The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-03-03

way by which that opinion can De
binding on goyernnent-by the bal
lot without this legal registration or
opinion we have not government py a
majority. The vote is the ordinary IN
divfduaPs only means Of participation
in government It Is the citizens bit
of sovereignty. The fact that the ma
jority of women are not awake and
active in the organized work for wo-
man suffrage, instead of being a rea-
SON for withholding 1t, is the pest rea-
son know for granting it. Full c1tI-
zenship is the stimulus that viii
arouse them. This Is not an idle
prophecy. It Is fact that has been
proven and demonstrated in every
country of the world and in every
state OF this Union where women have
been given the vote.
For example in California scant
two per cent. of the women OF thas
state were organized to get woman
suffrage, and it passed by a small ma
jority in 1911.
seThe women of Arizona cast their
first ballot last November and the
state registered q total vote nearly
three times as great as the vote by
men alone In 1912. These are not
isolated instances. The same is true
everywhere with not q single ex-
eeption, throughout the history of
the movement, after the women or
state or a country get fun citizen
ship, they value it, they use 1t and
they will NOT relinquish It.. And this
is because with the using of it they
begin to acquire that knowledge
which makes 1t valuable to them.
s'The women who don't want full
citizenship dent know enough to
want lit, and the reason they dent
know enough ds that they have not
the kind of knowledge that cttizenship
begets. Therefore the more they
don't want it, the more they need it
the more you ought to want It for
them But we are not asking you
to give the vote to the women OF
Connecticut because you have not
the power under the Constitution to
de so. That. power lies with the le-
gal electors Of the state. We ask
you to recognize, the widespread de-
uaand-a demand far, far greater
than Wes made for any Of the 33
amendments that have been fncorpOr-
ated in cur constitution. We ask you
to withhold no longer from the vot-
ers Of the statet the opportunity to
pass upn this change. As theirs
Is the ultimate responsibility it is
not essential that you should be con-
vinced Of the justice and expediency
OF woman suffrage when you recon-
mend the submission of the amend
ment, We ask you to show your
faith and belief in the principles of
government on which our great ma
tion is founded and in the people
who are the sovereign power. of the
state
The next speaker was Mrs Carlos
Stoddar1. Mrs. Stoddard is presi-
dent OF the New Haven Equal Fran
chise league which has the largest
membership OF any local suffrage
body in Connecticut. Mrs Stoddard
opened by emphasizing the fact that
it was not necessary that legislators
should be suffragists in order that
they should pass. the resolution. nor
should themselves be convinced Of
the advisabflity of granting votes to
women for them to recommend the
passage OF the resolution.
She was, however, anxious chat the
members of the COMMITTEES should
believe in woman suffrage, because it
would make them much more inter
es<ed In this legislation If they were.
She wished therefore to present a few
Arguments In favor of the suffrage
proposition.
.arhe VOTE said Mrs. stoddard. ''is
the simplest means Of registering
public opinion so that this opinion
shall be binding on the government.
The sole question is whether the opin-
ions of women are worth registering
When the constitution was made 1t
was not thought that they were. A
great ChanB9 mas nOWSFS1l come
over to position of women in the
last hundred years. both with regard
to their education and their ability
to deal with questions OF government,
and also with regard to the degree
in which Women'5 work and Womens
interests are touched by government.
with this change has come new
need fen the women's point Of view
in eovernYnent and q new value for
the vote both for the women them
selves and for the community
The next speaker was Miss Emily
Person the most widely
known of all Che suffrage workers in
Connecticut. Miss Pierson devoted
the short time allotted to her in ex-
anaining the effects of equal sGf-
frage in the eleven states in which
it is now in operation, and showed
from undeniab1e evidence that ex-
perience has given the lie to almost
every argument that is brought
against woman suffrage by its OPP
ponents The need of the vote to
the woman in the home was then
presented by Mrs. Arnold Gesen OF
New Haveu-wife of Prof GeseH of
Yale Unfversity-Nrs. Gesen showed
how closely every mother is now
touched by legislation and by gov
eminent action and asked how 1egis-
1ation could be wisely adopted with
out the opinion and the help Of the
persons who were to be most affected
by it.
Julius Stren1au. president of the
Connecticut Federation Of Labor,
then presented the case as it appealed
to the organized trade unionists of
Connecticut. The National Fedora
ton of Labor had come out in favor
of woman suffrage and SO had also
the Connecticut Federa.tin. Very
many Of the unions had also passed
resolutions calling on the legislature
to pass the resolution for constftu
tiona1 amendment. To the organized
working men the demand that the
working women should have the vote
was simply a matter Of justice, and
Mr. stremlau could see no right or