The History of Woman Suffrage Volume III Part 82

As has been indicated in another connection, it was the legislature of 1881 which distinguished itself by pa.s.sing a bill for amending section 2 of article II. of the State const.i.tution so as to give women the right to vote in all elections. The legislature of 1883 did nothing to further ameliorate the legal condition of women; and the highest legal rights enjoyed by women of Indiana are indicated in the foregoing recital of legislative action upon the subject from 1860 to 1884 inclusive.

For some years after public schools were established in Indiana, women had no recognition. I am told by a reliable gentleman, Dr.

R. T. Brown, who served from 1833 to 1840 as examiner in one of the most advanced counties of the commonwealth, that during that period no woman ever applied to him for a license to teach, and that up to 1850 very few were employed in the public schools. At that time it was permitted women to teach "subscription" schools during the vacations, for which purpose the use of the district school-house was frequently granted. It was by demonstrating their capacity in this un.o.btrusive use of holidays, that women obtained employment in the regular schools. The tables show that in 1861 there were 6,421 men and 1,905 women employed in the primary schools, and 128 men and 72 women in the high schools.

From that time up to 1866, owing to the war, the number of men decreased while that of women rapidly increased. The tables for that year show 5,330 men and 4,163 women in the schools. The number of men employed in 1880 was 7,802, of women, 5,776. While the very best places are held by men, the majority of the second-rate places are filled by women, and men fill a majority of the lowest places. The average daily wages received by men engaged in the public schools in 1880 was $1.86, while the average daily wages of women was $1.76.

Of the twenty-six academies, colleges and universities, all are, with two notable exceptions--Hanover and Wabash--open to women.

Of these, Butler, at Irvington, formerly known as the Northwestern Christian University, was the first to admit women to a "female course," which its managers arranged to meet the needs of the female mind. In its laudable endeavor to adapt its requirements to this intermediate cla.s.s of beings, the university subst.i.tuted music for mathematics, and French for Greek. Few, however, availed themselves of this course, and it was utterly rejected by Demia Butler, a daughter of the founder of the inst.i.tution, who entered it in 1860, and graduated from what was then known as the male course, in 1864, thus winning the right to be remembered as the first woman in Indiana to demonstrate the capacity of her s.e.x to cope with the cla.s.sics and higher mathematics. From that time the "female course" became gradually less popular, until it was discarded. One after another, private and denominational schools have fallen into line, until nearly all of them are open to women without humiliating conditions.

Up to 1867 the Indiana University exhibited the anomaly of a great inst.i.tution of learning supported by the State, and regarding itself as the crown of the public-school system, free to but one-half of the children of the commonwealth. Since that date it has been open equally to both s.e.xes in all three of its departments--the State Normal School, located at Terre Haute, the Agricultural College, located at Lafayette and commonly known as Purdue University, and the State University proper, including literary and scientific departments located at Bloomington. Of this last branch, 30 per cent. are women. That there is no longer any discrimination in these higher inst.i.tutions of learning is not true. Girls must always feel that they are regarded as belonging to a subordinate cla.s.s, wherever women are not found in the faculty and board of managers. The depressing influence of their absence in superior positions cannot be measured.

Very few women are found in college faculties in Indiana, and none on boards of trustees. Those most conspicuous in ability are Mrs. Sarah A. Oren,[342] who, having served two successive terms as State librarian, was called from that position to fill a chair at Purdue University, where she remained several years; Miss Catharine Merrill, professor of English literature in Butler University, who throughout her term of service from 1869 to 1883 enjoyed the deserved reputation of being one of the strongest members of the faculty;[343] and Miss Rebecca I. Thompson, who is professor of mathematics at Franklin College, the leading Baptist school in the State. The women occupying these conspicuous positions are all identified with the suffrage movement; Professor Thompson, of Franklin, is the president of the Johnson County Suffrage a.s.sociation. Miss N. Cropsey has served the cause of public education in Indianapolis in some capacity for twenty years, and has for several years been superintendent of the primary schools, a place which she fills with acknowledged ability. Miss Cropsey is another living denial of the common a.s.sertion, that only half-cultured and ill-paid women want the ballot.

Of the four medical colleges in Indianapolis, two admit women and two exclude them. No theological school in the State receives women, nor does the only law school, which is located at Indianapolis; but its former president, Hon. James B. Black, told me that it was ready to receive them upon application.

