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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



"The Relation of the Sexes to Government," 

 which appeared in " The Popular Science 

 Monthly " for October. Especially has this 

 been marked in Wyoming, for it is here, I 

 believe, that we find the nearest approach 

 to a relation of both sexes with the Gov- 

 ernment. In the outset of his article Prof. 

 Cope stated that, " being free from the disa- 

 bilities imposed by maternity, the male could 

 acquire a greater mastery over his environ- 

 ment than the female." Now. in all obser- 

 vations of animal life lower than man, the 

 contriwy appears to be the case. We find 

 the female taking the most active part in 

 the struggle for the existence of the young, 

 and certainly doing as much for her own ex- 

 istence as the male for his. The lioness, in 

 providing for and protecting her young, which 

 in animal life represents the home, exerts a 

 much greater " mastery over the environ- 

 ment " than the male, which only for a brief 

 period shows a care for the female, and nei- 

 ther affection for nor government over the 

 young. The horns of the female kine in de- 

 fense of the calf are to be dreaded as much as 

 those of the male. We do not find the male 

 cat feeding or protecting the kittens. The hen 

 not only provides for and defends but also 

 chastises and governs her brood. In the in- 

 sect world we find that the female spider 

 eats her husband, bees kill theirs, and fe- 

 male ants make slaves of theirs. Coming to 

 man, we find that among the Indians the fe- 

 male does the drudgery, and also the provid- 

 ing, with the exception of the hunting. In 

 the wild Kurdish mountains we find women 

 doing labor that the beasts of burden fail in, 

 bringing great bundles of fire-wood down 

 those terrible mountain-sides. AVe find them 

 protecting their fields from the ravages of 

 bears, fighting and slaying them with as 

 much fury as the men, hindered neither by 

 lack of physical strength nor by maternity. 

 Macaulay speaks of a scene in the Scottish 

 Highlands where aged mothers, pregnant 

 wives, and tender girls are harvesting oats, 

 while the men bask in the sun or angle in the 

 streams. 



Prof. Cope claims that women would be 

 irresponsible voters, as they can not assist in 

 the execution of the laws that they help make. 

 Does their physical nature prevent them from 

 doing this ? In the riots of Ireland, Canada, 

 and the United States does woman stand 

 back hindered by physical weakness from 

 throwing stones, beating the magistrates, or 

 barricading street -car lines? "Can it be 

 proved scientifically that man had rather 

 meet infuriated woman in preference to a 

 male antagonist ? In the pioneer days did 

 not woman's bullet speed as true to the mark 

 as man's in the protection of her home ? 

 Where has woman failed ? In the exhaust- 

 ing marches of exiles to Siberia do the facts 

 show that man stands the journey better 

 than the Russian woman ? 



Again, the professor says, " The mastery 

 by him has accustomed her to yielding, and 



to the use of methods of accomplishing her 

 desires other than force." This amounts to 

 saying that, while man is superior in force, 

 woman is superior in diplomacy. Now, if it 

 can be proved that in government the latter 

 is as important as the former, then will be 

 shown the absolute necessity for co-operation 

 of the two sexes in political affairs In the 

 garden of Eden we find, instead of Adam 

 choking the apple down the throat of Eve, 

 Eve persuading Adam to partake, and here 

 diplomacy wins. It can not be denied by 

 our most adverse opponents that during the 

 last half-century woman has taken posses- 

 sion of educational government. The teach- 

 ers of the United States to-day are women. 

 Our sex governs the schools throughout this 

 broad land, and we maintain this govern- 

 ment, not through force, but through tact or 

 diplomacy. 



Here in Wyoming some experience with 

 woman suffrage has been acquired, though 

 in a Territory of course there can not be as 

 wide scope for its exercise as under State- 

 hood. Now, if it could be believed all over 

 this land that women would allow themselves 

 to be " loaded " into wagons by their man, 

 and driven to the polls to vote his ticket, as 

 the writer of the article in question rudely 

 states it, this would give a mighty impetus to 

 woman suffrage. But this is false. Suffrage 

 is not denied woman because she will vote as 

 man dictates, but because she will not ; and 

 man knows full well that force would very 

 quickly succumb to diplomacy. It is true 

 we go to the polls in carriages placed at our 

 disposal by the candidates, but is this any 

 proof of disloyalty to our convictions ? Are 

 the members of a choir who attend the 

 services of the G. A. R. in carriages provided 

 for them to be accused of having no patriot- 

 ism nor respect for the honored dead ? Is it 

 to be supposed that, in spite of birth, educa- 

 tion, or culture, we would become as ignorant 

 vassals to the husbands and fathers whose 

 love, respect, and protection we had possessed, 

 or that our male associates are so debased 

 that they would wish us to become such will- 

 ingly, or compel us to become so unwilling- 

 ly ? There are women, no doubt, who vote 

 as their husbands vote ; but, having been a 

 resident and a voter eleven years in Wyo- 

 ming, I have yet to find one case where a wom- 

 an has voted as the force of man dictated. 

 There are women in Wyoming who do not 

 vote, but it is not because their male asso- 

 ciates compel them to remain at home, and 

 they resent such an imputation. Neither is 

 the woman - suffrage movement condemned 

 by them. The majority of the women in Wy- 

 oming vote, and vote according to their own 

 preferences, and the men so desire and ex- 

 pect them to vote. It has been stated, rath- 

 er coarsely, that won;an, for the sake of re- 

 maining her own master politically, would be 

 tempted to refrain fronWf^a/ marriage. But 

 were this to prove true, and were woman 

 without a legal protector to step up to the 



