New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-04-27
How Suffrage Spreads
A Federal Amendment Needed to
Consolidate Gains

To the Editor of The Tribune.
Sir: We have read with much appreciation
YOUR editorial entitled Suffrage Breaks
Through" with its summary of the remark
able victories of the last year and especially
Of the last few months. Even since 1t was
written. three days ago, Michigan has been
added to the states which give Presidential
suffrage TO women. raising the number OF
electors for whom women may vote to 1914.
Based on the annual estimates Of the United
States Census Bureau. the number of women
over twenty-one in the states where they
have the right to vote for these Presidential
electors is 8.23S.405. Bills are still penang
in several legislatures.
Rhode Island and Michigan may have been
Influenced by the quick response of the
women to the call for military service, but
this partial suffrage had been granted to
North Dakota, Indiana, Ohio and Arkansas
before war was declared and when the legs-
lators could have been influenced only by
a sense of their duty toward women.
The Embarrassment of women in the Do
minion of Canada from a point above Central
New York to the Pacific Ocean was unques-
tionably due in part TO their splendid service
and great sacrifices since the beginning OIL
the war This also was the cause OF the de-
termination of the new government OF Russia
and the old government OF England to l1t
women to a plane of political equality with
men. The parliament of France has taken
the first steps to give municipal FRANCHISE
which it was about TO confer before the war
began The parliament of Denmark in the
sNNt-
second year of the war adopted constltu-
ton which gave women exactly the same SUI
frage rights as men, but it would have taken
this same action had there been war.
The parliament of Finland in 1906 gave equal
suffrage TO women as a result of their share
in the hardships OF the Russo-Japanese war
hut the parliament of Norway took the same
action the following year, entirely uninhu-
enced bv anything connected with war. This
also was the case in New Zealand and Aus
tralia. where women have voted for many
vears-in New Zealand since 1898.
Il must be remembered that all of this par
t;al suffrage which has been conferred by the
Legislatures OF our various states can be
taken away by the legislatures of these
states. il they choose to do so, when they
moot two wears hence. There can be no per-
manencv until the suffrage is securely in
trenched in q state constitution. and this can
be done only by the consent Of the majority
o. the men in tho state. No other country
in the world subjects its women 10 such an
intolerable condition.
In all of those where the women are now
enfranchised it has been accomplished by an
act of Parliament. IL is, as you say, a seri-
Gus question whether America can long re-
main the one advanced and democratic ma
ton 10 deny equal rights to its women" It
certainly xill have this unenyiable distnc-
ton n the women must wait to be enfran-
chised state by state. It is high time that
our Congress follow the example of the
parliaments OF those other countries TO the
extent Of its power.
IDA Hustled HARPER,
Chairman National Suffrage Press Commit
tee.
New York, April al, 1el7.