Page:The Souvenir of Western Women.djvu/115

Rh than prudence directed for lasting results, they were daily growing in discretion as well as knowledge, and it would not have been long till they would have become potent factors of a model system of civil government.

Instead of women being the objects of insult by a rabble at the polls, the booths ceased to be the rendezvous of the vicious or intemperate, and they were as quiet and orderly as elsewhere wherein woman's gentle influence is felt. Had a disposition been displayed to make it otherwise, there would have been enough of true manhood present to afford ample protection to women. Then, again, many avenues were opened to woman for honorably making her way forward in the rigorous struggle of life which she must meet when thrown upon her own resources.

These are, in brief, the impressions of the writer, based upon the facts presented in the experimental test of woman's capability for political rights in the Territory of Washington. That it was a success in all respects makes it the more to be regretted that a branch of our government we have been taught to reverence and honor should have been used as the only available method for triumph of the machinations of a business which a no less authority than the Supreme Court of the United States says should be regulated and restrained by law—the embodiment of the people's will in statutory form. Disheartened, disorganized and disfranchised by this means, the suffrage party was in no condition to make a successful effort to carry the suffrage clause of the state constitution in 1889; but a vote of 16,527 was polled for woman suffrage, and 35,613 against it. The women's votes would have added quite enough, it is safe to say, with the influence they would have carried with the politicians, to have placed the power irrevocably in the constitution of the State of Washington. But the end is not yet.

The Security Savings and Trust Company was formed July 20, 1890, and incorporated under the names of the following gentlemen: C. H. Lewis, Henry Failing, H. W. Corbett, C. A. Dolph, C. F. Adams and A. Bush. The present officials of the corporation are: President, C. F. Adams; secretaries, R. G. Jubitz and G. F. Russell.

From the start the bank has maintained a high standard and ranks as one among the safest depositories in the Northwest. It has filled the want of just such accommodations as its name implies. To those of small earnings it means much to have at hand a place where their savings can be deposited and at the same time yield interest. This means more than the mere opportunity to deposit money in small amounts. The very possibility is an inducement to save and cultivate the spirit of economy, and also help to overcome the disposition to consume all of one's earnings in daily expenses. Hence it acts as a moral stay to the people.

The resources of this bank are $3,576,490, distributed as follows: Loans, $2,232,078; bonds, $862,154; real estate, $11,188; cash and due from correspondents, $471,069; capital stock and surplus, $375,000; deposits, $3,170,681.65.