The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1917-09-20
SUFFRACIST OFFICERS CONSENT TO| COOPERATE WITH ORGANIZATIONS; WON'T WITHDRAW RESERVATIONS

association is affiliated is so great and Is based upon such fundamental mat ters of principle as to make 1t pos sible for me to continue longer in my present official position.
 At the risk of being misunder- stood, misinterpreted, yes, even mis- represented, as others of my faith have been, I wish to endeavor to set before you the reasons for that faith. I feel that our long association in a common cause makes this encumbent upon me now when our ways seem to lie apart.
 For years we have worked for the advancement and fulfillment of the reality of democracy. We have all felt that this must of necessity pre- cede any true and lasting betterment of the conditions of our country and of our people, for it has seemed to us that so long as one-half of those people have no share in the control of the government under which they live, democracy was hollow mockery and human betterment dependent up- on the grace of those who thought their own thoughts and perhaps thought them well but whose thoughts were not our thoughts.
 
 the men and women of our state and of our country have been brought to believe in the value of women's pos- sible contribution to the political life and in the justice of her being allow ed to participate therein. I assume that all of usGhave felt that this value and this justice were matters of firm and abiding conviction. To me they were as deep and meaning a part of my life as any other matters of spirit ual faith were. To me they seemed of at least as great a practical and inn mediate importance for realization as any other subjects for which my creed urged me to labor.
 My position today seems the log ical inevitable one based upon my con- ttnuing faith. To me the day of the reality, of democracy seems as much worth working for as ever. The com ing of this calamitous war and our entry into it seem rather to increase not to diminish the importance of that work. The necessity for Nomen's participation in government seems greater, more immediate. If the well fare of our country and of our people required that women be represented in the solution of peace problems, it requires it, still more in the solution of war and after-war problems.
 Relieving as I do, no course ap- pears honorable to me except the one I have adopted. Believing as I do it is basically impossible for me to con- tinue my official connection with a group whose connection with the na- tionaI American Woman Suffrage as- sociation, seems to require me to deny the faith that is in me. Believing as do, I feel spiritually bound to re- serve to myself the right to express freely by speech and action my funda- mental convictions. What other work I may feel called upon to perform, cannot forsake task which lies so close to my heart, nor abandon to the vituperative epithets of foe and fair weather friend the women whose con- victions seem to be as my own.
 '"The Washington pickets seem to me to embody the spiritual principle which has been responsible for every great advance in civilization. They and their associates have chung to this faith in spite of every obstacle and hindrance, legal and Illegal, which could be raised against them. And now to crown their sacrifice they are
 
 inability to commit which is respon- sible. for their doing what they are doing. 'Pro-German traitors, disloyaT are but a few of the names which have been applied. to them even by suffrag1sts. Calumny is heaped upon them by those who are unable to see that 1t is this very loyalty to their country which compels them to suf- fer. That the day of the realization of democracy may soon dawn, not only in Europe but here at home as well they have fought and will con- 1 tinue to fight, even as their men will soon be fighting. These women have not the time nor the will to explain Their acts must speak for them with | those who can see and understand | They have given generously, freely not alone in the line of pure suffrage | work, but in straight war help as well Those who impugn their motives must | do so from ignorance or malice, they | cannot or will not understand, and cannot bring myself to add to their