice of the Peace at South Pass, the Governor appointed Mrs. Morris on petition of the county attorney and commissioners. She tried between thirty and forty cases and none was appealed to a higher court.[472]

In 1871 a bill to repeal this woman suffrage law was passed by the Legislature and vetoed by Governor Campbell. An attempt to pass it over his veto failed. No proposition to abolish it ever was made in the Legislature thereafter.

In 1884, fifteen years after women had first voted in Wyoming, U. S. District Attorney Melville C. Brown, at the request of Miss Susan B. Anthony, sent to the National Association an extended resume of the status of women suffrage in the Territory, to which he himself had been opposed in 1869. It expressed throughout the most emphatic approval without any qualifications. Some of the statements were as follows:

Women have exercised their elective franchise, at first not very generally but of late with universality, and with such good judgment and modesty as to commend it to the men of all parties who hold the good of the Territory in high esteem.... It has been stated that the best women do not avail themselves of the privilege. This is maliciously false.... The foolish claim has also been made that the influence of the ballot upon women is bad. This is not true. It is impossible that a woman's character can be contaminated in associating with men for a few minutes in going to the polls any more than it would be in going to church or to places of amusement. On the other hand women are benefited and improved by the ballot.... The fact is, Wyoming has the noblest and best women in the world because they have more privileges and know better how to use them.

To conclude I will say: Woman suffrage is a settled fact here, and will endure as long as the Territory. It has accomplished much good; it has harmed no one; therefore we are all in favor, and none can be found to raise a voice against it.

In the convention called the first Monday of September, 1889, to prepare a constitution for admission as a State, this was the first clause presented for consideration:

The right of citizens of the State of Wyoming to vote and hold office shall not be denied or abridged on account of sex. Both male and female citizens of this State shall enjoy all civil, political and religious rights and privileges.

After just twenty years' experience of woman suffrage no man in this convention was found in opposition to it, but to the surprise of the members, one delegate, A. C. Campbell of Laramie, proposed to amend this section by making it a separate article to be voted upon apart from the rest of the constitution. He supported his amendment by a long speech in which he said that he himself should vote in favor of the article and, from his observations throughout the Territory, he believed two-thirds or more of the people would do the same, but he thought they ought to have a chance to express themselves; that "they were going to have a pretty tough time anyhow getting into the Union, and if they put in a proposition of this kind without giving those persons who were opposed to woman suffrage a chance to express themselves, they would vote against the whole constitution."

The other members of the convention looked upon this as a scheme of the opponents, and Mr. Campbell had no support to his proposition. On the contrary, the most eloquent addresses were made by George W. Baxter, Henry A. Coffeen, C. W. Holden, Asbury B. Conaway, Melville C. Brown, Charles H. Burritt and John W. Hoyt demanding that the suffrage clause should stand in the constitution regardless of consequences. Space will permit only the keynote of these courageous speeches.[473]

MR. BAXTER: ... I defend this because it is right, because it is fair, because it is just.... I shall ever regard as a distinguished honor my membership in this convention, which, for the first time in the history of all this broad land, rising above the prejudice and injustice of the past, will incorporate into the fundamental law of the State a provision that shall secure to every citizen within her borders not only the protection of the courts, but the absolute and equal enjoyment of every right and privilege guaranteed under the law to any other citizen.

MR. COFFEEN: ... The question, as I take it, is already settled in the hearts and minds and judgments of the people of our glorious State proposed-to-be, and shall we stand here to-day and debate over it when every element of justice and right and equality is in its favor; when not one iota of weight of argument has been brought against it; when every word that can be said is in favor of continuing the good results of woman suffrage, which we have experienced for twenty years?... I shall not go into the policy or propriety of submitting such a proposition as this now before us to the people of this Territory....

MR. HOLDEN: I do not desire at this time to offer any reason why the right to vote should be granted to women; that is not the question before us. The question is, shall we secure that right by fundamental law? The proposition now under consideration is, shall we leave it to the people of Wyoming to say whether or not the privilege of voting shall be secured to women? Now, Mr. Chairman, I believe that I voice the wishes of my constituency when I say that rather than surrender the right which the women of this Territory have so long enjoyed—and which they have used not only with credit to themselves but with profit to the country in which they live—I say that rather than surrender that right we will remain in a Territorial condition throughout the endless cycles of time.