Formerly, many questions now decided by the board of trustees of each school district, were directly settled by the people themselves at the annual school meeting. For instance, the teacher for the coming term was elected from among the candidates for that place; the salary to be paid, the length of term, the location of the school-house, were all questions to be decided by ballot. I have reliable authority for the a.s.sertion that in some parts of the State, as early as 1860, widows, and wives whose husbands were necessarily absent from the school meetings, voted upon these questions. During the years of the war this practice became very common, but fell into disuse upon the return of peace.

There are many physicians in Indiana enjoying the merited esteem of their respective communities and having a lucrative practice.

The most notable example of success in this profession is Dr.

Mary F. Thomas of Richmond.[344] Another living testimony to woman's right in the medical profession is Dr. Rachel Swain of Indianapolis, whose patrons are among the first families of the city. By zealous devotion to her profession she has secured the respect and social recognition of the community in which she moves. As an avowed friend of suffrage, whose word in season is never lacking, Dr. Swain carries a knowledge of our principles into circles where it would otherwise slowly penetrate. Dr. Mary Wilhite of Crawfordsville ranks with the best physicians of that city. In her practice she has gained a competence for herself and disseminated among her patients a knowledge of hygienic laws that has improved the health and the morals of the community to which she has ministered. She, too, advocates political equality for woman. Dr. Sarah Stockton of Lafayette settled in Indianapolis in the autumn of 1883, and was soon, on the pet.i.tion of leading citizens, including both men and women, appointed as physician to the Woman's Department of the Hospital for the Insane. Her professional labors at the hospital and in general practice indicate both learning and skill. In November, Dr. Marie Haslep was elected attendant physician at the Woman's Reformatory, a State inst.i.tution having some four hundred inmates, where her services have been characterized by faithfulness and caution.

Elizabeth Eaglesfield, a graduate of the law department of Michigan University, was admitted to the bar of Marion county in the spring of 1885, and is the first woman to open an independent law-office in this State.

Very few women have served in the ministry. The only one who ever secured any prominence in this profession was Miss Prudence LeClerc, who was pastor of the Universalist church in Madison in 1870-71, and served parishes at different points in south-eastern Indiana until her death in 1878. Miss LeClerc frequently spoke at suffrage conventions, and called meetings wherever she preached, instructing the people in the philosophy of this reform.

To obtain accurate statistics as to the professions and industries is extremely difficult, as the year 1881 was the first in which the State considered women at all. That year the head of the bureau of statistics sent to each town and county commissioner certain sets of questions relative to women's occupations. The grace with which they were received, the seriousness with which they were considered, the consequent accuracy with which they were answered, may be inferred from the fact that one trustee replied, "The women in our county are mostly engaged in baby-tending," and that his response was generally copied by the press as a manifestation of brilliant wit. Although some commissioners felt their time too valuable to spend in gathering information relative to the work of women, from the reports of those who seriously undertook to canva.s.s this matter, a table has been arranged and published, which, though incomplete, must be regarded, both in variety of occupations and in the numbers of women registered, as a most favorable showing for this Western State. The total number of women engaged outside of home, in non-domestic and money-making industries, is 15,122; the number of industries represented by them is 51. Add to these the number of teachers, and we have over 20,000 women in the trades and professions denied the ballot, that sole weapon pledged by a republic to every citizen for the protection of person and property.

Of the men and women prominent in this movement since 1860, whose names are not mentioned in the first volume, the one meriting the first place is beyond doubt Dr. R. T. Brown of Indianapolis. He has the longest record as an advocate of suffrage to be found in the State. As a speaker in the first Harrison campaign (1836) he advocated suffrage without regard to s.e.x. Engaged as a teacher or inspector in the public schools in the early years, Dr. Brown argued the adaptation of women to the teacher's profession, and insisted that salaries should be independent of s.e.x; and in many individual cases where he had authority, women secured this recognition before it was generally admitted even in theory to be just.

When, in 1855, the Northwestern Christian (now Butler) University was founded, Dr. Brown, as one of the trustees, advocated coeducation; in 1858 he took the chair of natural science, and in that branch taught cla.s.ses of both s.e.xes until 1871. In 1868 he was active in organizing the Indiana Medical College on the basis of equal rights to women, and filled the chair of chemistry until 1872; in 1873 he was appointed to the chair of physiology, which he held until 1877, and then resigned because the board of trustees determined to exclude women. This proves that Dr.

Brown's devotion to the doctrine of equal rights is of that rare degree which will bear the crucial test of official and pecuniary sacrifice. He has been an active member of the State and city suffrage a.s.sociations from the beginning.

