The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1911-04-20
Women SuffrageAdvocates Take
Middle of Road.
Will Not Be Diverted by Side
Issues.
THEY HAVE LEARNED.
Twice Before Have Lost Fight
Because OF Blunders.
Have AlreadyOpened Their Cam
paign for Recognition.

Woman suffrage has been voted on
twice in Kansas, once in 1867 and again
in 1894 It failed in both these years.
The women who are engineering the
campaign this year do not intend tna1
mistakes, such as caused the defeats
years ago will creep into the campaign
that has already begun.
The campaign the women are plan
MIN for this year and for all of next
year to election day, November 4, prom
ises to be the warmest political battle
Kansas has seen since the days OF the
Farmers Alliance and the Popul1sts.
No political party has an organ1za-
ton like that being planned by the
women. May 16 the Kansas Equal Sui
frage association will meet in Topeka, to
perfect the details of the plans. The
plan of organization contemplates 130
officers of the association. There are
los counties in Kansas and when the
convention ends there will be vice
president in every county, secretary
for each congressional district and the
full staff of general officers who will
devote all their time to the campaign
with headquarters in Topeka
Has Already Started.
The campaign has really started al
ready, although the election comes in
November, 1912. A series of joint de-
bates for the next six weeks has been
arranged ana the Odl0S are GGlIlS UOOh-
ed as rapidly as possible. Miss Eliza
beth N. Barr Of Topeka, editor of Cur
rent Topics, the official organ Of the
suffrage movement, and Basil Barnhlll
of Peoria, Ill, a. well known chautauqua
lecturer, are the debaters. Barnhill is
a Socialist. and peculiar as that may
seem he is an anti-suffragist. Miss
Barr boosts suffrage and Barnhill
tells what an evil it is. The debates
will continue until Miss Barr starts for
Europe on pleasure trip and to help
the English suffragettes.
The vice presidents for each county
are to organize the county into town
ship and precinct organizations. The
women are then to go out and give
every man in each county a chance to
sign a pledge for or against suffrage.
Cards are to be provided for every
voter and an effort is to be made to get
every man to say whether or not he is
against suffrage and if he is against it
the women will work on him. The
cards are to be filed with the state
headquarters and as the work pro-
crosses and voters are turned the reports
are to be made to the state headquar-
ters office. The women can have all
the help they want from the women
who have fought SO long for suffrage
and from many men who have offered
to take the stump for them. No county
that wants to hear suffrage talked will
b0 l6Ll OuL Large QudnuI16S OF sur
frage literature is being printed for dis
tribution and it will be sent out as
needed.
Mistakes of Other CAMPAIGNS.
--ansas voted on suffrage in 1867 and
it lost. Two suffrage amendments were
presented that year. One was to allow
the negro to have the full franchise
which had been limited previously. The
women were interested in getting full
rights for the negro then and the spec
tacle of a woman speaking for the
negro and white woman at the same
time, or man urging that the negro
and white women be placed on an equal
suffrage basis spoiled every chance the
women had of winning in that election
The women realized that they got in at
the wrong time in that election.
The woman suffrage was submitted
again in 1894 and it was defeated that
time through the interference of the
national association. The national or
gantzation was invited to help in the
campaign. 1t came in and took charge
Almost the first thing the national Of
ficers did was to form an alliance with
the Populists. That alienated every
Republican and Democrat in the state
and suffrage was defeated.
National speakers will be brought
into Kansas to urge suffrage but thew