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About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 1, 1917)
"Vf "-? DEGBMBBR,1917 The Commoner eign minister at a public meeting held in honor ofc Premier Venizelos at the Mansion House. The question of the freedom of the beas was among those.raiaed at the outset by our American allies. The formula is an ambiguous one, capable of many inconsistent interpretations, and I doubt whether it will be seriously contended that there is no room for profitable discussion, that an at tempt should be made to bring about the kind of pact suggested in section 5, and, I believe, common ground to all the belligerents, and probably to all the neutral powers. "If it be once established that there are no insurmountable difficulties in the way of agree ment upon these points, the political horizon might perhaps be scanned with better hope by those who pray, but can at this moment hardly venture to "expect, that the new year may bring us a lasting and honorable peace." Thte Great Suffrage Victory From The Philadelphia North American. ' Nearly three-quarters of a century ago a small group of American women, in convention assembled, put on record the declaration that this nation could not fulfill its professions of being democratic until it granted to women equal political rights with men. - Although the proponents of this doctrine were persons of prominence in intellectual cir cles, their .utterance was received with derision. Some "advanced' writers and students of pub lic affairs supported their contention, and the cause won the, advocacy of such leaders of thought .as John Stuart Mill; but it made no concrete gains until 1869, when full suffrage was granted to women in Wyoming, and it was not iintil the last decade of the nineteenth cen tury that three other states Colorado, Utah and Idaho conferred the same right. All these were sparsely settled regions, re mote from the populous and more highly civ ilized parts of the country. This circumstance led the people of the east to frame an explana tion, or an excuse, for the drastic innovation. It was said that in the far west, where the con ditions of life were primitive and its exactions rigorous, women naturally developed some of the rugged characteristics of the pioneer; they lost the soft Charms of helpless femininity, be came masculine in their attributes and demands, and acquired the electoral right as a conse quence of their peculiar status. Ariother popular idea, not without some foundation, perhaps, was that equal suffrage had been adopted as a means of state advertis ing, devised by ingenious promoters and land boomers to attract new population. But most easterners dismissed the phenomenon as a prod uct of the untutored, erratic habits of thought prevailing 'in the far west. Most of" -us can remember when a man from a suffrage state was regarded in the sophisti cated east With a sort of mild curiosity. If he proved, as he usually did, to be norma! in his conduct and mental processes, he was classified as an exception, confirming the belief as to the abnormal character of his fellows "back home." A woman from a suffrage state, on the other had, was considered in much the same light as would have been a visitor from Mars; even within recent years she was likely to be inter viewed, for the benefit of an interested public, and asked to tell candidly how it felt to have the right to vote. This impression that equal suffrage was an evidence of the "wild and woolly" character of the people adopting it persisted until a short time ago, and was not wholly eradicated when California, which was considered more highly developed than some other distant states, en franchised its women. Despite the admissions of disapproving newspapers and the almost uni versal opinion of statesmen that the granting of ballot rights to women was only a matter of . time, there remained a deep and widespread be lief that the change would become general only when the suffrage states, which were wilder . nesses when the movement began, became col lectively powerful enough to impose their rad ical views upon the "conservative" regions . of. New England, the central states and the middle ' W6Tliat politically backward Pennsylvania de feated the proposition on a referendum two years ago by only 55,000 votes out of . total of a million did not change the conviction that suf- Betta Ma? 2" ,B"U0' Wh?n Massachu setts, Maine, New Jersey and Now York wont the 2 WtT ih0 result 8cemel a reflection of the aTdYJUMgm0vM oxprC88ed at the time b? ,? B w York newspaper: J? y e otato cast o thG Mississippi has woman suffrage, limited, and that by no popu lar mandate. Most of the suffrage states In pop ulation would not make a sizable city. The east, the great states of the eastthere Is the suffragists' difficult field of labor. So long as the woman suffrage territory consists, for the most part, of thinly settled or radical western states, the belief or prejudice that it is unsuited to eastern conditions will not bo shaken." Only when the returns began to come from New York a week ago last Tuesday night did multitudes of observers begin to comprehend that the suffrage movement was something more than a tide from the west beating against the breakwater of eastern conservatism. Both city and state had given their verdict for the wo men, and equal suffrage had become overnight a fact where it had been regarded as a distant If not impossible dream. The result was a stun ning surprise. Although an intelligent and vig orous campaign had been waged by the suffra gists, this undertaking was viewed elsewhere as merely one of the annual demonstrations of ac tivity. Even the practical political strategists of the state were oblivious of the mighty sweep of sentiment that was to carry the cause to vic tory. It will no longer be possible for rational minds to persuade themselves that the demand