The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1893-12-18
EXTENDING THE VOTING FRANCHISE
TO WOMEN.

been agitated and discussed for
years, and in a few instances they
have been by law permitted to vote
at local elections-such as choice
of officers for school boards, and in
three or four States they have been
allowed to vote in the general State
elections. Among these are Wash
ington, Kansas, Wyoming, and,
quite lately, Colorado has, by a
special election held throughout
the State, decided to allow them to
participate in all State elections.
If we remember rightly, Washing
ton and Kansas have repealed the
privilege, but the latter State pro-
poses to allow the question again
to be decided by special election,
held for this one object only.
Regarding the Colorado election,
the New York Nation of November
18th has the following:
"For the first time in the history of
the country, the majority of the men
in State last week voted directly in
favor of giving the women of that
State the ballot on equal terms with
themselves The Constitution of
Colorado has a provision that women
suffrage shall be granted whenever
the Legislature shall submit the ques-
ton to the qualified voters and they
shall ratify it. The last Legislature
thus submitted it, and equal suffrage
was carried on November 9Th by a
majority of several thousand Women
have voted for years in the Territories
of Utah, Wyoming and Washington,
but it was only by act of the Legisla-
ture; and although Wyoming came
into the Union as o State with a con-
stitution that forbids any denial or
abridgement of the right to vote and
hold office on account of sex, this con-
stitution was ratified as a whole,
without any separate vote on the
suffrage clause. In Colorado, on the
other hand, the question of extending
the ballot to women was submitted at
the polls as separate proposition,
and it was the only State issue which
was thus submitted this year, the
elections being for county officials.
The result consequently expresses the
deliberate judgment of the men, and
equal suffrage of the two sexes must
be accepted hereafter as the settled
policy of that commonwealth. There
has been q notable change of Senti-
ment on this question among the men
of Colorado during the past sixteen
years, as in 1877 the same question
was submitted and similar PROPOSE
ton was rejected by vote of two to
one. A woman-sufrage amendment
to the Constitution of Kansas will be
subn tied to the men of that State
next week"
Many arguments have been
brought up, both for and against
allowing women to vote at all cleo
tions, and the question is still an
undecided one. There can be no
doubt that women owning property
in their own right should be per-
mitted to enjoy the franchise equal
ly with men. Property and educa-
ton should be the basis of qualifi-
cation to vote in any country.
Gradually this is becoming recog-
nized as the only safe basis, and
will sooner or later be adopted, first
as regards men, and perhaps later
to include women.
But the most interesting news
relative to extending the franchise
to women comes from New Zealand
where law was lately enacted al
lowing them to vote. The first
election held under this law took
place in November of this year,
and seems to have been a success.
AS to the number of votes cast by
the women, there was no record
kept, nor is it known for which
party they voted. The fact, how
ever. that women in New Zealand
are now permitted to vote on the
same terms as men is an interest
ing one. The following paragraphs,
taken from the Auckland Herald
of December 2, describe this first
election
"The novel feature of this general
election, which will forever make it
memorable in the history of New Zea-
land, has been the exercise of the suf-
frage by every woman over the age OF
twenty-one years. From end to end
of the colony, in the crowded cities
and in sparsely-settled country dis
tricts, the women have recorded their
votes at the polling booths. The can
didates had committees of ladies as
we'll as gentlemen, and the members
of the ladies, committees were as keen
as the oldest electioneers in bringing
voters of their own sex to the poll.
They made provision by which any
woman having baby had a member
of committee to relieve her OF family
cares while she was recording her
vote. The women had their own COM
mittee rooms, and complete election
eerinp organization. 1t has frequent
Iv been objected that it would be inn
POSSIBLE for women to go to the polling
booths on account of rowdylsm, and
that thew would be iDsulted by roughs
when they went to record their votes.
Rut there was nothing of the kind.
No provision was made for separate
polling places for women. Ihey went
to the same booths as the men, and IN
no single instance that we nave hearu
l. n ~ On