MR. CONAWAY: ... The sentiment of this convention, and I believe of the people whom we represent, is so nearly unanimous that extended discussion, it seems to me, would be a waste of time.... If it were proposed to submit to a vote of the people whether the property of the gentleman from Laramie should be taken from him, or my property should be taken from me and given to somebody else, there would be no difference of opinion upon it. In Wyoming this right of our women has been recognized, has been enjoyed; there are such things in law as vested rights, and the decisions of our courts are unanimous that it is not within the power of the Legislature ever to take away from any person his rights or his property and to confer them upon another, and that is what this clause proposes to do, to submit to a vote whether we shall take away from one-half of our citizens—and, as my friend has well stated, the better half—a certain right, and increase the rights of the other half by so doing....

MR. BROWN: I was a member of that second Legislature which tried to disfranchise women.... From that day to the present no man in the Legislature of Wyoming has been heard to lift his voice against woman suffrage. It has become one of the fundamental laws of the land, and to raise any question about it at this time is as improper, in my judgment, as to raise a question as to any other fundamental right guaranteed to any citizen in this Territory. I would sooner think, Mr. Chairman, of submitting to the people of Wyoming a separate and distinct proposition as to whether a male citizen of the Territory shall be entitled to vote....

MR. HOYT: ... For twenty years the women of this Territory have taken part with the men in its government, and have exercised this right of suffrage equally with them, and we are all proud of the results. No man in Wyoming ever has dared to say that woman suffrage is a failure. There has been no disturbance of the domestic relations, there has been no diminution of the social order, there has been no lessening of the dignity which characterizes the exercise of the elective franchise; there have been, on the contrary, an improvement of the social order, better laws, better officials, a higher civilization. Why, then, this extraordinary proposition that, after so many years, having exercised with us the right of suffrage since the foundation of this Territorial government, women are now to be singled out, to be set aside, and the question submitted to a vote as to whether they shall have a continuance of the rights which have been given to them by unanimous consent, and which they have exercised wisely and properly and, as my friend says, with profit to the whole Territory? This is indeed an extraordinary proposition, to submit to a vote the continuance of a vested right. I will not impugn the motives of the gentleman who makes it, but I demand as a matter of justice that it shall be voted down by an overwhelming majority, and I would that he had never presented it.... We are told that if we put this clause into our constitution as a fundamental law, we shall fail to secure its approval by the people of Wyoming and its acceptance by the Congress of the United States; but if it should so prove that the adoption of this provision to protect the rights of the women should work against our admission, then I agree with my friend, Mr. Holden, that we will remain out of the Union until a sentiment of justice shall prevail....

MR. BURRITT: ... Mr. Campbell destroyed any argument that he made in favor of this amendment by saying, first, that woman suffrage as a principle is right; second, that he would vote for it if presented to the people. And he further said that he was not afraid, in defending the right of petition, to come before this convention and indorse this proposition to be separately voted upon, even if it cost him the ladies' vote or the votes of any other class. That certainly is very courageous on the part of the gentleman from Laramie.... But I will say this much in addition, which he did not say, that, as a member of this convention and believing the right of suffrage to be a vested right, of which it would be wrong and wicked for us to attempt to deprive women, I have also the courage to rise above the single constituent that I have in Johnson County who is opposed to woman suffrage (and I know but one) and to rise above the majority even of its citizens if I knew they were opposed, and I am sure that this convention and this State have as much courage as I have. Believing that woman suffrage is right, I am sure that this convention has the courage to go before Congress and say that if they will not let us in with this plank in our State constitution we will stay out forever.... I stand upon the platform of justice, and I advocate the continuance of the right of women to vote and hold office and enjoy equally with men all civil, religious and political privileges, and that this right be incorporated as a part of the fundamental law of the State....

The woman suffrage clause was retained as a part of the constitution, which was adopted by more than a three-fourths majority of the popular vote.

A bill to provide for the admission of Wyoming as a State was introduced into the House of Representatives on Dec. 18, 1889, and later was favorably reported from the Committee on Territories by Charles S. Baker of New York. A minority report was presented by William M. Springer of Illinois, consisting of twenty-three pages, two devoted to various other reasons for non-admission and twenty-one to objections because of the woman suffrage article.

