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About The Oregon daily journal. (Portland, Or.) 1902-1972 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 1, 1911)
THE OREGON SUNDAY JOURNAL, PORTLAND, SUNDAY MORNING, JANUARY 1, 1911 r r Li W : V, v . 1 ll 8 . k 7 e jolt : X r vo v f v ' a sirs' 1 - w m : - ar -a. v ar .' i . a f llr- 1a 71 w Art. i 7 J. rn . r v J ?r. .11 -J - The Determined Battle That Has Been Made (Jklahoma Including n .i Dy tne Women Many of Indian Parent- ageo V3 ft fHREE centuries ago some wandering Spaniards penetrated into what was . then the wild, bilt is now Oklahoma. Thirty years ago the whites of neighbor ing states and territories' began to notice that what had been considered an Indian camp was land of wonderful productiveness. Less than twenty yeas ago the real influx into the ' baby state-' then content to be a territory t began. Talk about a transformation In only two decades has grown up a state of i,6$7t t$$ population, a flat increase of log. 7 per cent over the census of igoo. What had been a wilderness was quickly changed into mag nificent farms, protperous factories and thriv ing, up-to-date cities. Hardly a vestige of the old-time redskin remains. The Indian population is some tyhete around 72,000, but most of it is of mixed blood. i, And, wonder of tvonders, the women, who have barely escaped the serfdom involved by being known as squaws, are now full fledged suffragettes t Along with their white sisters, theyafe battling hard for ballots. Quite a power, too, are these descendants of the Creeks, Choctaws and other powerful tribes, because they are appealing to fully 1,000 red voters. Only a few weeks ago the allied feminine forces carried their cause up to the ballot box., They lost. But they are going to keep on fghting until they get what they want. It's woman's way, whether she's red or white. tW& far tfW MxAflL jZs , : ' " 1 1 r wv ( t Vf . 6 V 4 j B ... mf JscyMD GrMPf?y pfiMm W aml ?tesW'&7M'airzjfflffl MMttfi OF rfJS)l ?TWOf0& WFff CTY SlFFP?? rfjffr. tlilg itau, poselnit liltc quallfluBtiou of mil olectwr. hall b Qualified to vol at school dlatrlct election or meotlnft. , - Possibly th "baby atftt" women may have appre ciated that half a loai Is better than no bread. But, whether or no, thex soon set about to get the other half. Then, as In many another place, there was an entire democracy In the movement. In the first place, the state Is neither old nor effete enough to take people at other than their face value. In the necond, there Is a freedom and a whole-heartedness about the plains that the big cities lack. 80 it was that suffragists took almost an little heei of race or coloavas the framers of the consti tution. The woman only a few generation removed from the aborigines was welcomed Intrt the rsnkn. Among them are wives and mothers of some very prominent men, as are those here pictured. In fact, the squaw type of female Indian has about died out More and more Is white blood predomlwat S"H In womn nt iiWr? descent p0mf of the lflr sre ertremMy wll-to-do, and they can ,have a wide choice wlien they care to take husbands. United, then, the races waged a. determined but losing baillu bwfore the lust uiuotloii for an amend ment to the constitution giving them full voting rights. That they lost does not discourage them, because they believe they will have a better chance at a special than at a general election. In Oklahoma a question submitted by initiative must have a majorltjf-of all votes cast in order to carry. Thus, although a ballot may not be marked at all upon a certain question, it Is counted against that question, while only those marked "yes" are counted for it. Now It Is argued by some that, at a special elec tion, only those Interested enough to vote one way or another on the questions suhnjltted will turn out, whereas at a general election many will vote for state or national officers who will not vote either way on general questions. The ballots of these indifferent one are counted aerainst the question. Tn . ' l'"lon h o'd tiortles were., on the fence, naturally, while the Socialists and the labor union element were adherents of the suffragists. All through the hot Oklahoma summer the women worked. What made them the more determined was the fact that, la the main, they wefe merely trying to regain a privilege of which they had been deprived. In the early territorial days the feminine contingent was permitted to have as much a voice as the male element In such crude municipal government as then obtained. Having assisted in tha virtual building of a new empire, the aforementioned feminine contingent failed to see why. when the constitution was adopted. It should shear Its wings to the extent of confining It to a Voice In local school affairs. ' A goodly share of the women were not content with the crumbs from the political table. Besides, did they not daily read pf the doings of the London suf fragettes? Why should they be more content In Ok lahoma City, which had proved Its progressive spirit' by a 640 per cent Increase In population In ten years, than their English sisters? v N mere were they. Frbni the very time they were deprived of their equal' share in the government, they started to get it back again. . In 1809 they sought unsuccessfully from the legis lature a