The silver state. [volume] (Winnemucca, Nev.) 1909-1925, 1916-10-05
SARA BARD field
DRAWS GOOD HOUSE

Winneva hall was filled last even
ing to listen to Sara Bard Field, the
noted suffragist, who is touring the
intermountain states telling women
why they should not vote the Demo-
cratic ticket this fall Miss Field
comes of distinguished family of
authors. poets and journalists, being
cousin of the late Eugene Field, the
world-famous journalist-poet. She is
typical American woman-bright.
witty. diplomatic, with the ideals of
her girlhood evidently unshattered
The audience last evening was
made up of the towns best and most
intellectual people, who gave the
speaker their closest attention, and
at the close of the address crowded
forward to be presented by Mrs. ].
A. Lipman, who presided at the meet
ing, and Mrs. M. S. Bonnifeld, state
chairman of the Woman's party.
self government before good gov
ernment; the founding of a democra-
cy before its maintenance. These are
the fundamental principles upon
which the National Women's party
has been built" said the speaker. I'VE
would have been over-joyed If the
Democratic party had lent itself to
the furtherance of these ideas. We
gave them every chance We pursued
Wilson with persistence which left
nothing undone that we ought to have
done. We thought we had a sure
helper in this man who had adver-
tised his eager belief in democracy
We thought that one who could con-
Germ himself so greatly over the citi-
zenship of the Filipinos and the Sioux
Indians would have an equal interest
in the citizenship of American women.
when Miss Joliffe and l, accom-
panied by Miss Martin and some three
hundred other women, went to the
President last December and asked
him to use his mighty influence to
further the national suffrage amend
ment. The President said he was a
man who could change his mind and
that though he had been a believer
in the state by state method of pro
curing suffrage, he would consider
ing his attitude and discuss fed
eral procedure with his colleagues.
This was hopeful. But we did not sit
and wait for the slow process of men
tai change on his part We did every
thing to aid him to see things differ
emily. We never hesitated to press
the fact of the growing numbers be-
hind our demand upon him. We sent
deputations to meet him wherever he
went, from New York City where 500
women waited two hours in the pa
latial parlors of the Waldorf Astoria,
to Topeka, Kansas, where the Presi-
dent let group of women stand in
for an hour before he came
out to listen to their plea for political
liberty. We wanted the President to
see that the national suffrage issue
had become a national question and
that it had national demand behind
it.
When June came and nothing had
been done to move our amendment
out of the judiciary committee and
the Presidents change of mind had
not been effected, the Woman's party,
composed of all voting women in the
West who would put suffrage before
party, was formed in Chicago. We
did this to let the President and Con-
gress see that the Western women
meant business; that the talk of po-
litical power behind the demand for
a federal amendment was not neb-
ulous threat. While two great ma
tional parties met in Chicago, our
Woman's party had its inception. One
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