The true Democrat. [volume] (Bayou Sara [La.]) 1892-1928, 1915-06-19
ADDRESSES INTELLIGENT
WOMEN Of LOUISIANA

A convention to re-Write the ConSti-
tuition of Louisiana will convene in
New Orleans, Sept 14th. Under the
laws made by the 118 delegates chosen
by the voters of this State all the
people will be governed for the next
eighteen or twenty years. Whether by
design or accident the date selected
for this suspicious occasion is signiti-
cant. 1t was September H. 1874, when
the self,TespeCting, lOng'suffering men
of Louisiana arose and threw off the
yoke of reconstruction" and its &C
companying carpet-bag rule Let US
hope that again the self-respecting,
justice-loving, clear-visioned men of to-
day will assert themselves and clear
the name of our beloved State by doing
justice to her women, by running out
ignorance and prejudice and political
oppression under which women suffer
equally, if not more, with men.
Are the intelligent women of Louis
lana willing to continue for another
twenty years to have their opinions
placed in the same category with the
idiot, the criminal and the minor?
Are the thousands Of intelligent
working women, upon whom the manu-
Of
dependent content with the conditions
under which they labor? Do they pre-
fer the gallantry of the Southern manu-
facturer and legislator who continues
a ten-hour work day, or the justice OF
the western states where women legis-
late for themselves, and have voted an
eight-hour day for all labor?
Are the thousands of intelligent
women by whose efforts the non-secta-
rian institutions of the State are main
tanned, such as orphanages day nurse
ries, dispensaries, willing to continue
patching UP humanity,-have they not
ton is better than cure, and that only
by having the direct power of the
ballot, instead of indirect influence can
the youth of the State be protected?
Are the thousands of intelligent
women teachers still blind to the i'm
proved conditions of their profession
in the states where women vote?
Are the intelligent mothers willing
to continue longer knowing that the
children they have borne and struggled
to raise do not legally belong to them?
Are the intelligent men of this State
willing that the opinion of their
mothers and wives be regarded as of
less value to the State than the opinion
of some alien who has only been in the
State five years, or some drink-sodden
tramp, or the keeper of dives where
the souls of the youths are scared and
blackened?
Are the business interests of this
State willing to continue bad business
policy by turning from our doors a
class of immigrants who demand JUS
tice to all men and women?
No state either socially or financially
rises higher than it's womanhood, and
intelligent mothers are not coming to
7 o,,;,;o,o 70 ,ojso obiIdra,, II, tho r,oct
illiterate State of the Union; where
the community law recognizes the right
of the husband to sell the roof over her
mead even though she earned the
money to build it; where because she
is not qualified elector," she cannot
hold any official position in the State
except that of factory Inspector
Therefore, as President of the Louis
lana State Woman Suffrage Associa-
ton | call upon all men and women
in the State, regardless of creeds or
party affiliations to unite with us in
presenting to this Constitutional Con.
vention a request that the word male
as qualification for voting be not
written in the new Constitution, and
also that they send their names and
the names of as many men and women
as they can secure to the suffrage
headquarters, 1886 Camp ST. New Or
leans, within the next few days.
JEAN M. GORDON,
Pres. La, State Woman Suffrage Assn