El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-04-14

, ington is being attended by scores of
the most prominent women in the coun-
/ try.
| Suffrage in -Four States.
! Women enjoy full rights of suffrage
| on basis of absolute equality with men
I in four states. Colorado, Wyoming.
! Utah and Idaho. The cause is much
I more popular in the west than in the
I east. The monster petition to be pre-
I scented to congress next week, said to
/ be the largest single petition ever pre-
( sented to a parliamentary body, is
I signed by quite as many men wo-
men. and from the western states the
men are in the majority.
The petitions are arranged by states.
and 13 af them are headed by the sig
nature of the governor. The governors
of Colorado, Florida South Dakota,
California, Minnesota, Michigan. New
Hampshire Maryland, Idaho, Wyoming,
Utah. Washington and Oregon pray for
the women suffrage amendment. 1t
will be noticed that all but three of
these suffragist governors hail from the
west
The First Suffragist.
Although wOmans suffrage is further
advanced in some other countries than
IN America. IL is recorded that the orig
inal suffrag ette" was an American
She was Mrs. Margaret Brent Of Mary
land. and her demand for votes for
women was made in 1647. Mrs. Brent
was the heir Lord Calvert, brother of
Lord Baltimore, and executor of the es-
tateS of both in the colony. Represen-
tation in the Maryland legislature at
that time was based upon property.
BY virtue of her holdings she demand
ed place and voice'-twO votes-in the
legislature Her petition was debated
hOtly and finally declined
Under the old province charter Of
Massachusetts women voted for all elect
i've officers from 1851 10 1850. The con-
stitutiOn then succeeding excluded the
women from voting for governor and
members of the legislature, but gave
them the right as TO all other officers
The ballot was hedged about with many
restrictions, however. and not one-fourth
OF the men were eligible.
In 1895 the Massachusetts legisla-
ture submitted the question of admit
ting the women to the suffrage to a
plebiscite Of the women of the state
OF the 900 women Of voting age,
only 22,204 were sufficiently interest
ed to go to the polls and demand the
ballot for their sex The legislature
concluded that the women didn't want
it, and they didn't get it.
In Colonial Days.
A few months before the Declaration |
OF Independence in 1776, Abigail Adams |
N-Olc 10 HCI uuSDduQs JONI ADAMS, IN |
Philadelphia, setting forth the political !
claims of the women She said that she !
longed to hear the news that congress |
had declared the colonies independent |
of England, but she reminded her hus- |
band that the women ought to be con- |
Sidered in the question of representa-
ton. even threatening to foment a re- |
bellion if they were excluded.
Mrs Hannah Lee Corbin, sister of |
Richard Henry Lee, of Virginia, in /
IT'S presented a petition demanding the |!
right TO vote Thus the sister of the |
mover of the Declaration of Independ- J
eDce and the wife of its principal a6-
vOcate We're among the first suffra gettes'
The continental congress left the ques-
ton of suffrage entirely TO the states.
New Jersey was tha only one which
gave women the right to vote equally
with men. its constitution comforting
the franchise on all inhabitants worth
$3.50, etc. In 1890. when the federal
government under the constitution had
been set up, a revision of the New Jer-
sey election law used the words he or
She" in reference 10 electors, thus con-
firming women in the right TO vote.
sufficient number of women avail
I'd themselves Of the privilege to in
eur the enmity of the politicians and in
1907 the legislature passed an act lin
ting the suffrage to white male eiti-
-SAi>- 1HiS Was IN violation or the con-
stitution of the state but the women,
apparently, were not sufficiently inter
4sted TO make an effective protest.
Crusade of 1926.
In 1926 Frances Wright came to
America from Scotland and began
rusade for Woman's Rights. This was
he beginning Of the movement xhich
las resulted in the amelioration of the
avs of so many states which placed
women under disadvantages. The move
tent. however, was absorbed in the
lntlsiavery agitation, and it was not
until 1853 that it took definite shape as
demand for the suffrage
The first organized general movement
vas begun in 1913 when Woman's
tight contention was held at Seneca
ans, New York. ito discuss the social.
ivil and religious condition and rights
i woman Elizabeth Cady Stanton.
larry Ann McClintock Lucretia Mott and
thers OF almost equal prominence were
he guiding spirits of that movement. |
'hicn is the same represented today |
y the convention in Washington
Tomorrow-Where Women Have Votes