The name of Mary E. Haggart first appears as a member of the State a.s.sociation at the convention held in Indianapolis in 1869.

In 1870, Mr. Hadley made a speech in the State Senate against woman suffrage, to which Mrs. Haggart wrote an able reply which was published and widely commented on by the press of the State.

Her next notable effort was in a discussion through several numbers of the _Ladies' Own Magazine_, published by Mrs. Cora Bland, where she completely refuted the objections urged by her opponent, a literary gentleman of some note. Mrs. Haggart has addressed the legislatures of her own State, of Ma.s.sachusetts, Rhode Island and Kentucky, as well as the Judiciary Committee of the House of Representatives at the hearing granted the National a.s.sociation. She seldom speaks without the most careful preparation, and never without manifesting abilities of the highest order. Perhaps no woman in the State, as a speaker, has won higher encomiums from the press or has better deserved them.

The first active step taken in suffrage by Mrs. Florence M.

Adkinson (then Miss Burlingame) was to call a convention in Lawrenceburg. In 1871, 1872, she gave several lectures on suffrage and temperance in Ohio, and held a series of meetings in southeastern Indiana. Though an acceptable speaker, it is as a writer that Mrs. Adkinson is best known; she is an officer in both the State and the city organizations, and in every capacity serves the cause with rare fidelity.

The name of Lizzie Boynton of Crawfordsville frequently occurs in suffrage reports between 1865 and 1870. She was a member of the State a.s.sociation and a frequent speaker at its conventions.

Besides working in that body, she a.s.sisted in the organization of the local society at Crawfordsville, wrote poems, stories, essays, and won high rank in the State in literature and reform.

From mature womanhood her record as Mrs. Harbert belongs to Illinois rather than Indiana.

The first time I met Mrs. Zerelda G. Wallace she was circulating a temperance pet.i.tion to present to the legislature. One day while busy on the third floor of the high-school building a fellow-teacher sent up word that a lady wished to see me.

Descending, I was introduced to Mrs. Wallace, who, in a bland way, requested me to sign the paper which she extended. Never doubting that I might do so, I had taken my pen when my eye caught the words: "While we do not clamor for any additional civil or political rights." "But I do clamor," I exclaimed, and threw down the paper and pen and went back to my work, vexed in soul that I should have been dragged down three flights of stairs to see one more proof of the degree to which honorable women love to humiliate themselves before men for sweet favor's sake. Mrs.

Wallace went forward with her work of solicitation, thinking me, no doubt, to be a very impetuous, if not impertinent, young woman.

When, however, upon the presentation of her pet.i.tion, whose framers had taken such care to disclaim any desire "for additional civil and political rights," Mrs. Wallace was startled by Dr. Thompson's avowal (having known the doctor, as she navely says, "as a Christian gentleman"), that he was not there "to represent his conscience, but to obey his const.i.tuents," in her aroused soul there was that instant born the determination to become a "const.i.tuent." As soon as the hearing was at an end, Mrs. Wallace confessed this determination to Dr. Thompson, thanking him for unintentionally awakening her to a sense of woman's proper position in the republic. This change in Mrs.

Wallace's att.i.tude was not generally known until the following May, when the annual State Temperance convention was held in Indianapolis; then, in her address before that body, she avowed her conviction that it was woman's duty to seek the ballot as a means of exerting her will upon legislation. From that time Mrs.

Wallace has neglected no opportunity to propagate suffrage doctrines, and has been most potent in influencing her temperance coadjutors to embrace these principles. Earnestness and logic are Mrs. Wallace's abiding forces. Her literary work is chiefly confined to correspondence, in which she is so faithful that it is doubtful if any man in public life in Indiana can plead ignorance of the arguments in favor of suffrage. Mrs. Wallace has been an officer in the National, the American and the State suffrage societies, and has served the Equal Suffrage Society of Indianapolis as president most of the time since its formation.

Having lived in this city more than half a century, related to many men who have held high official positions, she has had an opportunity to exert a wide influence, and it may be safe to say that, by virtue of her own consecrated life, she exerts more moral power in this community than any other woman in Indiana.

