The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1917-09-06
picketins. Pro ard Con
By Frederick ]. Haskin.


House. Seventeen of them have serv-
ed three day sentences in the District
Jail and twenty-five have been sent to
the workhouse at Occoquan. Washing
ton crowds have been provided with a
new amusement. and number of visit
ors have carried away bits of the suf-
frage banners as souvenirs.
Such is the record of American
militancy to date. Its details have
been set forth in the papers, but the
motives back of it have been largely
overlooked. The purpose of this article
is to set forth the purpose and plan of
the militant suffragettes who have been
picketing thei President, and also the
views of those nonmilitant but equally
earnest workers for the enfranchise-
ment of women who regard picketing
as mistake.
The Congressional Union, which is
working for woman suffrage but which
is not in any way affiliated with the
National American Woman Suffrage
Association, is the organization which
is doing the picketing. These women
explain that they are doing it with a
view to keeping before the President a
constant reminder that in the United
States of America there are twenty
million citizens who cannot vote. Also,
without picketing, they declare, the
suffrage Issue would be entirely sub
merged in the issue of war.
For long time, they assert, they
confined their activities to Congress.
They worked laboriously to bring the
Susan B. Anthony Amendment to a
vote, believing that if a vote were
taken the amendment could be put
through. This they found they could
not do without the help of the Presi-
dent. If the President would urge the
passage of this amendment at any time,
they declare, Congress would at least
report the measure out of committee
and get some action on it.
So the Congressional Union decided
that the thing for them to do was to
let Congress alone for awhile, and
tackle the President.
In all, they have called upon the
President seventeen times The first
time was at the beginning of Mr.
Wilson's administration, and he protest
ed that suffrage was a question of
which he knew nothing This state
ment left no room for argument, so
the sutfragettes went home and sent
him all the suffrage literature they
could find, SO that he would know some
thing about it. They waited for a
reasonable length Of time, and made a
second call.
The second time the President re-
ceived them cordially but explained
that his hands were tied in regard to
suffrage for the reasons that he was
not the leader but the follower of his
party, and that he had a deep convic-
ton that suffrage must come state by
state.
The suffragettes, however, were not
discouraged A few months later, they
called again. The President pointed
out as difficulty the negro vote in the
South. To this the women replied that
there were two million more white
women in the South than there were
men, women and children of the colored
race.
Soon after this it was announced that
no more suffrage populations would be
received at the White House. After
the tenth of January no suffragette
was to be admitted.
$50 our only means of keeping the
suffrage question before the President
of reminding him that there were
two million citizens who could not have
voice in the government was to
picket, suffragette explained The
women considerythat their arrest was
most unjust. They were doing on the
day of their arrest nothing different
from what they had done every other
day before since the first of the year.
If they were blocking traffic then, they
say, they were blocking it before.
Neither does the Presidents pardon
inspire in them a sense of gratitude at
all. If they really broke law, they
say, then they certainly deserve to be
punished, and there is no more reason
why the President should pardon them
than any other law-breaker.
When asked what they had to say
concerning the nations indignant
charge that they were worrying the
President at most inappropriate time,
they said: Our best reply to that is
that the President himself has said that
we do not worry him at all. "
Incidentally, they claim that they
have gained more members in their
organization, more ardent advocates of
suffrage in Congress and more money
in the way of subscriptions since the