As it was supposed that the new State would be Republican, a bitter fight was waged by the Democrats, using the provision for woman suffrage as a club. The bill was grandly championed by Joseph M. Carey, delegate from the Territory (afterward United States senator) who defended the suffrage clause with the same courage and ability as all the others in the constitution.[474]

The principal speech in opposition was by Joseph E. Washington of Tennessee, who said in part:

My chief objection to the admission of Wyoming is the suffrage article in the constitution. I am unalterably opposed to female suffrage in any form. It can only result in the end in unsexing and degrading the womanhood of America. It is emphatically a reform against nature.... I have no doubt that in Wyoming to-day women vote in as many [different] precincts as they can reach on horseback or on foot after changing their frocks and bustles.... Tennessee has not yet adopted any of these new-fangled ideas, not that we are lacking in respect for true and exalted womanhood.[475]

William C. Oates of Alabama also delivered a long speech in opposition, of which the following is a specimen paragraph:

I like a woman who is a woman and appreciates the sphere to which God and the Bible have assigned her. I do not like a man-woman. She may be intelligent and full of learning, but when she assumes the performance of the duties and functions assigned by nature to man, she becomes rough and tough and can no longer be the object of affection.

He concluded his argument by saying that if ever universal suffrage should prevail the Government would break to pieces of its own weight.

The enfranchisement of women was also vehemently attacked by Alexander M. Dockery of Missouri, George T. Barnes of Georgia, William M. Springer of Illinois, and William McAdoo of New Jersey. It was strongly defended by Henry L. Morey of Ohio, Charles S. Baker of New York, Daniel Kerr and I. S. Struble, both of Iowa, and Harrison B. Kelley of Kansas.

Every possible effort was made to compel the adoption of an amendment limiting the suffrage to male citizens, and it was defeated by only six votes. The bill of admission was passed March 28, 1890, after three days' discussion, by 139 ayes to 127 noes. During the progress of this debate Delegate Carey telegraphed to the Wyoming Legislature, then in session, that it looked as if the suffrage clause would have to be abandoned if Statehood were to be obtained, and the answer came back: "We will remain out of the Union a hundred years rather than come in without woman suffrage."[476]

In the Senate the fight against the suffrage article was renewed with added intensity. The bill for the admission of Wyoming was reported favorably through the chairman of the Committee on Territories, Orville H. Platt of Connecticut, in January, 1890, but was not reached on the calendar until February 17. On objection from Francis M. Cockrell of Missouri, that there was not time then for its consideration, it was postponed, but without losing its place on the calendar. Not until May 2, however, did it come up again as unfinished business, and only to be again postponed. On May 8 the bill was set down for the following Monday, but it was June 25 before it finally received extended consideration. The debate continued for three days and the clause conferring suffrage on women took a prominent place.

George G. Vest of Missouri led the opposition and said in the course of his lengthy oration:

I shall never vote to admit into the Union any State that adopts woman suffrage. I do not propose to discuss the sentimental side of the question.... In my judgment woman suffrage is antagonistic to the spirit, to the institutions, of the people of the United States. It is utterly antagonistic to my ideas of the Government as the fathers made it and left it to us. If there were no other reason I would never give the right of suffrage to women because the danger to the institutions of the United States to-day is in hurried, spasmodic, sentimental suffrage.... I believe that with universal suffrage in this country, the injecting into our suffrage of all the women of the United States would be the greatest calamity that could possibly happen to our institutions and people.... If there were no other reason with me, I would vote against the admission of Wyoming because it has that feature in its constitution. I will not take the responsibility as a senator of indorsing in any way, directly or indirectly, woman suffrage. I repeat that in my judgment it would be not only a calamity but an absolute crime against the institutions of the people of the United States....

In an extended speech John H. Reagan of Texas said:

But what are we going to do, what are the people of this Territory going to do, by the adoption of this constitution? They are going to make men of women, and when they do that the correlative must take place that men must become women. So I suppose we are to have women for public officers, women to do military duty, women to work the roads, women to fight the battles of the country, and men to wash the dishes, men to nurse the children, men to stay at home while the ladies go out and make stump speeches in canvasses.... Mr. President, when the Almighty created men and women He made them for different purposes, and six thousand years of experience have recognized the wisdom and justice of the Almighty in this arrangement. It is only latterly that people have got wiser than their Creator and wiser than all the generations which have preceded them.... The constitution of society, the necessity for the existence of society, the necessity of home government, which is the most important of all the parts of government, can only be preserved and perpetuated by keeping men in their sphere and women in their sphere....

