SUFFRAGE: Women have had the Full Franchise since 1869.

No separate record is kept of their votes, as they have exercised the suffrage so long that this would seem no more necessary than to keep one of the men's votes. The census of 1900 gives the percentage of men in the State as 63 (in round numbers) and of women as 37. The estimate of those who are best informed is that 90 per cent. of the women who are eligible use the suffrage.

OFFICE HOLDING: Since the organization of the Territory in 1869 women have been eligible to all official positions, but there never has been any scramble for office.

No woman ever has served in the Legislature.

Miss Estelle Reel was State Superintendent of Public Instruction for four years. She is now National Superintendent of Indian Schools, appointed by President William McKinley, and has 300 of these under her charge.

Miss Grace Raymond Hebard is librarian of the State University, and for the past ten years has filled the position of secretary of the board of trustees, upon which women serve.

Miss Bertha Mills is clerk of the State Land Board, with a salary equal to that of any clerk or deputy in the State House.

Miss Rose Foote was assistant clerk in the House of Representatives of the last Legislature, and as a reader she left nothing to be desired. Women frequently serve as legislative enrolling clerks. There have been women clerks of the courts.

Women hold several important clerkships in the State Capitol and are found as stenographers, etc., in all the State, county and municipal offices.

In many districts they serve on the school board, and nearly all of the counties elect them to the responsible position of superintendent. As such they conduct the institutes, examine teachers and have a general supervision of the schools.

OCCUPATIONS: The only industry legally forbidden to women is that of working in mines.

EDUCATION: All educational advantages are the same for both sexes.

By a law of 1869 Wyoming requires equal pay for men and women in all employment pertaining to the State. This includes the public schools, in which there are 102 men and 434 women teachers. But here as elsewhere the men hold the higher positions and their average monthly salary is $60.40, while that of the women is $42.86.

FOOTNOTES:

[471] The History is indebted to the Hon. Robert C. Morris of Cheyenne, clerk of the Supreme Court of Wyoming, for much of the information contained in this chapter.

[472] Mrs. Morris is the mother of Robert C. Morris, and this paragraph is inserted by the editors. A full account of this first experiment in woman suffrage will be found in Vol. III, Chap. LII.

[473] Published in full in Wyoming Historical Collections, Vol. I.

[474] In an address Mr. Carey said later: "I was agreeably surprised to have so many of the ablest men in Congress, both in public and in private conversation, disclose the fact that they firmly believed the time would come when women would be permitted to exercise full political rights throughout the United States."

[475] See laws for women in Tennessee chapter.

[476] Miss Susan B. Anthony was an interested and anxious listener to this debate from the gallery of the House, and a joyful witness to the final passage of the bill.

[477] See laws for women in Texas chapter.

[478] In 1901, when a convention in Alabama was framing a new constitution, Senator Morgan sent a strong letter urging that this should include suffrage for tax-paying women.

[479] A telegram announcing that President Harrison had signed the bill was handed to Miss Anthony while she was addressing a large audience at Madison, S. D., during the woman suffrage campaign in that State, and those who were present say, "She spoke like one inspired."

By request of Miss Anthony and Lucy Stone, officers of the National W. S. A., the woman suffrage clubs of the entire country celebrated on the Fourth of July the admission into the Union of the first State with the full franchise for women, and an address from Mrs. Stanton was read—Wyoming the First Free State for Women.

[480] From 1876 to 1883 Edgar Wilson Nye (Bill Nye) was editor of the Laramie Boomerang, in which he published the following as the result of his eight years' observation of woman's voting:

"Female suffrage, I may safely and seriously assert, according to the best judgment of the majority in Wyoming Territory, is an unqualified success. An effort to abolish it would be at once hooted down. Its principal opposition comes from those who do not know anything about it. I do not hesitate to say that Wyoming is justly proud because it has thus early recognized woman and given her a chance to be heard. While she does not seek to hold office or act as juror, she votes quietly, intelligently and pretty independently. Moreover, she does not recognize the machine at all, seldom goes to caucuses, votes for men who are satisfactory, regardless of the ticket, and thus scares the daylights out of rings and machines."

[481] See Appendix—Testimony from Woman Suffrage States.

[482] When the attention of a distinguished jurist of Wyoming was called to these laws he said the question never had been raised, but there would be no objection to changing them.



CHAPTER LXXIII.

GREAT BRITAIN.

EFFORTS FOR THE PARLIAMENTARY FRANCHISE.[483]

BY MISS HELEN BLACKBURN, EDITOR OF THE ENGLISHWOMAN'S REVIEW, LONDON.

The chapter on Great Britain contributed by Miss Caroline Ashurst Biggs to Vol. III of this History of Woman Suffrage brought the story down to the passage of the Representation-of-the-People Act of 1884 which extended Household Suffrage to the Counties and created the Service Franchise, thus giving the ballot to a large number of agricultural labourers and men who had their residence on premises of which their employers paid the rent and taxes, but which still left all such women without any franchise whatsoever.

With the passing of that Act may be said to have begun a new phase in the movement. During the '70's there had been a debate and division on the Women's Suffrage Bill in the House of Commons nearly every year. After the General Election of 1880 the question of Household Suffrage in the Counties came to the front, and all the efforts of the Women's Suffrage Societies were directed and inspired by the anticipation that when the claims of the agricultural labourer were dealt with, those of women would find their opportunity. But far from this, they were left practically in a worse position than before, for now 2,000,000 new voters were added to the number of those who could make prior claim to the attention of their representatives.

1885.—Immediately after the General Election which followed the passing of the new Reform Bill, Mr. Gladstone gave notice of his Bill for Home Rule for Ireland and the party feeling aroused was of such intensity that the Liberal party was cloven in twain. The Women's Suffrage movement was affected by the keen party strife, in which women were as deeply interested as men, and the question of their enfranchisement was no longer the only rallying point for their political activity. This period is marked by a rapid development of organisations amongst women for party purposes. In the Primrose League, which had been started in 1883, women had been assigned unprecedented recognition as co-operating with men on equal footing for political purposes. It does not promote special measures but lays down for its principle the Maintenance of Religion, of the Estates of the Realm and of the Imperial Ascendancy of the British Empire, thus indicating its Conservative tendency. The Women's Liberal Federation, founded in 1885 to promote liberal principles, endeavours to further special measures. The Women's Liberal Unionist Association founded in 1888 had for its principal object the defence of the legislative union between England and Ireland.

Thus women entered actively into the work of the three respective parties, and this re-acted in various ways on the Women's Suffrage propaganda. It might seem that this had a depressing effect, for the rigid neutrality in regard to party which always had characterised the National Societies for Women's Suffrage might easily seem dull and tame to the ardent party enthusiasts, and many of the Liberal women threw their energies by preference into the Women's Liberal Associations, but the old charge that women had no interest in politics, now received its complete quietus. It seems indeed a far cry from the manners of sixty years ago, when to talk politics to a woman was considered rude, to the manners of to-day when the Primrose League balances its 75,000 Knights with 63,000 Dames, besides associates innumerable, both men and women; and the Women's Liberal Federation with its 448 Associations has actively worked for candidates in a great number of counties in England.

1886.—The number of members returned after the General Election of 1885 who were understood to be favorably inclined towards the enfranchisement of women, exceeded any previous experience and on February 18th the motion to adjourn discussion was rejected by 159 ayes, 102 noes, and the bill passed second reading without further division; but before going into Committee another dissolution of Parliament took place.

The General Election which followed was even more favorable, the friendly Members returned being in an actual majority, and yet session after session passed and the pressure of Government business consumed Parliamentary time.

1887-1890.—The need of a central point, such as is afforded when there is a bill before the House, round which all the suffrage forces could rally independent of party, made it difficult for them to maintain their cohesion. The Central Committee of the National Society for Women's Suffrage had been such a point but it could not escape the distracting outside influences, and a revision of its rules took place in December, 1888, with the result that the Society as hitherto existing dissolved and reformed in two separate organisations. One of these established new rules which enabled it to affiliate with Societies formed for other purposes; and one adhered to the old rules which admitted only organisations formed with the sole object of obtaining the Franchise. But if, as was held, the internal re-organisation of the Societies redounded to greater strength, even more so did an unprecedented attack from the outside, in the Summer of 1889, when the Nineteenth Century opened its pages to a protest against the enfranchisement of women, to which a few ladies in London society had been diligently canvassing for signatures. The appearance of this protest was naturally the sign for an immediate counterblast, and the two Central Societies in London put a form of declaration into immediate circulation. The Fortnightly Review gave space to a reply from the pen of Mrs. Millicent Garrett Fawcett and to a selection from the signatures which poured into the Suffrage Offices with a rapidity that was amazing, as in sending out the forms for signature numbers had not been aimed at but rather it was sought to make the list representative. The Nineteenth Century had contained the names of 104 ladies, mostly known as wives of public men, while those who had taken part in work for the good of the community and to advance the interests of women were conspicuous by their absence. The Fortnightly gave space for about 600 names asking for the suffrage, selected from over 2,000 received within a few days.[484]

This was the last work in which the distinguished reformer, Miss Caroline Ashurst Biggs, took part, as she died in September, 1889. Miss Lydia Becker, editor of The Women's Suffrage Journal, which she had founded in 1870, passed away the following Summer. These two deaths were an irreparable loss to the movement for the enfranchisement of women.

