The Garden Island. [volume] (Lihue, Kauai, H.T.) 1902-current, 1919-06-10
WHY THE WOMEN
WANT TO VOTE

The annual meeting of the ladies'
Mokihana Club on Wednesday was
uncommonly we'll attended and Of
more than usual variety and interest.
In the line of business, It was voted
to raise the annual dues from one dol
lar to two-one more concession to the
prevailing tendency of raising prices.
Even so, it is cheap.
A careful report was made by the
nursing committee, detailing the ex-
cellent work done by the school and
community nurse.
The nomination committee made its
report recommending for Office for the
coming year: Mrs. Crawford, for pres
ident; Mrs. Jameson, for vice-presi-
dent; Mrs. Rohrig, for treasurer; Miss
Edith Rice, for secretary, which report
was unanimously approved and they
were declared elected.
The work committee reported on
the work done during the year, and
recommended that the club devote its
energies to the study of community
work during the coming year.
Mrs. Swan. the retiring president,
then called for the president-elect, and
surrendered the insignia of Office to
her. She took to the place as duck
does to water, and showed every sign
of being quite at home.
A musical section followed, in
charge of Mrs. Fred Carter, in which
her pupils gave a number of piano
selections in which they did credit to
their teaching, as we'll as to them.
selves.
/. The address of the occasion was
made by Mrs. Dowsett, the we'll known
womans' suffrage leader, on her favor.
ite theme. She spoke entirely with.
out notes, and in the best of English,
substantially as follows:
"Womans' suffrage is not an entirely
new interest in Hawaii. Some IS
years, or so, ago, I recall the first
faint STRINGS in that direction. In
1912 a more concrete move was made
and some tentative organization was
effected. Then came the great war
sand this in common with a great
many other things was side-tracked in
the pressure of more immediate needs
Now the period of reconstruction has
come, old times and old outlooks are
passing away, and we here in Hawaii
are waking up to the new order OF
things, in common with the rest OF
the world.
do you ladies here realize our con
dition in this enlightened age and
this free, democratic country-that we
are aliens, without any voice in the
most vital public affairs, with no more
to say about American interests and
American well-being than the Coolies
who have just come from the Orient
"They tell us that we have an in
fiuence,-the influence Of the home,-
that we can exert through our hus
bands, fathers and sons. What kind
of an influence is that which has tc
be strained through a third party
oftentimes an unsympathetic thirt
party? 1t is hard enough to exert ar
influence direct, at first hands
secondhand influence has very little
value.
81 want to tell you something about
the kind of lawmakers the men are
The members of the recent Legisla
ture, every mothers son of them
representatives and senators, wher
they were seeking election, pledged
themselves to the cause Of womans
suffrage.-they made 1t one of the
cardinal planks of their party plat
forms, and made all kinds of voluble
and frantic promises to give the vote
to women. And on the strength oi
these liberal promises they secured
the influence OF the women. and were
elected. And then many of them,-not
all-there were many noble exceptions
but many of them, turned traitors
to the cause that elected them, and
threw us down without the slightest
hesitation. And you have seen what
mongrel lot they were, and what 9
mess they would have made of the
legislation of the Territory If they
had got their own way. Between the
} bad laws that they tried to put on the
statute books, and the good laws they
tried to appeal or tamper into bat
ones, they were disgrace to the
country. If you had heard the speech
es as | did! Why. any woman, any
where, would have done better thar
they did, l don't care how ignorant
they might be.
"You have heard more or less about
the disgraceful scene of the closing
evening of the session. You have seer
something Of it in the papers. But the
papers modified 1t very much.-it was