We must always press on the question of Woman Suffrage when we are agitating about the Suffrage. We have always argued in the Suffrage agitation that it was a question of equal rights for men and women, and we must continue to do so till we succeed. We must be united. We know that we shall not attain the victory of Woman Suffrage in a short time, but we know, too, that in our struggles for this measure we shall revolutionise hundreds of thousands of minds. We carry on our war, not as a fight between the sexes, but as a battle against the political might of the possessing classes; as a fight which we carry on with all our might and main, without hatred of the other sex; a fight whose final aim and whose glory will be that in the broadest masses of the proletariat the knowledge shall arise that when the day of the historical development shall have made sufficient progress then the proletariat, in its entirety, without distinction of sex, shall be able to call out to the capitalist order of society: “You rest on us, you oppress us, and, see, now the building which you have erected is tottering to the ground.”
The speaker then submitted the following resolution:—
“The demand for Woman Suffrage is the result of the changes which have occurred owing to the capitalist method of production in modern economic and social conditions, especially since the changes in labour, owing to the position and the destiny of women. Woman is in this position as a consequence of the middle-class democratic principle which regulates the destiny of all social callings, not depending on wealth and on social position. The demand for Woman Suffrage has thus, from the beginning, been connected in the minds of a few thinkers with the struggle in which the middle class has been engaged for the democratisation of political rights as a means of procuring its political emancipation and its rule as a class. This class has received great and increasing power partly through the great and growing wealth produced by woman’s labour, which is continually increasing in modern industry. Woman Suffrage is the assertion of the economic emancipation of woman from home, and her economic independence from the family as an only means of subsistence.
“Active and passive Suffrage for women may be looked upon as a social question; as a practical measure it is the means of obtaining political power, of doing away with legal and social fetters, which hinder the development and the emancipation of woman. But in woman’s world, as well as in that of man, there are class conflicts which render the possession of the Suffrage of great value for woman. The value of the franchise as a means of engaging in the social war is one which depends largely on the greatness of the struggle to be engaged in and the social power to be obtained. Its chief use will be that by means of it the whole proletariat—men and women—will be able to obtain political power, and will thus be able to contribute to bringing about the downfall of the present class system, and the establishment of a Socialist state of society in which alone the full emancipation of woman will be accomplished.
“Complete emancipation of woman is advisable instead of the middle-class Woman Suffrage movement, and, therefore, it is absolutely necessary that Universal Woman Suffrage should be obtained. Working women, in order to conquer their complete right of citizenship, must rely on their own strength alone and on their own class. The proletarian needs of the struggle for emancipation, together with the historic insight and justice, compel the proletariat to energetically take up the cause of the political equality of woman. Social-Democracy, the political fighting organisation of the class-conscious proletariat, therefore, is in favour of Woman Suffrage, both as a matter of principle, and as a practical question.
“The question of Woman Suffrage, owing to the keenness of the class struggle, acquires great importance. On the side of the ruling reactionary classes the belief grows that the granting of a restricted Woman Suffrage would strengthen the political power of the capitalist class. On the side of the proletariat the necessity is seen of revolutionising the minds of women and of obtaining their help in the struggle. The struggle for Universal Woman Suffrage is the most powerful means of interesting the mass of women in the struggle of the proletariat for freedom.
“Having considered these historical facts, the Fourth Conference of Socialist women at Mannheim resolves—
“‘That in the struggle which the proletariat has entered into for the obtaining of universal, equal, secret and direct voting in towns and elsewhere, all the energies of the party should be used in obtaining the same franchise for women, and that the question should constantly be pressed forward. The Conference of women declares that it recognises the duty of all women comrades to take part energetically in the political campaign for the attainment of the Suffrage, and that every effort should be made to induce working women to take an interest in this matter, so that the question may be settled as soon as possible.’”
In the discussion which ensued,
Frau Mensing, from Holland, said: Comrade Zetkin has referred to the declaration of comrade Troelstra that he for the moment would not support the extension of the Suffrage to women. This statement was a very heavy blow to our associations of women in Holland. We had hoped that the question would have been raised at our last Congress in Holland, but there was so much time spent in the discussion between Marxians and Opportunists that there was no time left to do this. We trust, however, that at the next Congress of the party its members will declare against this opinion of Troelstra, and that the agitation in favour of Universal Suffrage for Women will be renewed.