The Blackfoot optimist., 1916-05-25

necessary. And in the House we cannot
look for a majority. You might as
well know that half Of Congress is
! owned by somebody else
Borah's Reply.
| 1t will be remembered that the Con
| gressional Union sessions held in this
State during the past few weeks took
| particular occasion to attack Senator
Borah on his attitude, and as he sug-
gests, the resolutions all had sort of
! family resemblance and apparently
were engineered by the same force, 80
that he has taken occasion to present
the matter from his point Of view in a
public letter, a copy of which he has
! transmitted to the Tribune.
The letter is written to Mrs. Alice
J Pittinger, of Boise. one of the promi
| nent club women of the State, and fol-
| lows:
Washington, D. c. May Is, 1916.
My Dear Mrs. Pittinger: | have Just
received copy of a set of resolutions
passed at the Pinney Theatre, May 9.
1916, touching the subject of the pro-
posed amendment to the constitution
providing for woman suffrage.
! shall be pleased to present this and
other resolutions Of similar import ut
the proper time Gas the petition Of the
people responsible for the passage) to
the Senate.
In the resolutions it ssaid, Be it
further Resolved, That we call upon
Senator Borah to work and vote for the
passage of the amendment in the SEN
ate, y etc. Upon this subject my views
are perfectly well known to those pass
ing the resolutions. l arrived at those
views after as thorough consideration
as l could give to the subject. l ex.
planned those views at length in the
Senate and again to the women Of my
State when at home last summer. I
need not burden you with repca ting
them. Suffice it to say that time and
further consideration leave me in no
doubt as to the correctness of my posi-
ton. beg to state, therefore, with
the utmost consideration for those who
hold different view that in this mat
ter my judgment is not subject to
change. There are questions of govern.
ment so vital and controlling in this
matter and upon which have held such
settled views that l could not give you
such assurance as you desire and as l
VouiN PcI SOHuA4v WOuIU ilhc " uO VI
either working or voting for this amend
ment. l do not think it is in the inter
est of the suffrage cause itself, and |
am sure it is not in the interest of good
government that we should rob the
states of the power, vital and indispen
sable to their integrity, of determining
who within their respective borders
shall exercise the right of franchise
Holding the views l do, you would not
respect me and you would certainly
come to have certain contempt for
senator who would slavishly surrender
his convictions in so vital a matter.
| feel, therefore, / at least choose as a
matter of personal pride and self-re-
spect to assume, that you do not ex-
pect me to change my views after hay
ing so often and SO fully stated my con-
victions against this amendment. l
would like for the people of Idaho to
feel that want to serve their interests,
but | want them to feel also that / en-
tertain convictions of my own as to
how best to serve those interests, and
that | cannot out of mere personal con
sideration exchange those convictions
for other views until l am convinced
that l am wrong. | am not convinced
in this instance.
Following in the wake of those who
lately visited our State in the inter
ests of this amendment great number
Of resolutions are coming to my Office,
all clothed in exactly khc same Ian
guage. As it is impossible for me to
find time to write them all, l take the
privilege of making this letter public
that they may understand that my fail
ure to answer is not by reason Of any
want of decision in tht matter.
Very respectfully,
WM. Il. BORAH.