for equal suffrage is a sectional question or a product of the thought of imperfectly developed communities. For they face the fact that the movement has captured the citadel of conserv atism and reaction that more than 2,000,000 women have been enfranchised in a state where the political machines have never given the cause a respectful hearing, where it seemed to be antagonized by public sentiment, and where the political influence of liquor has been power ful enough to make both the great parties re gard it as a natural enemy. While the result was a tribute to the courage, ability and resourcefulness of the campaigners, and a striking vindication for the organization which seeks to gain suffrage by states, the mag nitude of the victory surprised the most sangu ine. That at no remote time equal suffrage would prevail throughout the nation has long been a foregone conclusion; but the addition of New York to the group of suffrage state will immeasurably hapten that result. While the methods which the women have employed with such marked success in the past will no doubt be used in the future, the char acter of the contest will be changed in that it will have a political significance which it never PUTTING IT UP TO UNCLE SAM J 9tftSakJifIS -'AST. ' Mitt' ' ' s.ll . A" J yHni7jBL'f'TK Tilts j. Vfc i"'' had heretofore. At tho next presidential elec tion, even If no more states fall In lino, 7,000.- 000 women will havo tho right to vote for pres ident. In every state which has adopted tho system they hold tho balance of power lictwoon the two old parties; and In such close statoa as Washington, Oregon and Colorado a small pro portion of tho womonVi vote will decide. Fur thermore, the Inst 2,000,000 women enfranchised vlll cast their ballots In New York, which Is con sidered a pivotal stnto In national elections, which has forty-threo member In the houso of representatives, sends ninety delegates to oach of tho national convent'ons and casts forty-five votes in tho electoral colloge. Henceforth It will not be ho noccssary for tho women to appeal to the polltlc'ans; tho pol iticians will bo busy trying to appeal to tho wo man. A majoilty of tho country's statosmon have put themselves on record for equal suffrage; hut hitherto the pract'eal polltlc'nn has boon In different or incredulous to tho movement. Ho will awake now to tho fact that ho must exert himself to Invito tho woman vote Just as ho has schemed to attract tho "old soldier" voto, tho 1 foreign" vo.e and tho "church" vote. And, of course, n suffrage victory in no other state, In no two states, would make such an Impression upon the practical politician as tho result In Now York. Not only statosmon and political leaders, but the national ndmlnlstrnt'on, will be found tak ing a more active Interest In the movement. Ffvo cabinet members Indorsed It In the recent cam paign. The sweep of contimont has had a no ticeable effect ipon Pnsidont W'lson; last year he was chargod with be'ng Inimical to tho cause, but this year It had h's open support In New York, a circumstance which undoubtedly Influ enced the result. The administration plays politics every day In the year, and will not overlook any opportunity to Ingratiate itself with the swiftly growing army of women voters. And the republicans will not permit tluir opponents to capturo this strength by default; they will urge upon th.o wo men that the republican west was long a strong hold of suffrage, while tho demand has been ob stinately opposed In tho dcmpcratJc south. Five years ago, when the Progressive national convention declared that equal suffrage was an essential factor in the establishment of true democracy, the action was assailed as radical, and even irrational. Yet In tho short Intorval tho cause has advanced to a position whero It no longer has to plead for, but commands, tho attention and support of the old parties. It is probable that a federal constitutional amendment will be submitted by congnss to the states before the next presidential election. But even if this should not be done, nothing is moro certain than that both parties In their platforms will declare for equal suffrage. Thus swiftly and peaceably do revolutions accomplish themselves in these days If world affairs were normal, early and com plete triumph of the movement would be as sured. But the great war has given to women an unprecedented opportunity to which they havo gloriously risen; they have taken their places along with men in virtually every activity of life, and have demonstrated their fitness, their indispensable capacity, for carrying on the work of civilization and a'ding In the defense of hu man liberty. In the face of what they have done and are doing it Is impossible any longer to In terpose against their demand for political Justice the outworn arguments of past days. But apart from this consideration, the war has awakened and Intensified the spirit of democracy and brought to the peoples of the earth a real ization of its high significance. It has demon strated to the American people and to all man kind the truth of the declaration of the suffrage pioneers three-quarters of a century ago that the political system which disfranchises women defies the principles of democratic government. "I've done my best to raise it. Will you put an end to liquor-making and conserve this grain-?" From The American Issue. Congress is again In session and apparently capable of doing business. One of tho big Jobs it has on hand is that of seeing that the broad est shoulders bear the greater burden of the war. There are hundreds of business men and manu facturers who are deliberately and des'gnedly utilizing the war for the purposes .of adding to their wealth. The time to show effective re sentment against men who coin money out of the blood and tears of their fellow-countrymea is before they make the money. M Ai V 1.1 ft "rM A i p n ii . Pi w I; u i i II