The West Virginian. [volume] (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1914-1974, 1916-10-21
LETTERS TO
THE EDITOR
COL. coNAWAY's "JUsTlFicA.
TON" DOES NOT JUSTIFY.

IiSN SOcS WI JOS tF T..
NEW YORK. oct. lS.-lEiitor The
West Virginian.l- letter publish.
ed in the West Virgiuian OF october
10th w. ii. Conway states that he
needs no further justification Tor has
statement that Tie National sui.
Irase Association publishes ana girCu-
lates obscene literature iayUI!ug easy
ad liberal laws loo indecent 10 be read
in the aimily circle" than 10 refer u
United States Senatorial Document
No. AUS, dated April lIth, 1916, 64th
Congress, First Session"
For the benefit ol the unenlignteneG
II is necessary to state tlat thc Sena.
torial Document referred TO was reau
into the Congressional Record by an
anttsultraSe Congressman at the re.
quest OIL other aHLI-sunGas.StS dppAF-
entity lOr tho sole p4TUUse VI prov I.iu,
Piece Oh iiterT-uIG ,HaL Nuuiu seen!
OAic!al and that, 20 .mG uA.d!y, muuld
tend 10 create t!.s Impression mat lilc
antl.SullraSe CLdSr Mas officially 20.
pousGd b. The CuiIeu STATE GOyerI-
nIent.
AS 4 matter OF Iact, The document
IN question vas p.epaIaa " IL .mE.
George Il. ConrUy a..I Wds clrG4IatC4
anonymously last year In the Massa.
cluSetls sunrase caLpa!sn.
Its STATEMENTS are So uUtUriOusiy
garbied and incorrect that tIey uut on.
~ SHOW tile Opponents 10 be IL Il lc,-
peraLe plight but c.paJ,G "a stuUp..I,
~ mosL ulshOnurabie .4uts 10 wn tuel
way.
Shortly after 1t appeared the III.
.lulAS winch 1t Colta.aGu were expos
Ell by Miss Alice Stone Blackwell alu
complete answer ~ 1t MAS published
III The NOuIau'S journal. AS lnIs in.
swer has been widely circulated and
never contlOvertcd by Inc anti..suHra.
Gists ANY further use OF the Document
from which Colonel Conway has
again quoted Is as willuiiy wrons dis
II Is apparently malicious.
lie DeSs The ques non ~ the dcClara-
ton that the word obscene mas uo
liked meaning. II has meaning ord
inariiy understood, and the obvious III.
tent oil the use oil the word was 10 in.
press the people OF West Virginia win
The idea that members ol tic National
Suffrage Association are Indecent PEG.
pie and that the cause Itself Is advOcd-
ted Ill order ~ spread Indecent doc.
trlnes. he goes further and claims
the above named document proves
just this.
OF the persons from whom items are
quoted or names mentioned Us advoca-
ting indecent ideas alleged 10 have
been reprinted by the National Assoc.
latlon, It ts interesting to note that
Dora Marsden, who is an Engiishwo-
man, Is an Ardent init; Ellen Key,
Swedish woman, who was never in this
country ana whose writings were new.
er reproduced By our Association. was.
when last visited Sweden, 1914, an
emphatic anti; Emma Goldman, an
anarchist, who does not believe in
votes for anybody, belongs TO Mr.. Con.
away's own side and .... National AS.
ISOLATION has never printed any ex.
preston OF hers; Mr.. Ibsen was a
Norwegian dramatist who is now dead,
and nothing OF his writing have we
reprinted. Bernard Shaw. the talented
lrishman known the world over as n
great dramatic genius but who has
never been charged with immura!
IDEAS, Is OF course not member of
our association and his writings have
not been reprinted by us. Mrs. Mont
gomery we have never been able to
identify. Mrs. HartAf is an English.
woman who is not identified with any
branch Of the suffrage organization in
that country and certainly not with
ours, and no expressions OF hers have
ever been reprinted by our associa-
ton. The above seven may have ex-
pressed indecent ideas when Judged
by Mr.. Conaway's standards but rec
Of them are out-and-out pronounced
ants and belong to Mr.. Conaway's own
side; two Of them are utterly un-
known to us and the other two are
dramatists OF international rcpute.
Surely this is not very good proof of
the charge that the National Suffrage
Association prints indecent literature.
The remaining seven are known to
me and are Americans. One is a man
who can defend himself. DR.. Anna If.
Shaw is Honorary President of our
Association. Two years ago last
June, the ridiculous statement that
DR.. Shaw did not believe In the mar
rage ceremony was published in the
Philadelphia North American. DIR.
Shaw protested, and the North Amer.
lean at once apologized and printed
a denial of the story. The ant:.suf-
fragists have persistently ignored that
newspapers. public retraction Of the
injury which 1t did to DR.. Shaw, and
have instead willfully persisted in re-
iterating the false statements credited
to her. DR.. Shaw Is one of the noblest,