The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-09-18
NORWAY WOMEN
MAY NOW VOTE
Fifty Years Fight Quietly But
Forcefully Won
A REMARKABLE FEATURE
Men Were for Years Chief Promoters
of Movement-A Man Wins Their
First PriyiIege-History
of the Struggle
A REMARKABLY FEATURE

From the Philadelphia North American.
The history of womans suffrage In Nor
way is especially interesting because 1t
| is so absolutely unique. The idea of
! men, and men of the highest rank and
caliber at that, taking the womens cause
in hand and promoting their interests is
certainly novel. We have been trained by
the English to regard the suffragette as
the statesman's natural enemy. But in
Norway this has been reversed, and the
statesmen have stood by the women with
such unanimity that In all the history
of suffrage there has never been an M.
P, or whatever they call them, in Nor
way, horewhipped or window smashed.
Before entering upon the history of this
stoneless revolution, however, 1t will be
| of interest to know Just where things
stand now, no doubt.
| In the last election of the members of
the Norwegian parliament, sub-divided
into the odesthing and the storthng, the
latter being the upper house, the liberal
party. or left, as 1t is called, split, and the
more radical branch took up the campaign
for universal womans suffrage.
Party Wins Election
| This party won the recent elections and
was strongly represented in the odels-
thing. As result. the odelsthing by a
great majority voted to grant women the
right to vote, regardless of their wealth,
rank or other provisions.
| All women over % years of age may
vote for all officers, the new bill pro-
vdes, and are eligible to office.
The opposing party. known as the right,
or conservative. is not strong enough to
oppose the further progress of the new
law, and it Is fully anticipated that the
number Of women who will vote at the
next elections will be increased from 270-
900 to 100000.
Such is the present status of the fair
haired daughters of the north, who have
quietly acquired all the manly rights
without so much as a sacrifice of dignity
or the adoption of militant methods
One begins to wonder just what sort of
men they have In Norway, that they
should take such unique stand in the
affair; but little thought on the quality
OF Norway's men in the past will not per-
init one to entertain any doubts OF their
strength.
H. E. Berner. the mayor of Christiania,
was at one time a director in a bank In
that city. About 25 years ago or more.
some time in 1884, he won for women
their first recognition In the world of af-
fairs. when he succeeded in having them
admitted to the universities, after long
debate and much opposition.
| Mother of the Movement
This was the first achievement, but not
| the first symptom. Away back in the
sos certain courageous women of intelli-
| gence had made public their opinions on
the subject of womans rights, and had
drawn upon themselves at that time their
share of bitter criticism and. In one case
of ridicule.
Camilla Collett is regarded with rever-
ence and respect in Norway as the moth
err of the woman's movement, and it is
! said that In the sos, when she was ad-
vancing what were then extremely rad
| ical theories, she showed such strength
of purpose, such Intellectual fiber and
such womanliness withal that she was
never the butt of ridicule, though she
inspired honest opposition in many quar-
| tiers.
| The fact that the first women to take
| up the struggle were daughters of the
| most intellectual men in the country,
and that the greatest satirist shouldered
| his pen, as It were, and Joined their
ranks. is typical of the status OF the
before the vital interest in womans rights
reached the common people. Only the
| upper classes were interested. 1t was
| not in the strictest sense a popular up
heaval, to begin with, but percolation
| from the top down.
/ The first society sent out invitations
i or appeals, and the personnel Of the
signers shows how suffrage stood in Nor
/ way at that time. They were all the
powerful, the intellectual. the cultured
people of Scandinavia. Eighty were men
and 81 were women.
Made First Plea In 1887
In 1887 they made their first plea for
womans suffrage. From that time down
to 1901 the work consisted In 'enlisting
supporters In that year the women
were granted municipal suffrage. That
Is, they could vote for members of the
city council and were eligible to q
place In these bodies and also on juries.
Since that time, in the city of Bergen,
one woman, Miss Schnelle, has been
member of the city council for seven
years. and in many cases women have
been elected for shorter terms.
In 1907 limited suffrage was granted
to all women over rs who ere paying
taxes on a certain amount of property.
This limitation was property yielding
and income Of $113 in the cities or $84 IN
the country per annum."
At the time of this great concession,
passed by the storthing, Mrs. Cor Fru, as
the Norwegians say Randi Blehr was
president Of the great suffrage organiza-
ton. She Is most remarkable woman,
and has been interested in SO many
movements for internal Improvement
that the suffragists cannot claim her ex-
clusively. One of her greatest fields of
endeavor has been the education of the
peasants.
Mrs. f. NJ Guam, the wife of cabinet
minister OF the realm. was at one time
president of the suffrage society, and is
still a powerful worker in the ranks
She is especially noted for her admins
trative ability and her charming person
atty as well.
Another leader in the struggle is the
versatile Mrs. Nico Hambre, wife OF the
headmaster of q famous co-educational
school in Bergen. She was the founder
Of the ergen Suffrage society and is
also a journalist musician, lecturer
on social questions and a founder of
school for training servants in domestic
work