Evening capital and Maryland gazette. (Annapolis, Md.) 1910-1922, 1912-02-14
PLEAD THEIR CAUSE
AT Hearing at the State House the
JUS Government League Pre-
sents Its Case.
THE BILL TO BE PRESENTED.
Do the People Of the State of Mary
land Desire Equal Suffrage?-
Justice to Women the Theme
OF the Speakers.

I
OF the Speakers.
Amy man in the assembly at tn,
House of Delegates yesterday after
noon who had his mind imbued will
the idea that women cannot speal
in public, and who heard those wo
men who nobly defended the cause
of Woman Suffrage at the hearing
at the State House, must be fore vel
convinced that the weaker SEX
not only are speakers, but forcible
convincing arguers as well.
Not woman who spoke YESTERDAY
afteroon hesitated for an instant.
She had a vocabulary of the choicest
English that many men might envy.
| She did not er-er-ar-ar, and-an-d or
any of that sort of thing, as most men
do. but she spoke her speech, "trip
pingly on the tongue" and did not
m outh it as most male speakers do.
| The women spoke convincinglv. too.
| and even those men on the floor Of the
| House who were inclined to scoff at
the hearing at first blush, and think
1t was grand joke, before the third
woman speaker had addressed that
vast assembly began to sit up and
take notice and listened with marked
| attention
| The occasion was the hearing on the
Woman Suffrage bill, giving to the
| people the right to vote on the ques-
| tion as to whether women in Mary
and shall or shall not vote. Before
| the speaking, several kilograms were
A. Pearre, hoping the bill for Wo-
man Suffrage would pass. Another
from David j. Jones.
The gist of the bill to be introduced
is DO the people of Maryland de-
sire Equal Suffrage" Mrs. Donald
Hooker was the first speaker. She is
president of the Just Government
League, under whose auspices the
hearing was held Mrs. Hooker al
ways holds an audience from the time
she pronounees the first sentence. and
she did so yesterday afternoon.
Mrs. Hooker said home is the foun-
dation OF the State, and ell the Wo-
man Suffragists are asking for is the
ability to do their duty. The govern
ent has taken over the concerns of
women, she said, and women, there
fore, want to take over the concerns
of the government. The vote means
life or death today. You forget. gem
| tlemen, she said, you are Withholding
| the right of the American citizens
of this day Behind the Woman
Suffrage movement is the child, the
| right of the mother to protect her
young. Every year in this State,
1000 little babies die; where the
women have suffrage this death fate
is cut in two. If you men do not
give us the ballot you are responsible
next year for the death of 1000
| babies" Continuing, Mrs. Hooker
said: I'VE are fighters for liberty,
| for freedom, just as our forefathers
| fought veal ago.
The second speaker was Mrs. J.
William Funck. Her speech was an
oratorical one, and was striking for
its lire of argument and the iucontro-
vertible facts she presented. She
said Maryland should be the leader
and not the laggard in this great
movement of Woman's Suffrage.
eve come, she said, believing in
the right of franchise for women,
! the same as men. not asking any
privileges, but from an American
| idea that it is absolutely essential
| to true democracy. She said there
was Woman Suffrage in twenty-five
states. In six western states there
is absolute suffrage for women. In
Denver, Colo, what i ) right for men
| is right for women, as well.
Mrs. Funck believes in politics.
She says it has done more for men
than all the school houses in the
world Suffragists believe in the
| fundamental principles of a govern
ment and for this reason they be-
ieve in democracy. They believe
that the restriction that arises from
too much liberty is more dangerous
than that which arises from toe
little. Don't let your party affilia-
tions put paddock on your politics
but let your party affiliations lift yor
up to higher standard. =
"We've never had a Democracy
said Mrs. Funck. Our Democracy
has been an oligarchy of men for tn,
men and by the men. We are no.
asking the right to vote because W.
own property, because We are human
beings, but because it is right ant
Just. Governmental power assumed
is despotism transferred from tn
Government of a King to $4,000, 00
American men.
Mr.. John B. Hanna chairman of tn
Republican State Central Committee
then spoke. Mr. Hanna said hi
speech expressed his own views o.
Woman Suffrage and not the views o
his party. He said he could see n
lust reason why women should rot b
given the vote, and why the questio
! should not be submitted TO the pee
pIe of this State. What suited tn
people one hundred years ago does no
spit them now when 7,cO0, 900 wome
are wage-esrners and help TO sur
port families, She has rights NOR
precious than the rights of propert
and il is but a modest request fo
women to ask for the right to put tn
vote to the people.