referendum submitting the question of votes tor women to the whole people. Not discouraged, the suffragists set to work and last spring secured 3S,68 signatures to an initiative -petition. The entire clerical work of this task fell upon Dr. Ruth A. Gay, an oklahqma City physician. A mere hanutul oi tireless women secured tne namea. A GALLANT OFFICIAL Then, with the petition ready, the remarkable dis covery was made that the women, having no political entity, could not take a receipt tor this, tnelr work, from the secretary of state, bo J. Lutner Langston, state secretary ot labor, stepped Into tne breaon ana receipted for the document. Tne question should nave been submitted' to the people at a special election in August. But an obscure legislator questioned the validity of the signatures. Tne case was later thrown out, of course, because the remonstrant .failed to hie his brief, but not until too late tor the special election. So every ettort has been concentrated on the fall campaign., Through tne summer the suffragists held farmers picnics uwoughoul the state;. they held parlor meetings at various homes In the cities. They secured, tnrougit a press committee, 600 papers in the state which agreed to print suffrage matter, and In October they had a special edition ot the Oklahoma News In which a double page was devoted to suffrage argu ments. For the wind-up the suffragists held itreet meet Ings, at which they made speeches, Just as the men did at theira. They conducted their campaign with courage ana with dignity. They have as state secretary Mrs. Ida Porter Boyer, formerly of Cemralla, Pa., and widely known as a very able suffragist. Mrs. Kate H. Blg geis, of Marlow, Okla., Is state president ot the suf frage association, bhe Is a clubwoman and the wife Of a farmer. Mrs. Blggers was a candidate on the Uepubllcan ticket for the office ot state commissioner of charities. She was opposed by two other women, Mrs. Winnie Branstetter, Socialist and suffragist, and the Incumbent of the office, Miss Kate Barnard, whose political faith is Democratic, but whom no one has ever been able to commit to the suffrage cause. So do women seek and hold office In a state where so tar they have no franchise. Unlike Oregon, the clubwomen of Oklahoma are not actively allied with the suffragists. Many individ ual clubwomen are, of course, but the state federation of women's clubs has never officially Kuiorsed "votes for women." Many Indian women have Indorsed suffrage. In tribal days the Indian woman was effective In council, and the line of descent was through her, not through the man. " ... An Interesting bit of campaign literature was the memorial sent out to them by the state suffrage asso ciation It Is issued to the five civilised tribes and Is printed In three languages one for the twin tribes t Choctaw and ehickasaw; one for the Creek and Semi nole, and one in Cherokee. The first four nations use the Roman alphabet, but the Cherokee has eighty written characters of Its own. ' The privileges of the Initiative and referendum, such as the Oklahoma women enjoy, are, at first easy to Invoke, but considerably haTder to call forth once a measure tiaa failed. A part of the constitution relating to the initiative reads: Yss M,y?ijrl&tiiJ'rr7r2s,, The first power reserved by the people Is the Initiative, .- and eight (8) per centum of the legal voters shall have . the right to prooose any legal measure, and fifteen (ll per centum of tne legal voters shall have the right propose a constitutional amendment by petition, and every such petition shall Include the full text of the measure so proposed. ;v Once a measure has failed, however, it U prett hard to revive it, except after a considerable period. Relative to this, the constitution provides that: Any measure rejected By the people, through the pewe ' : era of the initiative and referendum, cannot again b pro posed by the Initiative and referendum within three t) ' years thereafter by less than twenty-five tit) per eeotam x of the legal voters. ..!. This would seem to Indicate that the "baby sttatsT suffragists will have to get mighty busy or wait a while. lurious Facts A": s- I INCB lt admission, but three years ago or there abouts, the "baby state" has proved Itself a lusty infant ' - , The first thing-it did was to cut nut a. atate constitution of 0,000 words, the longest known, i And so advanced was It that even the then president Roosevelt, remarked that about the only thing it hadnt provided for was the color of the toothpowder the people should use. ''Uncle Joe" Cannon, whose wit was mora appre ciated then than now, was, of opinion that It might be" worshiped without sacrilege,1' because it was like nothing in the aarta, in .the heavens above or' the waters beneath. , . .,..-;.T. . . . 