The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1912-11-29
CONNECTICUT
 HELD BALANCE
 IN CON INVENTION
Mrs. Hincks Tells of Sessions of Philadelphia Convention Individual Liberty of Suffragists Not Curtaiied by Assault
 on Miss Addams

l t'The tremendous patience of 8 fixed
 idea is, I think,'' commented Mrs. l William T. Hincks to Farmer re-
 porter this morning, when asked to | give some of her impressions of the 1 convention neld+ in Philadelphia last week by the National Woman. Stuff i rage Association, the most lasting impression have There were some 600 women pres
 ent. representing all the States of the Union. They talked very. little about l suffrage for women. They got to l work. at once on the problem of the shortest. swiftest way to get what
 they wanted. which was the ballot
 There seemed to be a general i'm pression in the newspaper reports of l tho convention that strife and discord
 marked each session. To my mind ply the fact that the keen minds of i 600 women concentrated upon the same
 point did of necessity bring out many
 different opinions. These opinions were usually, expressed in few words and with clearness. The dominating figure of this convention was Dr. 1 lengthy sessions with utmost patience.
 with absolute self-contro1 when, at a moments notice, perhaps, the discus sion attacked her wisdom or judgment 1 in deciding parliamentary points. She 1 held the floor in check when tunult threatened, and guided the con nrention l to safe and sure conclusions.n
 The reporter asked if other women stood out. as prominently in the af- | fairs of the convention, to which Mrs. Hincks answered:
 1 Mawr College, Miss M- Carey Thomas, was a vigorous power behind the
 throne. Miss Thomas has been at the head of the Ways and Means commit fe1 FrV-f I7a .fe,S Sfriuing ng to give the National Association an annual income which will meet it's | mess methods. Her keen mind was
 behind almost every move that was carried to a successful isue in the
 convention.
 with a smile. .'let me say that Con necticut occupied place in this con
 vention that fills us with pride. To ognized political methods, and yet 1t was a distinct pleasure to find that Connecticut, with it's 52 votes. held the balance of power in the conven- tion. What Connecticut thought on every question was important to istlle
 rest of the delegates Therefore, Con-
 necticut was invited to every caucus and deferred. to in marked degree. You. see the enthusiasm in Connec- ticut for woman suffrage has led to
 such actual growth in membership
 during this past year, that we now
 have a representation in the National Association more than five times
 greater than we had at the last con- ferent parts of the State went to Philade1pl1ia to carry the proxies of the whole 52. We did not use the per- nieious system of that unit but after discussion we usually found it advis- able to cast our g votes alike. Mrs. Ernest Thompson Seton, whom had appointed chairman of our delegation. would rise when the vote was called | for and say. Connecticut, 52 for or against This worked very we'll -un- l til some facetious delegate called me cuts harmony remained unbroken.
 : Another woman who was an inter esting figure Mrs. Hincks continued, was Mrs. Blankenburg. the wife of
 the Mayor of Philadelphia Both MT. and Mrs. Blankenburg are working for the ballot for women, and were mo- table figures at several of the gath erings.
 A sweet-faeed little woman from
 Oklahoma turned out to be Mrs. Win- nie Brandstetter. She was fraterna1
 was always on the. alert to get the floor for a. moment to preach the doc
 Urine of human equality The other parties had their advocates also, ,nO-
 tab1y Jane Addams, who seconded the nomination Of Theodore Roosevelt for President last August. For this ac- l t1on she was bitterly assa1led py those association should remain non-paFti- san, but who also desire to curtail any political activity on the part of off,
 ment to this effect failed to pass the ! convention, as 1t was a blow aimed
 directly at Jane Addan1s, and through her at all women who worked for po-
 litica1 parties during the past election.
 The sense of the convention was for i non-partisan tactics, but that the ib- 1 erty of no individual should be cur tailed. The Republican party came in for it's word of praise when the con- vention passed resolution of thanks l to MT. Taft for placing a woman, Miss
 Julia Lathrop. at the head of the Chill
 dren's Bureau. They thanked MT. l Taft personally for this. because MT. Roosevelt had promised it in his ad- 1 ministratfon and had failed to carry out his promise. The Democrats also came in for their share of praise, with a Suggestion that suffragists watch Mir Wilson, who is noted for his
 breadth Of mind and his ability to carry out independent judgments once
 for woman suffrage shortly after his inauguration.
 "One of the most vivid pictures of the week comes with the memory of Square one morning between 12 and l.
 There were five platforms. At each platform chairman filled the hour by introducing four or five women and men speakers to the good-na tured crowd of listeners. The sun was
 shining. and vendors were disposing of yellow chrysanthemumS and yellow pennantS. The square was surround ed by automobiles waiting to convey the speakers back to the convention. The police arrangements were perfect. and disturbances of any kind oc- cured; the audiences moving from pla tform to platform listened with at- tention and manifested much cnthu- siasm. Liberty Hall with its famous bell cast it's shadow across the square and brought the reflection that those speaking there then were striving for
 he ideals nnlifio2J froodnr1a fnr
 the whole human family as those
 which made the old bell ring out in
 the past.
 Though the work of the convention
 was mainly along the lines of more