The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1916-01-17
POLITICAL RIGHTS
FOR DUTCH WOMEN
May Be Secured as Result of Bill Re
Gently introduced in Parliament
to Amend Netherlands
Constitution.

The Hague, Netherlands, Jan. L..
A step in the direction of according polit.
zeal rights to Dutch women is taken
in bill TO amend the Netherlands con
stitution recently introduced into the
parliament at The Hague by Premier
Cort van der Linden The bill, which
has yet to be voted on, does not actual
Ily give women the ballot, but removes
the constitutional obstacle hitherto
placed in the way of their right to vote.
Should it pass, then the electoral law
will have to be amended before WON.
en- are really enabled to exercise the polit.
zeal franchise.
The proposed constitutional amend
ment goes even farther than recognizing
women's right to vote 1t also includes
their right to be elected, concession
which had not been looked for at this
stage.
| Dutch women, although welcoming
the suggested reform, are inclined to
display dissatisfaction with the liinita.
ton of the franchise they may uiti-
mately obtain under its provisions, and
in their discomfort they are joined by
thN HANHs WIZ nun lktt HdAHt AN-
strictions.
The basis of the Dutch constitution
is, men (apd under the proposed amend
ment also women) of Is years OF age
are entitled to vote for the 100 members
OF the second chamber, which is the
direct representative body for the PEG
pie of the Netherlands The attain
ment of the age OF 25 is however, not
all that is necessary The would-be
voter must be able to prove that he tor
shel has a certain minimum yearly in
come, varying according to the locality
from Sll0 to S220-the latter in big
cities such as Rotterdam and Amster
dam. Besides this, there are exceptions /
made against persons who receive mu-
nieipal assistance under the poor laws /
and naturally also against criminals and I
while soldiers and sailors un-
der certain rank are prohibited from
voting while on service with the colors.
These various disabilities affect nearly
half a million of the Dutch men of %
years and over-the approximate hg
ures for the Netherlands being ,467 900
men qualified by age, of whom only L.
Ol6,569 have votes.
As is pointed out by Mrs Aletta ia
cobs, president of the Women's Suf-
frage association of Holland, "the pres
ent composition of society offers no OBJ
stacles to the immediate granting of
The right to vote to all women" She, u
however, argues that the limitation I'M Il
Ter the constitution would permit very j
ew women to vote, for in most cases
hat- baxs M "a. e T.,
If the opinion that the vote should be /
riven TO all mental and morally sound l
PERSONS of both sexes without any &
property restriction. II
Other Dutch women in the van of the a
movement declare the proposed h
institutional reform is a happy result d
f the agitation recently carried on by 5
women of all countries. but still Others Il
re of the opinion that the war has done t
more TO awaken the self-confidence and
of women than all their 5
trivings on the platform and has come c
elled men to learn the lesson that wom- fl
n is part of the political fabric They o
rgue that while the men have been t,
coupled in fighting or, as in the Meth /,
rlands, guarding the neutrality OF the c,
Duntry against attack, woman has Ii
hown she can ill their places in other a
pheres of life equally important for
he public welfare. al
All political parties in the Neither "
Inds appear to have become more or Ii
IS reconciled to the demand for and al
eed of some such reform in favor OF O.
omen as that proposed by the pre- D,
ier, and the nation awaits with inter Vi
It the outcome of the debates in the on
iambers. lea