1891.—Parliamentary prospects grew brighter and Mr. William Woodall, who had charge of the Suffrage Bill, obtained May 13th for its consideration. The first Lord of the Treasury, Mr. W. H. Smith, had received a deputation appointed by the Suffrage Societies April 20th, to present him with a largely signed memorial praying that Her Majesty's Government would reserve the day appointed for the discussion of a measure "which suffers under the special disadvantage that those whom it chiefly concerns have no voting power with which to fortify their claims." They received the assurance that the House would not adjourn before the 13th, and that the Government had no intention of taking the day for their business.

On April 30th, however, when the Government proposed to take certain specified days for their business, Mr. Gladstone objected, insisting that they should be uniform in their action and take all Wednesdays up to Whitsuntide. This afforded a manifest opportunity for shelving the Suffrage Bill which the opponents were quick to perceive and, although Mr. Smith declared himself unable to take this day, Sir Henry James moved that all Wednesdays be taken. This was carried and the Government, for probably the first time in Parliamentary History, had a day forced on them.

1892.—Better fortunes attended the endeavours of the Parliamentary leaders in the following session. Mr. Woodall having accepted office in the Government, Sir Algernon Borthwick (now Lord Glenesk) undertook the necessary arrangements for the introduction of the Bill. This was placed, by the result of the ballot for a day, in the hands of Sir Albert Rollit, who set it down for April 27th in the following terms:

Every woman who (1) in Great Britain is registered as an elector for any Town Council or County Council, or (2) in Ireland is a rate-payer entitled to vote at an election for guardians of the poor, shall be entitled to be registered as a Parliamentary elector and, when registered, to vote at any Parliamentary election for the County borough or division wherein the qualifying property is situate.

This Bill was brought forward for second reading on the appointed day by Sir Albert Rollit with a powerful statement of the question, and a debate followed marked by a high and serious tone. For this brief narrative it will suffice to note the closing speech from the Right Hon. A. J. Balfour, who concluded by saying that whenever any important extension of the Franchise was brought up "they would have to face and deal with the problem of Women's Suffrage—and deal with it in a complete fashion." The division showed 175 for the Bill, 192 against—a result which was a surprise to both sides, for the opponents had exerted themselves in a manner beyond all precedent; they had sent round a whip signed by twenty members, ten on each side of the House, and Mr. Gladstone had written a letter to Mr. Samuel Smith, that had been circulated as a pamphlet, in which amongst other points he urged that at least it should be ascertained "that the womanly mind of the country was in overwhelming proportion and with deliberate purpose bent on procuring the vote."

1893-1895.—At the opening of the Parliament it was a great satisfaction to the Women's Suffrage party that Viscount Wolmer (now the Earl of Selborne) had undertaken the Parliamentary leadership of the question. It will hardly be needful here to go into all the causes which thwarted the vigilance of the leader in procuring a hearing for the measure in that Parliament.

On June 1st, 1895, a representative Conference was held at Westminster Town Hall to consider a plan for an appeal to the House of Commons from women all over the United Kingdom. Miss Florence Davenport Hill, who presided, briefly explained that the object of such an appeal was to convince the country in a more emphatic manner than could be possible by the petitions, memorials and demonstrations that already had been tried again and again, all of which were necessarily limited in their scope. This appeal should be from women of all ranks and classes in all parts of the United Kingdom. The Appeal for the Parliamentary Franchise then agreed upon was managed by a committee appointed from the chief organisations amongst women.

1896.—This effort to "focus the diffused interest of women in the suffrage into one concentrated expression" resulted in the collection of 257,796 signatures, nearly every constituency in the United Kingdom being represented. Although the Appeal was in readiness for presentation in the session of 1895, a suitable opportunity did not arise until 1896, when a fairly good place had been drawn in the ballot by Mr. Faithfull Begg and the Bill was set down for May 20th. Permission was obtained to place the Appeal in Westminster Hall on May 19th, and passes were given to the Committee to enable them to show it to any Members of Parliament who might wish to inspect it. Accordingly—although it was already known that all Wednesdays had been taken in Government business—the Appeal of the women of this day and generation for constitutional rights was placed in that grand old Hall, round which the Parliamentary associations of a thousand years are clustered. Many Members showed great interest in studying the signatures from their respective constituencies.

Irrespective of the interest called forth, other good results followed, for the Women's Suffrage Societies had been drawn into pleasant relation with a great many new friends and helpers all over the country. It was also shown that women who differed widely on political and social questions could work cordially and unanimously for this common object. The closer union which this work had brought about led to the modification of the Special Appeal Committee into a combined Committee for Parliamentary Work. A Conference held in the Priory Rooms, Birmingham, October 16th, attended by delegates from all the Women's Suffrage Societies, greatly assisted concerted action.

1897.—All was thus in good working order when at the opening of the session an excellent place was drawn in the ballot by Mr. Faithfull Begg (M. P. for St. Rollox division of Glasgow) and the Women's Franchise Bill was set down for February 3rd, when it passed second reading by a majority of 71. The old opponents sent out a strong whip against the Bill and mustered in force, but they were exceeded by the old friends, nor did the division show the whole strength of the movement, as many known to be favorable were still absent at that early date of the session.[485] A statement issued by the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies, said:

This vote places the question of Women's Suffrage in a new phase, and its friends have only to continue to press it upon the attention of Parliament and the public in order to render it necessary at no distant date that it should be dealt with by the Government of the day. This has been the history of nearly all important measures of reform. They have very rarely been placed on the Statute Book by private members; but private members by repeatedly bringing a particular question before the House give the opportunity for its full consideration by Parliament and the country, so that in due time it takes its place as a Government measure. It will be the aim of the Union to put Women's Suffrage in this position, so that no Government, of whatever party, shall be able to touch questions relating to representation without at the same time removing the electoral disabilities of women.

The closer coalition that Autumn of all the Societies which make Women's Suffrage their sole object into a National Union was in itself a symptom of that new phase, and the combined Sub-Committee was now further modified into the Executive Committee of the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies.

1898-1899.—The value of this second reading has been permanent notwithstanding that its progress through the next stage of going into Committee was thwarted by what even the Times described as an "undignified shuffle." The rule that Bills which have reached Committee stage before Whitsuntide should be taken on Wednesdays after Whitsuntide in their turn, so that if any one Bill is not finished on the day it is taken it is carried to the next, was so worked as to shut out the Women's Franchise Bill in 1899, and the rule which was meant to give equitable share to all was abused by purposely protracted talk over Bills which had no claim to such profuse attention.

This was the last opportunity that the pressure of the eventful years with which the century closed afforded for Parliamentary debate. The great meeting in Queen's Hall, London, June 29th, 1899, when the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies gave hearty welcome to their fellow-workers from all parts of the globe during the International Council of Women, remains the latest event of public significance.

* * * * *

The new House of Commons, 1901, includes 267 members who have voted in former Parliaments on the question of extending the Parliamentary Franchise to Women; of these 96 are opponents, 171 are supporters. One has continued to be a consistent opponent from the division on Mr. John Stuart Mill's amendment to the Reform Bill of 1867. Two have continued to be consistent supporters from the same division. Of members whose first time of voting dates from one or other of the numerous divisions which took place between the Reform Acts of 1867 and 1884, there still remain 20 opponents and 25 supporters. Of the members who recorded their vote for the first time on the question in the division on Sir Albert Rollit's Bill of 1892, there remain 24 opponents and 30 supporters. Of those whose first votes date from the division on Mr. Faithfull Begg's Bill in 1897, there remain 51 opponents and 114 supporters.

Thus the ratio of supporters gradually strengthens, and this notwithstanding the retirement of twice as many tried friends as of steady opponents. If to these considerations it is added that amongst the newly-elected members, for each one who is understood to be an opponent there are at least three understood to be friendly, it will be seen that the march of time strengthens the ranks of the Women's Suffrage cause in the House of Commons.

