Show tun wun WOMAN IN WYOMING duing during the last hair biair deade decade dende iio ilo lie file question of comans womans enfranchisement has been thoroughly discussed from the rostrum and in editorial fields and the object of this article is not to theorize further but rather to describe the lical operation of impartial suffrage in wyoming this youngest of territories organized in 1869 occupies a portion of the continents tinen ts crest and its waters flowing eastward and westward mingle with the atlantic and pacific th the inhabitants numbering about eight thousand souls exclusive of indians and united states troops are established on ranches and ld in villages along the tile union pacific railroad and in the sweetwater mining region near sou south h pass A ma majority arity are re of english englis descent though the andreu and Teutonic nic nie elements are well represented many of the earlier settlers have been citizens of the older territories especially colorado and montana and of the entire white population exclusive of soldiers something over one third are women the number of women is 13 however constantly increasing in a greater ratio than the number of men because the male pioneer after iliavi dg completed his home and established a business sends for his wife or if still flounder ing in the gall of bitterness and the bonds of single cursedness mak makes es a raid across some eastern threshold captures its maiden divinity and anoints her empress of his western home in wyoming the women a majority fe of whom were wert born in th the middle middie and western states are representatives of the various social classes and in point of culture and genuine womanliness are not nob ox excelled celled by the inhabitants of any newly settled region the number unwedded though marriageable ladies is exceedingly exceed limited and few maidens are permitted to pass the rubicon girlhood without being speedily consigned to some matrin matrimonial lonial position nearly all the prominent literary journals of the east are widely circulated the newspaper and bookstores book stores in every village are well patronized the ry sustains ten churches and a sufficient number of excellent schools both public and private some of the most noted eastern lecturers have havn drawn crowded houses and literary associations temperance lodges debating clubs etc been started the first legislature composed of elements common in border communities assembled in the tho autumn of 1869 and proceeded to enact code of laws among which was a statute enfranchising women the law question was not adopted in obedience to public sentiment but because the he territorial lawgivers believed it would atwould operate as a first class advertisement that their action in the premises would be telegraphed throughout the civilized world public interest thereby aroused resulting in increased immigration ana and larga large accretions of capital to their new and comparatively unknown territory I 1 am sure thatus that up to that time not a suir suffrage rage disciples could be found within the tile territorial limits even the women themselves did not appear as petition ers no pungent satire or unanswerable argument or impassioned platform haran harangue ue fell from their lips in advocacy of pori political equality but the suffrage was conferred as has been said solely for advertising purposes the bouncil council originated and adopted the measure believing that the house of Re presenta tives fives would disagree but the last named body ultimately concurred in anticipation of an executive veto the bill however was finally approved and the writer of this article exercising at that time the appointing power proceeded to select incumbents for county offices from among the newly enfranchised citizens among others a lady was appointed to the office ot of justice of the tile peace in a thickly settled mining locality which theretofore had not been noted for strict adhesion to legal a tenets she at once familiarized herself with the principles of common law and with the territorial statutes and for nearly a year performed her official duties with signal ability and success her court sessions were characterized by a degree of gravity and decorum rarely exhibited in the tho judicature of border precincts shortly after her appointment and qualification an ineffectual attempt was made by certain unbelieving attorneys to demonstrate comans womans unfitness unfit ness nesa for judicial position and to this end the following case was submitted with the belief that she would erroneously proceed to its adjudication her predecessor had performed some official act subsequent to her entrance upon judicial duty and for this alleged 11 misfeasance he was cited to appear before the court of his successor counsel presented exhaustive pleas at the conclusion of which her honor decided that the point in issue was a question as to whether her predecessor at the time alleged had a right to perform any omm off leial official act that such an issue could only be settled by some superior tribunal that hers was not such a tribunal therefore she had no jurisdiction and would dismiss the case her decision in civil causes were sometimes appealed from by the parties deeming themselves aggrieved but in nea nearly 2 every