It is a wholesome thing to reflect that after a hard day's struggle and of rough contacts which men must have with each other, they can go to a home presided over by one there who soothes the passions of the day by the sweetness of her temper, the gentleness of her disposition and the happiness which she brings around the family circle. But if the wife and the husband are both out in the bitter contests of the day, making speeches, electioneering with voters, pushing their way to the polls, they will both be apt to go home in a bad humor, and there will not be much happiness in a family during the remainder of the day which follows such a scene. And while they are both out what will become of the children? Are they to take care of themselves?

What rights can women expect to have that they do not have now? They are clothed with the protection of law.[477] In my judgment, Mr. President, the day that the floodgate of female suffrage is opened upon this country, the social organism will have reached the point at which decay and ruin begin.... Why, sir, what is the advantage? If the head of the family votes he is apt to reflect the views of the family. It is more convenient than to have all the family going out to vote.

Wilbur F. Sanders of Montana interrupted Senator Reagan to ask if the law should not be an expression of the intellectual and moral sense of all the people, and whether governments did not derive their just powers from the consent of the governed.

John T. Morgan of Alabama entered into a long and sarcastic argument to prove that if a woman could vote in Wyoming she might be sent to Congress and then she could not be admitted because the law says a senator or representative "must be an inhabitant of the State in which he is chosen." He ignored the fact that all legal papers are made out with this pronoun, which presents no difficulty in their application to women.

Henry B. Payne of Ohio said that he was not in favor of woman suffrage, and that no woman in England ever had been permitted to exercise the elective franchise. (Women then had been voting in England for twenty-one years, the same length of time as in Wyoming.) He asked, however, if these little technical objections would not be more than overcome by the moral influence that a woman Representative might exert in the committee rooms and on the floor of the House.

Mr. Morgan at once launched forth into a panegyric on the moral influence of woman which certainly demonstrated that if sentimentalism were a bar to voting, as Senators Vest and Reagan had insisted it should be, the senator from Alabama would have to be disfranchised. Part of it ran as follows:

It is not the moral influence of woman upon the ballot that I am objecting to, and it is not to get rid of that or to silence or destroy such influence that I oppose it, but it is the immoral influence of the ballot upon woman that I deprecate and would avoid. I do not want to see her drawn into contact with the rude things of this world, where the delicacy of her senses and sensibilities would be constantly wounded by the attrition with bad and desperate and foul politicians and men. Such is not her function and is not her office; and if we degrade her from the high station that God has placed her in to put her at the ballot-box, at political or other elections, we unman ourselves and refuse to do the duties that God has assigned to us.

I can say for myself and for those who are dearest to me of all the objects in this life, that I would leave a country where it was necessary that my wife and daughters should go to the polls to protect my liberties. I would just as soon see them shoulder their guns and go like Amazons into the field and fight beneath the flag for my liberties, as to see them muster on election day for any such purpose.[478]

James K. Jones of Arkansas based his argument on the estimate of an equal number of men and women in Wyoming, and assumed that all the women had voted in favor of the suffrage clause and that therefore it did not represent the wishes of men, thus denying wholly the right of women to a voice in a matter which so vitally concerned themselves. In reality women formed considerably less than one-third of the adult population, while the constitution was adopted by more than a three-fourths vote.

William M. Stewart of Nevada and Algernon S. Paddock of Nebraska defended the right of the Territory to decide this question for itself.

George Gray of Delaware declared his belief that "woman suffrage is inimical to the best interests of society." John C. Spooner of Wisconsin disapproved the enfranchisement of women, but believed Wyoming had a right to place it in its constitution.

Orville H. Platt of Connecticut in urging the acceptance of the report said:

