“What in England and America has been the movement of a whole sex, has, in Germany under Social Democracy been merged in the movement of the working class. Women are to have their rights not as a sex, but as _workers_.”[113] In France as in Germany the woman’s movement goes hand in-hand with socialism. “There are no distinguished persons to head the movement. It springs from the middle and lower classes and is the outcome of the efforts of a group of enlightened women who, having freed themselves from the prejudices that hedge about their sex, have crowned their emancipation by claiming the vote.”[114] Europe presents a somewhat different industrial situation from newly settled countries. Class lines are sharply drawn and the element of chance has been largely eliminated in the industrial field. There is little shifting from the lower to the higher classes, so characteristic of newly settled countries. This apparent fixity in social and economic life fosters the development of class consciousness. In the twentieth century two elements have entered into the struggle for equal suffrage in England. The one is the spirit of democracy claiming equal opportunities for all individuals irrespective of class or sex. The other element is a purely economic one. It is the desire of working women to gain possession of a force that can be used as a weapon of defense and offense in a struggle with the masters of industry. When women demand the franchise on economic grounds, they meet with strong opposition. The nature of the demand indicates the importance of the issue at stake. This kind of a demand is never made until the plea on behalf of democracy fails, and the plea for a greater democracy always fails when the material interests of the ruling classes are affected. Political rights fought for on economic grounds, when won, are not quickly lost. The battle creates the spirit of resistance to any encroachments upon rights once won. When the working women of England obtain the right to vote for the members of parliament on an equality with men, they will unite their political forces with the men in supporting measures in behalf of the working people, and distinction in politics will be lost sight of. The newer settled countries are conspicuous for the rights granted women. This liberty is not due to the strength of the demand made by women but democratic individualism, and freedom from the tyranny of traditions.