From the beginning the various associations have asked for the franchise on the same terms as granted to men, not all of whom can vote.  For political reasons it seemed impossible to obtain this, and meanwhile the so-called “militant” movement was inaugurated by women outraged at the way the measure had been put aside for nearly forty years.  The treatment of these women by the Government forms one of the blackest pages in English history, and the situation finally became so alarming that the Parliament was obliged to take action.  A Conciliation Committee was formed of sixty members from all parties, who prepared a bill that would enfranchise only women householders, those who already had possessed the municipal franchise since 1869.  This does not mean property-owners, but includes women who may pay rent for only one room.  The associations accepted it partly because it recognized the principle that sex should not disqualify, but principally because it was unquestionably all that they could get at present.  This is the bill which was denied a third reading for two years on the ground that it was not democratic enough!  A careful canvass has shown that in the different parts of the United Kingdom from 80 to 90 per cent, of those whom it would enfranchise are wage- or salary-earning women, and not one Labor member of Parliament voted against it.

Women in England have been eligible for School Boards since 1870; have had the county franchise since 1888; have been eligible for parish and district councils and for various boards and commissions since 1894, and hundreds have served in the above offices.  In 1907, as recommended in the address of King Edward, women were made eligible as mayors and county and city councilors, or aldermen.  Three or four have been elected mayors, and women are now sitting on the councils of London, Manchester, and other cities.  The municipal franchise was conferred on the women of Scotland in 1882, and of Ireland in 1898.

The Irishwomen’s Franchise League demands that the proposed Home Rule bill shall give to the women of Ireland the same political rights as it gives to men.  This demand is strongly supported by many of the Nationalist members of Parliament and some of the cabinet, and it is not impossible that after all these years of oppression the women of Ireland may be fully enfranchised before those of England, Scotland, and Wales.

In the Isle of Man women property-owners have had the full suffrage since 1881, and women rate- or rent-payers, since 1892.

ENGLISH COLONIES

The Parliament of New Zealand gave school suffrage to women in 1877, municipal in 1886, and Parliamentary in 1893.  It was the first country in the world to grant the complete universal franchise to women.