I never have been an advocate of woman suffrage. I never believed, as some senators do, that it was wise. But with all that, I would not keep a Territory out of the Union as a State because its constitution did allow women to vote, nor would I force upon a Territory any restriction or qualification as to what its vote should be in that respect. When Washington Territory came here and asked for admission and the bill was passed, it had had woman suffrage, and I was appealed to by a great many citizens all over the United States to keep it out of the Union, so far as my action could do so, until it restored the right of women to vote which had been taken away under a decision of its own courts—taken away, as I thought, unjustly; for I did not consider that decision good law. The senator from Massachusetts, Mr. Hoar, interrogated me when I was advocating the admission of Washington as to why we did not incorporate into that enabling act some language that should undo the wrong which had been done by the Supreme Court of the Territory and restore to women the right of voting. I said then, as I say now, that I think this is a matter which belongs to the Territory; and I am surprised that gentlemen who are so devoted to home rule as a sacred right which should never be interfered with in this republic, should not be willing to allow to a Territory, when it asks for admission, the right to determine whether women should or should not be permitted to vote by the constitution of the proposed State.... Why should we, the Congress of the United States, stand here and say to that Territory, where women have enjoyed the right of voting for twenty years, and nobody arises to gainsay it or to intimate that they have not exercised the right wisely, why should we stand here and say: "Keep out of the Union; we will let no community, no Territory, in here which does not deprive its women of the right they have enjoyed while in a Territorial condition"?

After every possible device to strike out the obnoxious clause had been exhausted, the bill to admit Wyoming as a State was passed on June 27, 1890, by 29 ayes, 18 noes, 37 absent.[479] Although Henry W. Blair of New Hampshire and Henry M. Teller of Colorado interposed remarks showing a thorough belief in the enfranchisement of women, there was no formal argument in its behalf, it being generally understood that all Republicans would vote for the bill in order to admit a Republican State, and a number did so who were not in favor of woman suffrage.

When the people of Wyoming met at Cheyenne, July 23, to celebrate their Statehood, by Gov. Francis E. Warren sat Mrs. Amalia Post, president of the Woman Suffrage Association. The first and principal oration of the day was made by Mrs. Theresa A. Jenkins, of which the History of Wyoming says:

Proceeding to the front of the platform, Mrs. Jenkins, in clear, forceful tones which penetrated to the very outskirts of the crowd, delivered without manuscript or notes an address which in logic and eloquence has rarely if ever been equaled by any woman in the land.... At its conclusion she received an ovation and was presented with a magnificent basket of flowers.

The great incident of the celebration, the presenting of the flag, next followed. Mrs. Esther Morris, the "mother" of the woman suffrage movement in this State, who is widely respected for her great ability and heroic womanhood, was by general consent accorded the post of honor and made the presentation to Governor Warren. Gathering its folds about her she said:

"On behalf of the women of Wyoming, and in grateful recognition of the high privilege of citizenship which has been conferred upon us, I have the honor to present to the State of Wyoming this beautiful banner. May it always remain the emblem of our liberties, 'and the flag of the Union forever.'"

The Governor, on receiving it from Mrs. Morris, made an eloquent response during which he paid this tribute to women:

"Wyoming in her progress has not forgotten the hands and hearts that have helped advance her to this high position; and, in the adoption of her constitution, equal suffrage is entrenched so firmly that it is believed it will stand forever.... Women of Wyoming, you have builded well, and the men of Wyoming extend heartiest greeting at this time. They congratulate you upon your achievements, and ask you to join them in the future, as in the past, in securing good government for our commonwealth."

The poet of the day was a woman, Mrs. I. S. Bartlett, who gave The True Republic. In every possible way the men showed their honor and appreciation of the women, and from this noble attitude they never have departed.

In May, 1895, Miss Susan B. Anthony, president of the National Association, carried out a long-cherished desire to visit Wyoming. She was on the way to take part in the Woman's Congress of San Francisco, accompanied by the Rev. Anna Howard Shaw, vice-president-at-large, and they stopped at Cheyenne where they were the guests of Senator and Mrs. Carey, who gave a dinner party in their honor, attended by Governor and Mrs. Richards, Senator and Mrs. Warren, Mrs. Morris, Mrs. Jenkins, Mrs. Post and other distinguished guests. They went immediately from dinner to the new Baptist church, which was filled to overflowing, and were introduced by the Governor. At the close of the lecture Mrs. Jenkins said, "Now I desire to introduce the audience to the speakers." She then called the names of the Governor and all his staff, the attorney-general, the United States judges, the senators and congressmen, the mayor and members of the city council. Each arose as his name was mentioned, and before she was through it seemed as if half the audience were on their feet, and the applause was most enthusiastic.

Miss Anthony often spoke of this as one of the proudest moments of her life—when it was not necessary to beg the men in her audience to do justice to women, but when these men, the most eminent in the State, rose in a body to pay their respects to the women whom they had enfranchised without appeal, and to those other women who were devoting their lives to secure political freedom for all of their sex.

