The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-03-04
HUNDREDS ATTEND
SUFFRAGE HEARING
AT THE CAPITOL
Advocates and Opponents of
Votes for Women Show
Their Colors
LARGE GATHERING
OF BRIDGEPORTERs
Factory Women Argue They
Need the Vote to A1nel-
iorate Their Condition
fspecial g rhe Farmer.l

Especial to The Farmer.)
| Hartford, March 4.-Several hun
dred earnest women. with calmly
composed countenances, quietly dress
ed and displaying somewhere on their
costumes the violet. green and white
of the Suffrage organization gathered
yesterday in the State Capitol to inn
press members of the General Assem-
bly, of Connecticut with their right to
share equally with their husbands and
sons in the making of the laws Of their
state.
From far and near they had come,
every city and many of the smaller
towns of old Connecticut having its
representatives, in the group.
InternningIed with the Suffrage COL
ors throughout the House chamber
were seen the American beauty roses
Of the Ants whose forces made up
perhaps sone-third of the gathering.
Besides this there were many women
whose absence of colors denoted them
as neutra1s. while large number of
men some Of whom wore the brilliant
rose of the Ants, others modest
boutonnaire of the pansy, lily of the
valley and it's leaf and still others
without any visible sign, completed the
assexnbIage.
were well represented, Mrs. Samuel G.
Shaw, the local president of the Suf-
fragists and wife Of the member or
the legislature who proposed4 the
amendment to have the word male
eliminated from the section OF the
ton of the voters; Mrs. w. T. Hincks,
former state president; Mrs. W E.
See1ey, Mrs Frank See1ey, Mrs. J. g.
Kingsbury, Mrs. H. L. Lewis, Mrs.
Benjamin Hart, Miss IVA King OF
Fairfield and Bridgeport, and Miss
T Tho
/ tri-co1or fnsignias.
/ Bridgeport people who wore the red
rose were Miss Marion DeFsorest, pres
ident OF the Anti Suffrag ists Of Bridge
port Mrs. A. H Terry, Mrs. William
r. webster, Mrs. Frank ". Burton,
Held and Bridgeport.
The Suffragists had brought out as
many working women possible and
hundreds of names of others who were
unable to leave their places Of en-
ployment to attend the hearing The
shop girl who had spent the ajority
Of years of her life in the factory sat
side by side with the fashionably
gowned women of society. When the
time came and her name and occupa-
tion were called, the former stood UP
and earnestly declared her desire 70
vote. There were all classes of men
present too, who were apparently from
many different occupations
The women whose hair had been
touched by time and the men whose
hair had likewise turned or was most
" missing, considerably outnum bered
the younger representat'v Of THAR
sexes.
On the whole the speeches were ex-l
treme1y good and convincing. With
the exception of Mrs. Arnold L. Ge-
sells address on Mothers and the
Vote the majority of them lacked
the effective notes of human interest
and gave statistics and cold, hard
facts, or plain reasons There was
not a. word said OF wonan's part in
war, nor any point made OF the fact
that the European countries where
women are politically equal with men
are not implicated in the present con-
hict
Mrs. Thomas N. Hepburn, state
president. who led the Sunfragists, won
the admiration of suffragist and anti
alike for the earnest, 'dignided and eff
dcient way in which she pleaded her
cause and carried on the business of
THE afternoon. The meeting opened
promptly at O'Clock and there wasnst
a delay until the moment it adjourned.
For the sake Of our children and of
the generations that come after us.
we are determined to dos all in our
power to get THIS matter settled. If
it is necessary to carry on our educa-
tiona1 work for twenty years longer
we are willing to do it but we want to
know where we stand How far is
public opinion with us. and how far is
it against us2 You do not know
do not know. There is only one fair
way to determine it and that is to sub
NIT the question to the voters,'' Mrs
Hepburn was speaking.
In order to give you some practical
proof, il you need any after the crowds
that you see here. today, that there is
q. very real demand for referendum
on this question in Connecticut, we
have brought you a petition from ev-
cry town in the state. Everyone of
#thees names has been signed duril1e.
over tWenty-one years of age; they all
believe in woman suffrage and they
are all asking you to submit the ques-
ton to the voters.
There is total of SO, 912 names on
this petition. OF these 1884 afe from
Fairfield county, 1919 from Hartford
county, 1869 from New Haven coun-5
ty, 1872 from Iitehffeld county. L 500
this petition. or these 1884 are from
MiddIesex county, 1,767 from Wind
ham county and S9S from Holland
OF this number Bridgeport had
contributed 1854. Newtown IS, East
on so, Fairfield 1875, Stratford 529
Westport 345. and Redding A. New
Haven with its 5,5e2 names contribut-
ed the largest number of any one city
of the state. ss4szze.sss s
Mrs. NJ. Toscan Bennett, president
of the Hartford Equal Suffrage lea
que was the second speaker and she
was followed by Mrs. Carlos Stod-
dard. of New Haven and Miss Emily
Pierson. the widely known state or
sanizer.
one. of the most interesting adj
dresses of the afternoon was made
by Mrs. Arnold GeselI, wife of Prof
Gese1 of Yale University who talked
on. the Relation of the Vote to the
Mothers of the State
ssGent1emen, do you not know she
asked, that the very walls of our
homes have been broken down. that
the very children that we are bring
ing into the world are being set upon
by a thousand outside in1uences2