Los Angeles herald., 1906-10-04
WOMEN CHEER
THEIR CHAMPION
SUFFRAGISTs LISTEN TO AN
ORATOR
Equal suffraeists Hold Two Enthusi.
astic Meetngs--hion. Thomas
Fitch Makes an Eloquent
Plea for Justice

The evening session of the Los Ange-
les County Equal Suffrage league was
conducted in Blanchard hall last even
ing, in the presence of an enthusiastic
audience which taxed the capacity of
the auditorium
Judge Wilbur Of the Juvenile court
| presided and said in view Of the fact
that he was the foster father of about
seven hundred children and needed all
the help he could get from the women,
he was glad to render some assistance
to them.
The first speaker of the evening was
Hon. Thomas Fitch, who under the
head of Purity in Politics" made an
eloquent plea for the enfranchsemen
of women, and fearIessly denounced
graft in its many forms. His speech
was frequently interrupted by enthusi-
astic applause.
Mr.. Fitch, who is one of tie most
famous orators of the state and the ex-
ponent of the best in government, said
in part:
Under the unchivalrous, ungenerous
and unjust man-made laws of Califor-
MIA you rank politically, not with the
sons you have borne in pain and guided
through boyhood to manhood; not with
the fathers and brothers by whose sick
beds you have watched until the dawn
stars paled, and not with the husbands
who usually support you but who are
sometimes supported by you.
Let the Rulers Rock
''In this government of men by men
for men, you are classed as the political
equals of coddling infants and howling
| lunatics and Of the thieves who press
| their noses against the iron bars and
| regret not their crimes but regret that
4 in consequence of their crimes they
have forfeited their manly right to sell
their votes. If you depend upon the
unsolicited action of men to do you
Justice your wait may be long and lone
some.
"For Acknowledgement you must rely
upon such organized effort as this equal
suffrage league is making. II you make
your contest intelligently, fearlessly,
actively and per5stently you will win,
for some men are just and other men
are wise, and many men are intelli-
gently selfish. If your husband tells
you pompously that you do not need to
vote, because the hand that rocks the
cradle is the hand that rules the world
tell him kindly but firmly that since his
hand does all the ruling it had better
do most of the rocking.
lone of the stock arguments against
woman suffrage is that a man should
vote because he pays taxes. Well, two
thirds of the improved residence prop
erty In Los Angeles is owned by women.
If the right to vote should be based
upon the taxation of property, then
should not the assessment of property
be based upon the right to vote? And
ought not women property holders who
possess all the requisite qualifications
fNR taVsu al has, -.
names placed upon the registry list or
else have them stricken from the as
sessment roll?
Make Poor Strikers
But the argument is without force,
for there is no property qualification
| for voters in this state and the names
of the majority of the voters do not APP
pear on the assessment roll.
Again, it is claimed that a woman
ought not to vote because she is unfit
ted to follow mans avocations. What
has that to do with voting? 1t is true
that women might not be successful as
soldiers or sailors or miners or bronco
| busters, and a woman would not look
! we'll climbing telegraph pole or driv-
| ing a garbage cart or selling untagged
and unsuspecting dogs for transmission
to their doom at the public pound But
there are good many men who might
not be able to earn their salt with
lariat or a striking hammer and who
| have not brains enough for jurymen.
There are few light mechanical trades
or indoor occupations that are not open
to women. She can WELD saw and ham
mer trowel and paint brush She has
! too much conscience to be a plumber,
but she can work in a laboratory, or a
| telegraph office. She can design house
| and superintend it's erection. She can
try lawsuit, preach sermon, write
prescription, pull tooth, run am en-
gine, keep books, sell goods and act as
a photographer, a stenographer, a clerk
or hotel waiter. She does not strike.
club another woman who takes her
place.
Pays High Tribute to Woman
81 observe that 1 am honored with
| the audience of a woman who has done
as much for the cause of woman suf-
frage as any one person In California.
| Twenty years and more ago with her
! sledge hammer logic she beat in the
doors OF the Hastings college of law,
and forced its reluctant officers to con-
cede that a woman who possesses the
requisite learning and ability has as
/ good right to practice law as she has
to run sewing machine. This woman
has belied the prophecies OF male op-
ponents. for she has raised a family
and maintained a high position In busi-
ness and legal circles by the practice
of her chosen professions and in a case
where woman's rights were involved
or In which women We're witnesses
would hesitate long before accepting a
fee In the case II the attorney on the
other side was Clara Shortrldge FoItz.
Eva QaVa the halIof IN hIaplr aInUao
Why withhold 1t from free white
] WOmQn9