Amongst the supporters who have retired from Parliamentary life are three past leaders of the Women's Suffrage Bill, Mr. Leonard Courtney, Mr. Woodall and Mr. Faithfull Begg. Two past leaders now have seats in the Cabinet, Lord Selborne and Mr. George Wyndham. The Premier, Lord Salisbury, has been at all times a true friend; the leader of the House of Commons, the Right Hon. A. J. Balfour, has voted and spoken in favor of the question in that body.

Mention has been made of the death of Miss Becker and of Miss Biggs. Miss Isabella M. S. Tod of Belfast, who passed away on December 8th, 1896, was a bright and leading spirit, in Ireland especially. In November, 1899, the Edinburgh Committee lost their much-loved Hon. Secretary, Miss Eliza Wigham, who had held that office for more than thirty years. In the same month Mr. Jacob Bright, who secured the Municipal Franchise for women, also passed away.

In Ireland the Local Government Act of 1898 gave fresh impetus to women's public work, and Mrs. Haslam, the veteran Hon. Secretary of the Dublin Women's Suffrage Society, for the past twenty-six years, still encourages the rising workers of today.

The North of England Women's Suffrage Society has just sent a petition with over 29,000 signatures entirely from women working in Lancashire cotton factories. The petition, which looked like a garden roller from its size, was brought up by a deputation of fifteen of the women, and by them placed in the hands of their Parliamentary friends for presentation.

In London the branches have amalgamated into one Central Society—President, Lady Frances Balfour; Chairman, Mrs. Millicent Garrett Fawcett—and life and effort are apparent in every direction.[486]

The new century has opened with a heavy shadow of sorrow for the British people in the death of their much-loved sovereign, Queen Victoria. Her reign will always be conspicuous as an era of change of tone in regard to the studies and pursuits of women. The extent to which that change is due to the presence on the throne of a woman full of goodness—one for whom Truth was her guide and Duty her rule in every action of her life—will stand out more clearly perhaps to future generations. But this we know, that during the Victorian era the idea of separateness in the interests of men and women has grown less and less, while co-operation and sympathy have grown more and more, so that these words of one of the pioneer thinkers on this subject, Mrs. Jameson, have become a key-note to the suffrage movement: "Whatsoever things are good, whatsoever things are wise, whatsoever things are holy, must be accomplished by communion between brave men and brave women."

LAWS SPECIALLY AFFECTING WOMEN.

Half a century ago married women had no right to their earnings, nor to dispose of their property; all belonged to the husband unless settled on the wife and then it was in keeping of trustees. Mothers had no rights in their children. All professions were closed to women.

1839.—Custody of Infants Act empowered the Lord Chancellor to leave custody of her child to the mother, up to the age of seven, in case of divorce.

1873.—Custody of Infants Act allowed the mother custody of her child to the age of sixteen in case of divorce.

1886.—Guardianship of Infants Act gave the right to a surviving mother to be joint guardian in addition to any appointed by the father. The Act also enabled her to appoint a guardian in case of the father's death or incapacity; it also required the Court to have regard to the wishes of the mother as well as of the father.

1870-1874.—Married Women's Property Acts secured to them all rights to property acquired by their own skill and industry, and to all investments of their own money in their own names.

1882.—Married Women's Property Act consolidated and amended the previous act, enabling married women to acquire, hold and dispose by will or otherwise of any real or personal property without the intervention of a trustee.

1876.—Medical Education Act permitted medical degrees to be conferred on women.

1890.—Intestates Act provided that when a man dies intestate leaving a widow and no children, all his estate if under L500, goes to the widow, if over L500 she shall have L500 in addition to her share in the residue.[487]

LAWS RELATING TO LOCAL GOVERNMENT. (SUFFRAGE.)

1869.—Municipal Corporations Act restored to women rate-payers of England the vote in Municipal Elections which had been taken away by the Municipal Corporation Act of 1835.

1870.—Elementary Education Act created School Boards and placed women on a complete equality both as electors and as eligible for election.

1881-1882.—The Municipal Act for Scotland gave to women the same Municipal Franchise possessed by those of England since 1869. They already had the School Franchise.

1888.—The County Electors Act gave women equal franchises with men for the election of Councillors for the County Councils created by the Local Government Act of that year.

1894.—Local Government Act which reorganised the Parochial Poor-Law Administration in the Counties, confirmed the rights of women to all Local Franchises and their eligibility as Poor-Law Guardians; and made them also eligible as Parish and District Councillors.

1896.—Poor-Law Guardian Act for Ireland made women for the first time eligible as Poor-Law Guardian.

1898.—Irish Local Government Act reorganized the system of Local Government in Ireland on similar lines to that in England. Women who had hitherto been excluded from the Municipal Franchise now had all Local Franchises conferred on them and were made eligible for Rural and Urban District Councils.

1899.—London Government Act changed the system of Vestries to that of Borough Councils throughout the Metropolitan Districts. Women had been eligible on the old Vestries and several were then serving. Their claim to sit on the new Borough Councils was, however, rejected.

WOMEN IN PUBLIC WORK.

Half a century ago no offices were held by women beyond such parochial offices as Sextoness, Overseer and Churchwarden, which they occasionally filled. Their always-existing right to act as Poor-Law Guardians seems to have been entirely left in abeyance until the early '70's, when the attention of public-spirited women was being called to the need of reformation in the workhouses.

1870.—MEMBERS OF SCHOOL BOARD: Miss Lydia Becker was the first woman to be elected to public office by the popular vote. This was at the first School Board election in Manchester, in November, 1870. She was re-elected at every subsequent triennial election until her death in 1890. Several were elected in London and other large towns. Their number has gone on slowly increasing, both in towns and rural districts, the women being re-elected again and again whenever they continued to stand.

1873.—POOR-LAW INSPECTORS: The first woman was appointed Poor-Law Inspector in 1873. Then for some years there was no other. Two now fill that office, appointed in 1885 and 1898 respectively.

1875. POOR-LAW GUARDIANS: The first Poor-Law Guardian was elected in 1875. There are now over 1,000 serving as Guardians and District Councillors in England, a few in Scotland, and about 90 in Ireland.

1892.—ROYAL COMMISSIONS: Women were appointed as Assistant Commissioners on the Royal Commission of Labor in 1892, and as Royal Commissioners to enquire into secondary education in 1895.

1894.—FACTORY INSPECTORS: The first women Factory Inspectors were appointed in 1894, and six are now serving.

The Education Department also has a few as Inspectors. Local authorities in large towns are realizing the value of women as Sanitary Inspectors, and the number of these increases gradually.

STEPS IN EDUCATION.

Half a century ago there was not one school or college where women could have any approach to University classes. Now there are over 2,000 women graduates, besides 1,500 who hold certificates from Oxford and Cambridge in place of the degrees which would have been theirs had those ancient seats of learning opened their gates to women graduates. The following table shows the particulars:

Approximate total number of graduates Distribution. Women Admitted. in January, 1900.

London University By a supplemental charter of 1878 1,100 Victoria University By its charter of foundation, 1880 180 Royal University of Ireland 1882 425 The Scottish Universities: Edinburgh, By an ordinance of the University Glasgow, Commissioners in 1892 empowering Aberdeen, the admission of women 226 St. Andrews. University of Wales By a charter in 1893 incorporating the Colleges of Aberystwith, Cardiff, Bangor 27 Durham By an amending charter in 1895 25 Girton College, Cambridge Opened for women 1872 529 Newnham College, " Opened for women 1880 577 Halls for Women in Oxford Opened for women 1879 426

The students of the three Women's Colleges above take the examinations of Cambridge and Oxford and have instruction in part from their faculties, but receive only certificates instead of degrees. The other universities grant them full degrees.

The establishment of an equal standard of knowledge for men and women has brought about the result that the achievements of women in literature, science and art, once treated as abnormal and exceptional are now quite normal and usual; and the liberal learning, once confined to the very few in favored circumstances, is within the reach of numbers. As a corollary to this it has been recognized that women's occupations also deserve systematic training, with the result that when once the training was given the resourcefulness of women has enabled them to follow out new lines, and a new independence has dawned upon them. At the same time the sense of personal responsibility which comes of independence has made many more women realize that they have a duty to the community, and therefore has compelled them to set their thoughts and minds to the performance of those duties. As a natural consequence the fact is being more and more realized by the Electorate and by Government Departments that women can bring useful service to the community.

THE ISLE OF MAN.

