The Dickinson press., 1914-09-26
0, D. 0L|PHANT
ANT|-SUFFRAGE

MT|-SUFFRAGE
Continued from page ~
only 10 per cent of the women of
this nation wanted the ballot. The
it or r Indifferent, which is the
same thing. The matter should be
referred to the women themselves for
decision, said Mrs. Oliphant, but the
s~uffragists do not want that. In
Massachusetts the question was re-
ferred to the women, and submitted
to a vote. And only four per cent of
the women cared enough for the bal
lot to come out and vote in favor of
suffrage.
M Black List.
Mrs. Oliphant took up the question
of the suffrage "black list" holding
that the black list was a manifeso
by the executive board, Of which DR..
Shaw is a member. The speaker
claimed that the senator's and repre-
sentatives who Were on the black list,
and she read their names from the
list, were placed there by the suffra-
gist leaders, not because they had
voted against humanitarian meas
ures, as was claimed by DR.. Shaw,
but because they dared to stand for
the doctrine of states rights. Mrs.
Oliphant mentioned James r. Mann,
as included in the list, and said that
far from opposing humanitarian mea-
sures, Mann is the author of the cele-
brated Mann act, a measure which
has done more for the abolition of
the infamous white slave traffic than
any recent enactment. Regarding
the celebrated bill to prohibit the use
Of poisonous substances in the manu-
facture of matches, Mrs. Oliphant
said that several Of those on the
black list voted in favor of the bill,
and that several others did not vote
in favor Of it because they felt that
it would be establishing a dangerous
precedent to endeavor to tax a con-
Germ out of business, preferring to
accomplish the same purpose
through the interstate commerce
laws. The Children's bureau bill, the
speaker mentioned as another hu-
manitarian measure which a number
VI IIle IleIl VII VIC UAdSh A1ob SoeCu AoA'
Floating Vote.
Mrs. Oliphant attacked the argu-
ment of the suffragists that the
menace of the floating vote would be
lessened when the franchise is given
to the women whose vote will be per-
manent and stable. She said that ex-
perience in North Dakota has shown
ILL., . H. ~ IL on& rrO{a IN
school matters and that they are in
different. She condemned very
strongly the idea that if only n
woman wanted to vote she should
have it. There is enough indifer-
ence at the present time, said Mrs.
Oliphant, without largely increasing
it BY enfranchising the women. The
result would be simply to increase the
power of. the political boss, who is
never Indifferent, and whose cohorts
are always at the polls, and always
voting as a unit. Z
Vice Question. =.
Mrs. Oliphant strongly denied that
the anti-suffragists have received
support from the liquor interests.
She then went on to point out that
suffrage had not done what was
claimed fop~it in the way of lessen
ing vice in the suffrage states. She
called attention to the fact that out
of nine states which are prohibition
at the present time, eight Of them Sc
cured it by the male vote, without
the assistance of the women. 90
the other hand several states which
have been suffrage states for a nun-
Der of years, are not prohibition
She pointed out that the
national commission appointed to in
vice conditions throughout
the country reported % non-suffrage
states as having. good laws against
slavery. Three Of the suffrage
states had white slave laws which
came under classification as only fair.
In Denver.
Denver women, said the speaker,
have had the vote for 20 years, but
Denver is rated at 100 per cent in
vice. The statement is made that in
of the 70 Florence Crittenton
homes throughout the country, the
in Denver contains the largest
per cent Of girls Of the better class:
a suffrage state, is one OF
the few remaining states which still
legalizes prize fighting. Also, Cali
fornia has no pure food laws. In
the four women in the leg
islature voted in favor of n Of the
most infamous race track gambling
bills ever drafted. The governor
the bill and lectured the
women on the stand they had taken.
The Women's Equal Franchise
Of Nevada declared that they
had no fault to find with the existing
Of things, including the
saloon. San francisco, in sui
frage state, voted wet on the liquor
question BY q large majority.
Ignore Natural Law
Suffragists, said Mrs. Oliphant, ig-
nored the natural law, that women
is the constructive force ii1Sthe plan
Of the Creator, and man the protec-
tive force. 1t is impossible to repeal,