The San Francisco call., 1896-06-20
WILL RATFY
THEIR PLANKS,
The Woman SuffragiStS'
Mass Meeting Tues,
day Evening.
WON IN THREE PARTIES
Tabled by the Democratic Con.
venrion With Hardly a
Hearing,
REVIEW OF THE CONVENTION.
In Memory of the One Hundred and
Forty-Nine Delegates Who
Were Faithful.
REVIEW OF THE CONVENTION.

Next Friday evening, June 26, the
woman suffragists of this City and Vicin-
lty will hold mass-meeting in Metro
poitan Temple. twill be the ratification
OF the suffrage planks in the Republican,
Populist and Prohibition platforms Only
the Democratic platform will be left out of
the ratifying and the uncavalierly de-
meanor of the Jeffersonian brotherhood a
Sacramento this week will doubtlessIy be
eioquently reviewed.
However" said Miss Hay at the
suffrage headquarters yesterday afternoon,
there is something Democratic we will
ratify and that is the 149 delegates in the
convention that voted for US and our
modest plank. So coolly were we and our
10000 petitioners set aside by the Demo-
cratic party OF the State of California that
we had hard work to get our cause from
being tabled for good. Finally we goG
rollcall and out of 569 votes we got 149.
so we intend to ratify the effort of
those 149 ballots, because, small as that
number is, it represents the thousands of
Democratic names among the 1000 on our
petition.
zone thing we gained from our rather
barren trip to Sacramento last week was
the real expression OF California Dem0c-
Tacy. There is no mistaking Its tones. II
Is against woman suffrage first, last and
all the time, and we need never expect any
favor from that party. But why should
emancipationists expect anything from
the Democratic party? Did it ever turn
an open ear to the cry of anything
or anybody for the boou of po-
litical liberty? l need not allude
TO the negro and the little affair
- > J. ,-,J
resolution to the convention, we took for
our text the good Jeffersonian doctrine
that governments derive their Just powers
from the consent of the governed but
that never touched them. Possibly they
had forgotten that such man as Thomas
Jefferson ever lived. However, our plank
went overheard, and timber devoted to
protection of labor, pure food personal
and religious liberty, good roads, free
speech and an Endorsement of President
Cleveland with a string to it was inserted
IN the Democratic platform.
Here IS q paragraph of what Miss An
thony said before the convention last
Wednesday,:
Gentlemen of the Democratic Party of Cali
fornia: ii you can afford to do this the noble
women Of this State can afford 10 let you do H.
Yen are unjust and cruel to the women. Every
other party in the State has received this dele
CATION OF your citizens and has received it not
merely cOurteOusly, not merely gaIlantly, but
received it Justly and have put resolutions in
their platform declaring in favor OF this Jeffer
souian doctrine OF the right Of consent, and
have thus declared they will do their part to-
ward the rank and file of the voters OF their re-
spective parties about the merits OF this ques-
ton of the extension Of the ballot 10 women.
And the gentlemen of that party tabled
the question with a boreG expression on
their 1aces."
Mrs. Ida a. Harper, chairman OF the
press committee, in an interview made the
following statement:
The representatives OF woman suffrage had
but one fight to make before the Democratic
Convention, viz: TO secure an expression on
this question from that body. We made our
fight and won it. At the Republican, Populist
and Prohibition conventions We expected to
secure planks indorsing the eleventh amend
ment, and we were successful. The most san
guine enthusiast had no such expectation in
regard 10 the Democratic Convention. Our
object in going to the latter was twoiold:
First, to prove the thoroughly nOn-partisan
character OF the movement by treating all po-
litical conventions with the same attention
and respect; second, to insist that the Demo-
cratic party should put Itself on record IN re-
gard TO this momentous question just as the
ther conventions had done.
Our delegation to Sacramento was as strong
and represen tatiYe as ii was possible TO make
1t. There were twelve ladies' Three OF these,
Miss Anthony, Miss Shaw and Miss Hay, were
from the National Organization OF woman
Suffrage; nine OF them were residents OF Call
fornia; five were unmarried; seven were mar
ried; six were mothers; four were grand
mothers, With the thermometer at 103 deg.
we spared ourselves no fatigue, no e1ertton,
no en- barrasSment. At the beginning we en-
countered dead wall of opposition. The dele
gates did not throng our headquarters as al
the other three conventions. They avoided US
when we tried 10 see them. On every hand we
were assured that while we would be politely
treated, given seats in the convention and per
mitted TO appear before the platform commit
tee, there would be no woman suffrage plank
and 10 action by the convention.
Well. il was something to be assured that we
would be treated as decenuy as other people
who attended the convention, and not discrim-
mated against because we represented 10000
California women who had sent their petitions
by US, asking for the right OF suffrage. A great
many men and women who did not represent
any Thing were given seats in the convention,
and women did not even have to possess good
moral character IN order 10 appear before the
platform committee However, we did not
propose to bubble over small matters, so we
opened up our headquarters, got out our suf-
frage literature and badges. put on our best
clothes provided ourselves with fans and ice
water and awaited events. few OF the lead
ing Democrats stood by US nobly, but unfortu-
uateiy they had fights OF their own On hand
and could not enter actively INTO ours.
Finally q few delegates drifted into our
headquarters to-express their support; others
followed and before the convention closed
quite respectable number had called upon
us; in several Instances entire delegations
came and put On the little badge. Every body
assured US, however, that there would De no
"
sible TO bring the matter before the convention
so as TO secure vote. Not one OF US lost an
opportunity of talking with the delegates
whenever and wherever we could find them.
While the general sentiment was uncompro-
misiDgly opposed, some of the men mad given
the question no thought, and after some ar9u-
ment agreed that we had Just cause ana
there was no valid reason why the Democrats
@.should refuse to indorse 1t. Large numbers
said that personally they had no feeling
against woman suffrage but thought II would
be bad policy for the party to favor It, The
whole line OF argument was that If the Demo-
cratic party refused to indorse it then the en-
tire element IN the State which was opposed 10
1t would vote the Democratic ticket 1t did
not seem TO occur to them that every man
could stick 10 his own party and simply vote
NO" on the amendment.
The appointment OF d platform committee OF
thirty-hye was unfavorable to us, as it is very
hard TO convince so large number. poll of
these names showed only four or five favorable
10 woman suffrage. We were allowed twenty
minutes to present our case, not twenty min
utes apiece, SIS some of the papers stated. The
anti-suffragists were given the same amount Of
time There were four of them, including Os-
good Putnam OF san Francisco. They at
tempted to include James Phelan, but he in
dignantly repudiated them. We presented our
petitions, bearing 900 names. and Miss An
thony, Miss Shaw, Mrs. Cooper and others
made their eloquent pleas. We then with
dre1 nd q resolution Iva tabl al naSt ho-