During the more than thirty years which have elapsed since the suffrage was given to women, not one reputable person in the State ever has produced any evidence or even said over his or her own signature that woman suffrage is other than an unimpeachable success in Wyoming.

Every Governor of the Territory for twenty years bore witness to its good results. Governors of Territories are appointed by the President, not elected by the people, and as they were not dependent on women's votes, their testimony was impartial.

Year after year the State officials, the Judges of the Supreme Court, ministers, editors and other prominent citizens have testified in the strongest possible manner to the beneficial results of woman suffrage.[480]

Gov. Francis E. Warren said in 1885: "I have seen much of the workings of woman suffrage. I have yet to hear of the first case of domestic discord growing therefrom. Our women nearly all vote." He also reported to the Secretary of the Interior: "The men are as favorable to woman suffrage as the women are. Wyoming appreciates, believes in and indorses woman suffrage." In his official report the next year he stated: "Woman suffrage continues as popular as at first. The women nearly all vote and neither party objects." And in 1889: "No one will deny that woman's influence in voting always has been on the side of good government. The people favor its continuance." In the same year, while still Governor, he wrote:

After twenty years' trial of woman suffrage in Wyoming Territory, it is pronounced an unqualified success by men and women alike, and of both political parties.... I sincerely hope that all the new States will so provide that it may prevail immediately, or that it can be extended at any time hereafter when their Legislatures desire, if they are not now ready to take the step.

The women of Wyoming have been exceedingly discreet and wise in their suffrage, so much so that the different Legislatures have not attempted its overthrow, although majorities have sometimes been largely Republican and at other times largely Democratic.

During all his years as United States senator Mr. Warren never has failed to give his testimony and influence in favor of the enfranchisement of women.

In 1889 Delegate Joseph M. Carey wrote from the House of Representatives at Washington: "Wyoming Territory has for twenty years had full woman suffrage. It has commended itself to the approval of our people of all parties ... I sincerely hope the new States will adopt suffrage principles without regard to sex, or provide by a clause in their respective constitutions that the Legislatures may by statute confer the right of franchise upon women." Throughout his subsequent term in the United States Senate he was consistent in this attitude and has remained so ever since.

Following the example of every Territorial Governor, Amos W. Barber, the first State Governor, declared:

Woman suffrage does not degrade woman. On the contrary, it ennobles her and brings out all the strong attributes of true womanhood. To their credit be it said, the women are almost a unit for ability, honesty and integrity wherever found, in high life or low life. A man must walk straight in Wyoming, for the women hold the balance of power and they are using it wisely and judiciously. The cause of education is their first aim. They are making our schools the model of the country, and, too, they can make a dollar go much further than their husbands can.

In 1900 a petition was circulated in the State, asking Congress to submit a Sixteenth Amendment to the Federal Constitution, prohibiting the disfranchisement of United States citizens on account of sex. It was signed by the Governor, the Secretary of State, the Auditor of State, the State Superintendent of Instruction, the State engineer, the Judges of the Supreme Court, the United States district attorney, the United States surveyor general, the director and the observer of the United States Weather Bureau, the mayor of Cheyenne and a long list of editors, ministers, lawyers, physicians, bankers and the most prominent women in the State. Mrs. Carey, who had the petition in charge, wrote to Miss Anthony: "Thousands of names could be secured if it were necessary."

Literally speaking the testimony from Wyoming in favor of woman suffrage is limited only by the space for this chapter.[481]

In 1901 this joint resolution was passed:

WHEREAS, Wyoming was the first State to adopt woman suffrage, which has been in operation since 1869 and was adopted in the constitution of the State in 1890; during which time women have exercised the privilege as generally as men, with the result that better candidates have been elected for office, methods of election purified, the character of legislation improved, civic intelligence increased and womanhood developed to greater usefulness by political responsibility; therefore,

Resolved, By the House of Representatives, the Senate concurring, That, in view of these results, the enfranchisement of women in every State and Territory of the American Union is hereby recommended as a measure tending to the advancement of a higher and better social order;

Resolved, That an authenticated copy of these resolutions be forwarded by the Governor of the State to the Legislature of every State and Territory, and that the press be requested to call public attention to these resolutions.