[The ancient kingdom of the Isle of Man, with an independent government since the time of the vikings, and making its own laws which require only the sanction of the Crown, extended Full Suffrage to women property owners in December, 1880, and the act received the assent of Queen Victoria, January 5th, 1881. This was extended to all women rate-payers in 1892.]

PROGRESS IN THE COLONIES.

NEW ZEALAND.[488]

The first of the Colonies of the British Empire to grant the Parliamentary Franchise to women was New Zealand, therefore, the story of Colonial Progress fitly opens with the land of the Maories. The earliest public mention that this writer has been able to find of the question was in a speech of Sir Julius Vogel to his constituents in 1876, when he said that he was in favor of extending the franchise to women—but as far back as 1869 a pamphlet on the subject, entitled An Appeal to the Men of New Zealand, had been written by Mrs. Mary Mueller, who may be fitly termed the pioneer woman suffragist of that colony.

In 1878 the Government introduced an Electoral Bill which included the franchise for rate-paying women; this passed the House of Representatives but met with much opposition in the Upper House on points unconnected with women's suffrage, so that it was ultimately withdrawn.

In 1887 Sir Julius Vogel, Colonial Treasurer, introduced a Bill giving practically universal suffrage to women. This was supported by the Premier, Sir Robert Stout, and passed the House of Representatives May 12, 1887, by 41 ayes, 22 noes. Several Members stated that they only voted for it in the hope that in Committee it would be limited to owners of property. An amendment proposed to this effect in Committee was rejected, but this proved a fatal victory, for when the clause was put as it stood the "noes" carried the day.

A resolution moved by Sir John Hall in 1890, carried by a majority of 26, was a further note of encouragement.

The work for Women's Suffrage was mainly carried on by the Women's Christian Temperance Union, and they now put forth increased energy, so that early in 1891 Mrs. Kate W. Sheppard, Franchise Superintendent, was able to report that many local unions had appointed franchise superintendents. With what effect they worked was shown when Sir John Hall presented in August, 1891, a petition for the suffrage seventy yards long, which was run out to the furthest end of the House; a row of Members ranged themselves on either side to inspect the signatures and found no two alike, as some seemed to expect. On September 4th Sir John Hall's Bill again passed in the House of Representatives, but was lost by two votes in the Legislative Council, or Upper House.

In 1892 Sir John Hall presented in behalf of the measure the largest petition ever seen in the New Zealand Parliament. That year the Hon. J. Ballance introduced an Electoral Bill on behalf of the Government, in which the most important new feature was the franchise for women. It passed the House of Representatives, but a difference on technical details between the two branches of the Legislature delayed its passage in the Council.

In 1893 the Electoral Act of New Zealand conferred the Franchise on every person over twenty-one, although this did not carry the right to sit in Parliament.

As a General Election was close at hand no time was lost in enrolling women on the register. The report of the New Zealand W. C. T. U. of 1893 supplies the following figures:

Men. Women. On the Register 177,701 109,461 Voting at the Poll 124,439 90,290

A lady present in Auckland during the election relates that the interest taken by the Maori women was very great and that nearly half the Maori votes registered in Auckland were those of women.

The Hon. H. J. Seddon, Premier of New Zealand, when in England for the celebration of the Queen's jubilee in 1897, spoke of the measure as a great success, saying, "It has come to stay." The Bishop of Auckland, speaking at the Church Congress in England that year, said "it had led to no harm or inconvenience, but the men of New Zealand were wondering why they had permitted the women of that Colony to remain so long without the right to vote in Parliamentary elections."

SOUTH AUSTRALIA.[489]

On July 22d, 1885, Dr. Stirling moved a Resolution in the House of Assembly in favor of conferring the Franchise for both Houses of the Legislature, on widows and spinsters who possessed qualifications (property) which would entitle them to vote for the Legislative Council. The debate was adjourned on the motion of the Attorney-General and on August 5th the Resolution carried without a division or serious opposition.

This favorable start is the more remarkable that there had been no previous agitation, no society or committee formed, no petitions presented, no meetings held. It was a matter of enlightened conviction on the part of the legislators. Dr. Stirling introduced a Bill in 1886, in the same terms as his resolution, and on April 13th it passed second reading by a majority of two of those voting, but as amendments to the Constitution must have a majority of the whole House, the Bill could not be proceeded with. A general election followed soon after, at which Dr. Stirling did not re-enter Parliament, and Mr. Caldwell took charge of the Bill, which in November, 1889, again passed second reading in the House of Assembly, but again by an insufficient majority.

In the Summer of 1889 a public meeting was held to form a Women's Suffrage League, which set to work holding meetings and collecting signatures to petitions under the guidance of its Hon. Secretary, Mrs. Mary Lee. The efforts of the parliamentary friends were thrice baffled—in 1890, 1891 and 1893—by the necessity for a majority of the whole House, which stopped further immediate progress though each time the Bill had passed second reading. The growth of support was, however, evidenced by the reply of the Premier to a deputation from the Women's Suffrage League in November, 1893—that "on the question of Women's Suffrage the Government were in the position of just persons who needed no conversion, as they were thoroughly at one in the matter and were willing to do all they could to place Women's Suffrage on the Statute Book."

When, in August, 1894, the Government brought their Adult Suffrage Bill to the Legislative Council the opponents did their utmost to bring about its defeat by obstructive amendments, but in vain. Finally they moved that the clause prohibiting women from sitting in Parliament be struck out, expecting thereby to wreck the Bill, but the supporters of the measure accepted the amendment and so it was carried by a combination of opponents and supporters, giving women Full Suffrage and the right to sit in the Parliament. An address and testimonial were presented to Mrs. Lee by the Hon. C. C. Kingston, the Premier, Dr. Cockburn, other Members of Parliament and friends. In making the presentation the Premier said he did so at request of the Committee, for her important services in one of the greatest constitutional reforms in Australian history. Royal assent was given to the Bill in 1895.

The first election under this Act took place in April, 1896. Statistics published in the Australian Register of June 10th, give the following totals:

Men. Women. On the roll in Adelaide and suburbs 30,051 24,585 On the roll in the country districts 47,701 34,581 Voting in Adelaide and suburbs 19,938 16,253 Voting in country districts 31,634 23,059 Percentage voting in Adelaide and suburbs 66.34 66.11 Percentage voting in the country districts 66.32 66.68

Speaking at the Annual Meeting of the Central Committee of the Women's Suffrage Society in London, July 15th, 1898, Dr. Cockburn (now Sir John Cockburn, K. C. M. G.) said: "The refining influence of women has made itself felt in this sphere as in every other: they have elevated the whole realm of politics without themselves losing a jot of their innate purity. 'No poorer they but richer we,' by their addition to the electoral roll."

WEST AUSTRALIA.[490]

The women of West Australia enjoyed the unprecedented experience of having organised their Franchise League and gained the Franchise in one year. The question, however, had been more or less before the Colony since 1893. In that year Mr. Cookworthy had introduced a Women's Suffrage Resolution in the House of Assembly which was lost by only one vote.

After the next General Election, Mr. Cookworthy again introduced his Resolution in 1897, when it was lost by two votes, one of its strongest supporters being absent. Although there was at that time no organisation specially for the Suffrage, the Women's Christian Temperance Union did much to extend interest, and there was a large body of support to be found amongst the intelligent women of the Colony. This led to the formation of a Women's Franchise League for Western Australia.

This League was formally organized at a public meeting of the Leisure Hour Club in Perth, May 11th, 1899, Lady Onslow presiding. That autumn a Resolution similar to the one which had been introduced in the Legislative Assembly passed the Council, and before the year closed the Electoral Act was passed of which the important part for women lies in the interpretation clause, which interprets "Elector" as any person of either sex whose name is on the Electoral Roll of a province or district. Royal assent to the Bill was given in 1900. Although women now can vote for members of the Parliament they can not sit in that body.

Already the Women's Franchise League of Western Australia is transformed into the Women's Electoral League.

NEW SOUTH WALES.[491]

The Mother Colony seems likely to be the next to enfranchise women. The question in that Colony first came prominently forward when Sir Henry Parkes, the veteran statesman and oft-times Premier, proposed a clause to give equal voting power to women in his Electoral Bill in 1890. The clause was eventually dropped, but the very fact that it had been introduced in a Government Bill by a man of such high position as Sir Henry Parkes gave the question the impetus for which the friends of the movement were waiting to collect the growing interest into organized form and combined action.

