New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1913-01-16
FINNISH EXILE DEFIANT
Nine. MaImburg Challenges
"AntiS" at Colony Club.
BUT NONE WAS THERE
Speaker Insisted Giving the
Ballot to Women Had
Helped Her Country.

Nine Aino Malmburg, the Finnish ex-
lie. issued challenge to anti-suffragists
In her talk at the Colony Club yesterday.
1t is 10 be feared. though, that there
weren't any antis there to hear IT, for
the meeting was one arranged by Mrs.
Victor Serchon and Mrs. Egerton l..
Winthrop. jr.. for the Woman's Political
Union. and the audience looked like a
pro-sufrage one.
But / would have all anti-suffragists
who doubt whether woman suffrage
works we'll in Finland said Nine. Malm-
burg. pick out some of the leading men
in the different political parties In Fin
land and write 10 them, asking what ef-
feet the giving of the ballot to woman
has had upon their country. It would
not be difficult to get the names OF repre-
sentative Finnish statesmen. can as
sure the ants that our Finnish men will
very gladly answer inquiries. wish the
antis would do this, and / WISH" Nine.
Malmburg added. with a little laugh.
that they would publish the answers
"All kinds of false tales have been told
about the results Of woman suffrage In
Finland. The English particularly have
tried their best to find fault They have
circulated an anti-suffroge pamphlet, pur-
porting TO be written by o. Ecklond, OF
Helsingfors, but the only man OF that
name who could be found in Helsingfors
was the owner OF n small drug store, and
he utterly denied writing the pamphlet or
anything against woman suffrage. In
deed. II would be hard to find a man in
Finland to speak against IT, For my
country Is very poor. now that Russia
takes so much OF the money we can raise
for the Cars armies: the Firms must
work, and men who work come close to
life and learn that without woman's CO.
operation little can he done
II met one man In England. q politician.
who was willing 10 admit that woman
Malcolm Scott oh. yes he said I
should he a suffragst I'm Finland. but in
England IL Is quite different / could not
get him 10 explain. however. what was
the difference that made woman suffrage
good for Finland and bad for England.
"Emlssaries have come from other
countries to Finland TO try 10 discover
flaws I'm our affairs due to woman's vote.
| recollect French journalist who was
sent by his paper. with strict orders to
write nothing good about woman suffrage.
lie made many inquiries, and all that no
could find 10 say against II was that the
women in our Diet were old and not
pretty. Well" laughed the speaker. "he
was perhaps right: we did not select tho
women in our Diet for their ornamental
qualities"
Nine. Malmburg began her talk on Tho
Women Of Finland" with a brief story
OF the sorrows OF her country at the
hands of Russia. Large. with light eyes
and rather hesitating speech. there was
something I'm her restrained feeling that
thrilled the women who heard her aud
kept them asking questions long after
she stopped. Then she told how suffrage
was given to women when the constltu-
ton of which the Firms had been robbed
was restored TO them after the eight-day
strike Of the Finnish nation, In october,
1899
THE women did not demand IL; many
did not care about g." she said, but the
men. because OF the great help the wom-
en- had been In smuggling into the coun-
try our Observation-Disclosures outside
Finland when our press was suppressed
and because OF their services I'm raising
money and other work-our men felt IL
TO be only right to give them the vote.