A TOWN GOVERNED BY WOMEN.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1904, 15 June 1889, Page 1

A TOWN GOVERNED BY WOMEN.

One year ago (says the Atlantic Constitution) the town of Oskaloosa, in Kansas, made itself the laughingstock of the State by electing a lady Mayor and a Council of ladies. The first thing that the new officials did was to enforce the Sunday law. They allowed hotels, livery stables, barbers’ shops, and drug stores to keep open, but stopped the sale of cigars, tobacco, bread, and ice-cream. Next the bad boys were looked after. A proclamation was issued ordering all boys under the age of . eighteen to keep off the streets after eight o’clock at night. It occurred to the ladies that while they had the power the tobacco evil ought to be dealt with, but the city attorney told them that squirting tobacco juice over the sidewalk came under the head of personal liberty and could not be interfered with. They then tried moral suasion, and appointed a committee to visit every tobacco chewer in the town. This course was completely successful, and there was no further trouble about the sidewalks. I*or many years very little attention had been paid to the streets, and the property owners were unwilling to be taxed for new pavements. The lady mayor and her council decided that they would have good streets and sidewalks. They passed ordinances, made contracts, superintended the work in person, and successfully fought the injunctions and other suits brought against them by the property owners in the courts. Now that they have survived a year of petticoat rule the citizens of Oskaloosa are not inclined to make fun of it. They say that' their town has prospered, and has made an enviable reputation for good morals, law, and order. In this particular instance the female suffrageexperiment in Kansas has. turned out very satisfactorily. But one swallow does not make a summer, and it will take more than one Oskaloosa to revolutionise the world. Writing '.on the same subject the Springfield Union remarks“ The women of Kansas had great times recently. At Oskaloosa, where the Mayor and City Council last year were all women, there was a lively contest to get the married women out of office. Hacks and carriages were rolling up to the polls all day, and political, social, and theological preJudiaes were appealed to to defeat the women, but all in vain. They held the fort, and their majorities range from 33 to 68. Oskaloosa will be managed by the gentle hand of woman another year, and the horrid men who have been hoping for some relaxation in the strict morality of the place are disappointed. Oskaloosa’s success under woman’s government is attracting the interested attention of other towns. Cottonwood Falls decided to try the same experiment, and on Tuesday elected Mrs Minnie D. Morgan as Mayor, with a City Council composed entirely of . women. These pleasant arrangements are looked upon by the men as good jokes, but the women appear to take it in earnest. At Oskaloosa the last year’s administration was admirable. In the larger Kansas towns the women do not appear to such good advantage as in the smaller ones. At Wichita the antiprohibition' and anti-woman suffrage ticket was elected, all because of the apathy of the women voters, who might have carried the election if they had shown interest enough in their own cause to turn out to the polls.”