The Daily Missoulian. [volume] (Missoula, Mont.) 1904-1961, 1917-03-14
MONTANA CONGRESSIONAL
STIRS EAST WITH SPEECH
(From the New York Tribune.)

stepped out before the applauding crowds at Car
negie hall last night
More than 5000 persons had come to hear that
last word as spoken by the Hon. Jeanette Rankin,
congressWoman from Montana and the first woman
ever elected to the legislative halls of the United
States. And the Hon. Jeanette was ready to. live
up to the slogan which she was clectcd-"I1et
the people know
Her white chiffon dress fluttered in the breeze
of her own cloquencc. Her white satin cloak lay
over the back of the chair, and her white satin
| pumps were small and dainty. She was a debu-
tante on her way to the coming out party of wom-
en- into the class of real people. But there was
nothing white chffony about the Hon. Jcannette's
| opinions. as she laid them before the crowd last
| night
I'VE must have political democracy, business
democracy, social democracy"
we must have way to make our officials re-
sronsihc to the whole people after election as be-
fore so that they may be recalled at any time they
| are not living up to the principles on which they
were elected"
I'm in favor of the initiative referendum, the
recall, the direct primary state and national pro-
hlbtion, a popular vote for president and a system
of proportional representation in state legislatures
| These are steps toward democracy"
| Woman suffrage is coming-and in spite of the
| Democratic party"
women ought to have the right to say whether
| their men shall go to war;"
And so she went in the same forccful and
| determined way that led her to ford rivers and
| speak at roundups in her horseback campaign in
| Montana before the election, in which she won out
over seven surprised men. Because she possesses
| that rare quality of being able to hold her own
| tongue, upon occasion. the Honorable Jeanette
mas been accused of overcauiousness since election
But there was certainly nothing half hearted about
the way she looked issues in the face last night.
| 1t was Mrs Carrie Chapman Gait who introduced
| tongresswoman Rankin to the crowd--a bcaming
delighted Mrs. Gait, who looked at the Honorable
Jeanette as teacher looks at her prize pupil
| ladies and gentlemen, the Honorable Jeanette
| Rankin, suffrage woman from Montana"
| carnegie hall applauded the new congrcsswoman,
ana applauded her again, and in it's enthusiasm
| showed no inclination of letting her make a speech
Mrs. Gait had to calm the gathering by reading it
a part of a letter yesterday received by Congress-
woman Rankin from Theodore Roosevelt in which
he expressed regret at his inability be present
at the lecture.
| I most earnestly hope that you and those like
you VIII make and keep the Republican party loyal
to the spirit Of Abraham Lincoln he wrote land
in very truth the party of natonalsm and genuine
democracy; the party which stands for the right
of every man, woman and child within our natona
borders, and which in return eXacts from every full
grown man and woman the fullest performance O,
duty to the nation both in peace and in war;
|
Montana is unusual state-thats why il
elected a woman to congress- began the Honorable
Jeanette.
AND then like every other real westcrner YOU VI
ever met or ever will, she launched straight into {
enlogy Of the golden west The New York audienc,
looked dazed as she told of IS bushels of No
wheat 10 the acre 1t Easpcd as she said that las
year Montana produced flour enough to make /
loaVes of bread for every man, woman and chill.
in the United States. 1t Easped as she spoke of tn
4 free land that is still being given away.
. And when Congresswoman Rankin went on t.
tell OF the Great Big Baked Potato and of &c mile
in lumber wagon, which is a lot further than 4
It miles in an automobile" and of cheap ecctric
o because of natural water power, and of nauri
4 gas, so that not even the poor jlni,or need &c
out of bed into the cold O mornings and of 6
miles on horseback and all that those Manhatta
listeners exchanged bewildcred ylanccs
| I'm proud of the west, I'm glad that it belong
to me-" she cried
- Colorado, she admitted had its problems. It l1
il earned its title of the wctes state in the Unor
20 1t has had its labor problems-and here the Ho1
Jeanette took occasion to crcise the existing in
Il dustrial conditions, under which few people ow
e most of the resources of every Stale.
o Injury and violent death are frequent anon
: our workers., she said Wages are high in dol
lars and cents, but low in terms of food. Two year
. ago thousands of our men were out of work.
: She is an ardent woman suffragist, although sl
IS | owed her election to the as well as to tn
women.
"Thercs nothing else for the women of New Yor
to think about, nothing else for them to talk abou
: nothing else for them to work for, until they e.
= the votc,' she declared. Until then they haven
! taken the first step in freedom
70 She criticised men for forgetting what sho
time they had had the ballot. and said that womo
= should vote for the reasons did bcca us
c the nation needs their point of view, and bccaus
children must have representation in the affairs
the country.
. She favored direct primaries she said, bccals
they made each candidate responsible for hmse
to every voter She favored the initiative rcfcrcr
e. dunn because it the most democratic way ,
serving the individual voter She advocated the +,
:, call as the way of beini, sure that elcctic
promises will be realized Eight states in the ives
she said. had awaited themselves of their right
b recall officials within the last three years.