Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1905-01-07
THE POLITICAL WOMAN.
Her Success in Australia Speaks Well for
Her Ultimate Complete Emanci-
patton

The Australian constitution has 10 sex
limitations whatever: women vote OH
equal terms with men, they are eligible
| for membership in our National l'arlia
! ment, they may even ascend TO the dig
nifty OF office, writes Vida GolAStein in
the Nineteenth Century. The political
incentive is now the possession OF the
women OF Australia. and its influence
was potent factor III the recent federal
elections. The women OF South Australia
and West Australia have had the sur
ifdge for some years. SO that they are
accustomed to voting. bur To the women
OF other states the whole business was
htN; nevertheless, they yOted III rs large
numbers pr0portlondly as The men in Il
majority Of the constituencies, While i'll
some they cast Il heavier vote than the
men. The entire vote was only - per
cent ot the voting strength. the low
percentage being due to the fact that the
people rs Il body have not yet grasped
the federal idea.
During TIE election campaign, it was
most evident that IA very large section OF
VINO urged economy in public eXpend-
iture. Individual women. with no idea
Oh the value of money, may be eXtrava-
CANT, but most women are compelled Df
circumstances to be economical and
have horror of wasteful expenditure.
expensive legislative machinery will find
devoted adherents among the women
voters. As Il candidate at the recent
elections. l attribute to u great degree
the large measure o. support | received
to my strong advocacy of economy in adj
mlnlstration (by the abolition of the state
fafllamentS, dividing the work now done
by them between the federal Parliament
ana the municipal cOuncilsl. and the ceS-
SatlOn or borrowing except for reproduce
tive works.
The elections had an added interest in
the appearance of four women candi-
dates in the field-AIrs. Martell. Mrs.
Moore New South Walesl. myself Vic
torla), standing for the Senate; and Miss
Selma Anderson New South Wales for
]he House of Representatives. All were
defeated, bur the defeat was not uney-
pectcd, as we were well aware that il
would be altogether phenomenal if wom-
an were to succeed in their first attempt
to enter Il national Parliament ] was
nominated by the Women'S Federal Pc
lltlcal association of Victoria. of which |
am the president, and accepted the
nomination becans, | saw ut once what
a splendid educational value the cam
palgn would have. There We're eighteen
candidates in the field and while unsuc-
cessful. my record of u 1877 votes. when
oo'jS' were sufficient to secure election,
= most gratifying | polled more heav-
lily than one candidate who has been
premier of Victoria, and than another
who had been for twenty-six years Il
member Of the state Legislature.
Miss Goldstein claims that it is pri-
marily due to the labor party that WON
an suffrage is such live question Ill
Australia. The labor party in each state
placed woman suffrage first and fought
lard for ii in and out of Parliament.
Consequently the labor candidates re-
celved large support from women voters.
The ticket" system has been strongly on
posed by the women Of New South Wales
and Victoria, and it is expected that an
organized movement against it will be
generally supported by women.
AT the next federal elections con-
cludcs the writer, 1--WE may hope to see
those who would foist machine politics
upon Australia even more deciSively dis
comfited than they were in December.
In the gain or loss of one race all tho
rest have equal claim, and we rejoice 10
know that our great suffrage gain Is
helping other women in their struggle for
liberty. Our Australia is a baby nation
as yet, but she begins life rs no other
nation has begun it; she begins with
equal rights for men and women. -
Brooklyn Eagle