on the amendments; in thirty typical rural counties the corresponding percentage was 63. In the urban counties the per5.2 in Hamilton county (Cincinnati) to centage varied from 80.6 in Cuyahoga co ty (Cleveland). In the rural counties the percentage ran as low as 36.7 in Adams county-of infamous memory in connection with the wholesale selling of votes and as high as 87.2 in Lake county. In view of the greater publicity given to the amendments in the cities, it is a noteworthy fact that the country districts were so interested in voting and so determined in their opposition. The woman suffrage amendment was the only measure which city and country united to defeat. In the following table the vote of the twelve urban counties is compared with that of the other counties. One Its rejection was doubtless ascribable to many causes. cause, however, operated actively in the cities: it was asserted and widely believed that woman suffrage, if adopted, would be used to secure prohibition. Mr. Percy Andreae, leader of the "Liberal" forces of Ohio, declared: "Woman suffrage owes its defeat to the Anti-Saloon League, which made of it a wet and dry issue and thus alienated from it the sympathy of the large liberal forces of the state, which stand sternly opposed to prohibition, no matter what guise it may masquerade in." " The Liberal Advocate, official organ of the Ohio Liquor League, 'In the election of 1910, 6505 votes were cast in Adams county. On account of vote-selling in this election, 1679 or 26 per cent of the voters of the county were disfranchised. This partly explains the small vote cast in 1912. 'Liberal Advocate, September 11, 1912. said: "We can scarcely believe that brewery workers would favor a proposition which many thoughtful people believe would, if adopted, deprive them and their families of their bread and butter, by putting the industry in which they are employed out of existence." The election results give further data: they show greater opposition to woman suffrage in the counties that were "wet" than in those that were "dry" in 1912. I Cincinnati, the home of the "Liberal" forces, defeated woman suffrage by a vote of more than three to one. Obviously, the liquor question, although apparently not decisive, had much to do with the defeat of woman suffrage.3 V The remarkable presidential campaign in progress during the summer and autumn may well have had some influence upon the constitutional election. It is best, however, to be cautious in any attempt to distinguish party lines in the voting on the amendments, and to bear in mind that to thousands of voters the issues raised by the forty-two proposed constitutional changes probably seemed to bear no relation to the struggle among the three political parties. The following facts, however, may be stated, and the reader may draw his own inferences. In nine counties (Ashtabula, Fulton, Gallia, Geauga, Lake, Lorain, Medina, Summit and Trumbull) the Progressive candidates won, while in six other counties of importance (Cuyahoga, Lucas, Huron, Portage, Wood and Stark) Roosevelt and Garford, though not successful, were defeated by 1 Liberal Advocate, July 17, 1912. 'Hamilton County, in which Cincinnati is situated, gave 13,615 votes for and 42,669 votes against woman suffrage. 'Cf. map I. * Progressive candidate for governor. |