The Watertown weekly leader. [volume] (Watertown, Jefferson County, Wis.) 1912-1917, 1913-05-30

GOVERNOR WITHHOLDS APPROX
Al ON BILL FOR EQUAL
RIGHTS TO WOMEN.
OPPOSES HASTE IN MATTER
Good Reason for immediate Resub-
mission Of Proposed Amendment
and Asks Delay Until 1916.

Madison, May Ex-Governor MCGOV-
ern today sent to the senate the fol
| lowing communication on the bill pro
viding for resubmission to voters of
the state of the question of granting
equal suffrage to women
I return herewith, without approval,
Bill No. 225-S, entitled IAN Act to
amend Section II of the statutes, ex-
tending the right of suffrage to WON
en-
At the recent presidential election
proposal to extend suffrage to women
was defeated in this state by ma
jority of over $4,000 votes. Imme-
diately to resubmit precisely the same
question for determination by the vot-
ers at the approaching state election
! cannot he justified.
Article 8, section /, of the Constitu-
ton of Wisconsin enumerates the
classes of persons entitled to vote and
continues as follows:
Provided that the legislature may
at any time extend by law the right
of suffrage to persons not herein emu
merated; but no such law shall be in
force until the same shall have been
submitted to a vote of the people at
q general election and approved by a
majority of all the votes cast at such
election"
The method whereby change in
this part of the constitution may be
secured thus differs from that for
bringing about amendment of any 9TH
er portion of our fundamental law
mainly in requiring favorable legal
action at single session of the leg
islature, instead of by the concurrence
of two succeeding legislatures in sup
port of a joint resolution. But here as
in other cases the popular vote must
be taken at general electlOn-nOt
necessarily the next succeeding gen
eral election, but any general election.
In other words, this legislature may
provide by law for the resubmission
of this question at the November cleo
ton in 1914, 1916 or any later time.
1t seems to me no good reason can
be given for the Immediate resubmis-
sion of the proposed amendment. Since
the decisive vote of last November the
general situation with respect % wOm-
an suffrage in Wisconsin has not
changed. At least nothing hSs oc-
Cured to justify a belief that if this
issue were Immediately resubmitted
to the people the majority against it
would not be even larger than before.
The result Of the recent election in
Michigan is some indication that this
would be the case. From the vote
taken here it is evident that our peo-
pie do not consider the experience of
the Rocky Mountain states, such as
Colorado, Idaho and Wyoming, rele-
want or even enlightening. Very re
Gently however other states compar-
able to our own in population, social
conditions, and industrial development,
such as Kansas, California and Wash
ington, have decided to try the ex-
pertinent But their experience is yet
altogether too brief to, afford any in
,dication of what we should do If
this question be again forced upon
the people of Wisconsin for decision
at the election in November, 1914, they
no more information to guide them than
they had last year. If, however, the vote
be deferred until 1916 or later there
is a chance at least that the experience
Of other states similar in many re-
spects to our own may furnish guild
ance not available now 1t would
seem therefore to be the part of wis
dom to wait until we can avail our
selves of the instruction to be derived
from the trial of woman suffrage in
these states before we again vote upon
this question.
But this is not ALL Wisconsin
stands for popular rule. We have faith
in the judgment and good sense of
the average voter. We believe in the
initiative and the referendum. But
II the referendum is a good thing,
manifestly the results of a referendum
vote should be properly respected
Such respect will not be shown if al
most as soon as the outcome of last
years vote upon this subject has been
announced exactly the same proposal
be Immediately resubmitted without a
single new fact or argument to sup
port it. Such action by the legislature
can have but one tendency-that of
speedily bringing the principle of the
referendum into disrepute.
An additional reason against hasty
action in this matter is that an ex-