The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1914-09-07

An army that went to Chicago not
to devastate but to improve, or-it was
an Embassy for all the children of the
land, the happy children and the sor-
rowful children; the greatest conven-
ton Of women this world has ever
known, is passed but cannot be forgot
ten.
From homes, from schools, from So
Cial settlements, from the world of
fashion they came. From farms in
Maiie, from ranches In Idaho, from
every commonwealth in our great land,
from England and from China and ia
pan they came.
There were soft voiced women from
Cuba, Scotch accented women from
Canada, brilliant, forceful women from
Alaska who had started two months
before, travelling over ice and snow on
dog sIeds, In order to reach Chicago
i'm time.
The scheme of it's organization was
truly marvellous The Hobbies of the
great Auditorium Theatre contained a
place for everything and everybody.
In these things a feminine dizziness
seemed to supplement a trained intel
ligence. The suites of the Federation
presidents and OF national federation
officials hummed with policies as well
as politics. and to the o5servant one,
from the very first it looked as If
suffrage would be an easy winner.
From the first night of it's official
opening when under the gilded dome
of the great Auditorium there came
into existence the National symphony
Orchestra under the splendid leader
ship OF Max BendiX-and when David
Bispham also sang, until the close of
this great convention, every evening
the visitors from afar were afforded
entertainment. many worldwide ar
lists having been engaged by the local
biennial board
When in 1889 the first biennial cen
vention was called together in New
York City. there were two hundred and
ninety delegates. At this twelfth
convention there were over three thou
sand delegates, and Mrs. John D. Sher-
man said: This is the first real wo-
mans convention that the Federation
has ever known. Always before we
have been welcomed by the governor
or the mayor, because the women
themselves had no right to welcome
visitors or to assure them of the hos
pitality Of the state But this year
il is different Women are voters in
Illinois, and now can offer just as
much as the men could"
The first public suffrage note, and
this time whirIwind Of appreciation
10 emphasize it, was sounded by Jane
adams in her address on Women's
Clubs and Public Policies during the
opening night speeches. These were
the words that stirred the federation:
Without the franchise woman IS sud
denly shut out OF the game-the game
played all over the world by states
men who at this moment are attempt
ing to translate the new social SYM
pathy into political action"
Other keynotes were sounded by
other speakers. Some that brought
echoes of applause were: I'VE are
equal co-psrtners IN all the business
OF life with our men in Illinois. No
longer do our men speak for us: we
speak for them. Mrs. George Bass.
What is good for our children is
not too good for the children OF our
neighbors. Mrs. Frederick Dow
No cause is great enough to cause
a woman to forget she is a gentlewo-
man."-Mrs. Pennybacker.
I'VE have learned as women not to |
be afraid of anything because it is
NEW or because 1t is untried."-Jane
Adams
dlh 100 IuCn b.. NOT Iney. IhTOuBn :
it all, many of them packed their talk
into epigrams, sending their sentences
ringing across the wide space without
a shade of self-consciousness in them. |
A call to service rang through every
speech, and the history of this con-
vention goes down dotted with an
swers to that call. Women have for |
years been at work upon the humani-
ties, the utilities and the educational |
problems of our commonwealth, with |
what results? Women have to a very
large extent become the practical
working citizenship OF this country. |
The four walls OF the home may have