Mrs. Helen M. Gougar has addressed the legislatures of New York, Kansas and Wisconsin, besides that of her own State. As an extempore speaker she has no peer among her co-workers; her first suffrage speech was made at Delphi, May, 1877. In July, 1881, Mrs. Gougar became the editor of _Our Herald_, a weekly which she conducted with great ability and success in the interest of the two const.i.tutional amendments then pending. In 1884, in an extensive lecturing tour, she addressed large audiences in Was.h.i.+ngton, Philadelphia, New York and Albany. In the year 1883, Mrs. Josephine R. Nichols of Illinois, and Mrs. L. May Wheeler of Ma.s.sachusetts, came to reside in Indianapolis. Both these ladies have lectured frequently and with marked effect in various parts of the State.

I cannot close without a mention of those public men who have honored this State by their adherence to the principle of woman suffrage and thereby earned a t.i.tle to the fame which will belong to the advocates of this cause in the hour of its triumph. Among these Hon. George W. Julian is most conspicuous. Referring to his services in congress, Mr. Julian once wrote:

My opinions about woman suffrage, however, date much further back. The subject was first brought to my attention in a brief chapter on the "Political Non-existence of Women," in Miss Martineau's book on "Society in America," which I read in 1847. She there pithily stated the substance of all that has since been said respecting the logic of woman's right to the ballot; and finding myself unable to answer, I accepted it. On recently referring to this chapter I find myself more impressed by its force than when I first read it. * * * My interest in anti-slavery was awakened about the same time, and I regarded it as the _previous_ question, and as less abstract and far more important and absorbing than that of suffrage for women. For the sake of the negro I accepted Mr. Lincoln's philosophy of "one war at a time," though always ready to own and defend my position as to woman's right to the ballot.

The sincerity of Mr. Julian's belief in woman suffrage is proved by his repeated efforts to further the cause in the United States congress. On December 8, 1868, he submitted an amendment to the const.i.tution, guaranteeing suffrage to all United States citizens, which, as the negro had not then been enfranchised, he numbered article fifteen. On March 15, 1869, he submitted the same amendment, with the exception that the words "race" and "color" were omitted; on the same day Mr. Julian offered a bill providing for the immediate enfranchis.e.m.e.nt of women in all the territories of the United States, thus doubling on one day his claim to the grat.i.tude of American women. On April 4, 1870, he offered another amendment, numbered article sixteen, which followed the exact form and phraseology of the fifteenth. On January 20, 1871, he offered an amendment to the bill, providing a government for the District of Columbia, striking out the word "male" in the section defining the right of suffrage. It is interesting to note that even so long ago that amendment received 55 yeas against 117 nays.[345] The bills which Mr. Julian thus submitted to congress when he was a member of that body prove his constancy to a cause early espoused, his conversion to which was due to that remarkable English woman whose claims to the grat.i.tude of her American sisters are thus enhanced. Mr. Julian has not worked much with the suffrage societies of his own State, but he has never failed in his repeated canva.s.ses to utter the seasonable word. His conviction that it is the duty of the national government to take the initiative in defining the political rights of its citizens has naturally led him to present this question to the nation as represented in its congress, rather than to agitate it in the State.

Oliver P. Morton and Joseph E. McDonald are two other names conspicuous in Indiana history which occur frequently in connection with "aye" in the records which have preserved the action of every member of congress on the various amendments brought before it involving woman's political equality.

Albert G. Porter, ex-governor of Indiana, has on more than one public occasion avowed his belief in woman's equality as a citizen, and has a.s.sented to the proposition that under a republic the only sign of such equality is the ballot. Ardent advocates have often thought him inexcusably reticent in expressing his convictions upon this subject, but such have learned that it is given to but few mortals to "remember those in bonds as bound with them," and no other governor of Indiana has ever taken occasion to remind the General a.s.sembly of its duties to women, as Governor Porter habitually did. In his address of 1881 he called the attention of the legislature to the improved condition of women under the laws, pointed out disabilities still continuing, and bespoke the respectful attention of the General a.s.sembly to the women who proposed to come before it with their claims. In his biennial message, 1883, the governor recommended the enactment of a statute which should require that at least one of the physicians appointed to attend in the department for women in the hospital for the insane should be a woman. The whole tone of Governor Porter's administration was liberal toward women; he invariably implied his belief in their equality, and on one or two occasions has evinced his respect for their ability by conferring on them responsible offices. Many of the leading men in the Republican party, and a few in the Democratic, are favorable, and while they do not labor for the enfranchis.e.m.e.nt of their sisters with the same enthusiasm which personal bondage excites, their constant influence is on the side of woman's emanc.i.p.ation.

