The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1896-05-26
CONVERTING SANTA ROSA.
The Equal Suffrage Leaders Open the
Campaign in Sonoma
County

SANTA ROSA, CAL, May 25.-The
Woman's Suffrage mass-n Getting opened
here this afternoon at o'clock in the NJ.
E. church. The meetings will continue
tomorrow afternoon and evening. The
women in charge are Miss Harriet May
Mills OF New York and Miss Elizabeth q.
Yates of Maine, who Will be REINFORCED
tomorrow by the Rev. Anna Shaw.
The afternoon meeting was opened with
an eloquent prayer by Rev. Z. B. Ware.
After a short musical programme the Rev.
Mr.. Ware delivered an address OF wei
come. He said that he greatly enjoyed
the privilege OF extending welcome to
the first Women's Congress of Sonoma
County. Among the many striking things
of this address of welcome was the speak
er's mention Of the fact that his daughter
would graduate next November from one
of the ladies' seminaries OF this State; that
employed at the seminary was Chinese
cook, who, by reason of being born In Cali
fornia, would be voter in November; but
the score or more OF bright young women
who would graduate that month, with all
the learning and accomplishments OF
modern schooling, how about themf
Would the voters of California declare at
the polls next November that the China
man was more entitled to suffrage than
those brilliant and accomplished young
American women?
NO." said the speaker, "there is too
much intelligence in California for that. :"
The witty divine compared the SUI
fTage movement to train OF cars, with An
thony and Shaw as conductors and Yates
and Mills for the other train officials. The
train travelled northward to sacramento
and took aboard the 6. o. P, he said,
and every Republican there was fur
r1TS cd xx-ffh oil Ohogr ha o<f
party procuring through tickets was the
Populists. Then, steaming down to Stock
ton, the Prohibitionists got safely on
board, and, he declared, the Democrats
better be on time or they would get left.
Miss Mills addressed the convention
briefly. She said they were not new
women, and they presented no new ques-
tons, but contention which men had
died for in all ages. Plato advocated
equality of the sexes and Abigail Adams
pleaded for equal suffrage at the forma-
ton OF our constitution.
In speaking of the press, Miss Mills said
that most papers were treating the move
ment fairly and the fact that one great
daily, living up to its motto and speaking
for all'' as the San Francisco CALL did in
its avowed cham pionship of the suffrage
movement, was a mighty stride in the di-
rection OF equality.
A paper by Mrs. DR.. Thompson entitled.
"Do Wives and Mothers Need the Ballot?''
was feature of the meeting and evoked
continued applause.
Many prominent men attended the even
ing session. The proceedings were opened
by the Rev. Mr.. Hayden offering a PRAYER,
which was followed by R. W. Miller ESQ.
in stirring address Miss Hahman of
Santa Rosa and Miss Alice Yates of San
Francisco sang and Miss Van Davis of
Ohio delivered a recitation. Then followed
the principal event of the evening, the ad-
dress of Miss Elizabeth Yates. Her talk
abounded in anecdotes and happy alIu-
sions, but at times her eloquent voice rang
with earnest indignation, when speaking
of the unjust laws of different States. She
spoke OF the laws excluding women from
a voice in her own Government, from the
Magma Charta to the eleventh amendment
TO the constitution of California. and gave
many facts and figures concerning the op-
Grafton of woman's suffrage laws in other
States.