A few years ago no changes in the governments of the world would have
seemed more improbable than a constitution for China, a republic in
Portugal, and a House of Lords in Great Britain without the power of
veto, and yet all these momentous changes have taken place in less than
two years. The underlying cause is unquestionably the strong spirit of
unrest among the people of all nations having any degree of
civilization, caused by their increasing freedom of speech and press,
their larger intercourse through modern methods of travel, and the
sending of the youth to be educated in the most progressive countries.
It would be impossible for women not to be affected by this spirit of
unrest, especially as they have made greater advance during the last
few decades than any other class or body. There is none whose status
has been so revolutionized in every respect during the last
half-century. As with men everywhere, this discontent has manifested
itself in political upheaval, so it is inevitable that it should be
expressed by women in a demand for a voice in the government through
which laws are made and administered.
In 1888, when Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, the leaders
of this movement in the United States, where it began, attempted to
cooperate with other countries, they found that in only one--Great
Britain--had it taken organized shape. By 1902, however, it was
possible to form an International Committee, in Washington, D.C., with
representatives from five countries. Two years later, in Berlin, the
International Woman Suffrage Alliance was formed with accredited
delegates from organizations in nine countries. This Alliance held a
congress in Stockholm during the summer of 1911 with delegates from
national associations in twenty-four countries where the movement for
the enfranchisement of women has taken definite, organized form.