Evening Times Republican

IOWA'S LONE VOTE AGAINST SUFFRAGE.

Hull, republican, was the only Iowan in the house who voted against the equal suffrage amendment. His loneliness is a matter of commiseration but not of admiration.--Burlington Hawkeye.

It is so.

Congressman Hull's lone vote against woman suffrage is to be commiserated--but from other standpoints it is possible to excuse it. First it is possible to explain and to a degree excuse it because of the smallness of Hull as compared with the rest of the Iowa delegation in congress. Iowa has never had any good reason for pride and self gratulation over Hull as one of her representatives at Washington. By comparison with the congressmen from other districts of the state Hull is as attenuated as a shoestring.

Again, it is in accord with republican sentiment in Iowa to repudiate Hull's isolated vote as unrepresentative of the desire and purpose of the state republican party; but an explanation tempers the wind of resentment to this shorn lamb of the Second district. He voted as he did because he represents the second district and its leadership who are opposed to woman suffrage mainly because women are opposed to saloons and the liquor traffic generally. Mr. Hull is no wider than the district he represents and it will be recalled by those of reasonably retentive memory that a candidate for attorney general found welcome to his candidacy in Scott county by the assurance to certain leaders that if he were nominated and elected he "would not cross the borders of Scott county." Bringing this recent history to bear crosswise on Mr. Hull's dissociated vote affords further possible excuse. Joined to Hull himself it seems to offer a reasonably complete explanation.

Mr. Hull is not precisely lonely, he has the leadership of his district and his county to herd with in segregation from the other congressmen and districts of the state. But, nevertheless, as the Hawkeye says it is all "a matter for commiseration but not of admiration."