Arizona republican., 1916-12-01
SWEDISH WOMEN
 TO GET BALLOT.
[RepubIlcan A. ?. Leased wIrel


 STOCKHOLM, Sweden, Nov S0- Sweden. the only one of the Scandi- navian countries in which women do not enjoy the same right to vote as the men, must at best wait some five years before complete enfranchisement of it's women, but that the goal will ul- tlmately be reached, not only here but in other backward countries is the firm conviction of the National Swed- ish Noman's Suffrage Association which has just concluded it's annual convention.
 Reports made at the convention showed d greatly increased interest in the movement throughout sweden. There are now nearly lI000 women enrolled in the association and some -u0 branch organizations. Particularly gratifying t0 the leaders was the re- port of great growth of interest among he couutry's $ clergymen. as well as among men generally Mems asso- cations for woman suffrage were formed during the year at krstianstad and Malmo, and some of the hest known swedish men are beginning to interest themselves actively in the movement
 Most 0f this progress is the work of only. fourteen years. although efforts Co improve the position If women gen eCally were begun al an early period. Sweden standing in the front rank of European countries in this respect IL was not until 1902, however. that a def mite organized movement to secure votes for women was begun. The im- petus for this was given by s man. Burgemaster C. A Lindhagen of Stock holm, Burgomaster Lindhagen. who was also d member of the second chamber of the Riksdag presented a woman suffrage bin in the lower house. l. was defeated by III to G.
 The first notable victory was in 1906, when hoth chambers of the par lament decided to petition the govern ment tJ Investigate The subject O. woman suffrage. This report was submitted 60 the Ri1isdas in 1871. Tn chise had been granted the Swedish men, and the fr~t use they made ot the meantime l90- universal fran il was to elect a hueral government. in which K. 4. Staaf was premier St8af presented B woman suffrage bill in 1912 as a government bill, and it Was imported by the constitutional committee of the Riksdag The upper chamber defeated it SC 10 5S. but the lower chamber gave it 140 votes for 10 Gs against
 4 further una,ailing effort was made this year 10 induce Herr Ham, merskiolG. presnt premier. to make a government measure of the bill. A change of the nature proposed in wolves an amendment to the constitu- ton. and hence must be adopted by both houses of two successive par liameuts. The Riksdag session early in 1917 will he the last session of the present parliament, and although con- dltions have apparently not altered since the last unsuccessful attempt the women see themselves compelled to make another effort to secure the passage of t political-equality measure But cvev fn nc unlikely event of it's passage. wonlens suffrage could not come into effect in Sweden until the autumn of 1921. SO there is still a long fight ahead.
 At least two of the principal ob- staeles are the opposition of the men and the fact-a1omalcus as it may sepm-that women already enjoy the communal franchise
 Their possession of the communal franchise obliges women exercising 1t tD be regglarly enrolled with their women suffrage That means that the conservative women are faced with the choice of breaking away from their party or else of opposing suffrage for themselves, and thus far the party call-and incidentally their allegiance 10 the men of their families-has proved the stronger.
 The fact that of all Scandinavian countries Sweden is the only one where the women do not enjoy the