‘Votes count now’

From the September 23, 1920, Tama Herald, unsigned but presumably from editor/publisher Charles J. Wonser:

Votes count now.

For many years we men have been told what would happen if women were given equal suffrage with men. Now they have it. In future the vote of the humblest female citizen will count just as much as that of the president of the United States.

Acts, not words, will write the story of the future. It is a matter of speculation as to just what effect the feminine vote will have in national and state politics, but the presumption is that it will have a tendency to purify the ballot and retire a certain stamp of politicians who have been seeking to debauch the ballot for years.

Morally woman is unquestionably the superior of man, and if she demonstrates the fact that she is broad minded enough to rise above peanut politics and vote for men of stability and character, regardless of political consideration, we may reasonably expect her advent to be one of supreme importance to the future welfare of our country. In such an event political leaders will hesitate long before attempting to foist upon the voters of their party a man who does not truly represent the intelligence and integrity of that party.

Until women adjust themselves to their new station in life some now doubt will vote merely as their husbands do, while others will do their own thinking and vote as they please. Is it to the latter class that we must look for any material change from our present political methods and system. The November election will tell much of the story, but few political forecasters are willing to make even the smallest kind of prediction at this time. The politicians themselves are all floundering about in a sea of uncertainty.

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