Semi-weekly herald., 1916-08-14

in favor of one party or another, II
such women are organized. The
Democratic platform is an insult to
the intelligent voting women of
America, offering only suffrage
sop.
"If Mr.. Hughes takes his cue from
Mr.. Wilson and refuses unqualified
endorsement of the Susan B. Anthony
suffrage amendment or offers only
such tepid support as is found in the
Republican party platform, the vot-
ing women of the country, represent
ed by this conference today, will
mark out course to pursue during
the campaign and at the election.
"The Democratic party, like dy-
ing man undergoing deathbed repent
ance, may retrieve the past by pass,
ing the Anthony amendment through
the present Democratic congress. This
would enable many of our members
like Mrs. Harriet Stanton Blatch,
Mrs. Sara Bard Field and others to
campaign and vote for Mr.. Wilson.
1--WE are not depending on the party
bound women to help us out because
they are as partisan as men. We are
counting on the independent women
voters"
Four speakers will train their guns
on the male politicians tonight =
Miss Maud Younger, California, sec
reary of the National Coucil of the
Congressional Union; Mrs. Florence
Bayard Hilles, Delaware, chairman of
the Delaware Branch of the Congress,
onal Union; Mrs. William Kent, Cal.
ifornia, of the National Executive
Committee of the Congressional I'm
ion and wife of Representative Kent
)f California, chairman of the recent
ly formed Wilson Non-Partisan
League, and Mrs. Sara Bard Field, of
Oregon.
The conferees here have just one
motive; to force the passage Of the
Constitutional amendment permitting
women to vote. If the Democrats
don't show signs of passing it quick
| y, they declared today, those 4,000,-
900 votes are going to to go Repub-
lican, or Prohibition, or Progressive,
or Socialist or whereve they will do
the most good or harm.
To back up their threat to rock
the boat in the coming election, the
women have lot of figures which,
they say, ought to frighten even the
most healthy Democrat. One of them
is that they control enough votes in
each of the IL "suff" states to elect
either Republican or a Democrat.
Miss Annie Martin, of Reno, chair
man of the national committee of the
party, will preside tonight at the
opening of hostilities. The reception
this afternoon was called at Austin
Bluffs, home of Mrs. Leonard E. Cur
tbs.
/ Florence Bayard Hilies
"Until all the women of the United
States are free, non OF them are
free" declared Mrs. Florence Bayard
Hilles of Wilmington, Del, here TO,
the conference of the National Wom.
ans party. Mrs. Hilles, is a Demo
crat and the daughter of the late
Thomas Bayard, secretary of state
under Cleveland and the first ambass-
ador of this country's TO Great Brit.
ain.
After reciting how at the frs,
hearing of the Congressional Unior
before the House judiciary committee
"the chairman and some of the mem
bers characterized their actions by ii
breeding, discourtesy and gross injus
tice," Mrs. Hilles said:
"The sooner the women of thi.
country, more than half of whom art
unrepresented in their most vital in
terests are subjected, the sooner will
there rise, as indeed it has arisen
a tide of action that will put an enc
to such tactics. Individual liberty il
the essentiol basis of free govern
ment and under our form of govern
ment both political expediency ant
political justice demand the nationa
enfranchisement of women. Until al
the women of this country are free
none of them are free.
"The hopeless task of state refe
rendums has taught women the
necessity for concentration on the fed
eral amendment. Undoubtedly enough
states are now won to enable the
most skeptical observer to see that
the political power already in the
hands of women themselves is suf.
ficient to win freedom for all women
Mrs. Kent, of California
With only a small turnover of vote.
needed in any of the l2 western