As to the charities conducted by Indiana women, for a condensed narrative of the efficient service of Mrs. L. B. Wishard and Miss Susan Fussell, I must refer readers to the account kindly prepared for me by Mrs. Paulina T. Merritt.[346]

Whether or not justified by the facts, the feeling is current that those whom the ma.s.ses favor hold themselves aloof from those whom personal experience, or a sense of justice, compels to walk the stony path of reform. The _litterateurs_ often form a sort of pseudo-intellectual aristocracy, and do not willingly affiliate with reformers, whom they are ready to a.s.sume to be less cultivated than themselves. Of this weakness our literary women have not been guilty. Most of them are members of the suffrage society.[347]

A system is now developing which will not only stimulate women to engage in compet.i.tive industries and secure justice in rewarding such labor, but will greatly facilitate the work of ascertaining what part women do take in the general industries of the State.

Indiana, being mainly agricultural, is divided into sixteen districts, each of which has organized an agricultural society.

Besides these there are also county societies. These organizations are composed of men and women, the latter having nominally the same powers and privileges as the former. Annually the State Agricultural a.s.sociation holds a meeting at Indianapolis. This is a delegate body, consisting of representatives from the district and county societies. There is no const.i.tutional check against sending women as delegates, though it has not hitherto been done. One chief duty of the primary convention is to elect a State board of agriculture. This board consists of sixteen members, one for each agricultural district. The managers of the Woman's State Fair a.s.sociation have called an industrial convention, whose sessions will be held at the same time that the Agricultural a.s.sociation holds its annual meeting.[348]

If the press reflects the public, it also moulds it; and its conservative att.i.tude is doubtless to a very considerable degree responsible for the tone of opinion which prevailed here up to recent years. Papers throughout the State naturally take their cue from the party organs published at the capital, while the few papers identified with no party are wont to adapt themselves even more carefully to popular opinion upon general subjects.

The citations made in the earlier part of this chapter from the _Sentinel_ and the _Journal_ clearly show the spirit of their management in 1869. But it must not be inferred that the _Journal_ has through all these years maintained the position occupied by it at that time. Had it done so, one may reasonably believe that the women of Indiana would before to-day have been enfranchised. On the contrary, that sheet has been very vacillating, speaking for or against the cause according to the principles of its managers, the paper having frequently changed hands; and until recently the principles of the same managers upon this question have been s.h.i.+fting; but for the last five or six years the _Journal_ has been a consistent, though somewhat mild, supporter of woman suffrage.

On the contrary, the _Sentinel_ had been constant in its opposition, until, about eight years since, Mr. Shoemaker becoming the manager, it announced a Sunday issue devoted to the interests of women. The pledge then made has been n.o.bly kept, and although for a few months the _Sentinel_ seemed to edit its week-day issues with a view to counteracting the possible good effect of its Sunday utterances, the better spirit gradually triumphed, until at last, so far as the woman question is concerned, the paper is from Sunday to Sat.u.r.day in harmony with itself. For some time it gave one column in each Sunday issue to the control of the State Central Suffrage Committee, and printed two hundred copies of the column for special distribution among the country papers.

The _Sat.u.r.day Herald_, established in 1873, under the editorial management of George C. Harding, deserves mention. From the outset, this paper was the advocate of woman's right to be paid for work done according to its market value, and to protect herself and her property by the ballot. Perhaps the best service rendered to women by Mr. Harding, was that of securing in 1874 Gertrude Garrison as a.s.sistant editor of the _Herald_. Mrs.

Garrison is, beyond question, one of the ablest journalists Indiana can boast, and the influence of her pen in modifying the popular estimate of woman's capabilities has been incalculable.

From 1874 she did half the work, editorial articles, locals, sketches, and all the varieties of writing required upon a weekly paper, but at her own request her name was not announced as a.s.sociate editor until 1876. In this capacity she remained upon the _Herald_ until January 1, 1880, when the paper pa.s.sed from Mr. Harding's into other hands. During her connection with the _Herald_, if there was anything particularly strong in the paper, her a.s.sociate received the credit. The public will not permit itself to believe a woman capable of humor, though I think Mrs.

Garrison did as much to sustain the paper's reputation for wit as even Mr. Harding. A. H. Dooley succeeded Mr. Harding as editor of the _Sat.u.r.day Herald_, and it remained under his management a st.u.r.dy advocate of woman's enfranchis.e.m.e.nt. The _Sat.u.r.day Review_ was established by Mr. Harding in October, 1880, with Mrs. Garrison a.s.sociate editor. Upon the death of Mr. Harding, May 8, 1881, Mr. Charles Dennis became chief editor, Mrs.

