Arizona republican., 1911-10-14
The Women Win in California.

The Women Win in California.
Instead Of defeating the equal suf-
frage amendment as the election re-
turns from the cities first indicated,
the men of California have given the
ballot to women. The amendment
was adopted by a substantial ma
jority. The apparent defeat was
turned into victory when the returns
came in from the smaller towns and
rural districts The militant suf-
fragettes can no longer claim that
the men Of California are selfish and
unjust to women. whatever the at
titude of men in other states may be
The California victory for equal
suffrage will, Of course, greatly en-
courage the advocates Of the cause in
this state. 1t Will not be long until
the ballot-seeking women will have
numerous champions who heretofore
have preferred to stay in the brush
For a long time The Republican has
stood alone among the Arizona papers
in advocating woman suffrage. hut
such Will not be the case henceforth
When a cause begins to grow in
popularity it gains supporters rapid
ly from the class which is always
trying to ascertain which is the
popular side; and woman suffrage
will be a great deal more popular
in Arizona, now that California has
declared in favor of votes for women.
No doubt many Of the opponents
of equal suffrage in California feel.
for the moment that everything has
gone wrong; for it is undeniable that
among the steadfast enemies Of equal
suffrage are numbered hosts of men
who oppose the movement solely be
cause Of their desire to protect women
from contact with the coarser side OF
life-they believe that nothing would
be gained for society by comforting
the right to vote upon women, and
they are convinced that to take part
in politics will be harmful to woman
kind. But these old fashioned people
will change their minds after they
have had few years experience with
equal suffrage
OF all the places in the world where
equal suffrage has been tried, New
-, oh Oh
ject lesson, because equal suffrage has
been longer in vogue in that country
The women of New Zealand demanded
the ballot through more than a third
Of a century before they got it. The
agitation was begun in 1850. and the
battle was not won until 1893. Dur
ing this long campaign all the stock
arguments against equal suffrage
were printed in the newspapers,
echoed from the stump, and reiter-
ated over and over again
Women do not hold office in New
Zealand. because. it seems. they do
not care for office. But they take a
lively interest in public affairs. and
they vote intelligently. Among the
good laws directly attributable to their
influence since they got the ballot are:
Acts looking to the protection Of
the health of wage earning women
and girls, limiting their hours Of
labor. fixing holidays. and compelling
a minimum wage. The principle Of
the economic partnership Of husband
and wife has been recognized by
statute. Baby farming has been
abolished Divorce laws have been
altered, making the conditions of di-
vOrce practically. the same for both
sexes The women voters have been
especially earnest in promoting legis-
Iation for the betterment Of labor con-
ditions generally. OF course. women
in New Zealand do not vote as a
body. any more than in the states Of
this country where they have the
ballot majority Of them undOubt-
edIy vote as their husbands do; but
while this is true, the statement has
another side to tit is equally fair
10 say that the husband generally
votes the way his wife votes; and
when women have the ballot they
take a greater interest in trying to
influence their husbands in political
affairs.
How has equal suffrage affected the
home? According to a conservative
traveller who recently spent several
months in studying the affairs of New
Zealand and i'm getting first hanh in