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UARY 2 1913 8 r ® R' d]_a * * _ 4 % o e L e Siltdieticpesoyes uen trrctntsttiit f&' Would Allow Them Suffrage + if They Own Property ® + U T he Opposition Not Satished + With Proposed Amendment Ontario is to take a step in the dir-- ection of women suffrage. That is the effect of a bill now before the Legislature, introduced by Mr. Find-- lay G. Macdiarmid (West Elgin), to give married women who own pro-- perty the right to vote in municipal elections. Mr. Macdiarmid's bill is to amend the Ontario voters' list act to make this possible, but the effect f will be to disqualify married men, who hitherto have held office on pro-- perty standing in the name of the wife, from continuing to do so. A companion hbill to amend the assess-- ment act has also been introduced by Mr. Macdiarmid to facilitate this pur--| pose. -- Under the bill, if it becomes law, a married woman will have the option of notifying the assessor or the Court of Revision, in writing, that she proposes to exercise the right to vote on her own property, accom-- panying such notice with a list of the property standing in her name. The Government is not behind Mr. Macdiarmid's bill, and the members will be free to deal with it as they wish. What Opposition Wants. The Opposition were not satisfied vyesterday to have the amendment brought about in this way. When the municipal act was being consider-- ed in committee, Mr. J. C. Elliott (West Middlesex), wanted the clause defining who should have a right to vote amended then and there. He pointed out that prior to 1859 women could not convey their own property, but since then the law had changed from time to time, so that they now controlled the property which stood | in their names, and the law should | be further changed so that they I should have the right to vote on the ; property which they so held. To '.\ that end he moved that the clause t in the act be struck out which pre-- scribed '"male, widow or unmarried women.'" Mr. Hanna took the view that striking out clause (a) would lead to ru.mge interminable confusion. If that j clause were stricken out it would disqualify Aldermen and Councillors pppdett y refiegs a6." _ in towns and cities in the Province, TO COMPLETE sCHOO a i w en because unless a man were an elector | q L OF MINES it was absurd to say that he could lin \1gg;tnn v\ams.sgn,ooo to complete occupy a position as Mayor, Control-- [r ie r(t 00! lflf )Fmes. This was the _As a further argument, the Pro-- f;l":];f\ "n'm\rxp l:_\ a. deputation head.| Vinci@l Secretary said to deal with *;mt'. \iY . _ F. Nickle, M.P., which the question in that way would be t'l e ie e James _ Whitney and to go in the the teeth of the express-- | the _ members *nf the _ Govern. ed wish of some of those wno advo-- ,l)nont.] dAlread.\" $100,000 _ has been cated the right of women to repre-- ;;'""?'"' on this school, but the| S°"t their property. If the clause T}' ipment needs $20,000 to complete were eliminated from the act it m.'l,c"p(r.m'r;rnment will consider _ the would have the effect that a woman I);- s \:\)rn,thp estimates come up_: who owned her own property would l\'ifi &t . _ Ross, local member for ha\'e to vote on it herself or leave Eston, introduced the deputation.' it unrepresented. It often happened that a woman owned property by the courtesy or generosity of her h'l,lgfrzixld. Ssome of those who had given most thought. to the matter m . 1 S SR o & Ccms T