Some of the anti-suffragists are busily engaged in circulating the report among the people that woman suffrage would increase the poll, or capitation, tax to the extent of one dollar for each female of the age of twenty-one years and over. I am not surprised that the liquor interests, which seem to be back of and financing the fight against equal suffrage, should circulate such a report. It is in strict keeping with the deceptive methods of the boose interests to report [resort?] to just such things as this. Nor is it really surprising that many good and well-meaning people should be deceived by this and tricked into repeating the statement as true. It is catchy.

The statement, however, is absolutely false. If the equal suffrage amendment carries, it will not add one single poll tax to the list. Poll, or capitation, taxes and voting are not dependent upon each other at all. Before a capitation tax could be assessed against any woman in this state, whether she be a voter or not, it should require another amendment to the constitution of the state. The proposed equal suffrage amendment would not empower the Legislature to impose such a tax.

Section 2, Article 10 of the Constitution is as follows:

“The Legislature shall levy an annual capitation tax of one dollar upon each male inhabitant of the state who has attained the age of twenty-one years, which shall be annually appropriated to the support of free schools. Persons afflicted with bodily infirmity may be exempted from this tax.”

From this it is readily seen that poll taxes are leviable only upon male inhabitants, and this whether they are voters or not. So long as this clause remains in our constitution, no legislature can impose a poll, or capitation, tax upon any woman in the State. The Constitution would have first to be further amended. Does any one suppose that with the women voting such an amendment placing upon them a capitation tax could readily be adopted?

As thinking citizens, we should not allow the issues to be clouded and confused by this and other meretricious statements and excuses advanced by the opponents of equal suffrage.

We should remember that equal suffrage does not mean suffrage for women alone; but for men and women. It means the equal interests of both in matters of government, and equal facilities for giving force and expression to that interest in shipping the course of government for the common good of all. It means equal power for crystallizing public sentiment into law enforcement. It seems, in short, equal power and rights in men and women to make their government responsive to the need of all the people. It embodies the simple principles of fairness and justice; and we rarely go wrong in following the lead of such principles. Men alone make mistakes. Women alone make mistakes. Men and women together make enough mistakes. But when men and women work together, viewing questions from their different view points, they make fewer mistakes than would either working alone. This is history. This is common sense. It expresses the net results of the accumulated experience of the human race. It has proved true in matters of church, in matters of home government, in matters of business, in matters of education; and it will prove true in the other states in which equal suffrage is being tried.