The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, January 10, 1921, Page 12

s (W2 SRS DR RRAR Y | W How Fight for Equal Rights Was Started _ The Story of Suffrage., Fight for Equal Rights for Women Began 128 Years Ago HE fight for woman suffrage, now nearing success all ‘over the globe, be- gan in England in 1792 when Mary Wollstonescraft began to write in favor of it. Because it was a new idea it met the attacks that new ideas al- ways get. Mrs. Wollstonescraft was described as “a hyena in petticoats” by Horace Walpole, though her own husband, who should have known more about her, described her as “a worshipper of domestic life.” . Mrs. Wollstonescraft’s advocacy of suffrage made few converts at the time. A generation later wom- en for the first time began to be active in literary and public life in England—Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte, George Eliot and Elizabeth Barrett Browning in the field of literature, Mrs. Elizabeth ~Fry in prison reform work, Mrs. Somerville and . Miss Caroline Herschell in the paths of astronomy, and Florence Nightingale, who saved thousands of lives by organizing an efficient nursing system dur- ing the Crimean war. The first legislative action came in 1867 when ° John Stuart Mill proposed woman suffrage in par- liament. Mill got no support and was beaten for re-election, but John Bright took his place in par- liament as a defender of woman’s rights. In. 1870 he got his first favorable vote, when a com- paratively few members were in the house, but the opposition went out and rounded up the absentees and snowed the bill under. It was not for 27 years later that another favorable majority could be secured. In 1897 a woman’s suffrage bill) sponsored by a mem- ber of parliament perhaps appropriately named Faithfull Begg, passed the second reading by 228 votes to 157. ¢ OPPOSITION RESORTS TO CONTEMPTIBLE TRICKERY The opposition to woman suffrage was now thoroughly alarmed and resorted to every parliamentary trick to defeat it. Three times in succeeding years woman suffrage bills were brought up and went as far as second reading but by various shifts final passage through the house of commons was blocked. By 1906 women of Great Britain were thor- oughly aroused by the dishonest tactics of the opposition and the broken promises. They started their campaign of “militancy.” The houses of parliament were besieged by wom- en demanding the vote, political speakers were “heckled” dnd meetings broken wup. Women were arrested by the hundreds and promptly went on hunger strike. Although the women of England have been criti- cized for unlawful actions of a few individuals “there is no doubt that their campaign of “mili- tancy” was what finally won them the vote. Short- ly after the start of the European war the govern- ment, convinced that there must be a united front, granted suffrage to women of 30 or over. On account of the suffrage being denied women under 30 the number of women voters in England is much less than the number of men, although the United Kingdom (England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales) contains approximately 2,000,000 more fe- males than males. . In the United States Wyoming was the first state to grant woman suffrage, in 1869. Utah, 1895, and Idaho, 1896, were second and third. Several of the British dominions had woman suf- frage before England, New Zealand in 1893, Aus- tralia in 1902 and Tasmania in 1903. Although the woman suffrage movement started in England three other European countries got equal rights sooner, Finland, Norway and Denmark. SHEPPARD-TOWNER BILL The Sheppard-Towner bill, to provide care for mothers and infants at childbirth, has been passed by the United States senate, with the appropria- tion cut down from $2,000,000 to $1,000,000. The letters of League women materially aided its pas- sage. The bill is now before the lower house of con- gress, If it is to be passed at this session prompt THE FARM WOMAN’S PAGE action is necessary. League women should write their congressmen to urge that the bill be taken up immediately. Look on the Farm Woman’s page in the last two issues of the Leader to find out more about this proposed law. £ ~ Boosts Housing Act Editor Nonpartisan Leader: I see where the architects of North Dakota had their annual session at Grand Forks and where they condemn the State Home Building association, stating that the owners of these homes are not fit subjects for the public relief. e It is true that in our large towns the working people are so busy making' a living they don’t take time to find out the truth-of the state laws, so those that have taken advantage of the good of the laws are mostly of the I. V."A.