Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1909-11-26
struction from the local clergymen o,

StruCtlOn 1TOHl the lOCdi CleIByiiieH VI
from wandering teachers.
The love of literature and Of learn
ing for its own sake Is general among
the people. They all know the sagas,
and their eyes glow with pride as they
repeat the stories Of the heroic deeds
Of their ancestors In the former glori-
GUS days Of their country's history,
while European standard works have
been translated into Icelandic and are
read aloud and enjoyed at many cot
tage flreside. Some Of the farmers are
at the same time learned men and
even scholars. In some respects the
Icelandic women occupy a better po-
sition than their sisters in England and
in other European lands. In 1850 a
law was passed giving them equal
rights Of inheritance with their broth
ers, but 1t was not until twenty-four
years later, when the right Of self
government was given to the country,
that they began to take an active part
in public affairs, and since then the
women's movement in Iceland has pro-
gressed steadily. Within the last three
years it has gone forward by leaps and
bounds, and though We hear little
about 1t outside 1t Is one Of the most
vigorous in Europe.
In 1881 unmarried women and wild
ows over twenty-five who were
householders or self-supporting were
given the vote for parish and town
councils, and fourteen years later the
Icelandic women's alliance was found
ed, its main object being to improve
the position of women OF the country.
Its members realized at once that the
first step must be toward obtaining
the political enfranchisement Of wo-
men, and that no permanent good
could be done without 1t. They there
fore sent up a petition to the Althing
bearing over 5000 signatures, but
nothing came Of it. The national wo-
man suffrage association was founded
at Reykjavik on Jan. 81, 1907. Its OBJ
jects are to obtain political and civil
rights for women on the same terms
as for men and to interest women In
the cause. Its first understanding was
to collect signatures to a petition for
the full municipal and parliamentary
franchise, and so eagerly was this TAX
en- up that, though the country only
numbers about $4,000 inhabitants, over
$4,000 names were obtained in four
months.
In the summer Of 1907 Skule Tho
rodden, a member Of the Althing, and
editor of Bjodriljinn, an important po-
litical paper, brought forward bill to
enfranchise women. 1t was not dis
cussed, but was referred to a commit
tee, and another bill was passed grant
ing all married women In Reykjavik
and Halnaifpordur who pay taxes,
however small, the right to the NUM-
cipal franchise and to sit In the coun-
ellis. The bill became law on January
/, 1908. This was a famous victory,
and the association for women's
rights, in conjunction with six other
womens societies, at once began to
prepare for the next town council cleo
tions at Reykjavik.
A committee of thirty-one was
formed and four women candidates
were chosen The committee did mag
nificent work; they personally can
vassed every woman elector held dem
onstrations, gave lectures and arrang-
ed meetings, which were largely at
tended. There were few absentees
when the polling day come, with the
result that all the women candidates
were elected. On April is another bill
was passed, further extending the suf-
frage to all taxpaying men and women
over twenty-five years of age who
have lived a year in an electoral dis
trict. This law came into force on
January /, 1909. There now remains
but the parliamentary vote to fight
for and the granting Of it can not be
long delayed The whole trend Of pub
lie opinion is in favor Of it. The new
minister. Bjorn Jonsson, editor of Isa-
fold, the leading national paper, has
promised to take up the question:
Queen.