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ie C _ PeC -- essm [ r 4 4 6 p x WEDNESDAY. -- APRIL 2. 1913. anememennmmmmnpenpanmenmmemnnstrmmemremencommenenteternntememmemmmenmatinmememnnnmnmemmnnt menemenncmentomenememamemmment c AnliUOUOONOIINONO ie cmeirercocewe...... GOVER]\WENT REJEC] aS i | WOMAN SUFFRAGE BILLS$ | comeiieeated uis t tset oo eceiningrny dp...www~ .nn eimmmmmnmmmmeme mm mmmmmenm omm e -.fl,,,\\! I Ss1 T hree Measures Voted Down After an Animated Debate Opposition Members Make a Strong Plea in Behalf f of Women | Something fell in the ],r-gisl;nnrr'! , vesterday. The hopes that had been| raisoed that Ontario would take a for-- ward step in extending the franchise} to women reccived a rude shock when three separate proposals were voted down by the members of the Govern--: ment. l The first bill to fall by the wayside| was that brought forward by Mr. Wm. MacDonald (Centre Bruce), to exteoend the Provincial franchise to widows and spinsters who now voted in municipal elections. The second proposal was brought t1p during the joint discussion of sev--| eral bills introduced by Mr. J. C. El--| liott (West Middlesex) and Mr. F. G.j Macdiarmid (West Eigin). The object of those hills was to give married wo-- men who own property the municipal franchise. It was on this subject that Hon. W. J, Hanna some weeks ago threw out the strong suggestion thai the Government might be prepared to go that far, and intimated that Mr. Macdiarmid's bills had been drafted by the Government for that pnurpose. Mr. Elliott's measure was to giveo ' marriecd women the vote as joint own-- 1 ers with their husbands, as is now the case with farmers' . sons. Mr.]| Macdiarmid, on the other _ hand,} sougzht to give the woman the right + of election to represent the property instead of her husband. But -- the Government would have _ none of cither, and a strict party majority defeated this scheme. The last measure to reecive the axe was that of Mr. Allan Studholme (East Hamilton), that went the entire lenzth of enfranchising women, and, the debate on this continued into thel n'igzht sitting. | Women Crowd Galeries. Fecling ran high during the after-- noon. in anticipation of a brisk de--! bate and at least the adoption of the' principle of the Macdiarmid bills, the galloeries were crowded with women syvinpathetic to the hbills. Rumors of a' threatened _ demonstration probably| accounted for the presence of Super-- intendont Rogers and several able--| bodied members of the Provincial Po--| lice force. Ostensibly as interested| spectator sof an academic discussion, these gentlemen were placed at stra-- tegic points where they would have been available in the event of an as--i sault on the sacred precincts of the| House. | A slig\ht demonstration did occur during Mr. Studholme's remarks, as he was facing the crowded gallerv when he said that the vite for wo. C men was coming, and sooner or later it would be an important issue in the country, An outbreak of applause in the Speaker's Gallery -- brought the T'rime Minister to his feet. Sip James vigorously protested against any show' of feeling whatever. '"They have done | what they knew was a deliberate of--| {