Page:History of Woman Suffrage Volume 4.djvu/599

 tion day. Many of the dire effects predicted of equal suffrage have proved their prophets false. In some cases the women themselves have been surprised to find they had entertained groundless fears. This is particularly true concerning the fierce partisanship which is supposed to run riot in the female nature. There is a strong tendency on the part of women to stand by each other, though not always to the extent evinced by one lady who was and still is a pronounced "anti." At the first election she voted for every woman placed in nomination for the Legislature, Populist, Democrat, Republican and Prohibitionist, until she had filled out her ticket. Women frequently scratch their ballots when by so doing they can elect a better man. In legislative work there are absolutely no party lines. The Republican and the Democratic women both want the same measures, and they look upon themselves as constituents whether the member belongs to their party or not.

The vote of the demi-monde always has been a stumbling-block to certain particularly good people. These women never register, never vote and never attend primaries except when compelled to do so. Their identity is often a secret even to their closest associates. It is almost impossible to learn their true names. All they ask is to be let alone. Unfortunately the city of Denver is under what is known as the Metropolitan Fire and Police System. The firemen and police are controlled by boards appointed by the Governor. If he is a politically scrupulous man and his appointments are good ones, this class is not molested. Gov. Davis Waite did not compel these women to vote for him in 1894, though he had the power. Under the administration of Governor Adams, when the Hon. Ralph Talbot was president of board, they took no part whatever.

Possibly those who have been most disappointed at the workings of equal suffrage are the Prohibitionists, yet they really have a reason for congratulation. Weld County, which gave vote for equal suffrage of any in the State, has excluded liquor from its borders except in one small town, a coal with a heavy foreign vote. In many sections the liquor traffic has been abolished, always by the votes of women, but there are many more men than women in the State and without their co-opera-