Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-12-14
SCORE THE SYSTEM
Speakers Denounce Lack of
Suffrage in the District.
VIOLATIvE OF AMERICANISM
Mass Meeting Asks for Delegate
Representation in Congress.
GREAT PRINCIPLE INVOLVED
Justice Stafford Discusses the Con-
stitutional Points-Senator Clapp
Hearty Advocate.
VI0LATIvE OF AMERlCANISM
GREAT PRINCIPLE INVOLVED

nearly advocate.
That the present system of government
of the District of Columbia is in violation
of the spirit and principle Of American
government was the keynote of all the
addresses made last night at a mass
meeting in the National Rifles Armory
under the auspices of the District OF CO.
lumbia Suffrage League. This point was
dwelt upon at length by Senator Moses p.
Clapp. Justice Wendell Phillips Stafford OF
the Supreme Court of the District of CO.
lumbia, Mrs. Belle Case La Toilette, wife
of Senator Robert NJ. La Toilette and
others. The meeting was attended by
about 400 persons. half Of whom were
women.
Delegate in Congress Wanted.
A resolution was adopted petitioning
Congress Ito Immediately cause an in
quiry to be made with a view of deter
mining upon a mode of government for
the people of the District that will con-
fer upon them the management of their
local governmental affairs
The resolution also asks that until the
federal Constitution can be amended as
to confer upon the people of the District
equal participation in the national gov
eminent with that enjoyed by the peo-
pie of the states, delegate representation
in Congress be accorded to the District of
Columbia"
Judging by the speeches, with the ex-
ception OF parts of the address of Mrs.
La Toilette, 1t seemed that the objec. of
the suffrage movement is to gain the
ballot because Of the principle involved
more than with a view of gaining any
a Inn ants ,rl, hat ar
streets, cheaper gas, etc.
Constitutional Points Involved.
Justice Stafford prefaced his address
with the statement that he is not an
agitator for suffrage. although personally
he strongly favors 1t. He explained the
legal and constitutional points involved
il the residents of Washington were
given the ballot.
Congress has the power. he said, to give
the District the right to vote on local
matters without any change in the Con-
stitution. But if the District is to par
ticipate in the national government a
change in the Constitution will be neces-
sary, according to the jurist. BY the
Constitution, he said. the legislative au-
thority for the District must be vested In
Congress, and that body cannot delegate
1t to city council.
JUSTICE otduOTu SalQ tnat Tor many
years he had been in favor of Suffra ge
for the District, and he had heard many
arguments against it, but none Of the ar
guments he considered sound reasoning
Regarding the argument that large per-
centage of the population is colored. and
therefore 1t would be inadvisable to have
the ballot, he said that the colored PEG.
pie were Outnumbered more than three to
one, and that therefore it would be i'm
possible for the cOlored vote to control an
were entitled to the same rights as the
white.
Mrs. La Follette's Argument.
Mrs. La Toilette, an ardent worker
for suffrage for women, praised the
suffrage movement in the District be-
cause 1t includes the ballot for women
as well as men. A great part Of her
talk was typical woman suffrage
argument. She pictured women as be-
Ing vitality interested equally with men
in almost all legislation and suggested
that votes for women will help the
campaign to lower the high cost of
living. She asserted that representa-.
tives and senators drink bottled water.
and that as long as pure water was
brought to them they would not be great
ly interested in the water supply Of the
District. This assertion was met with
much laughter. She assured her hear
ers that she was serious. She pointed
out that foreign visitors to the United
States are surprised to find a viola
ton of the principle of our govern
ment in the Capital city Of the ma
ton.
Senator Clapp Hearty Advocate.
Senator Clapp said that he was
strongly in favor of giving the people
Of the District the right to vote, and
told his hearers that the only way
they would ever get it would be by
working for it. He remarked: when
China wakes up it is time for the Dis
trict to wake up" He said that the
government of Washington through
committees of Congress was inadequate
and claimed that members of Congress,
by reason of the fact that they live
elsewhere, are not SO vitality interest
ed in the welfare Of the District as
Westinghouse.
A Touch of the Martial.
The meeting seemed to be political, pa
triotic and religious in character with a
touch of the martial thrown in. Order
was called by the drum; chorus then
sang Tramp. Tramp. Tramp" under the
direction Of Prof Sydney Lloyd Wright
son. A drum and fife escorting "Old
Glory then appeared and was followed
by prayer offered by Rev. J. w. Frizzell.
pastor of Ingram Memorial Church. Aft
er this the speakers were introduced by
DIR. Thomas f. Will. Between speeches
the chorus sang.
Besides those mentioned others who
spoke were P. T. Moran. John IS. Col
poys, Miss Harriet Hilton, Charles +.
Nesbit and Col. J. B. Clarke.
In Charge of Arrangements.
Those in charge Of the arrangements
for the meeting follow: Roscoe Jenkins,
DR.. Thomas E. VIII, E. J. Dakin. Lewis
M. Bernstein, w. d. Mackenzie. Hugh p.
Kelley. J. w. Richman, Adolph Brand.
Louis Justement. DIR. Charles Hunt, III. o.
Skinner, Merritt z. Dibble. DR.. Walter
Col. ]. B. Clarke, Charles +.
Nesbit. Elmer Carroll, w. f. Hickey, J.
X. White. N. o. Bennett G. A. Christ.
S. A. Stratton and Charles Potter.