The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1920-04-15
sPARG0 APPEALS
To CLEMENT To
CALL SESSION
To Consider Ratification of Suf-
frage Amendment
POSITION DAN NGEROUS
Course of Chief Executive May Result
in. Great injustice to Millions
of Women.

JonH opdTRO Oh Olu bennington mas
addressed another letter to Governor
Clement urging him to call special
session Of the Legislature to vote on
ratification of the Federal Suffrage
Amendment. His letter follows.
April 10, 1920.
Hon. p. W. Clement,
Governor of Vermont.
Rutland. Vermont.
Dear Governor Clement:
venture to add another TO the
many appeals which have been made
to you to call special session Of the
Legislature for the purpose of consid
ering and passing upon he ratifca.
tion of the Equal Suffrage Amend.
ment to the Federal Constitution.
AS / understand your position, your
personal opinion upon the suffrage
question has nothing to do with your
objection to calling special session
of the Legislature. IL have under
stood correctly, your attitude is due
to doubt concerning the legality Of
such method Of ratifying the FEEDER
al Constitution in this instance in this
state, because the amendment in
wolves an amendment to the State
Constitution, which you hold cannot
legally be amended by the method
proposed.
am not a lawyer, and do not pro-
fess to be competent to determine
this important question. Eminent
constitutional lawyers whose opinions
! have read seem to disagree with
you am free to say, however. that
your objection seems to me to be a
very strong one and to afford some
measure of justification for your atti-
tude. Nevertheless, 1 fell that in
view OF all the circumstances your
opinion upon this very grave question
ought not to act as a final determine
tion of matter of such; fundamental
Importance as the extension Of the
franchise to women upon equal terms
with men. | am sure that you will
agree with me that it is at least pos
sible that your Interpretation Of the
legal aspect of the matter Is wrong.
! do not say that 1t Is wrong, but that
such thing is possible. Lei us as
sumo, for the sake of argument, that
you hold to your refusal to call a
special session, basing your refusal
upon your opinion, and that in con-
sequence the ratification Of the Fed
eral Suffrage Amendment is defeated.
thnF@noffar IL oh hn nA hkf hn
highest tribunal in the country that
your opinion was wrong, a very great
Injustice will have been done to mil
lions OF women. Their fundamental
civic and political rights will have
been sacrificed to the mistaken opin-
law Of a single individual who never
professed any special competence in
that field.
| suggest to you. my dear Governor,
that it would be far wiser and more
statesmanlike to let the elected rep
resentatives of the citizens of Yer
mont determine whether or not they,
as interpreters of the wishes OF the
citizens they represent, favor ratifica-
ton, II the proposal to ratify is de.
feated as II may be, there will be
no ranking sense of bitterness and in
justice, no feeling that an individuals
mistake has sacrificed and hullihed a
popular right. On the other hand. il
The proposal to ratify carries, you may
depend upon it that the legality of
the ratification will be tested by the
opponents Of the measure and in due
course will be determined by the Su.
preme Court of the Uni ed States.
This seems TO me to be the proper
method of dealing with this very inn
portant question,
May / very respectfully add 10 tho
foregoing my conviction that all of us
in .hese times ought TO be workirr
toward national solidarity. Vermont
is part of the Union, and upon a mat.
ter of such vital Importance as a
change in the fundamental law gov.
ming citizenship and the exercise of
the franchise, the wishes of Vermont
ough' to be very definitely ascertain.
ed. Without calling into question
the strict Legality Of your refusal to
convene the Legislature for this pur
pose, very confidently appeal to the
higher law the fundamental moral
law of citizenship, and protest that ii
cannot be right to disfranchise the
state upon such an important issue.
With assurances of my respect and
regard, | am
Very faithfully yours,
John Spargo.