On May 6th, 1891, the Womanhood Suffrage League of New South Wales was formed, Lady Windeyer was elected president and an active campaign was begun. On July 30th Sir Henry Parkes moved a Resolution in the Legislative Assembly "that in the opinion of this House the franchise for the election of members of the Legislative Assembly should be extended to women on the same conditions and subject to the same qualifications as men." The debate was a very long one, occupying twelve hours and concluding at 3 a. m., when the motion was lost by 34 ayes, 57 noes. The friends of Women's Suffrage were in no way cast down by this vote. They believed that in a full House on a fair test division their friends would have been in a majority, but many who were anxious for the passing of the Electoral Bill voted against Sir Henry Parkes' motion lest the inclusion of women should imperil its chances in the Upper House.

The next debate on the question was on November 18th, 1894, when Mr. O'Reilly moved a Resolution that "in the opinion of this House the time has arrived when the franchise should be extended to women." This was supported by Sir Henry Parkes. The Premier, Sir G. H. Reid, approved of Women's Suffrage in the abstract but objected that the present Parliament had received no mandate from the people. Sir George Dibbs thought the demand a just one. Eventually the motion, with the words "the time has now arrived" omitted, was carried by a large majority. No debate has taken place since 1894, as the pressure on the time of the Legislature has been great with Federal and other matters, but the question was never in a more hopeful position. The sudden change of government in 1899 placed a strong friend to the cause at the head of affairs in the present Premier, Sir William Lyne, and at the annual meeting of the Suffrage League in August, 1900, Mr. Fegan, M. P. (Minister for Mines) congratulated the women of New South Wales on being so near the goal of their desires. The Premier had definitely said that before the session closed a Bill would be introduced to give women the suffrage, and he hoped that next year they would be able to disband their League, its work being finished. The Bill was introduced in 1901 but was lost by 19 ayes, 22 noes.

On Aug. 14, 1902, the bill conferring the Parliamentary Franchise on women passed the Council. It had already passed the Assembly and is now law.

VICTORIA.[492]

In Melbourne an organisation for Women's Suffrage has been in existence some sixteen years, but it is only within the last five years that the question has come within the region of practical politics. The movement suffered from want of concentration of energy. "At one time the original association, though still in existence, was rivalled by other societies with the same object, but more or less tinged with local, class or religious characteristics. This rivalry, though it tended to the growth of the movement, deprived it of force and eventually led to divided counsels and consequently to comparative failure." The Australian Woman's Sphere[493] from which the above words are quoted, goes on to say: "A few years since, largely owing to the patience and tact of the late Annette Bear Crawford, its first Hon. Secretary, there was formed the 'United Council for Women's Suffrage' which aimed at including representatives of all the leagues that had for their main object, or for one of them, the political enfranchisement of women."

The formation of this Council has been the sign of a new life in the question in Melbourne. At the General Election of 1894 a determined effort was made to secure the return of a majority of members pledged to vote for the suffrage cause. The Government promised a Bill in the session of 1895, and on November 26th the Premier, Sir George Turner, introduced a Women's Suffrage Bill which passed the House of Assembly without a division, but was lost in the Legislative Council by two votes.

The Women's Suffrage Bill passed the Legislative Assembly in 1897, '98, '99, 1900, '01, each time with an increased majority, but each time its progress has been stopped in the Council.

Nevertheless there are many evidences of increasing vitality in the movement in Victoria, not the least of these being the rise of an Anti-Women's Suffrage Crusade. These "New Crusaders" have presented a petition which purports to be signed by 22,987 "adult women" of Victoria. But in 1891 before the suffrage was a live subject, before it had entered the region of practical politics, the women suffragists in six weeks obtained 30,000 signatures of adult women. The first and the most natural result of the anti-suffrage movement has been to bring down enquiries on the United Council from all parts of the Colony how to help Women's Suffrage.

QUEENSLAND.[494]

The Women's Suffrage question appears to have received its first awakening in Queensland from the visit of Miss Hannah Chenings, who in 1891 came from Adelaide on a lecturing tour in connection with an effort to obtain a law for the better protection of young girls. Her account of the Women's Franchise League in South Australia aroused a wish for a similar organisation here, and after a period of silent growth the Women's Suffrage Association was formed in 1894, mainly through the instrumentality of Mrs. Leontine Cooper and Mrs. Maginie, who, as Miss Allen, had been a member of the New South Wales Society.

At the first annual meeting of this association, in March, 1895, the report showed that petitions had been presented with over 11,000 signatures, and that letters expressing themselves as favorable to the measure had been received from thirty Members of the Legislative Assembly. In the General Election of 1897 a large number of candidates declared themselves in favor, but so far the effort to carry a Bill through the House has met with disappointment, and the Women's Suffrage Association are bending their efforts towards inducing the Government to bring in a Bill. Here, as in the other Colonies where they are still unenfranchised, the women feel deeply the injustice of their exclusion from the Federal Referendum.

TASMANIA.[495]

As long ago as 1885 a Constitutional Amendment Act passed second reading in the Tasmanian House of Assembly which provided for the extension of the Franchise to unmarried women rate-payers, but notwithstanding the support of the Government the question made no further advance in Parliament.

In recent years a Bill to enfranchise women on the same terms as men has passed the House of Assembly on several occasions with increasing majorities, but the opponents are still too numerous to carry it through the Upper House. The Women's Christian Temperance Union have been the most energetic workers in its behalf.

[It will be noticed that in each of these Australian States the Women's Suffrage Bill repeatedly passed the Assembly, or Lower House, which is elected by the people, but was defeated in the Council or Upper House, which is composed entirely of wealthy and aristocratic members, who can be voted for only by these classes, and some of whom are appointed by the Government and hold office for life. In 1901 a Federation of the six States was formed with a National Parliament, both Houses to be elected by the people. In June, 1902, a bill passed this Federal Parliament giving women the right to vote for its members and be elected to this body. About 800,000 women have been thus enfranchised, the largest victory ever gained for this movement.

In South and West Australia and New South Wales women may vote for members of the State Parliament. In Victoria, Queensland and Tasmania they may vote for the Federal but not for the State Parliament, an anomaly which doubtless will be very soon rectified. It is possible that before this volume is read all the women of the six Australian States will possess the full franchise by constitutional right.—Eds.]

In the South African Colonies there has been, as yet, no history to record. That the question simmers in many thoughtful minds there can scarcely be a doubt, but the time for organised action does not seem to have yet arrived.

The other Colonies of Great Britain, with the exception of Canada, are not self-governing.

DOMINION OF CANADA.

The story of the movement to obtain the Parliamentary Franchise in the Dominion dates back to 1883. In April of that year the Premier, Sir John Macdonald, introduced a Bill in the Legislature for amending the electoral law, including a clause which gave the suffrage to unmarried women who possessed the necessary qualifications.

Previously, on March 9th, the Toronto Women's Literary and Social Progress Club had gathered in public for the first time in the City Council Chamber to consider the Suffrage question. Mrs. McEwan presided and a paper "treating pithily and with much aptness on the subject of the Franchise" was read by Miss E. Foulds, who moved a Resolution "that in the opinion of this Meeting the Parliamentary Franchise should be extended to women who possess the qualifications which entitle men to vote." This and a second resolution proposing the formation of a society to forward such legislation as might be required were both carried, many ladies and gentlemen speaking in their support and a large number of those present giving in their names as members. On April 5th an adjourned meeting was held and the Canadian Women's Suffrage Association was constituted.

Sir John Macdonald's Bill was presented too late to become a law and was re-introduced in 1884. It was in this year that members of the British Suffrage Association visited Canada. Miss Lydia Becker and Mrs. Lilias Ashworth Hallett were among them, and they and several other English ladies united in sending an address to Sir John Macdonald thanking him for the introduction of provisions in his Bill to enable women to vote and expressing their high appreciation of the just and generous spirit which had actuated him. Mrs. Hallett had some conversation with Sir John Hall, who told her the only difficulty they expected in Canada as regarded passing the Bill was from the French population. This expectation proved to be well-founded. The Women's Suffrage Clauses were rejected by 51 ayes, 78 noes, after a debate extending over thirty-one consecutive hours.

It was ten years before any further effort was made to secure the Parliamentary Franchise. In 1894 a petition for this, in behalf of the Women's Christian Temperance Union, supplemented by memorials from the Provinces, was presented by Sir James Grant to the House of Commons, and by the Hon. Mr. Scott to the Senate, but no resolution was offered. A Bill introduced by Mr. Dickey, dealing with the electoral franchise, contained a clause asking suffrage for widows and spinsters, but the Bill was read only once. Mr. Davis, unsolicited, brought in a resolution for Women's Franchise on the same terms as men. Forty members voted for it, one hundred and five against it.

