Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-11-28
THE VOICE OF
THE PEOPLE
White House Pickets Defended.
An American
Peace
DEFENSE OF PICKETS

To the Editor of the ErcuinJ Ledger
Sir-Your editorial on the National
Woman's Party calls for a dispassionate re-
statement OF our position. In the first
place, we are not a militant body. We
have broken no laws and have never at
tempted to use force against our Govern
ment.
Alice Paul saw in 1918. as the railroad
employees saw in 1915. that a strongly or
ganized body of voters, though opposed by
both parties. could force measure through
Congress by eXerting political pressure on
the President before national election
Mr. Dudley Field Malone has paid tribute
to the effectiveness of the campaign waged
by the National WOman'S party in the
Western States and has said that our
organizations work was the most difncult
problem he had to meet in his campaigning
for President Wilson's reelection. The
Womans party was able to turn two States
against Wilson, Illinois with its twenty
nine electoral votes and oregon with its
five although the campaign cry OF the
Democratic party, Wilson kept us out OF
war" made so strong an appeal to the
West, where women vote, that large num-
bers of both men and women forgot their
party aifiliation and voted for his re-
election. AS the womens votes were kept
senarate only in Illinois, 1t was impossible
TO know just how many OF their votes in
other States were registered against the
Democratic party as protest against that
party's four years opposition to the Fed
eral suffrage amendment.
We recognize that men in political life
do not see suffrage as a war measure and
that, therefore. they cannot understand
why the Womans party has to use the
kind of political pressure that we have
exerted on the other hand, the women
of all suffrage organizations have now
declared for suffrage as war measure and
every one now knows that suffrage can
ha D,aS
makes it so.
-Four years ago no suffragists except
leaders of the National Womans party
had recognized the power of the President,
as leader of the dominant party, to pass
this measure. Convinced of this fact and
intent upon bringing this knowledge to all
women the National Woman's party
adopted a policy of open and direct action
on the President through the most intel
lectually brilliant and successful campaign
of publicity ever carried on by political
party
hausted, the plan of carrying petitions on
banners to the white House was adopted
on January 10, 1917. The political wisdom
of centralizing the campaign in Washing
ton has been proved. The message has
gone from end to end of the country. and
every woman voter knows that the Presi-
dent has not advocated the Federal suffrage
amendment and also that he can pass that
amendment at his will. With our entry
into the European war. the necessity for in
creased effort was evident, and the
picketers continued to stand at the White
House gates with banners emphasizing the
relation of democracy at home to a war for
democracy abroad.
The extraordinary attempts of the au-
thorities in Washington to suppress the
agitation by the most extreme form of
persecution only show the strength of the
women's position. A hundred women have
been imprisoned, sentenced on the same
trumped-up charge that they had caused
the violation of statute forbidding un-
lawful assemblage, obstruction of traffic
and incommoding the public. 1t is need
less to dwell now on the obvious fact that
the police testimony. the attorneys charge
the Judges verdict. the insulting treatment
at Occoquan Workhouse and the District
of Columbia jail were component parts of
a plan of intimidation. which has utterly
failed.
We regret, but cannot be surprised, that
the EVENING LEDGER stanch advocate of
suffrage. has not yet understood the actual
situation. We who sat in the court
room during the trials and who have been
in the Jail and workhouse found II diff
ficult to believe the evidence of our own
eyes and ears. But persecution always
strengthens q righteous cause.
The leaders Of the National Womsps
ysSsSx yS,. u g, th& ths'r ps'sGPs I. seck she ea.x