The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1910-11-18
cause OF WOMEN HAS
MADE GREAT STRIDES
SUFFRAGETTES PLEASED WITH
THE RECENT RESULTS.
Washington State Gives Females the
Right to Vote; Illinois Is Almost
Ready for the Proposition; Leaders
of the Movement Feel Greatly En-
cOuraged; What Has Been Accom-
plished Since I848.

Chicago, ILL.,, November l6.-Results
of the recent elections have given inn
petus to the cause of woman's suffrage
Though the voters of Oregon decided
they would continue to manage the af-
fairs of state without the aid of wom-
en-, the voters in Washington let down
the bars, admitting women to full citi-
zenship on an equality with men. 1t
was the third time Oregon has voted
down woman's suffrage.
Suffrage advocates, however, refuse to
regard it as a case of ''three times and
out" Rather, they say, will it be a
case of "three times and in" for they
are confident that next time the ques-
ton is submitted the result will be
different. With women voting in Idaho,
on the one side, and in Washington, on
the other side, the suffragists believe
the male population of Oregon will not
be able to withstand the pressure
Illinois Ready for 1t.
Though the question of woman stuff
rage was not direct issue in Illinois,
women took more than usual interest
in the election. Illinois has been q
storm center for more than year in
the campaign for "vOtes for women"
Women speakers have toured the state
in automobiles, placing the merits of
their cause before the voters. Were
the question OF giving women the fran
chise submitted to the voters of Illinois
today there is but little doubt it would
carry. That is the chief reason why
the women are so interested in the
proposition of the initiative and refer
endum, which was before the voters
for an advisory vote last Tuesday.
The question of the initiative and
in the form of an instruction to the
Legislature to amend the constitution
so as to permit the people to initiate
legislation on petition of per cent
of the voters and TO pass on ali meas
ures Of public interest passed by the
legislature on petition of per cent
Of the electors.
Votes for Women Next.
The proposition was adopted by an
overwhelming majority and the woman
suffrage advocates say that if the
legislature carries out the instruction
of the people and gives the state the
initiative and referendum one of the
first measures to be initiated by petit
ton will be the question of woman's
suffrage.
Within tho aut txranl- Tho yrnp,an'-
suffrage party of Illinois has been incor-
porated. Ten of the thirty-five wards
in Chicago have been organized by the
women and a state central committee,
composed Of the chairman of each of
the ward clubs. has been launched. A
branch of the party has been organized
in Iroquois county, and nine other
counties in the state are ready to fall
in line.
Cause Has Made Great Strides.
The woman organizers assert that,
within the next three months, they will
have an organization in each of the l02
counties in the state, and force recogni-
ton of their cause.
The cause of womans suffrage has
made wonderful strides since the first
woman's rights convention was hell in
Seneca Falls, n. Y, in l848. At that
convention Elizabeth Cady Stanton had
to fight to obtain the adoption of
resolution demanding votes for women.
Step by step since that time the wom-
en- have forced their claims upon the
attention of the lawmakers, until to-
day thirty states give women the right
to vote on certain questions, and in
five states, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming,
Idaho and Washington, they have equal
rights with men.