The Cook County news-herald. [volume] (Grand Marais, Cook County, Minn.) 1909-current, 1919-02-26

Nm FEBRUARY Is. 1919.
WEEKLY NEWs-LETTER n 4.
FROM STATE CAPITOL
81 The Minnesota State Senate is in
2 quandary. What to do with Tie
e. II. Warner suffrage constitutional
amendment adopted by the house
some weeks ago has majority Of
its members guessing and until it is
disposed Of one way or the other
they will not feel easy Better than
two weeks ago the house unexpect-
edly put over. the Theodore Christ
Hanson memorial to congress praying
for the submission to the state Of
the federal suffrage constitutional
amendment and then followed it
with the passage of the ! Warner
state f. constitutional amendment.
The senate the same day gave it's
approval to- the memorial to congress
but baked at the state amendment.
Opposition on the part Of the
lWomen's Suffrage association, head
ed by its president, Mrs. Andreas
LELAND was largely responsible. To
a large majority of the senate men,
bers many of who have scruples re-
garding votes for women, but whose
districts are favorable to the move
| ment opposition on the part of the
Association to the state amendment
came as an agreeable surprise, but
imagine the astonishment and char
grin of both when the senate at
washington this week knocked the
Federal end of the game into a cock
led hat by tossing the whole thing
into the discard. Approval was en-
phatically declined, the Southern
senators leading in the avalanche of
| nays that were registered. For Min
! nesota suffragists all that remains
now is the state amendment which
the women so vigorously opposed and
which majority of the senate mem
bers would prefer to see remain in
the committee where it was sent.
Whether to withdraw it from the
committee or Let it remain is now
the question and an embarrassing
question, l might say, at that. AS
to the members of the senate, few
of them and this includes. the
ardent supporters Of the measure
Ebut what have in their possession
letters from the Womens organiza-
ton protesting support for the
E|samsnsl,nent. This: even. extends to
the house when Mrs: LELAND, the
head of the Suffrage association, went
so far as to use their. home papers
to thank the few members in the
lower body who voted against the
amendment. The whole thing is one
of the worst. mixed up affairs the
legislature has been up against in
some time.
This week will likely see favor
able report from the house commit
tee on elections in the matter Of the
G.. H. Warner delegate convention
bill with request that the measure:
be made special order. The War
-ner bill calls for partial return to
the convention system for the NOM
ination Of persons for state offices.
At the same time the committee
will take up the Theo. Christianson
bill extending the ballot to women
for the purpose of nominating presi-
Dental delegates.
The Minnesota State Safety Com
mission is still on the job, and will
likely continue so for another month
at least. By that time it will have
closed up it's affairs. The commits
sion is distinctly an administration
affair and how strong the admins
tration is in legislative way was
indicated when strenuous efforts
were made by legislative enemies of
the commission to force the passage
Of a resolution providing for an in
.vestigation Of the Commission and
it's expenditures. The resolution
hardly received votes sufficient to
Justify its introduction while in the
senate all efforts to force a. shsw
down along the same lines wer frus-
trated. Aiding materially in the de-
feat of the resolution were number
of the known house vets who were
more than satisfied with, the Com
missions withdrawal Of all orders
covering the liquor traffic. The Com
mission is now preparing a report
on it's two years activities, and also
it's expenditures which will be made
public shortly. & s.:. :>>; I'LL.
I