A petition for the Parliamentary Franchise for women, very largely signed by Federal voters throughout the Dominion, was presented to the House of Commons and the Senate in 1896. This was the last effort in the Parliament, and as a change has since been made in the Electoral Act, making the voters' list for the Dominion coincide with the Provincial lists, the battle will therefore have to be fought out in each separate Province.

THE PRESENT POLITICAL CONDITION.[496]

Women in Canada have no vote for any law maker, either Federal or Provincial. Their franchise is confined to municipalities, which can only make by-laws that relate to the execution of existing laws. But although women have no direct vote, they have, by much labor and united effort, effected some important changes in the criminal code and civil laws, as well as in the political position of women in the municipalities. The societies which have accomplished the most, if not all, of these changes are the Women's Christian Temperance Union, the Women's Enfranchisement Association and the National Council of Women.

In the Province of Ontario, in 1884, widows and spinsters were given the Municipal Franchise on the same terms as men. All women, married or single, if owners of property, may vote on money by-laws where such are submitted to the electors. Any woman on the assessment roll may vote for School Trustees and is eligible for this office. In 1892 it was enacted that women might study law and qualify for the Bar. In 1893 a Bill to give Municipal Suffrage to married women and one to grant the Provincial Suffrage to all women were defeated by 16 ayes, 53 noes.

In the Province of New Brunswick the Legislature in 1886 gave, unsolicited, to widows and spinsters the right to vote on the same terms as men at Municipal elections. In 1893 an Act was passed permitting the appointment of a woman as School Trustee. This was amended in 1896 making it compulsory that two on each Board shall be women.

In the Province of Nova Scotia the Municipal Franchise was granted to widows and spinsters in 1887. A Bill for the Provincial Franchise was defeated in 1893; and again in 1894 by one vote. An Act of 1895 permits all women, if rate-payers, to vote on School matters. A married woman having property in her own right, provided that her husband is disqualified, may vote in Municipal elections under the Married Woman's Property Act, since 1891. In the city of Halifax widows and spinsters who are rate-payers may vote on Municipal questions. In 1894 a Bill giving women a more extended suffrage was lost by seven votes; in 1895 by four votes; in 1899 a Bill for the full Provincial Franchise was lost by twenty-seven votes.

In the Province of Prince Edward Island, in 1888, the Municipal Suffrage was granted to widows and spinsters owning property. An Act of 1899 made women eligible to appointment on School Boards.

In the Province of British Columbia, in 1888, the Municipal Franchise was conferred on widows and spinsters owning property. An Act of 1891 allows the wife of any householder or freeholder to vote on School matters but not to hold office; in 1897 the Act was amended making them eligible as School Trustees. This same year all women rate-payers were given the Municipal Franchise. Only owners of property may vote on by-laws for raising money upon the credit of the municipality.

In the Province of Manitoba, in 1891, the Municipal Franchise was extended to women. Any qualified woman rate-payer can vote on School questions and is eligible for School offices. Women property owners may vote on all submitted by-laws. In 1892 a measure to give women the full Provincial Suffrage was defeated by 28 ayes, 11 noes.

In the Province of Quebec, in 1892, the Municipal and School Franchise was conferred on widows and spinsters on the same terms as on men. The law relating to the right of women to sit on the School Board was ambiguous, so a petition was presented that they be declared eligible. The response to this was an amendment excluding women. In Montreal, under the old charter, only widows and spinsters who owned property had the Municipal Franchise; in 1899 this was amended, adding tenancy with residence as a qualification. In 1898 a Bill granting them the Provincial Suffrage was lost on division.

In the Northwest Territories, in 1894, the Municipal Franchise was granted to widows and spinsters. In School matters every woman rate-payer can vote and is eligible to School offices.[497]

FOOTNOTES:

[483] The women of Great Britain and Ireland possess every franchise except that for members of Parliament. Local suffrage is restricted to spinsters and widows, but the important vote for Parish and District Councils, created by the Local Government Act of 1894, is possessed by married women "provided husband and wife shall not both be qualified in respect to the same piece of property." It may be stated in general terms that all electors must be rate-payers, although there are some exceptions applying to a small percentage of persons. [Eds.

[484] These were classified in groups: (1) The general list (2) Wives of clergymen and church dignitaries. This list was headed by Mrs. Benson and Mrs. Thomson, the wives of the Archbishops of Canterbury and York. (3) Officials, including ladies who are Poor Law Guardians and members of School Boards. (4) Education, including the names of such leaders in the movement for the higher education of women as Mrs. Wm. Grey, Miss Emily Davies, Mrs. Henry Sidgwick—the Mistress of Girton, the Principal of Newnham College, upwards of sixty university lecturers and teachers and head mistresses of High Schools, upwards of eighty university graduates and certificated students, and there were omitted for want of space the names of over 200 other women engaged in the teaching profession. (5) Registered medical practitioners, headed by Mrs. Garrett Anderson, M. D.; Miss Elizabeth Blackwell, M. D., and Mrs. Scharlieb, M. D., together with a number of ladies engaged in the department of nursing. (6) Social and philanthropic workers. (7) Literature, including Miss Anna Swanwick, Mrs. Anne Thackeray Ritchie, Miss S. D. Collet, Miss Olive Schreiner, Mrs. Emily Crawford, Miss Amelia B. Edwards. (7) Art and music. (8) Landowners, women engaged in business and working women, the latter class represented by the secretaries of nine women trades' societies, and over 180 individual signatures of women artisans.

[485] The text of the Bill was as follows:

(1) This Act may be cited as the Parliamentary Franchise (Extension to Women) Act, 1897.

(2) On and after the passing of this Act every woman who is the inhabitant occupier, as owner or tenant, of any dwelling-house, tenement or building within the borough or county where such occupation exists, shall be entitled to be registered as a voter in the list of voters for such borough or county in which she is so qualified as aforesaid, and, when registered, to vote for a member or members to serve in Parliament.

Provided always that such woman is not subject to any legal incapacity which would disqualify a male voter.

[486] The first petition for woman suffrage presented to Parliament, in 1867, was signed by only 1,499 women. The petition of 1873 was signed by 11,000 women. The petition presented to the members of the last Parliament was signed by 257,796 women. [Eds.

[487] No reference has been made in the above table to the various Factory Acts which impose restrictions on women's labour—these belong to a different department—but whether their interference with the labor of women be for good or for evil, that interference is an additional argument for allowing them a voice in the election of representatives.

[488] In 1877 New Zealand granted School Suffrage to women, and in 1886 Municipal Suffrage.

[489] In 1880 South Australia granted Municipal Suffrage to women.

[490] In 1871 West Australia granted Municipal Suffrage to women.

[491] In 1867 New South Wales granted Municipal Suffrage to women.

[492] In 1869 Victoria granted Municipal Suffrage to women.

[493] The first number of The Australian Woman's Sphere was published in Melbourne, September 1, 1900. It is edited by Miss Vida Goldstein and appears monthly.

[494] In 1886 Queensland granted Municipal Suffrage to Women.

[495] Tasmania granted Municipal Suffrage to women in 1884.

[496] This portion of the report is condensed by the editors of the History from a chapter written by Mrs. Henrietta Muir Edwards for "The Women of Canada, Their Life and Work," a handbook prepared by the National Council of Women, at the request of the Canadian Government, for the Paris Exposition of 1900.

[497] In the city of Vancouver any single woman, widow or spinster, may vote for municipal officers, and all women possessing the other necessary qualifications of male voters may vote for all municipal officers and upon all municipal questions. Married women may vote in the election of School Trustees. It has recently been decided that a man possessing no property of his own, and not being a householder in his own right, may be allowed to vote in municipal matters if his wife be a property owner or a householder. [Eds.



CHAPTER LXXIV.

WOMAN SUFFRAGE IN OTHER COUNTRIES.

In most of the countries of the world women possess some form of suffrage, but for many reasons it is almost impossible to define exactly in what it consists. Like suffrage for men it is largely based on property, and in most cases can be used only through a proxy. Generally the woman loses the franchise by marriage and the husband may vote by right of the wife's property. In Belgium, Luxemburg, Italy and Roumania the husband votes at local elections by right of the taxes paid by the wife, and in case of a widow this right belongs to the eldest son, grandson or great grandson, or if there is none, then to the son-in-law. The Italian electoral law of 1870 gave a widow the right to vote by proxy in Parliamentary elections. All the Italian universities are open to women.

