| Show THE POLITICAL RIGHTS BIGHTS OF WOMEN OUR washington dispatches of wednesday report the presentation in the h senate b by the tho vice lut dent of the united states and senators beek beck williams Will lamai allison ba baldwin ferry davis pendleton eton and others of petitions peti tlona liona for foi the removal of the political disabilities of ot women this thia subject ia Is of growing importance w in the minds of the intelligent public in a popular government like that of the united states laws that shut out one class of citizens from participating in the rights privileges and benefits thereof are anomalous and inconsistent the are tire also despotic and anti republic can because they prevent the people from placing women in positions of trust no matter how much th the 0 people might wish to do so booner sooner Soon boon eror or later latr they must disappear it takes time to wear away prejudices and to familiarize mili arize the majority with ions upon established customs but the recognition of woman as an intelligent and active part of the body polities po litie with all the rights and powers of citizenship la Is sure to be accomplished in the progress of events we are conil confident dent of thia this it is right rights because the subject igat tra eting more attention than ever over among the thoughtful and because the cause of womans comans political rights fights is a gaining ground in both hemispheres as A bill ia is now under consideration in the legislative assembly of thib this territory which is in accord with that spirit of the times that has moved che the lawmakers pr fir states to give women the right not only to vote in school and other local affairs but to io hold bold some official positions that has prompted the admission of women into th the leading colleges of the land as well as to the study and practice of surgery and medicine and hals has ocene opener d her way to the bar of tb the highest the bill is not very pretentious it merely takes out oat the word male maie maley from those statutes defining the qualifications for holding office in this territory the second and third sections of the bill might be omitted without materially affecting its object the second section expunges the word imai male Imal efrom from the act defining the qualifications of jurors but aa as the poland bill bili 11 which gives directions for the selection of names for the jury list contains the word male s and the assembly of coursed course has no power to amend that act it would be aa as well to leave the utah statute in relation to J juries uries urles intact especially as it is not at all likely that any 0 of f the ladles of utah will desire to serve on juries although that thu right is granted and exercised by women in wyoming in the debate on od wednesday in the house op the th a reference of the t he bill to the committee on judiciary judi clary ciary mr hir mad made 0 a speech jn favor of the bill which has beeri been the subject of some dispute and we therefore append it here for the consideration of all who are anler interested on the subject 1 utah ij Is the home of liberty for all and agid peculiarly the sanctuary for woman weman here all her bar rights are popularly acknowledged and accorded here she is protected and defended here the conventionalities which nave have kept her in bondage for ages are thrown aside by the force of an enlightened estimate of her capabilities and an enlarged view of her claims as an integral part of the body politic the right tight to vote has already been conferred upon her bar the laws of the nation declare her a citizen equally with man the laws jaws of this territory give her equal rights with man wan at the polls this has worked no injury to a any n y but will necessarily result in good for tho tho tha of the suffrage will develop thought and its responsibilities give occasion for reflection and the enlarged capacities capa caps clUes of woman which will be the natural bonse consequence wili will wl libe ilbe bo transmitted bolier to her hen offs offspring pring arld and benefits will thus accrue to the state in the coming generation none of the disasters db asters predicted by the opponents of woman suffrage have occurred in this territory the women have exercised their power in wisdom and have shown their fitness for the trust reposed in them they have not been degraded or polluted by dabbling in the waters of politics s and are J just as good wives moth erb era Al sisters aters cousins and aunts as before receiving the elective fran chie chire recently they have had bad some voice in our oar caucuses and conventions and nominating committees and who can say eay truthfully that this has been in any way inimical to the comm community unit giving them the light to vote without the right to a voice in the arre arri arrangement ot of a ticket or platform on which to vote would be partial and inconsistent si having done so much for wo mans cause why halt in fit timid hesitation before the th a last barrier to her political freedom the word maie male in our statutes defining the qualifications of citizens for hold io floe office is a relic reijo of the tibe old sya aya tem tern of womans comans vassalage it is a standing reflection upon her bar sex bex it rt is a plain w assertion of her inferiority it tt saya says virtually CINO rn matter ift er how wise intellectual honest thrifty able and gifted a woman may be she is not fit nt to be entrusted with the responsibilities of the smallest office in the gift of the people if thi thia is not its meaning then it is a self ish declaration that all the honors and emoluments of every office shall be reserved to the stronger bex pax because man has the power to elbow woman out into the cold and keep her there there are some offices for which women are not adapted but are there not also some office offices for which many mady men are not adapted yet no man however inefficient is de barred by statutory provisions from such positions but woman is hut shut g out from all and this purely and solely because she is woman it is pot sot asked naked that certai certain n offices be b a set tt tox tor gik mix we are requested to remove a this ugly ana and staring brand of womans comans political inferiority interiority from our statute book s to render it possible for women t to fill such offices as they may be fito tito fitted to td occupy with honor to themselves ives and profit to the people the good sense of the great body of electors of both sexes must determine what those offices may be and as in the case of men inen which persons are the most competent to nil 1111 them the bill will not secure a single office to a single woman ora married one either but it will break down in utah a wall which is in the way of the march of progress and every stone and brick of which will yet be entirely removed in every ever y nation that is really civilized ma massachusetts an and ana dother other states State have commenced the work women there can not inot only vote ote on school mat teis tei tel B but hold offiel official I 1 positions on school boards and other state educational cat ional organ organizations z i actions they have the same privileges in kanbas kansas in utah where the elevation of woman as mans companion not his bis slave blaye is the prevailing social theory she the cannot mid wid under erthe the law hold any office of any kind whatever cache county would have ejected elected a lady to the onee office of county superintendent of schools one who had pro vento the people her ample qualifications for the post but the law jaw forbade it bait SaIt lake county contemplated nominating a talented tsien tilen ted lady for the office of county treasurer but the disability which this bill bul seeks to jerove stood grimly in the way now I 1 do no not t c cite 1 te these aa as sample offices to which women should be elected but merely refer to theae facts in illustration of the subject and to show reasons why the discriminating and egotistical word male maie should be expunged from the eta statutes relating to qualifications for office used deed in this connection it is a blur slur on our wives vives and sisters and mothers it is a deage of the barbaric estimate of the gentler sex away with it blot it out with the pen pan of a progressive gres sive age aad and the ink of advanced ideas let it go with its companion that once stood in the way of woman suffrage but was swept into the limbo of antiquated meas ures urea by bythe the besoni besom of the act of 1870 give to the women of utah there are aie none better Inthe in the world full fall perfect and complete P cal cai liberty I 1 |
