The Portland daily press., 1893-03-24
WOMAN SUFFRAGE
Looked Upon FaVorably by the State
Senate.
THE BILL PASSES THAT BODY BY
A CLEAR MAJORITY.

low, Swanton, Peakes. Grindle and
Libby Speak for Enlargement of NUM-
cipaI Suffrage and Senator Allan Dis
countenances 1t.
Especial to the Press.l
AUGUSTA, March 23.-The woman suf-
frage question is no laughing matter in
the Maine legislature these days and the
time when men voted in favor of grant
ing the right of suffrage to women for
fun has gone by. Last week, the House
voted against the bill to give Maine wo-
men the privilege of municipal suffrage
but the opponents of the bill had only
nine votes more than its advocates. To-
day the Senate refused to concur with
the House and by vote of 16 to 13
passed the bill. The bill now goes to
the House where an effort will be made
to have the lower branch recede and con-
cur with the upper. Should this be sue
cessful the women may vote for muni-
cipal officers. Favorable action now on
the part of the House is not improbable
unless it appears that some of the sup
porters of the bill there, as has been
oOuO LII LILO PdDC, NClCu LOA IL LII AuAs
If that was the case, such members will
now be very likely to vote against it.
The debate in the Senate was opened
by Mr.. Winslow who presented the argu-
mentS in favor of woman suffrage with
vigor and in we'll chosen words.
Senator Allan spoke earnestly of the
influence of women in home life and said
that he didn't want to see his wife in the
lobby of the state house contending for
everything in the shape of law. He pre-
ferred to think of his wife as sitting by
his side in the Senate, listening to the
proceedings and then telling him how
to vote when he went before the people.
He believed that when his wife voted
Democratic ticket and he voted the
Republican that then they would begin
to draw apart. We all knew that reli-
gious differences in the family
sometimes made mans religion a curse
and not blessing. Religious and politi-
cal war was war to the knife. We stood
here and accused each other of political
crime aud Mr.. Allan did not want to see
his wife voting as a Democrat on one
side of this chamber while he voted as a
Republican on the other. His wife would
vote as she believed, too. but he thought
that her influence in home affairs would
be lost when she did vote.
DR.. Grindle said good word for the
ladies'. He believed that women should
vote and endorsed what had been said by
the gentleman from Somerset Mr.. Win
slow1. He was glad to find the gentle
man from Somerset right for once this
session; that is, right according to DR..
Grindle's view.
Senator Swanton spoke of the good re-
suits of the election of women to ihe
school board in Bath. He noticed the
consideration this question now received
when formerly it had been laughed out
of the legislature. Mr.. Swanton thought
the opposition to it was largely from
sentiment and sickly sentiment. If the
suffrage was in such state that respec-
table women could not participate in it,
he thought it was high time for re-
form.
Senator Peakes told how he had been
converted from his opposition to the
granting of the suffrage. 1t had been
partly the result of reflection during a
severe illness of his wife, when he had
thought of her life and compared it with
his. Mr.. Peakes had a son and daughter
at college and he believed that the
daughter was as likely to make her edu-
cation of use to herself and the world as
was the son. He could see no reason
why the daughter should not share with
the son, the right of suffrage.
Mr.. Peakes said he thought this ques-
ton was not fully understood.N He read
from the constitution provisions to show
that the word men when used in the bill
of rights, included women. For in
stance, there was the right of assembling
to discuss public questions. Would any
body say that they meant that women
could not SO assemble? Didn't they
have right to hold sociables and sew
ing circles? The right of suffrage was
not given to men by God. Men had as
sumed it, and the exclusion of women
from it was revival of the feudal sys-
tenn and the dark ages, when women
were treated as beasts of burden.
Mr.. Peakes pointed out that the bill
reported by the minority of the commit
tee gave women only right to vote for
municipal officers, although he admitted
that it was an entering wedge, that the
women were hoping to get an extension
of their rights in the future.
Senator Libby spoke briefly and forci-
bly, for the bill. The vote was then
taken and the women carried the day,
their friends mastering 16 votes, or
clear majority of the Senate. Those who
went on record in favor OF the granting
of municipal suffrage to women were
Senators Cook, Deering, Grindle, Her
rick, Hersey, Hersom, Hill, Libby, NAL
let, Nickerson, Peakes, Shaw, Spear,
Swanton, Winslow. Wood.
Those who voted no were, Senators
Allan, Ames, Clark, Coffin, Harper, Hol-
man, jackson, Mayo, Seiders, Spofford,
Thatcher, Waterhouse, Wiggin.
The result was received with burst
of applause.