1 Yt the people most concerned, those who Ihred in Oklahoma, were proud of their work. They had gone about It with no lacfc of deliberation. The constltu tlonal convention; had' spent ten days' time, at tiooo a day, deciding whether the name of the Supreme Being should a-ln the preamble. It was finally placed there, and then the government makers got down to he question of rights and suffrages. As to rights, they bravely affirmed the declaration of inde pendence, allotting t all the inalienable right to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." As to suf- imn., iiicj iuu care ot xns maies ny providing; tnat I F NEW YEAR'S comes as late again , , This year as it did last, I don't believe I'll get to see The end. when it floes rnst. And when the now one start to go -Across the calendar , , V Last time I watched until I dreamed 1 was New Year's star, i " none should be. deprived.! Ttha,lvotln ig privilege dltlon of s be- servii cause of "race, color or previous cone When it came ta the feminine lmnt i HHimi but a small portion of the 60,000 words, and its polity teal rights were defined aa follows: ' . ;:trrv; v-s ...... ,-..v.. ..'...:' : "A-'v-VVv .; Vati! etWwUe provided' by iw, all4rna iUsns ef - .Pi e'aia.theroiaa't anything. That folks can see or hear When midnight comes and Father Time Brings in another year, JBut maybe he is fooling me. .' v Why do the people sing " ' ay And call it watch-night meeting, and ' Why do the church bells ringl Ta says they got the number of The year by adding one Each New Year's to the year before. And when that ear was done, , By adding on another, till They piled, it up to here, Jt-must- have-taken-awf Uf4opg I e1 Tqount just once a year. They tell me when I go to bed The last December night, 111 have to t;o without a meal Until the next year's light, j Some people think they're awful -smart, But I know what they mean i K The next year has to be next day j ; There's nothing in between. - A New Year's day's a happy time For almost every one. J.f,eni8jLBori.otB.t?rtofjhings1 With aiothing quite begun, And everybody's feeling young ' v And spry, just like a boy, X hope your happy New Year will , Be spilling-fuu of joy ' ' ,- . .. .. . - 1 M 1 isiiM""saTTirssLaj"'' Sf' lii'l uliji 1 rr"ii''"""i-'r-r r'l-f vs.. . ' 'W fcs'w -yaipi ENORMOUS pearl, of perfect ahape ao valued at 130,000, has been found la U western Australia pearl fisheries and brought into Groome, from where it has been shipped ta England. - Among the exhibits at the twenty-fifth show 4 the London and Provincial Ornithological Society, held in the Lambeth Baths, was a pure whlta canary. Both its parents were ordinary colored Yorkshire, , An Italian engineer has invented a cinematograph apparatus" which can be connected with objects liable to be stolen in such a fashion that aasoon as a person: lays hands on them his every movement la photo graphed. . --. The annual service was held under the Polateaf "Gospel" Oak on a recent Sunday. This la believed t be the oldest oak In Suffolk, England, and the) tree under which the Christian1 missionaries preachad; tej the heathen Saxons. A. D. 410-700. ' Thomas Benstead, of Tongj, Sittlngbourna, Staff land, who is 85 year of age, attended on horeabach the opening meet of the Tlckham foxhounda Ha bat hunted with the pack for sixty years, and has) not missed an opening meet for half a century. - . The run of M. Edmond Rostand's play, "Chants cler," at the Porte Saint Martin Theater, Paris, earns to an end recently. Produced on February ,, It has been performed 123 times In Paris and over 600 UmeS in the provinces, the receipts approximating $750.009. ' After being lost for over 600 years a mutilated" charter of Edward III, given to the burgesses et Newcastle-under-Lyme in 1328, has to be restored ta that corporation by the corporation of Preston, The charter had been in possession of tha Preston sor poratlon for many years, but British Museum experts have proved that it belongs to Newcastle-unde Lyme. Preston borrowed the charter for ita gruld ance between 1S43 and 1373, and forgot to restore) It, thus forcing Newcasle-under-Lyme to apply ior copy, t . , ' If all the' money in the world were equally divided among civilised people every person would, gel III as his share. . , A marriage advertisement Is published in a Zurich paper by a "rich Swiss phUosopbar-whe wants a wife who must fulfill tha following conditions: She must be beautitul In body, face and mind, and possess beautiful teeth and hair of her own, and not bought articles. Besides Oerman, she must have a knowledge of Knglish and i rencli, be a musician and have an irreproachable reputation. "Other faults," the philosopher of 40 years states, "will be overlooked." In a small plush-l'oed. especially made eoftin, cov ered with white velvet and fitted with ornate silver handles, Jerry, a Scotch collie dog belonging to Mra W. H. Schafer, of Minneapolis, was burled in a lot across the atreet from Layman's Cemetery, and fifty feet from the buriaf lot of the Schafer family. A hearse drawn by plumed black horses carried the . corpse tforh the Schafer-home to the crave.-A closed . carriage containing the mournera-Slr. - and Mr a Schafer and their son Harold completed the funeral procession. ' At the present day smoking is common In Boutt American churches. A' recent visitor to Peru r oriie that In the church of La Merced, Lima, he noticed one of the congregation enjoying a cigar while th srviie "was " going , on," "and" through the orn door rf t-, sacristy he caught a glimpse of a bishop wh4 v about to preach IndulginK" in the same luxury. 1 preacher waa attired In full episcopal robes, and I 1 tuoked a handkerchief undr his chin to rvnt being .Soiled by ashes. In Lima Cathedral sr-iokl f 1 so far recognised that a spittoon is placed lit a 1 . the stalla set apart for the chapter.