instance they were confirmed firmed by the appellate court during her administration a decided improvement in the tone of public morals was noticeable and the laws had never been so ably administered in that vicinity if any errors of judgment crept in they were on the side of justice rather than mercy especially when the 0 opposite cosite sex appeared as aa defendants or alleged alleged criminals ii r lie he inhabitants of new mining countries are ara prone to administer justice in accordance with their own notions of right regardless of legal forms preferring the the ancient trial by battle rather than the interposition of pleas petitions and demurrers this unfortunate public sentiment was happily neutralized through her influence and it may be safely asserted that the pioneer female justl justi justice ice was in all respects successful the office of superintendent of pub public ae instruction has also been ably filled by re representatives of the enfranchised sex sen when it is remembered that women from time immemorial have been among the most successful teachers this fact will not seem strange shortly after the bill in question went into operation women were summoned to serve as grand and petit jurors in the several courts of record and in this particular field their participation in public pubic affairs has been especially successful acting with men in the capacity of grand jurors they secured the presentation of indictments that could not otherwise have been obtained serving as petit jurors they paid strict attention to testimony and argument profoundly impressed with tile the new and important responsibilities that had been thrust upon them the circumstances of the first case tried by a jury regardless of sex were as follows A young blade who had imbibed the then prevalent notion that he could not hope to attain to the full stature of manhood without killing somebody participated unnecessarily in a barroom bar room brawl and accomplished dished the object of his hla ambition raving waving having been indicted for murder he sought to show a justi justl justifiable flable homicide claiming that the act was done la in self defence A duty jury composed of equal parts male mie and an female was to try the case me and after three days and nights of deliberation at last agreed upon a of manslaughter and the culprit Is now in the penitentiary meditating upon the swiftness and certainty of female justice the male jurors were in favor of acquittal but the ladies believing that human life ought not to be held by any such unsafe and flimsy tenure voted during 0 three days and nights for conviction until at last a verdict of manslaughter was agreed a 0 reed upon the court unlike some of its eastern compeers com peers would not permit jurors to separate until after their final agreement and discharge at nightfall after the days deliberation adjacent rooms communicating muni eating cating by a door of which the sher sheriff ff held the key were provided and the women attended by female constables occupied one apartment iwhite while the men deposed themselves in the other wilen when morning dawned the two sexes met for deliberation and so on from day to day until a final verdict was reached it is alleged that the women passed a consloe considerable portion of the night season seabon in prayerful contemplation of the grave responsibilities resting upon them while the men indulged in a cheerful game of draw poker some of the ladles ladies were matrons matrona whose domestic arrangements might have been temporarily in a chaotic state will e the spinsters spin enjoying their season of maiden meditation fancy free I 1 were not annoyed by any harrowing reflections concerning domestic eclipses if paterfamilias was domestically disturbed and obliged to practise culinary arts he had bad the consolation of knowing that his other physical half was admit administering Is stern and impartial justice justlee for the benefit of society A lady with infant in arms appeared in obedience to a summons and while the jury was being impanel led the child addressed the court with impassioned though unintelligible eloquence filling the entire courtroom court room with volumes of incoherent soun dand effectually drowning all other attempts to be heard whether the young pilgrim was entering solemn protest against the new departure or singing the praises of political equality must always remain a mystery but the court promptly excused both mother and child from further attendance at that term in lel all cases where husband and wife wire happened to be summoned upon the same jury one or the other was invariably excused on grounds of public or private policy and in the case of women the present or prospective possession of very young children is regal regarded ded as sufficient cause for excuse wh whether eiller pleaded or not and the court is expected to take judicial notice of this faed fact no divorces or elopements elope ments or other domestic calamities have been known to result from comans womans introduction to the jury box during a period of more than thai two years women have served as jurors in civil and criminal cases at nearly every term of the various courts of rec ree record aud and their influence thus practically manifested on behalf of law jaw and order