Show THE BALLOT BAILOT IN UTAH THE tue boston comans womans tournai journal of march contains the following letter which was not written with the expectation that it would be published but bat it ought to be widely ly copied being a womans comans defense cf comans womans political status in utah the statements it contains are strictly accurate the ballot in utah is absolutely free and is BO so of nedea necea sity because it is strictly secret if it anyone wishes to vote differently from his hia neighbor there is nothing to pi event him bim if a woman desires to vote an opposite ticket to that supported by her husband or brother nothing stands in the way of her freedom of choice there la is no means of determining how any individual votes the enemies of utah falsely state that the people are compelled to vote under dictation and the opponents sot of woman suffrage faise false falsely ay assert that the women in utah vote simply as they are directed by their husbands or church leaders the facts are that everybody here has perfect liberty in voting matters and all the assertions to the contrary are erroneous and often wilfully untrue and there is no part of the union where the ses sea of the people male and female exer exercise cige elge more thorough independence of choice and freedom of action in voting than in utah the union of the people at the polls bunion is union promoted by principle and all the trouble that arises is because they will vote vota for their friends and will not vote for their enemies here is the letter written by the editor of the comans womans exponent editor journal in the issue of your paper of feb 25 1 see mention made of a marked and numbered ballotin ballo bailo tiu tin utah A allow me to inform you that the statement is not true the ballot in utah is neither marked nor numbered nor has it ever been since the new election law which requires registration the ballot is in the strictest sense of the word a secret one I 1 ha have seen been reference made to this matter before in the journal journal To bynal and wad felt aa as though it was my duty to write to the pemon person who made the assertion james K H wilcox but could not leam learn his address in utah one goes to the polls on election day takes up a ticket folds it puts it in an envelope ail ali a all denvel envoy envoi being exactly alike aa as the law la expressly provides the clerk at the desk looks up the name on the ic ze gi list and aul calls out repeating the full name nam voted toe person jerson voting drops the ticket into the locked box which cannot be opened until by the proper authority I 1 ay iy at the proper time and place therefore you will perceive it is impossible to tell teil which ticket if there be two or more kinds any person may have voted i the women of utah appreciate the franchise and vote as intelligently Int elif eill as citizens elsewhere and there is no good reason why those who are advocating the cause of woman suffrage should be ashamed of their workers coworkers co in Utah although one can easily discover how differently utah and wyoming are mentioned in the newspapers in this connection women have voted in utah twelve years on all questions question qu omen have been elected as delegates to county and territorial conventi convention ony and there are women members of the central committees ex governor emery stated to a committee of ladies of whom I 1 was one that woman suffrage had worked no evil whatever here but that he was opposed to it on general principles oar legislative aeb Aes assembly emby embr at its session cession in 1879 1880 passed a bill making women eligible to office but governor emery refused his bis signature the women citizens of this territory have no occa occasion aion alon to bluth for their record on the subject of the ballot they vote for men who have built up the country and who labor for the good of humanity and who are loyal to the principles of freedom and justice bequeathed by the constitution atit ution of tiie tue united state states of america many of the mormon women and a very large proportion of the early settlers settler sare bare are nowen newen new england women or the daughters of new england parents notwithstanding they are exiles for their religion and despised by the world i my bly forefathers settled in dear old boston in 1630 and owned large tracts of land in that vicinity and a portion of the land on which boston stands today to day my mother for no offense lenae of never having evea even heard of the doctrine of plural marriage which is the oie oi e plea used against us now was exiled from nauvoo and died of fatigue and hardship in the very prime of life leaving three little children of tender years it is false V t say the foreign element rules in utah to be sure aure we have many among us gathered f bom om other countries but they become naturalized as soon as the law permits in most instances and they are as honest nud aud Indu industry str ous and make as good citizens as th ee so who are born in Am america erica trica excuse the liberty I 1 have taken and believe mea me a faithful worker in the cause of womans woman a advancement res respectfully ci fully etc B WELI wells S |