Forty-seven varieties of violations of the election law are alleged to have been committed.  Do these indicate wilful fraud or mere ignorance and carelessness?  Just now no one seems prepared to answer.  Meantime Iowa, one of the most intelligent and progressive states in the nation, stands at the bar of public opinion accused of incapacity to conduct an honest election.  How she will defend herself, what reparation she will make to her women, and what steps she will take to insure clean elections and better enforcement of her election law in the future are problems which await the Legislature.  That body cannot refuse to take action of some kind without inviting the suspicion that her legislators prefer conditions which lend themselves to the base uses of election manipulators whenever they may care to avail themselves of them.

On November 7, 1916, woman suffrage and prohibition amendments were voted upon in South Dakota.  It was the first time these two questions have gone to referendum in the same election and the results furnish interesting data for comparison.

Certain facts tell a story which should make progressive, patriotic Americans and fair-minded Congressmen reflect.

Prohibition was carried by a majority of 11,469; woman suffrage was lost by a majority of 4,664.  Prohibition was lost in thirteen counties; in one of these, Lawrence, which lies in the heart of the mining country, prohibition was lost by two votes, and woman suffrage was carried.

In all the others a large foreign population was the dominant power.  Had nine of the sixty-eight counties of the state not been included in the returns woman suffrage would have been carried.

The total “yes” vote on woman suffrage was 51,687; the “no” vote 56,351.[A] The total “yes” vote of these nine counties was 4,877; the “no” vote was 10,569.  Subtracting these county totals from the state totals the record would stand 46,810 “yes” votes and 45,782 “no” votes.

[Footnote A:  The figures here used are those given to the press by the County Boards of Election.  The final returns were not available.]

Who then are the voters of nine counties who kept the women of an entire state disfranchised?  The following table presents the answer: 

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|             |            |           |             |  Total    |
|             |            |           |    Total    | German,   |
|             |   Total    |   Total   | Foreign and | Austrian, |
|  Counties   | Population |  Native   | Foreign     | Russian,  |
|             |            | Parentage | Parentage   | or of such|
|             |            |           |             | Parentage |
|-------------+------------+-----------+-------------+------

-----|
|Bon Homme....|   11,061   |   3,448   |     7,6l3   |   4,759   |
|Brule .......|    6,451   |   3,008   |     3,443   |   1,556   |
|Charles Mix..|   14,899   |   6,387   |     8,512   |   2,757   |