CHAPTER IV.

THE STORY OF THE 1916 REFERENDA

Constitutional amendments were submitted to the voters of three states in 1916, namely, Iowa, where the vote was taken June 5th on Primary Day; South Dakota and West Virginia, where the vote was taken at the general election in November.  More than one influential newspaper editorially discussed the returns with the comment that “the people” of three states had refused to extend the suffrage to women.  An investigation unveils some ugly facts and raises significant questions.

In 1882 a prohibition constitutional amendment was adopted by a large majority in Iowa and was promptly set aside by the supreme court upon a technicality.  The wet and dry question has been a vexed political issue ever since.  The state now has prohibition by statutory enactment.  A constitutional amendment is pending, having passed the Legislature of 1914, and is due to pass the Legislature of 1916.  The “wets” believing that women would generally support the proposed prohibition amendment were extremely active in opposing the suffrage amendment.  Although the suffragists kept their question distinctly separate from prohibition, the wet and dry issue, it was generally admitted, would prove a determining factor.

Every judge of the Supreme Court, the United States Senators, the Governor, most of the men prominent in Republican and Democratic politics, most of the clergymen, most of the press and every woman’s state organization espoused the suffrage amendment.

Men familiar with Iowa politics advised the suffrage campaigners early and late and all the time between that it was unnecessary to conduct an intensive campaign as “everybody believed in it.”

Yet despite this omnipresent optimism thousands of women gave every possibility of their lives for months before to arouse public sentiment, instruct and acquaint the men and women of the state concerning the question.

The amendment was lost by about 10,000 votes.  Were four of the ninety-nine counties (Dubuque, Clinton, Scott and Des Moines counties) lying along the Mississippi River, not included in the returns, the state would have been carried for woman suffrage.  It is instructive to inquire what kind of population occupied the four counties which defeated it.  The following table gives the answer: 

=======================================================

=
|             |          |         |         | Total   |
|             |          |         | Total   | German, |
|             |  Total   |  Total  | Foreign |Austrian,|
|Iowa Counties|          | Native  |  and    | Russian |
|             |Population|Parentage| Foreign | and of  |
|             |          |         |Parentage|  such   |
|             |          |         |         |Parentage|
+-------------+----------+---------+---------+---------+
|Dubuque      |  57,450  |  24,024 |  33,426 |  14,566 |