Also for the City and Town elections of 1914:
Assessed Polls, Male
1,229,641
Registered Voters, Male
740,871
Males Who Voted
532,241
It is evident from these figures that a larger proportion of men should fulfill their duty to the State. Government being one means to the end, of making better conditions, the indifference of so many thousand is beyond comprehension, and is a serious menace to the Commonwealth. It was Governor Curtis Guild who said: "I base my anti-suffrage position on the fact that our great failures in legislation are caused not so much by a vicious element among the voters, as by abstention from voting and emotional voting."
That granting the ballot to women would greatly increase the proportion of those who neglect to vote, is clearly shown by the results of giving women the school vote. In 1879 the Massachusetts Legislature, assuming that women were peculiarly interested in school affairs, bestowed the school franchise upon them. See how they have accepted that charge! According to the United States Census of 1910, there were 1,074,485 women of voting age in this State. Of this number there are approximately 622,000 eligible to register and vote for School Committee. Here is the School vote for 1914:
Women Who Registered
101,439
Women Who Voted
45,820
Here is the school vote of the women for the city election in Lynn, 1914:
| Approximate number of women of voting age in Lynn | 18,000 |
| Total registration | 1,759 |
| Number of women who voted | 1,070 |
In a pamphlet entitled, "Women and the School Vote," Miss Alice Stone Blackwell, trying to explain away the real meaning of the situation, says:
"A woman's name, once placed on the register, is now kept there until she dies, moves or marries. When a town or city shows a large registration of women and a small vote, it means that on some occasion, perhaps ten years ago, there was an exciting contest at the school election, and many women registered and voted. When the contest was over, many of the women ceased to vote, but their names stayed on the register."
Her conclusion is that this is "the simple explanation of the lessened proportion of women's votes to registration." But a more striking conclusion must be drawn, namely, that it isn't enough to vote when there is an exciting contest; that it is only well as far as it goes, but it should be kept up. The State has a right to expect it. In view of their actual record in the use of the school vote, I see no reason to think that women would vote in sufficient numbers and with sufficient regularity to improve politics or government.