EDWARD W. STONE, President of the Senate. J. S. ATHERLEY, Speaker of the House. Approved Feb. 13, 1901.

DEFOREST RICHARDS, Governor.

For a number of years women served on grand and petit juries. In compiling the first volume of the Laws of Wyoming, Secretary and Acting Governor Edward M. Lee said:

In the provisions of the woman suffrage clause, enacted in 1869, we placed this youngest Territory on earth in the van of civilization and progress. That this statement has been verified by practical experience the testimony is unanimous, continuous and conclusive. Not a link is wanting in the chain of evidence and, as a Governor of the Territory once said: "The only dissenting voices against woman suffrage have been those of convicts who have been tried and found guilty by women jurors." Women exercised the right of jurors and contributed to the speedy release of the Territory from the regime of the pistol and bowie-knife. They not only performed their new duties without losing any of the womanly virtues, and with dignity and decorum, but good results were immediately seen. Chief Justice J. H. Howe, of the Supreme Court, under whose direction women were first drawn on juries, wrote in 1872: "After the grand jury had been in session two days the dance-house keepers, gamblers and demi-monde fled out of the State in dismay to escape the indictment of women jurors. In short, I have never, in twenty-five years' experience in the courts of the country, seen a more faithful and resolutely honest grand and petit jury than these."

The best women in the Territory served as jurors, and they were treated with the most profound respect and highly complimented for their efficiency. The successor of Chief Justice Howe was opposed to their serving and none were summoned by him. Jury duty is not acceptable to men, as a rule, and the women themselves were not anxious for it, so the custom gradually fell into disuse. The juries are made up from the tax lists, which contain only a small proportion of women. There are no court decisions against women as jurors, and they are still summoned occasionally in special cases.

Women have not taken a conspicuous part in politics. The population is scattered, there are no large cities and necessarily no great associations of women for organized work. They are conscientious in voting for men who, in their opinion, have the best interests of the community at heart. More latitude must necessarily be permitted in new States, but in 1900 they decided that it was time to call a halt on the evil of gambling, and as the result of their efforts a law was passed by the present Legislature (1901) forbidding it. The Chicago Tribune gave a correct summing-up of this matter in the following editorial:

The women of Wyoming are to be credited with securing one reform which is a sufficient answer, in that State at least, to the criticism that woman suffrage has no influence upon legislation and fails to elevate political action. There will be no legalized gambling in Wyoming after the first of January next, the Legislature having just passed a law which makes gambling of every kind punishable by fine and imprisonment after the above date.

This has been the work of the women. When they began their agitation about a year and a half ago, gambling was not only permitted but was licensed. The evil was so strongly entrenched and the revenue accruing to the State so large that there was little hope at first that anything would be accomplished. The leaders of the crusade, however, organized their forces skilfully in every town and village. Their petitions for the repeal of the gambling statute and for the passage of a prohibitory act were circulated everywhere, and were signed by thousands of male as well as female voters. When the Legislature met, the women were there in force, armed with their voluminous petitions. The gamblers also were there in force and sought to defeat the women by the use of large sums of money, but womanly tact and persuasion and direct personal appeals carried the day against strong opposition. The Legislature passed the bill, but it was the women who won the victory.

The most prejudiced must admit that women could not have done this if they had not represented at least as many votes as the gambling fraternity.

LAWS: The first Legislature (1869), which conferred the suffrage upon women, gave wives exactly the same rights as husbands in their separate property.

Dower and curtesy have been abolished. If either husband or wife die without a will, leaving descendants, one-half of the estate, both real and personal, goes to the survivor. If there are no descendants, three-fourths go to the survivor, one-fourth to the father and mother or their survivors, unless the estate, both real and personal, does not exceed $10,000, in which case it all passes to the widow or widower. A homestead to the value of $1,500 is exempted for the survivor and minor children.

A married woman may sue and be sued, make contracts and carry on business in her own name.

The father is the guardian of the minor children, and at his death the mother. There is no law requiring a husband to support his family.[482]

The "age of protection" for girls was raised from 10 to 14 years in 1882, and from 14 to 18 in 1890. The penalty varies from imprisonment for one year to life. Seduction under promise of marriage up to the age of 21 years is a penitentiary offense. Male and female habitues of a house of ill-repute are considered guilty of the same offense, but the man is liable for a fine of $100 and imprisonment for sixty days, while the woman is liable for only half this punishment.