Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-03-09
WHAT PICKETING ACCOMPLISHED
BY Dudley Field Malone

As one of the unthinking mass, l also
was irritated bv picketing. | did not teel
that the President should be bothereh In
the midst of his difficulties. How thought
less was to suppose that great leader
could ever be bothered" by demand
for Justice
Then | realized that picketing was
meant, in a dramatic way, TO call the
attention of the country to the Tact that
! women had for seventy years been de-
manding for themselves at home what
their millions of men were prepared To
fight for abroad
Picketing was an agitation designed TO
prevent the suffrage issue from sub
mergence under the spell OF war extras,
, drlmbcatS and anxletIes.
Fifty years ago women were told,
| "Wait-this is not the time to urge sui
frage when the war is over YOU will be
| admitted to demotAacy. The women
| waited They are not yet recognized as citi-
| zens of this government for which they
are constantly asked TO sacrifice so much.
| The words of Susan b. Anthony were as
timely hlazoned on a picket banner IN the
davs of the great war rs they were when
she spoke them during the Civil War.
AT this time our greatest need Is not
men or money, valiant generals or brii-
| liant victories. but a consistent policy
| based on the principle that all govern
mcnts derive their Just powers from the
consent of the governed
| The always conservative press con-
| demned picketing. All tho gentlemen who
| choose to play golf on election day de-
/ nounccd the manners of plcketIng. All
| faint-hearted friends OF suffrage rushed
| 10 their cyclone cellars of SNUG respecta-
| l. ,f,I a nfn ,ff ha
/ status quo antebcllum turned pale at the
/ sight of American women peacefully ask
! ing for liberty at the White House gates.
| And all the bourgcoIsc and every anti
| suffragist in the land found in plckctIng
! a new excuse for DENYING the franchise TO
! women.
Unable to comprehend so passionate a
| love Of liberty and unwilling TO grant the
| dcman,.. certain star-spangled officials oi
| the government whose idea of patriotism
is waving flag, and whose sole political
| inspiration is to make the world safe for
| the Democrats, undertook the impossible
| task Of defeating legitimate agitation by
| suppression.
Women of superb courage and culture
wcrr Jailed starved. manhandlcd, and
| subjected to indlgntlcs. Millions of men
| and women who had opposed picleting
| turned to dcnouncc the brutality of the
! government TO praise the will and sacri-
| hcc of tho women and to demand that the
cause OF their grievances be removed.
New York was In the midst of a cam
| paIgn for the adoption Of an amendment
to its Constitution enfranchising the
women Of the State 4 similar amend
| ment has been defeated In 1915 by a ma
| Joritv Of lSS,o00. In 1917 there was tho
| war prc-occupation to overcome, and the
! resentment of thousands of So-called
| patriots who held that this is no time
| Tor women 10 press a demand for political
| liberty.
The pickcting, as a factor in the New
| York campaign, did two things. Ii won
| conservative votes II the women had not
picketed, the President could not have
! written his open letter 10 the voters,
urging them to disregard the pickets and
| vote for suffrage. In this roundabout and
| indirect way, picketlng doubtless secured
many conservative votes for suffrage IN
! New York But directly, picketing had
! far greater effect. The workers who have
suffered so much from exploitation and
bad conditions had never been aroused
10 q deep feeling Of the necessity for po-
| litical equality before they could secure
| industrial justice. But the arrest and jail
! ing of the pickets was direct challenge OF
| peaceful plcketing aS means of agitation.
and peaceful picketing has long been one
I of labors strongest weapons against in
| tolerablc working conditions. The IA
| miliar cry of unfair, unfair began to be
heard at labor rnassmeetngs and assem-
bles, and instead of the autocratic arrest
! OF workers who asked for decent wages.
and reasonable hours, II referred To the
autocratIc arrest of women who asked for
liberty. Labor, III New \ ork, was aroused
at last TO b hot resentment against the
arbitrary Withholding Of the fund lmental
right of citizenship because OF sex Thanks
10 the pickets, labor cast tremendous
vote for suffrage In l9l7-and suffrage
won.
As the President had advised. public
opinion was now concerted. Responsive
10 the dynamic public appeal the Presi-
dent put the power OF the Administration
behind the amendment. 1t went through
the House of Representatives, and half
the victory Is won.
| Women are now urging the Senate to
| pass the amendment and send it 10 the
States for ratification. They are pointing
out that nearly three-fourths of the Re
publicans are pledged TO support democ-
racy at home, and that In the Senate, as in
the House, the party in power must be pre-
pared 20 take the full responsibility If suf-
frage does not pass this session. The
women are assured that ii will pass The
golden picket banners have been packed
away. II seems that that chapter of the
history Of American democracy Is closed
unless the Democratic party forces the
suffragists to reopen it. But to the women
who have endured torture and public
scorn say, remember it is only those
who have dared first to suffer who hear
the paan-cry OF Immortality ty.-The Suf-
fragist Jan, 1918.