The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1911-07-09
Mrs. Henson VS.. Woman Suffrage
By LUCY CARY

Is IN her article of June is. Mrs
Henson likens herself TO the brave
Dutch boy, who saved the lowlands
sspf Holland from inundation by keeping
y his hhnd in break in the dixie until
Shelp came; but more apt iliustra-
ton would be that of a little girl sta.
s tioning herself on the seashore and
attempting to sweep back the rush OF
& the incoming tide with a small broom
BJt Is q pretty safe prediction that
even though she succeeds in calling
"our most cultured women" (evidently
the suffrasists do, not rank in that
Ssclassl to her aid. tho combined sweep
Z of all their brooms. both large and
Small, will not succeed in staying tho
thought which is surging over the
& world. and of which the effort OF wo-
4 men TO obtain political freedom is
but one evidence.
Before undertaking to stamp out
The suffrage movement IN Virginia.
Mrs. Henson should inform herself
Z more accurately on the subject whicn
4 she attempts to handle Among the
+ errors conte. med in her article of June
is. the follow ng are perhaps the most
y striking:
sE She states that there are four equal
EEuffrage States There are nve. She
somits Washington. where the women
shsve done well with tho ballet and
kjustihel tho wisdom of comforting it
taipon them.
rs She also states that in California
awoman suffrage was defeated by
popular vote As il has never been put
sto the popular vote. this statement is
spalpably erroneous. The fact is, that
&been passed in the california LeEis la =
ture. but does not 90 to the people for
RATIFICATION or rejection until October,
when the suffrag ists Of california have
good hope OF its adoption. She neg
Fleets to mention that the Wisconsin
Legislature has very lately PASSED "a
woman suffrage bill, which must 20
ITO the voters In the near future
Mrs. Henson says: The suffrage
cause has been defeated in ten years
SIS times" but she fails to note the
Significance OF the fact that. in srite
of repeated defeats, the movement
surely. steadily and irresist'hly grows
sAs a fair example of its progress, no
tce what has happened in Connecticut
Two years ago an cqual suffrage bill
introduced in the Legislature Of that
State received only two votes. In
June. 1911. i similar hill received forty
nine votes. Al this rate, the suffraG 'sts
Of Connecticut will soon turn defeat
into victory.
Mrs. Henson tells us an nnecdote
3 about Mary Johnson. Mary Still. Mary
Yet" whose depravity and that Of
her sister voters, in selling votes
caused the men of New Jersey to
Withdraw the ballot from their wo-
men in 1875. She further says that the
better class OF women did not vote.
OF course. they did not vote Does
she seriously intend to compare the
women of 1176 with the women Of to-
day? Times have changed since then
and women have been forced 10
change with them. Let the 5000 600
working women Of these United states
bear witness to that fact In this con-
5necton. ii may not be amiss to say
that some of our male voters apr lar
Ito be as depraved in the matter Of
1selling votes IS was the Mary Of 1876
perhaps because of the rernicious
example set by those same women
SNoters of bY-gone years
II The men of Norfolk county. however.
5haYe not vet been deprived OF the
ballot though, from what has heen