The constitution of Germany says "every German" above twenty-five years of age shall have the Parliamentary Franchise, but no woman ever has been permitted to vote under it. There are, besides, twenty-five constitutions for the different States which form the Empire. By the wording of some of them, women landed proprietors undoubtedly are entitled to take part in elections. The Prussian code declares that the rights of the two sexes are equal, if no special laws fix an exception, and it gives the Parliamentary Franchise to every one who possesses the county or burgess suffrage. The by-laws which prescribe the qualifications for the latter in some instances exclude women and in others declare that women land holders may act as electors, but only "through a proctor" (proxy). Teachers undoubtedly, as State officials, are entitled to take part in local government. Some of the provinces allow women taxpayers to vote by proxy in the rural districts. Neither the Government nor public sentiment, however, looks with favor upon women electors. It is only in recent years that a few of the most advanced have begun to agitate the question in this country, which holds a most conservative attitude towards women. They have recently been admitted to a few of the universities.

In most of the Prussian towns the property qualifications of the wife are accounted to the husband in order that he may take part in municipal elections. In Saxony women proprietors of landed estates, whether married or single, are entitled to a municipal vote but this can be exercised only by proxy, and for this purpose one of their male relatives must be invested with their property. In Saxony, Baden, Wurtemburg, Hesse, the Thuringian States and perhaps a few more, women are permitted to attend public political meetings and be members of political societies, but in all other German States they are excluded from both. They are thus prohibited from forming organizations to secure the franchise. In Westphalia since 1856, and Schleswig-Holstein since 1867, all qualified women have some form of suffrage by male proxy.

In the Austro-Hungarian Empire, since 1862, women with property have a proxy vote in municipal and provincial elections and for members of the Lower House of the Parliament, but there are many restrictions to this law. In Bohemia, since 1873, women who are large landed proprietors have a proxy vote for members of the Imperial Parliament and the local Diet.

In Russia among the peasant class the representative of the household votes. The wife, if owner of the necessary amount of property, may select her husband as proxy, but he may also delegate his vote to the wife, and it is a common thing to see her take his place at elections and at village and country meetings of all kinds. In the cities and territorial assemblies, women, married or unmarried, possessing sufficient property, may vote by male proxy for members of the municipal and county assemblies. Property-owning women of the nobility may vote by proxy in the assemblies of the nobility. Part of the universities are open to them. There are 650 women physicians in Russia.

So far as can be learned women are not eligible to office in the above-mentioned countries with a very few exceptions.

In Finland, since 1865, widows and spinsters may vote at rural elections; since 1873 those who are rate-payers may vote at municipal elections. Since 1889 women are eligible as Guardians of the Poor. In 1900 they were made eligible to all municipal offices. An influential Finnish Woman's Association with twenty branches is agitating for suffrage on the same terms as men.

In Holland there is no form of woman suffrage and the constitution of 1887 expressly prohibits it.

Women in Denmark have no franchise, but Premier Duentzer has announced that the first reform movement of the new Cabinet (1901) will be the extension of Municipal Suffrage to women.

In 1893, through the efforts of the Socialists, universal suffrage was granted to men in Belgium. While this gives to every man a vote, it permits to the married man, if he pays a small tax, two votes as the head of a family; if he pays tax on what would be about $2,000, or has a university degree, he is allowed three votes. The vast majority of those owning property or possessing university degrees belong to the established (Catholic) Church, and the Socialists soon found themselves out-voted by a minority. They then instituted a new movement demanding "one man, one vote," and the Government, which is Catholic, said: "If you compel this we will enfranchise women," believing that this would strengthen its power. At this writing the contest is going on and becoming more violent.

Switzerland, whose pride is its absolutely republican form of government, allows no woman a vote on any question or for the election of any officer. They are admitted to the universities.

In France, in 1898, unmarried women engaged in commerce (including market women, etc.) were given a vote for Judges of the Tribunals of Commerce. A Woman Suffrage Society has just been formed in Paris which is attracting considerable attention. Women are admitted to the highest institutions of learning.

The laws in all the countries thus far mentioned are most unjust to women and especially to wives.

Women in Sweden have voted in church matters since 1736. It was provided in 1862 that women who are rate-payers may vote directly or by proxy, as they choose, for all officers except for members of the Parliament. Indirectly they have a voice in the election of the First Chamber or House of Lords, as they vote for the County Council which elects this body. They have School and Municipal Suffrage and that for Provincial representatives. The laws are very liberal to women. All of the educational institutions, the professions, occupations and many of the offices are open to them. They are members of the Boards of Education, Municipal Relief Committees and Parochial Boards. About six hundred have received university degrees.

In Norway, since 1889, in towns women with children may vote for school inspectors and be eligible to the school boards. In rural communes they are eligible as inspectors, and women who pay a school tax may vote on all school questions and officers, while those who pay no tax but have children may vote on all questions not involving expenditures. In 1884 a Woman Suffrage Association was formed under the leadership of Miss Gina Krog for the purpose of securing the Municipal Franchise. In 1890 a bill for this purpose received 44 out of 114 votes in the Parliament. It was then made an issue by the Liberal party. In 1895 a vote on Local Option was granted to women. In 1898 the Radical party secured universal suffrage for men without property restrictions. They then came to the assistance of women and were joined by a large number of Conservatives. In 1901 Municipal Suffrage was granted to all women who pay taxes on an income of 300 crowns ($71) in country districts and 400 in cities. If husband and wife together pay taxes on this amount both may vote. About 200,000 women thus became electors. Women are found in many offices, in most occupations and professions, and are admitted to all educational institutions.

Iceland, since 1882, grants Municipal Suffrage to tax-paying widows and spinsters; since 1886 all women have had a parish suffrage, which enables them to vote in the selection of the clergy, who have a prominent part in public affairs.

At the Cape of Good Hope women have a limited vote. In the tiny Island of Pitcairn, in the Southern Pacific, they have the same suffrage as men. This is doubtless true of many isolated localities whose records are little known. Among primitive peoples the government is generally in the hands of the most competent without regard to sex, and some of these are still under the reign of the Matriarchate, or the rule of mothers, to whom belong the property and the children. The early Spanish inhabitants of the North American continent placed much authority in the hands of women, and the same is true of the Indian tribes.



CHAPTER LXXV.

NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS OF WOMEN.

The most conspicuous and significant movement which challenges attention at the beginning of the new century is that toward organization, and the three great combinations which stand out most prominently in interest and importance are the organization of capital, the organization of labor and the organization of women. We scarcely can go back so far in history as not to find men banded together to protect their mutual interests, but associations of women are of very modern date. The oldest on record was formed in Philadelphia, in the closing days of the eighteenth century—Female Society for the Relief and Employment of the Poor—which in 1798 established a house of industry in Arch St., known as the Home for Spinners. The society is still in active existence and gives employment to a large number of women. Church Missionary Societies of Women had their origin early in the century, but as mere annexes to those officered and managed by men. The first association to approach national prominence was the Female Anti-Slavery Society, founded in Boston in 1833, which almost cost the reputation of every one who joined it, so strong was the prejudice against any public action on the part of women. The American Female Guardian Society and Home for the Friendless was established in New York in 1834, and still exists, having cared for 50,000 children. Later in this decade Female Bible Societies came into being to supply Bibles to penal and charitable institutions and to put them in various public places.



From 1840 to 1850 the old Washingtonian Societies, composed entirely of men, were gradually replaced by the Sons of Temperance, and as they also were decidedly averse to receiving women into their organization, and as the latter were deeply interested in the subject, a few of them timidly formed the Daughters of Temperance, in the face of extreme opposition on the part of both sexes. In the decade following commenced the agitation of the question of Woman Suffrage, and soon conventions in its interest began to be of frequent occurrence, to the joy of the newspapers, most of which treated them with ridicule and denunciation.

The decade ushered in by 1860 brought the long Civil War, during which, in the Sanitary Commission, the Woman's Loyal League, the Freedmen's Bureau and other associations, women displayed an unsuspected power of organization, and at its close their status in many ways was completely changed and greatly advanced.

In 1868 the country was electrified by the advent of Sorosis in New York City and the New England Woman's Club in Boston. These were the first societies formed by women purely for their own recreation and improvement—all others had been for the purpose of reforming the weak and sinful or assisting the needy and unfortunate—and they met with a storm of derision and protest from all parts of the country, which their founders courageously ignored. The last quarter of a century has witnessed so many organizations of women that it would be practically impossible to record even their names. Every village which is big enough for a church contains also a woman's club, and they exist in many country neighborhoods. In the larger cities single societies have from 500 to 1,000 members, and in a number handsome club houses have been built and furnished, some of them costing from $50,000 to $80,000.

