SUFFRAGE 



5614 



SUGAR 



construction, it has been widened forty-two 

 feet and considerably deepened. Side basins 

 are maintained to facilitate the passage of ships 

 and in 1887 the waterway was lighted by elec- 

 tricity. Its cost of $90,000,000 is less than one- 

 third of the cost of the Panama Canal, which 

 is a lock canal, in which the water is raised 

 nearly ninety feet. The management of the 

 Suez Canal is directed by an international com- 

 mittee, and passage is given to ships of all 

 nations on equal tejms. Through the canal 

 pass about 4,000 ships, which pay $25,000,000 in 

 tolls in average years. 



Being of such vast importance to English 

 trade, the Suez became one of Germany's 

 points of attack in the War of the Nations. 

 During the year 1915, German troops pene- 

 trated Egypt a short distance west of the canal. 

 They were unsuccessful, however, in an attack 

 upon the city of Suez, which continued to be 

 held by the English, or upon the canal itself. 

 See LESSEES, FERDINAND DE; CANAL. 



Consult Nourse's The Maritime Canal of Sues. 



SUFFRAGE, suj'rayj, is the right to repre- 

 sentation and participation in government af- 

 fairs, through the medium of the ballot. The 

 general idea of representation may be traced to 

 the origin of the jury system, far back in the 

 history of England. One of the great prob- 

 lems of the centuries in all countries where the 

 betterment of the people has been sought has 

 centered around the effort to have all classes 

 fairly represented in government. 



In the United States. During the early years 

 of the United States, even with the broad prin- 

 ciples contained in the Declaration of Inde- 

 pendence, less than one-fourth of the men of 

 the country were given the suffrage. There 

 were religious and property qualifications and 

 class distinctions. For many years Baptists, 

 Quakers, Jews and Roman Catholics could not 

 vote, but gradually the religious qualifications 

 were removed. Later, property qualifications 

 became unnecessary and class distinctions were 

 forgotten. The United States Constitution has 

 always recognized the right of each state to 

 decide who should have the right to vote, even 

 for officers representing the national govern- 

 ment, only specifying that no citizen should be 

 denied the right of franchise on account of 

 "race, color, or previous condition of servitude." 



The attainment of the twenty-first year of 

 age is a qualification in every state. Universal 

 manhood suffrage, which means the right of 

 every adult male to vote, exists in every state 

 except in a few where, for local reasons, special 

 educational and property tests are required. In 

 nearly half the states women may vote on 

 school matters, and in several they have full 

 suffrage rights. 



Related Subjects. The following topics may 

 be consulted in connection with this article on 

 suffrage : 



Australian Ballot Short Ballot 



Ballot Woman Suffrage 



Election 



'UGAR, one of the most important foods 

 known. It helps to form fat in the body, and 

 is a source of energy and heat. It adds to the 

 attractiveness of many other foods when em- 

 ployed as a sweetening, and if used in modera- 

 tion makes them more digestible. The most 

 common form the lump or granulated sugar 

 that appears on the table at every meal is 

 produced by extraction from sugar cane or 

 sugar beets. Such sugar has a fuel value of 

 1,860 calories per pound, and is 100 per cent 

 carbohydrate. Maple sugar is made from the 



sap of the sugar maple, and contains 83 per 

 cent carbohydrates, 16 per 'cent water and 1 

 per cent ash. Grapes and the date palm are 

 also sources of sugar, but they bear no com- 

 parison with sugar cane and sugar beets in 

 respect to commercial importance. For a de- 

 scription of the sugar cane plant see the article 

 following, SUGAR CANE. 



Cane Sugar. This is the product of a com- 

 plicated milling process. The cane, after be- 

 ing washed and cut into short lengths, or 

 shredded, is fed into a machine equipped with 



