The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1917-12-20
LETTER

~~AAS VA VkASNAA I'LL
roads may not be favored by the
Interstate Commerce Commits
sion or the Newlands joint COM
mittee of Congress, but the idea
is getting a good deal of adver-
Using in the press, The result
is that members of Congress are
talking about it with less mis-
giving than ever before. Arthur
Brisbane, owner of the Washing
ton Times, in a front-page edi-
torial which followed the special
report of the Interstate Com
merce Commission, denounced
the railroad companies as ras-
lcally robbers and declared that if
Congress attempted to lend them
any money the whole country
would protest.
Senator Newlands, never as
pecially hostile to the railroad
companies is confident that if a
billion dollars of public money
is loaned to the roads at this
time, for use in providing more
cars and engines and additional
trackage and if higher rates are
given them, everything will run
along smoothly again.
When he was asked whether
theis loan would remain as a
permanent investment by the
Government in the railroad bust
ness, he said that "that has not
yet been determined"
Miss Rankin, the "lady from
Montana" in the House, has in
troduced a bill which will pro-
tect the American citizenship of
women who may marry foreign
ers. There is a very strong de-
mand for this legislation, not
merely from social circles in New
York and Boston and Philadel-
phia, but from the wage-work-
ing women in all parts of the
country where women born here
have married non-citizens. With
two million women in New York
state just given the ballot, the
right to vote has become highly
Important to thousands of wom-
en- who neven thought before
that it might be valuable to
them.
They argue there is nc
more sense in taking away the
citizenship of a woman who mar
ries an alien man, than to take
away the citizenship of a man
who marries an alien woman.
Speaking of suffrage recalls
the big fact that the suffragists
have at last brought the Susan
lib. Anthony amendment up fol
a roll call vote in the House just
|before the Christmas recess. The
prohibition amendment passed
by the Senate during the spec
,Iial session, comes up also, but
the fight over prohibition has
mot been so spectacular in Wash
ington as has the battle for equa
voting rights.
It is probable that the stuff
ragists will get somewhere neal
three-fifths of the total vote IL
the House. 1t is possible thai
they will get a few more. 1t il
unlikely that they will get thu
necessary two-thirds vote which
would carry it over to the Sen
, ate. Capture of New York fo1
suffrage has, of course, made
great many politicians trim theil
sails on this issue. Scores o.
members who have been opposed
to the Women's claim to the bal
lot will now look carefully Over
the political defenses in theil
home district before they. cas-
negative votes on the amend
|ment this year. But the "Sol
Hid South will stand firm.
Suffrage speakers, represent
ling the National Woman's Par
ty. who have been touring tn.
South, have told with consider
able effect the story Of the treat
ment gwen the White Hous'
pickets in the Occuquan work
house. A lot Of kilograms ant
letters came to southern mem
bers, asking them to vote for tn
suffrage measure as to rebuk'
Ito the authorities responsible
Ifor the sufferings undergone b,
the pickets. These telegram
havd been allowed to 60 into tn
waste baskets.
Prohibition is generally con
sidered to be as good as won, 8
Ufar as Congress is Concerned
llNoW that the District of Column
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