Garrison[349] remaining on the staff as his a.s.sistant.

The _Times_ was founded in June, 1881. From the first it devoted a column to notes on women's work. From September of that year there appeared in each Sat.u.r.day issue a department devoted to the interests of women, particularly to woman suffrage, under the editorial management of May Wright Sewall. This department reappeared in the weekly and was thus widely circulated among country readers. The _Times_ is under the management of Colonel W. R. Holloway. Although from the first fair in its discussions of all reform questions, it did not avow itself to be an advocate of woman suffrage until the week after the public entertainment of the Equal Suffrage Society, 1881, when there appeared an editorial nearly one column in length, setting forth its views upon the whole subject. This editorial contained the following paragraph:

As the question is likely to become a prominent theme of discussion during the next few years, the _Times_ will now say that it is decidedly and unequivocally in favor of woman suffrage. We believe that women have the same right to vote that men have, that it is impolitic and unjust to deprive them of the right, and that its free and full bestowal would conserve the welfare of society and the good of government.

In the daily _Evening News_, Mr. J. H. Holliday, with his editorial aids, has set himself to stem the tide of progress which he evidently thinks will, unless a manful endeavor on his part shall prevent it, bear all things down to ruin. The character of his efforts may be inferred from the following extracts which appeared in January and December of 1881:

We wish our legislators would go home and ponder this thing.

Read the Bible and understand the scheme of creation. Read the New Testament, and appreciate the creation of the Christian home, and the heads.h.i.+p of things. Reflect upon what rests the future of this government we have reared, and ask what would become of it if the Christian homes in which it is founded were broken up; then reflect upon what would become of the Christian homes if men and women were to attend to the same duties in life. To get a realistic notion, let every man who has a wife ask himself how he would relish being told by her, "I have an engagement with John Smith to-night to see about fixing up a slate to get Mrs. Jones nominated for sheriff," and being left to go his own way while she goes with Smith. If that wouldn't make h.e.l.l in the household in one act we don't know what would, yet this is merely one little trivial episode of what this anti-christian woman suffrage scheme means.

To what straits must the advocates of suffrage for women be driven when they needs must seek to show that the ballot is not degrading. What becomes of all our fine talk of the ballot as an educator if they who seek to secure it for women must advocate as a reason why it should not be withheld that it is not degrading! But what better can one expect from those who, when it is suggested that there are duties attaching to the ballot as well as rights, solemnly say that the few moments necessary to deposit a ballot will not interfere with women's duties of sweeping and dusting and baby-tending. When one hears talk of this sort, there is indeed a grave doubt as to whether the ballot really is an educator after all.

The first of the above citations is from what might be called an article of instruction addressed to the legislature then in session, and considering the question of woman suffrage. The occasion which inspired the second paragraph may be readily inferred. It seems "profitable for the instruction" of the future to preserve a few extracts like the above, that it may be seen how weak and wild, strength itself becomes, when the ally of prejudice and precedent.

The _Indiana Farmer_, exceptionally well edited, having a wide circulation in the agricultural sections of the State, and enjoying there a powerful influence, is an outspoken advocate of equal suffrage. From statistics regarding papers published outside of Indianapolis, it may be safe to say that two hundred of them favor, with varying degrees of constancy, giving the ballot to women. On the staff of nearly all the papers whose status is above given, are women, who in their respective departments faithfully serve the common cause. During the last few years, efforts have been directed to the capture of the local press, and many of the county papers now have a department edited by women. In most instances this work is done gratuitously, and their success in this new line, entering upon it as they have without previous training, ill.u.s.trates the versatility of woman's powers. Mrs. M. E. Price of Kokomo, Mrs. Sarah P. Franklin of Anderson, Mrs. Laura Sandafur of Franklin, and Mrs. Ida M. Harper of Terre Haute, deserve especial mention for their admirable work in the papers of their respective towns. Mrs. Laura C. Arnold is the chief editor of the Columbus _Democrat_, and is the only woman in the State having editorial charge of a political party paper, _Our Herald_, under the able editorial management of Mrs.

Helen M. Gougar, was a weekly published at Lafayette. It was devoted to securing the re-pa.s.sage and adoption of the woman suffrage and prohibition amendments. It was a strong, aggressive sheet, and deserved its almost unparalleled success.[350]