From 1850 the annual conventions in the interest of Woman's Rights were called under the auspices of a Central Committee, but in 1869 the National and American Woman Suffrage Associations were formed. Five years later the Woman's Christian Temperance Union sprang into existence. There are now more than one hundred associations of women in the United States which are national in their form and aims, and a number have become international through their alliance with those of other countries. In 1888, in Washington City, the National Council of Women, a heroic undertaking, was founded to gather these vast and diverse organizations into one great body. By 1900 sixteen had become thus affiliated, representing a membership of about 1,125,000 women.

An International Council also was organized in 1888 to be composed of similar National Councils in various countries and to meet in a Congress every five years. At the close of the century fourteen National Councils had affiliated with the International, representing a membership of 6,000,000. This is not only immeasurably larger than any other association of women but is exceeded in size by very few organizations of men, and its two great Congresses—during the Columbian Exposition at Chicago in 1893, and at London in 1899—were occasions of world-wide interest and value.

Each of the more than one hundred national associations of women in the United States holds its annual, biennial or triennial convention in some one of the large cities, which is attended by delegates from all parts of the country. The sessions are presided over by a woman, discussions are carried on with due attention to parliamentary usage, a large amount of business is transacted with system and accuracy, and in every respect these meetings compare favorably with those conducted by men after centuries of experience. They are treated with the greatest respect by the newspapers which vie with each other in publishing pictures of the delegates, their addresses and extended and complimentary reports of the proceedings. The character of these national organizations, the scope of their objects and the extent of their achievements can in no way be so strikingly illustrated as by giving a list of the most important.[498]

THE INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL OF WOMEN was organized March 31, 1888, in Washington, D. C., "to unite the women of all the countries in the world for the promotion of co-operative internationalism through the abatement of that prejudice which springs from ignorance and which can be corrected only by that knowledge which results from personal acquaintance.

"In the first place its influence has united different organizations of the same country hitherto indifferent or inimical to each other; and in the second it has commenced the work of uniting the women of different nations and abating race prejudice. It has promoted the movement of peace and arbitration, and through its international committees it is forming a central bureau of information in regard to women's contribution to the work of the world."

It is composed at present of fourteen National Councils of as many different countries representing an individual membership of about 6,000,000 women. Its president is Mrs. May Wright Sewall, who was one of its founders.

THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF WOMEN was organized in Washington, D. C., March 31, 1888. Its constitution is introduced by the following preamble:

"We, women of the United States, sincerely believing that the best good of our homes and nation will be advanced by our own greater unity of thought, sympathy and purpose, and that an organized movement of women will best conserve the highest good of the family and the State, do hereby band ourselves together in a confederation of workers committed to the overthrow of all forms of ignorance and injustice, and to the application of the Golden Rule to society, custom and law. This Council is organized in the interest of no one propaganda, and has no power over its auxiliaries beyond that of suggestion and sympathy; therefore, no society voting to become auxiliary shall thereby render itself liable to be interfered with in respect to its complete organic unity, independence or methods of work, or be committed to any principle or method of any other society or to any utterance or act of the Council itself, beyond compliance with the terms of this constitution."

The scope of the Council's work is indicated by the heads of its departments: Home Life, Educational Interests, Church and Missionary Work, Temperance, Art, Moral Reform, Political Conditions, Philanthropy, Social Economics, Foreign Relations, Press, Organization; and by its standing committees: Citizenship, Domestic Science, Equal Pay for Equal Work, Dress Reform, Social Purity, Domestic Relations under the Law, Press, Care of Dependent and Delinquent Children, Peace and Universal Arbitration.

Each of these departments and committees works along its special lines and at the annual executive meetings and the triennial Councils the reports of their work are discussed, their recommendations considered and every possible assistance rendered. The general public is invited to the evening sessions and valuable addresses are made by specialists on the above and other important subjects.

The Council is composed of sixteen national organizations, one State Council, six local councils—representing a membership of about 1,125,000 women.

THE NATIONAL WOMAN'S CHRISTIAN TEMPERANCE UNION was organized in Cleveland, Ohio, Nov. 18-20, 1874, to carry the precepts of the following pledge into the practice of everyday life: "I hereby solemnly promise, God helping me, to abstain from all distilled, fermented and malt liquors, including wine, beer and cider, and to employ all proper means to discourage the use of and traffic in the same."

Its object was further stated as follows: "To confirm and enforce the rationale of this pledge, we declare our purpose to educate the young; to form a better public sentiment; to reform, so far as possible, by religious, ethical and scientific means, the drinking classes; to seek the transforming power of divine grace for ourselves and all for whom we work, that they and we may wilfully transcend no law of pure and wholesome living; and finally we pledge ourselves to labor and to pray that all these principles, founded upon the Gospel of Christ, may be worked out into the Customs of Society and the Laws of the Land."

The W. C. T. U. is held to be the most perfectly organized body of women in existence. It originated the idea of Scientific Temperance Instruction in the public schools and has secured mandatory laws in every State and a federal law governing the District of Columbia, the Territories and all Indian and military schools supported by the Government; 16,000,000 children in the public schools receive instruction under these laws as to the nature and effect of alcohol and other narcotics on the human system. Through its efforts the quarterly temperance lesson was included in the International Sunday School Lesson Series in 1884, and a World's Universal Temperance Sunday was secured; 250,000 children are taught scientific reasons for temperance in the Loyal Temperance Legions, and all these children are pledged to total abstinence and trained as temperance workers. W. C. T. U. Schools of Methods are held in all Chautauqua gatherings.

This organization has largely influenced the change in public sentiment in regard to social drinking, equal suffrage, equal purity for both sexes, equal remuneration for work equally well done, equal educational, professional and industrial opportunities for women. It has been a chief factor in State campaigns for statutory prohibition, constitutional amendment, reform laws in general and those for the protection of women and children in particular, and in securing anti-gambling and anti-cigarette laws. It has been instrumental in raising the "age of protection" for girls in many States and in obtaining curfew laws in 400 towns and cities. It aided in securing the Anti-Canteen Amendment to the Army Bill (1900) which prohibits the sale of intoxicating liquors at all army posts. It helped to inaugurate police matrons who are now required in nearly all the large cities of the United States. It organized Mothers' Meetings in thirty-seven States before any other society took up the work. Illinois alone has held 2,000 Mothers' Meetings in a single year.

It keeps a superintendent of legislation in Washington during the entire session of Congress to look after reform bills. It aided in preventing the repeal of the prohibitory law in Indian Territory, the resubmission of the prohibitory constitution of Maine, and in preserving the prohibitory law of Vermont. It has secured 20,000,000 signatures and attestations, including 7,000,000 on the Polyglot Petition to the governments of the world. Thousands of girls have been rescued from lives of shame and tens of thousands of men have signed the total abstinence pledge and been redeemed from inebriety through its efforts.

The association protests against the legalizing of all crimes, especially those of prostitution and liquor selling. It protests against the sale of liquor in Soldiers' Homes, where now an aggregate of $253,027 is spent annually for intoxicating liquors, and only about one-fifth of the soldiers' pension money is sent home to their families. It protests against the United States Government receiving a revenue for liquors sold within prohibitory territory, either local or State, and against all complicity of the Federal Government with the liquor traffic. It protests against lynching and lends its aid in favor of the enforcement of law. It works for the highest well-being of our soldiers and sailors and especially for suitable temperance canteens and a generous mess. It works for the protection of the home, especially against its chief enemy, the liquor traffic, and for the redemption of our Government from this curse, by the prohibition of the manufacture and sale of intoxicating liquors for beverage purposes.

The organizing of this great society in the various States and Territories, and the systematizing of the work under forty different departments, is due to the efforts of Miss Frances E. Willard more than to any other one person, and its success is indebted largely to her ability and personal popularity. As its president until her death in 1898, she not only perfected the organization in this country, but originated the idea of the Polyglot Petition and of the World's W. C. T. U., which was organized under the auspices of that of the United States. It now includes fifty-eight different countries and has 500,000 members.

The official organ, The Union Signal, a weekly of sixteen pages, is issued by the Woman's Temperance Publishing Association of Chicago, which publishes also The Young Crusader and many books and leaflets. The National W. C. T. U. gives away 5,000,000 pages of literature per year, exclusive of that circulated by the States and different departments. It has received and expended since its organization in round numbers $400,000. This does not include the large expenditures of the various State and local unions.

Every State and Territory in the United States, including Alaska and Hawaii, has a W. C. T. U., and one is beginning in the Philippines. These are auxiliary to the National. It is organized locally in over 10,000 cities and towns. The Young Woman's Christian Temperance Union is called a branch, also the Loyal Temperance Legions among children. There are thirty-eight other departments, and it is usual to include the two branches and speak of forty departments. The membership paying dues is 300,000. There was a gain of 15,000 members this year above all losses.