The daily Gate City and constitution-Democrat. (Keokuk, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1917-03-01
WANT QUESTION
RE-SUBM|TTED
Or. Efne MccuIIom Jones, Speaking
Before Equal Suffrage AseocIa-
tlon, Throws Light on
Election.
ASKING LEGISLATURE
state soIons Are Being Requested to
Give Another Chance to the
Voters on the Amend
ment.

About two hundred women attend.
ed the meeting OF the Equal sur
frage association yesterday afternoon
at which DIR. Effie McCullom Jones,
representative of the National Equal
Suffrage association. was the speak
or. She was introduced by the chair
man OF the local association, VINO
said that in the Iowa campaign two
women had shown such ability anu
efficiency that they had been taken
by the national board to help the
cause OF woman suffrage IN other
states. Those two women We're Mrs.
Rose Lawless Geyer Of Des MONIES.
ard DR.. Effie McCullom Jones, OF
Waterloo.
DR.. Jones spoke for an hour and a
half and It was generally conceded
to have been the best suffrage
speech which has been made here.
DR.. Jones said in part: 1t scarce
" seems possible that should have
lived In Iowa SO long and never be-
fore been in Keokuk. Often when
meet people outside OF the state
they ask me about the Keokuk dam,
because that is one Of the Things
which everybody knows. have
been really ashamed to confess that
I haven't seen it. So you see, ! have
more than one reason for pleasure
in being here.
Every once in while some one
says, why are you talking for wom-
an suffrage in Iowa now? Even those
nice gentlemen in the legislature
said to us at the opening OF this
session, why are you here, your
campaign is over We replied. There
is no closed season dn suffrage. Every
day of the year we shall work TOT
suffrage until all women are given
the right of franchise
"In Iowa we are asking the legis.
lature to vote for a resubmission OF
the suffrage amendment which failed
to carry last June. It had at first
been the intention to ask the Iowa
legislature to grant to the Iowa WON
! en- the same degree Of suffrage which
| the Illinois women have. but upon
1t was discovered that
our state constitution will not permit
this as does the Illinois constitution
and so we have asked the legisla-
ture to resubmit the question to the
voters. Fl
Some Irregularities.
Eve ask this because the amend
ment lost by a small majority and
because of the irregularities which
were permitted in the June election
You observe that we do not say
fraud because it isn't polite, but
these are some of the things that
were done: To one town north Of
Des Moines, there were no suffrage
ballots sent at all. In one precinct
in Des Moines the suffrage ballots
did not arrive until 10 o'clock, and
no one who voted earlier than that
had an opportunity to express him.
self on the question. In one precinct
in Council Bluffs so few ballots were
sent that the supply gave out at
1000 a. M In Waterloo the judges
arbitrarily ruled that the polls clos
ed on the suffrage amendment at Z
o'clock but one could vote for Of
ficers UP until O'Clock. The law
provides that only registered voters
can vote on an amendment to the
constitution. and in Black Hawk
county all voters, whether registered
or not registered, were allowed to
vote ON the amendment In one coun-
ty in southern Iowa. there were 233
more ballots cast on the amendment
than there were voters in the coun-
ty. These are only few Of the IT.
regularities that were found in an In.
vestigation which covered several
weeks of time and which was carried
on in forty-four counties.
"This investigation was carried on
by the state w. c. T. U. The suf-
fragists have seen fit not to go
through the expensive and long drawn
out process of trying to overturn the
election, but in view OF all these ir-
Irregularities have asked for a new
vote. When we have gone to the
legislators some have said But the
men have spoken on this question,
and we have replied. Yes but no.
body knows what they said
Expect Rehabilitation.
How could you with such a poorly
safeguarded and mismanaged cleo
ton? II in such referendum cleo
ton as full OF irregularities. We could
come 80 nearly carrying the state,