-class. But I have one of these houses the state has built. My son bought this house after trying to find a house to rent at a reasonable price. We have a payment of $28 per month to make. Now I know of several working people that pay more rent and don’t have as warm and comfortable a house as we have. One family here pays $45 per month for a very poorly built house. They have been trying to keep roomers but no one will stay as it is not possible to keep the rooms upstairs warm. They have now burned twice as much coal as we have, ] A NORTH DAKOTA CLUB | This is a picfiure of Silver Lake Women’s Nonpartisan club of Rutland township, near Forman, N. D. They were all good boosters for Governor Frazier in the recent campaign. The architects, among other complaints, stated that the Home Building association lacked compe- tent supervision, and mentioned costs and so on. I have now lived in my house almost two months and it,seems to me there must be a great saving as one man is supervising all seven houses being built in this block. I have raised a large family of eight children and am used to looking after details, and after seeing other houses and how poorly some of them are built the Home Building association looks to me to be saving a great deal for the people be- sides relieving the shortage of houses. I hope that next year a great many more houses will go up as so many of the working class are figuring on get- ting homes built. We realize it takes money to start an industry of this kind but it is surely badly needed and I hope in time every family on farm and in town will have a comfortable house to live in and no other industry is greater than the Home Build- ing association and it has come to stay. ! MRS. ZORA SVENSGAARD. Bismarck, N. D. FOR BOYS AND GIRLS “The North Dakota Boys’ and Girls’ Clubs Hand Book” is the title of a booklet published by the North Dakota Agricultural college, extension di- . vision, which may be secured by writing the college at Fargo. While intended primarily for boys’ and girls’ club competitions in North Dakota the infor- mation it contains is applicable to boys’ and girls’ - clubs in other states as well." The booklet tells how to organize a club and suggests plans for con- ducting it afterward. " PAGE TWELVE - e A e e St N L A T S e e Ay S e 7 Study Topics for Women’s Clubs What Are the Answers? A Question Box for Women and Other Read- ers of the Leader 2] DITOR Nonpartisan Leader: Some of ii| the members of Women’s Nonpartisan clubs. want to know what their clubs should study, now that the election is over. Why not study the Nonpartisan Leader? Not merely the Farm Wom- an’s page, but every page. In every issue there are enough important facts set forth to provide discus- sion for a two-hour club meeting. e e I wonder-how many of the women can give the answers to these questions, all of which may be found in the issue of December 27? For the sake of those who can’t give answers now, I am giving the page on which the answer can be found: : 1. What legislation does congress propose to help the farmers? (Page 4). 2. What was the total vote for League candi- dates for governor in the recent election? (Page 5). 3. In how many states did League candidates for governor, running independent of the old parties, beat the Democratic candidates? (Page 5). 4. When did the French co-operative movement start?* (Page' 7). : 5. What are the advantages of a consolidated school? (Page 8). 6. What state has the most Women’s Nonparti- san clubs and what state is second? (Page 10). What is the Nolan 0ill? (Page 11). 5 Why not print on the Farm Woman’s page each week a list of questions that can be an- swered by studying the columns of the Leader, to see how many women can answer them ? Canby, Minn. MRS. M. S. HERE ARE QUESTIONS ON CURRENT ISSUE The suggestion of Mrs. M. S. is an excellent one, we think. Here are some questions on matter contained in the current issue of the Nonpartisan Leader, with notations of the pages on which the answers can be found: 1. What illegal practices does the federal trade commission charge the . Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce with committing against farmers’ co-operative concerns? (Page 5). 2. What forms of taxation are big business concerns seeking to have abolished? (Page 6). 3. What new forms of taxation'are now be- ing considered by congress and what interests desire them? (Page 6). the American Farm Bureau federation on fed- eral taxation? (Page 8). 5. What will be the advantages, in opening the St. Lawrence river (a) to farmers (b) to busi- ness interests? What new question in public own- ership will be opened? (Page 7).. 6. What is the principal industry in Ireland? Name.a country that had adopted agricultural co- operation in advance of Ireland? (Page 10). 7. When did the woman suffrage movement start in England and which was the first state to adopt woman suffrage? (Page 12). . W. C. T. U. AND THE LEAGUE 2 Mrs. Elizabeth Anderson of Fargo, president of the Women’s Christian Temperance union of North Dakota for 28 years, in an interview recently with a representative of the Minnesota Daily Star, laughed at the charge that the Nonpartisan league administration had brought about “free love” or lax moral conditions in North Dakota. Mrs. Anderson explained that she was opposed to the Nonpartisan league politically, but said the following laws, backed by the W. C. T. U., had been enacted in North Dakota since the League had been in power: One of the strictest laws in the United States against illegitimacy.. Strengthening the child labor law. Mothers’ pension law. Eight-hour day for women and minors. Prohibition of night work for women. in occupa- tions dangerous to moral welfare, ¢ Minimum wage law for women and minors. Mrs. Anderson said every law requested by the W. C. T. U. had been enacted and no requests for new laws would be made this year. . 4. What has been the attitude of leaders of : .\‘