Page:History of Woman Suffrage Volume 4.djvu/1069

 Miss Susan B. Anthony, sent to the National Association an extended résumé 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