The midland journal., 1894-03-16

of Kansas are not doing any of that
thankless kind of work just now,
they are holding fairs and festivals
etc., to raise funds with which to
work out their own political saliva
ton. So upon the 33d anniversary
of the admission of Kansas as a
state the ladies of Hiawatha pre-
pared to celebrate the day by hold
ing a festival all day in the armory
building to be followed by social
in the evening. AS part of their
decorations they decided to fling to
the breeze an equal S flag. In the
blue field they placed two stars,
representing ofcourse, my ETC., and
a third star partly showing above
the horizon representing X. Two
of these suffrage flags were hung
across D street.
A few grand army men, two who
still lay awake nights listening for
the rebel yell saw in this a desecra-
ton of the flag. They entered the
building and ordered the ladies to
take it down, but the ladies stood
their ground and informed the in
truders that they had consulted a
lawyer before constructing the flag,
and knew they were violating no
law. They also informed these
over Jealous patriots that they had
rented the building for the day and
night and brook no interference
from outsiders. So those gallant
vets. got the worst of the battle
that time and were forced to retire
discomftted but when
the fact became generally known
that the leader of the men was
prominent ex-saloon keeper, his
patriotism is easily understood.
The woman's flag will never protect
the rum traffic.
But the Patrons of Husbandry
are with us heart and soul in our
struggle for freedom and indepen-
dence and that is why | stand here
to-day and fearlessly tell you these
truths. / have the P. of H. to
back me up. In no other occupa-
ton do men and women lean so
upon each other as in that of farm
ing. Especially is this the case
upon the praries of the West where
this grange movement had it's birth.
The manly farmer of the West
believes in placing the ballot in the
hands of women in grateful recogni- |
ton of the service she has rendered |
to the nation by standing shoulder
to shoulder with man in the sub
jugation of the wilderness and the
founding of the home. These have
alike breathed the undiluted breath
of liberty waited DER the flowery
prairie lands, and caught inspira-
ton from the mountain peaks.
The National Grange has at its
very last meeting declared for equal
suffrage. In the Farmers Alliance
it was defeated by the southern
vote. OF course the men who so
long held the slave in bondage will
be lOathe to give to woman her
legal and political liberty. But
even in the south this prejudice is
melting away beneath the
scorching rays of the sun Of prog
ress as it swings into the summer
solstice. AS witness the following
editorial from the Atlanta Journal.
Whatever may be our views on
the question of woman suffrage, we
cannot blind our eyes to the fact
that it is growing constantly and
in popularity. An amend
ment to Colorado's constitution
which gives women the full right |
of suffrage was adopted by 6,347
majority.
Wyoming was the first State to
give women the right to vote at all |
State elections, and Colorado is the
second. We expect to see this list
grow very fast. In several States
and in a large number of cities,
women can now vote at elections
for school trustees, and in some
places for other municipal officers.
The number of women who want
the ballot is growing at great rate.
A pointer in this direction was
given by a recent poll of the girls
at Wellesley College. OF 622
502 recorded themselves
as advocates of woman suffrage.
A few years ago it was almost
impossible to find an advocate of
uon,oI e,,1 ffro 0a in tha South Nou-