The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1913-10-24

I tell you frankly, that whether the
sentence is long or short I shall
not submit to it. l shall, the mo-
ment / leave this court, refuse to
eat food-I'shall join the women
who are already in Holloway on
the hunger strike. l shall come
out of prison, dead or alive, at
the earliest possible moment; and
once out again. as soon as ] am
physically fit / shall enter into
this fight again.
Life is very dear 10 all of us.
! am not seeking to commit sui
eide. want to live to see the
women of this country enfranchis-
ed. Those are the feelings by
which we are animated. We offer
ourselves as sacrifices, just as
your fOrefathers did in the past,
and l would ask you all to put
this question to yourselves: Have
you the right. as human beings,
to condemn another human being
to death-because that Is what It
amounts to? Have you the right
to judge women? II were q
man I would take the position of
a judge i'm Ireland, who, when q
girl charged with child murder
was before him. said:
"WHERE Is THE MAN?"
And since the man was not
forthcoming he refused to pass
sentence on the girl. That Is
what I ask you to do in my case.
You know, every one of you,
that should not be standing
here. that I should not break a
single law. II l had the rights that
you possess, II had a share in
electing those who make the laws
! have to obey; IL had a voice in
controlling the taxes / am called
upon to pay. And l say to you
1t Is a serious situation, that
women of upright life are trying
to undo some of the terrible mis-
takes that men have made, be-
cause after all men are RESPONSE
bic for the present state of af-
fairs.
You are not accustomed to deal
with people like me in the ordi-
nary discharge of your duties;
but you are called upon to deal
with people who break the law
from selfish motives. l break the
law from no selfish motives. l
have no personal end to serve.
neither have any OF the other
women who have gone through
this court during the past few
weeks, like sheep to the slaugh-
ter. Not one of these women
would, If women were free, be
lawbreakers. They are women
who seriously believe that this
hard path is the only path 10
their Acknowledgement. They SER
iOusly believe that the horrible
evils which are ravagfng our CIV
ilization will never be removed
until women get the vote. They
know that the very fount of life
Is being poisoned; they know that
homes are being destroyed; that
because of bad education, because
OF the unequal standard of NOR
ais, even the mothers and chiI.
dren are destroyed by one of the
vilest and most horrible diseases
that ravage hmanity.
There is only one way to mt
a stop to this agitation. II ia not
by deporting us, it ia not by lock-
ing us up in Jail; it is by doing
us Justice. And so I appeal to
you, gentlemen, to give a verdict
upon the whole agitation. I asx
you to find me not guilty of ma
licious Indictment to a breach of
the law.
These are my last words. NY
Indictment is not malicious. II
! had power to deal with these
things, / would say to women:
"You have a constitutional means
of getting redress for your griey-
ances; use your votes to convince
your fellow voters of the. right
eousness of your demands. That
is the way to obtain Justice"
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