The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-03-24
WOMAN'S INDEPENDENCE DAY
Dr. Anna Shsw's Recent Request o,
President Wilson.

~ Ehh EDITOR OF THE SCN-Sr: II
.he heN, Anna Shaw. who sent the letter
10 PRESIDENT wilson on March 10 re-
guessing him In the name of the Woman
Suffrage Association TO set aside the arst
saturday In May as "Woman's Indsp.n.
u"hce Day that being the date selected
by the association for great public
demonstration, read the Presidents speech
before the National Press Club on March
20 that half humorous, half pathetic re-
cital OF Presidential woes should have
given her some qualm for adding TO his
perplexities with this request
In the first place the President will have
10 ascertain what sort and what amount
OF womanly independence" this May day
fest is designed 10 commemorate Sec
ondly. having learned the quality and de.
gree OF the feminine revolt. he must know
what percentage OF all the women I'm the
country are concerned In the uprising
Is this May day celebration in honor OF
new emancipation movement which seeks
10 throw OFT the masculine yoke entirely
rom the feminine neck? or is IL lust the
same old demand for the ballot by less
Than one-tenth OF all American women?
III the latter. and the willy suffragists
expect by this flank movement to drive
me President from his pos ton OF nom
comm ttal silence on the suffrage question
VIII fail. as did their former effort
They cannot reasonably expect a President
VINO Is maintaining "A policy of watch
ful waiting and listening" to act rashly
upon the advice OF one-tenth of the women
before he has heard from the other nine
tenths. And. anyway, why should a day
set apart FOR suffrage rarading be called
independence day? What guarantee or
reasonable expectation is there that the
woman ballot will be independent?
Surely DR. Shaw herself. who can tell
hawk from a handsaw" as quickly as a
man when II comes to cold, clear. hard
rose cut hundred faceted diamond fash
ing reasoning" ought To know that unless
she can pull the women away from their
agelong masculine thraldom in other re-
spects the ballot will only furnish an
other womanly possession for the male
tyrant to knock around" and that a
"Woman's Independence Day" can only
properly mark the dawn of the feminist
revolution" which proposes to level all
sex distinctions and break all sex bonds.
III this Is what our May day jewellers
are up to II behooves our circumspect
President to move very slowly I'm the d.
rection OF any more independence days"
The celebration of the one we have al
ready usually leaves us with goodly
score OF casualties In the way OF missing
fingers and toes, singed eyebrows and oc-
casional coniagratons IL this feminis,
programme goes through there will be
more casualties. more burning down OF
ihings we were long time building up
and which MANY of US are not vet ready
to surrender All the ant-suffrage women,
who constitute the great majority, and a
number of the sufragists suli kiss their
marital chains and are content to bend
him and obey him." after the ancient
order
What do these independence" ladies
want anyway? Better leave the poor
gentleman in the White House alone
. while 10 deal with these independent"
Mexcans and still more independent
trusts. ANNIE RILEY HALE
New York, March 2S.