has been noticeably beneficial this is especially ally true with reference to criminal trials in border precincts at the west the legal doctrine of excusable or justifiable homicide is carried far beyond its proper limits for example a couple of bellicose sovereigns indulge in wordy warfare and after having exhausted the vernacular of billingsgate exchange shots resulting perhaps fatally to one but not the other the survivor is indicted for murder claims that the act was done in self defence and in a majority of cases would be acquitted by a jury composed exclusively of males but women jurors unless satisfied that the deceased was beyond question an aggressor with murderous intent are quite apt t to find a totally different verdict the women of wyoming regardless race or previous condition of servitude adhere to good government seek the enforcement of wholesome laws and while bravely performing the though unsought duties pertaining to their eliell new condition manifest no unwomanly ambition for place emolument or power in 1870 a fierce preliminary for fora a congressional nomination culminated in convention at the capital bitter recriminations sandwiched between blows and personal altercations after the most approved eastern fashion enlivened the scene and while chaos was impending the doorkeeper announced that a force of the lately downtrodden but enfranchised sex demanded admission they were at once provided with seats in the political synagogue and aua from that moment the men who had been rudely belligerent became calm caim and contented themselves thereafter with an interchange of decent phil lipic unaccompanied with blows but for female influence the lives of several estimable pothouse pot house politicians might have been sacrificed on the altar of pa the first election under t the e new law occurred shortly afterward and the women very generally deposited their ballots which in this eluted the will as do the will of god 1 to a venerable matron of more illaci iuan fourscore summers belongs the hondr of being the first of her sex who ever ever cast a legal ballot at a politician cial election she approached the polls with vigorous step and deposited her vote while the vast assemblage of men with uncovered heads respectfully contemplated the thi 1 novel scene 1 until as they razed gazed there crept an avie anfe awe 1 1 t I 1 through the ranks la in whispers and so some 6 e ment moua men mont t saw i tn in the antique vestments and eind long on g ehlt white hair hain the past ot the nation voting there i an als ais leway was opened through the stile i crowd and three tremendous cheers ebbers were given as aa the aged grandam retired homeward polling booths were located near neara door or window fronting the street thereby enabling voters to deposit their ballots while passing along the sidewalk at an early hour the lately downtrodden debouched debauched debou ched from their daveral homes and with smiling faces wended bended their cheerful way toward the place where thanks to a legislature unanimously democratic they could ini bulge the most sacred right of american free men and women the streets were galwith gay with bril brilliant ilan llan t costumes costume si coaches and carriages frei freighted gated with fair sovereigns flashed hither and thither the poverty stricken mother through whose daily toll toil her children were supported the lady of wealth who had been taxed without her consent and the fashio fashionable matron who enjoyed neither poverty nor riches all expressed their views of political economy in in a practical ucal ueal manner at the ballot box thereby presenting a touching illustration of perfect equality before the law partisan strife to secure votes among the male adherents of rival candidates culminated in the afternoon when a brace of colored sisters hanging gracefully upon the arms of a deputy united states marshal of irish birth were escorted by him to the polls and indulged in the right of suffrage was was not this remarkable coalition a precursor of more harmonious relations between these hereto heretofore fore dore bitterly antagonistic elements the descendants of ham and st patrick hobnobbing hobnob bing in political communion verily the lion and the lamb shall lie down together and a little child shall lead them 1 the utmost freedom of speech and action characterizes pioneer elections and political and personal differences are often settled by bowle bowie knife and revolver without the interposition of legal forms but these unpleasant instrumentalities were held in abeyance while the women voted because of the batters lat beneficial presence fisticuff engagements accompanied compan compau nied led by language not found in any current religious work were dis 1 with antle the women in couples and detachments approached the polls band and no lady listened to a syllable or observed an action that could by any possibility offend the most sensitive woman in the land border men are proverbially chivalric and rarely forget what americans everywhere are so a apt p t 1 to 0 remember that the gentler sex is I 1 always i w ays entitled to respectful consideration all classes voted without diio distinction of race or social status even those at whom society points the finger of scorn and for whose safe transit |