The Cummins Atlas and Directory for the late 19205 pro- vides further demographic information.29 Not all persons whose names appear on these maps are included in the Directory. Using the available information on 55 of 77 households in the communities of Kinkora, Maple Plains and Shamrock it was found that the average household con— tained 4.4 persons, which is a significant decrease from 6.5 in 1861 and 6.4 in 1881. The implication is that a signifi— cant decline in the birth rate was taking place in the 19205.

In the 19205 Canadian women were allowed to participate in the political process for the first time; although some women —- the mothers and wives of men in the armed ser- vices — were allowed to vote in 1917. As noted previously in Chapter 4, voters in the five communities switched from favoring Liberal politicians to Conservative ones in the 18705. Table 8:4 shows that this pattern prevailed for the most part into the 19205. However, while voters at Kinkora remained strongly Conservative, favoring Conservatives in seven elections out of nine, those at Newton chose Conser— vatives only five times out of nine. Moreover, in the 19205 the voting is more evenly divided between the two political parties.

In addition to the five political elections held in RBI. in the 19205 two plebiscites were held concerning the sale of liquor, in 1923 and 1929. The Canada Temperance Act (also called the Scott Act) first became law in RBI. in 1879, and voters at Kinkora and Newton opposed it by large majorities; at Somerset the vote Was 7 in favor of the Act but 28 opposed, and at Newton it was 6 in favor but 24 op- posed.31 In subsequent plebiscites Kinkora voters strongly opposed all prohibition laws; e.g., in 1893 they voted 174 against the Act and only 52 in favor;32 Some individuals at Kinkora were convicted and fined for violations.33 Viola- tions of course were common in P.E.I. and ways of getting around the law, especially through the use of medical

83

Table 8:4, Voting Patterns, at Kinkora and Newton 1908-27”

Type of Election

Political Parties Conservative Liberal 070

22 35

Polling Station

Federal Kinkora

Newton

\1 on

CNN

Kinkora 22

40

Provincial Kinkora

Newton

A U-

Kinkora

N \l

Newton

KII w

Kinkora

b.) 00

Newton

ox N

Provincial Kinkora

Newton

9)

VI 9)

Kinkora

A 00

Newton

A \D

Kinkora

A 00

Newton

Kinkora

Provincial

Newton

:1 indicates majority

prescriptions, were widely accepted. In 1923 the P.E.I. government decided to curtail some of the bootlegging by banning all imports of liquor. Most Islanders, including those at Kinkora and Newton, agreed.34 Then in 1929 the government decided to take over the sale of liquor and regulate its use itself. A majority of Islanders continued to vote for prohibition; Kinkora however was one of the few communities to favor government liquor sales, as shown in Table 8:5.