Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1915-03-08
Equal Suffrage in Maine?

Suffrage IN the last le" years mas ueeii
due to the practical common sense OF
womanhood and the sense Of justice
of awakened manhood. A recent issue
Of Golfers magazine editorially pre-
diets women will, within 10 years, be
voting on equal terms with men In
most OF the states OF the Union. Suoh
a prediction is safely founded on the
rnagniacent advance Of the cause in
the last half decade. If Maine post
pones the inevitable in this Legisia-
ture, it will certainly place our State
among the tailenders Of the states 20
awaken to broad justice and modern
progress.
Why postpone II? Can any man Of
any party advance reasonable argu-
ment against leaving this great Ques-
ton 10 the intelligence Of the voters:
We have heard none.
on that premise we are predicting
that much of victory for the cause OF
equal suffrage. How the State would
vote We are haZarding no predictions,
but we hope to know before another
LEGISLATURE sits Arguments for or
against the wisdom of granting equal
suffrage to women have no weight Oh
the balloting il our Legislative
body. Charges and cCunter-charges
by partisan interests have no place: it
is question Of Legislative recogni-
ton and admission that this problem
has reached a magnitude where the
superior verdict Of all the people
should replace action of the, law max
ing body.
No party can afford to make this a
PARTY issue The vote ought TO be
unanimous.
In the second city Of the country
last week women voted for the first
time in a primary election for mayor.
1t was a significant election-one OF
the most significant in which the Wo-
men OF city have yet taken part on
an equal basis with men, says the
V,omen's Journal and Suffrage News.
The Chicago primary Of Feb. %
OF course was not revolutionary; IL
was only part Of the political eVo'
luton in which the city has been
engaged for months. But 1t showed
many interesting things
In the first place. it proved not
ONLY that Chicago women use the
vote in great numbers, but that
their interest is steadily on the in
crease More than twice as many
women voted as at any previous
primary.
At the aldermanic primary OF Feb
ruary. 1914. the number OF women
voting was 47.s74.
~ the primary Of September, 1915.
the number was s2,s24.
At the primary last week it was
l54.75o.
These figures must be partly dis
counted because the appeal for
non craftsmanship, and therefore for
non participation in primaries, was
much stronger Last year. and be-
cause a nayoralIy campaign natur-
ally calls out larger vote, but the
rising interest is still incontrovert-
ible.
In the second place. the election
showed women voting in as good
proportion TO their registration as
men. 4 trifie oven 20 per cent. Of
the women registered voted and a
trifle less than 20 per cent. OF the
men.
The women's vote last week was
larger than that polled by men at
the February primaries of 1914.
1913 and 1912. At the preceding
inayoralty primary, four years ago,
the total vote was $4,000: this year
the total vote was over $4,000.
In the third place, an analysis OF
the vote shows that the women
voted substantially the same party
tickets as the men. but that inside
the party lines their vote was fair
~ Independent. Their ballots were
thrown in greater numbers for the
most reputable candidates. Hal
womens votes. alone been counted.
Judge Olson, head of the municipal
court and one of Chicago's best citi-
zens, would today be the Republi-
can candidate for mayor. He re-
ceived 1000 more votes from wo-
men than William Hale Thompson.
but Thompson received almost 49,
900 more votes than Olson from
the men and accordingly won. Mr..
Thompson is the son Of a wealthy
real estate owner and has kept his
campaign headquarters open for n
year He employed solicitors to
get signatures to his petition months
in advance. He gave political teas
and appealed to the women voters, but
his campaign did not weigh with the
women as much as Judge Olson's.
On the Democratic side there was
little difference between the mems
vote and the women's. Both voted
overwhelmingly against Mayor Car
ter H. Harrison and for his opponent,
Robert NJ. Sweitzer. The failure Of
Mayor Harrison to receive the wo-
mems vote was explained the other
day at Harrisburg by Miss Harriet
vittum, the famous Chicago suffragist
and social worker.
1.-The newspaper reports have all tend
ed to create the impression that the
women of Chicago voted against man
who was both q reformer and good SUI
fragist AS a matter of fact, at heart
Carter Harrison is neither To be sure.
he espoused suffrage as soon as 1t was
adopted in Illinois, but the great ma