The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1912-10-23
LIMITED SUFFRAGE
IN PENNSYLVANIA.
Votes for Women, With Qualifica-
tions for Both Sexes.

At the seventeenth annual meet
ing of the State Federation OF Penn
! sylvania Women held at Williams
| port, October Is, 16 and II, 1912,
! the fair sex showed its interest in
| up-to-date political topics. Woman
suffrage was discussed by Miss Bea-
trice Forbes Robertson, OF the emf
nent theatrical family OF that name,
and Miss Mary Winsor, OF Haver-
ford, Pa, the President of the Penn
! sylvania Limited Suffrage League.
Miss Winsor explained the great
! need, not only for woman suffrage,
but also for restrictions on the il
! literate, criminal and foreign-born
vote. All these are incorporated in
a Suffrage Bill that is now under
consideration by the Commission to
Revise and Codify the Election Laws
of Pennsylvania, OF which Mr.. Frank
p. Prichard is chairman. This COM
mission, which is now holding it's
sessions in the Land Title Building,
Philadelphia, is able, if il chooses,
! to report this bill favorably to the
Pennsylvania Legislature. The Com
mission has not yet decided whether
1t will send in a favorable report
The bill would enfranchise the great
majority OF Pennsylvania women,
giving them the right to vote at all
| elections and placing restrictions
that are already in force in the great
majority of States, not only the
| Southern, but also in the Northern
and Western States.
In her address before the Feder-
alton, Miss Winsor spoke of condi-
tions in Pennsylvania where there
is scarcely any check on the criminal
vote, any criminal, however infam-
Gus, being at liberty to vote almost
as soon as he emerges from Jail. In
this respect our commonwealth is
way behind the great majority of
states in which criminals are dis
franchised, sometimes permanentlys
sometimes temporarily, for serious
offenses. OF course, the object of
such disfranchisement is not to pun
ish the criminal but to protect the
Commonwealth. In Pennsylvania,
foolish sentimentality prevents us
from protecting the State and we
even permit men sentenced for par
tlcipation in the infamous white
| slave traffic free access to the polls.
Our native state has an enormous
forelgnIborn element, and many in
dustrial towns where perhaps 60 %
or the population comes from the
south and west of Europe. Surely,
1t is not unreasonable to require the
| foreigner to reside in this country a
total period of ten years before vot-
ing in Pennsylvania, instead OF
merely five years as is now required
OF him. American boys must wait
tWenty-one years before they are
eligible as voters. We have no
! prejudice against the foreign-born;
doubtless they will make excellent
citizens II enough time is given them
10 tamiliarize themselves with the
institutions of the country.
In recent years the character of
the immigration has changed for the
worse. Immigrants formerly came
from the north and west OF Europe.
from Great Britain and other nations
accustomed to self-government, but
in the year 1907, 971, sos immi-
grants came from southeastern Eu-
rope, where democratic institutions
and self-government are little known
ana the percentage of illiteracy is
! terribly high, 356 of such aliens
being unable to read and write. An
| educational qualification would
| doubtless be of benefit to Pennsylva-
MIA, and is the logical outcome of
! our compulsory education laws, for
II the children have obeyed the law
and learned in school during the pre-
scribed number of years, there
would be no illiteracy among the
| native born in Pennsylvania. There
tore, why encourage law breaking
on the part OF greedy parents who
want to take their children from
school and put them to work? Is
! IL not better to make the parents
realize that II their child grows up
! llIterate he forfeits political priyi-
leges! Ignorant fathers and moth
ers would then have much more re-
! spect Tor education; at present they
have but little. Witness the de-
lightful story of the mother who
! said to the public school teacher. 81
don't want my Lizzie learnt readin'
and writin'. You know readin' and
Writin' and you are a mold maid:
but ! never was learnt none of them
things and / got married and had
eight children" Why not give such
L1zzies an incentive to learn, es-
! pecially as woman suffrage is com
ing, and they are all future voters.
A reading and writing quaIifica-
ton Is absolutely necessary in this
age when the people are trying to
aDollsh representative government
! with the Intention OF governing
themselves directly through the Ini-
tiatiVe, the Referendum and the Re-
call. Is 1t likely that they will vote
lntelligently on complicated legisla-
tive measures IL they can't even read
the ballot on which these measures
are printed?
A limited suffrage is not intend
ed 10 oppress the negro and dis