“Women have voted in Utah fourteen years, but, because of the little word ‘male’ that still stands upon the statutes, no woman is eligible to any office of emolument or trust.  In three successive legislatures, bills have been passed, providing that the word ‘male’ be erased; but, each time, the Governor of the Territory, who has absolute veto power, has refused his signature.  Yet women attend primary meetings in the various precincts and are chosen as delegates.  They are also members of county and territorial central committees, and are thus gaining practical political experience, and preparing themselves for positions of trust.

“In 1882 a convention was held to frame a constitution to be submitted to the people and presented to the Congress of the United States.  Women were delegates to this convention, and took part in all its deliberations, and were appointed to act on committees with equal privileges.  It is the first instance on record, I think, where women have been members and taken an active part in a constitutional convention.

“Much has been said and written, and justly, too, of suffrage for women in Wyoming; but, in my humble opinion, had Utah stood on the same ground as Wyoming, and women been eligible to office, as they are in that Territory, they would, ere this, have been elected to the legislative Assembly of Utah.

“It is currently reported that Mormon women vote as they are told by their husbands.  I most emphatically deny the assertion.  All Mormon women vote who are privileged to register.  Every girl born here, as soon as she is twenty-one years old, registers, and considers it as much a duty as to say her prayers.  Our women vote with the same freedom that characterizes any class of people in the most conscientious acts of their lives.”

These various questions were happily solved in 1895, when Utah became a State.  Its Constitution gives women the right to vote on all questions, and makes them eligible to any office.

The journey over the Rocky Mountains was more interesting and wonderful than I had imagined.  A heavy shower the morning we reached the alkali plains made the trip through that region, where travelers suffer so much, quite endurable.  Although we reached California in its hot, dry season, we found the atmosphere in San Francisco delightful, fanned with the gentle breezes of the Pacific, cooled with the waters of its magnificent harbor.  The Golden Gate does indeed open to the eye of the traveler one of the most beautiful harbors in the world.

Friends had engaged for us a suite of apartments at the Grand Hotel, then just opened.  Our rooms were constantly decked with fresh flowers, which our “suffrage children,” as they called themselves, brought us from day to day.  So many brought tokens of their good will—­in fact, all our visitors came with offerings of fruits and flowers—­that not only our apartments, but the public tables were crowded with rare and beautiful specimens of all varieties.  We spoke every night, to crowded houses, on all phases of the woman question, and had a succession of visitors during the day.  In fact, for one week, we had a perfect ovation.  As Senator Stanford and his wife were at the same hotel, we had many pleasant interviews with them.