Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1920-04-17
Irish Pickets Are
Source of Fun
to Washington
BY Associated Press.

compartments, Ii running epidemic
in Washington again and the thou
sands of tourists who make the
national capital their Mecca all year
round again see bands OF women
slowly paradins about the streets
| bearing banners with wide variety
of inscriptions.
Seemingly, every cause which
| wishes to impress its demands,
arguments or protests on 1.-THE
powers that be" ultimately adopts
the picketing system which was first
introduced in the capital by branch
Of the woman suffrasists about ter
years ago. The --latest 10 adopt the
method are women espousing the
cause Of Irish freedom and tnoy
have directed their protests against
| the British embassy. Their cam
paign has caused somewhat of furry
because 1t is not without its inter-
| national aspects.
The British embassy. for instance,
is foreign territory; whether the
sidewalk in front of it is American
territory, no one has essayed to de-
eide. Moreover, there is a federal
| law which penalties any person WI"
assaults a diplomatic representa-
| tive Of a friendly power Whether the
picketing OF the embassy is an an
noyance to the British dipt"H1N.
and whether an annoyance is an as
sault within the teehncn, ""a,"ag
of the law IS an addition question.
Then there. is evolved the ques-
ton of preserving the puh,ic peace,
for disturbances often grow out OF
the picketins. OFTEN, some woman
passerby, expresses her disagreement
with the banners the piclets bear boy
ripping them to bits and the
pedestrian and the picket have
scrmmage, with sometimes regular
old fashioned hair pulling. The
police patrol clangs up and both
parties to the quarrel are
hustled off to the station house.
Relief pickets Immediately arrive.
The police court ge,s another
case.
The personnel of the piok"ting
forces furnish an interesting study
in human nature. They are womo"
parcnt!v from all walks Of life.
Many bear evidences Of breeding
education and social position. Others
are women who appear to be Of the
opposite types. Every piCkctiOg
campaign brings out new charges
that many pickets are hired 9for
the work by others who are willing
to provide substitutes and do not
wish to picket in the streets in all
sorts of weather.
The suffra Sc pickets who made a
record for getting arrested jamming
the police court docket and finally
having n hunger strike, patterned
after their British sisters, were com
posed apparently Of women OF all
classes. Many whose names are
nationally known did picket duty,
spent nights in the police station
cell and finally did time in the work
| house. Some Of them, If the truth
| were known. were freed by husbands
who disappr0vcd of their actions.
| There was more than one case or .
husband promising the authorities he
| would undertake the responsibility
Of making his wife "be good" and
more cases of stormy scenes at the
| workhouse when the husband ar
rived to take the wife home over ner
protests,
With the adoption by congress Of
| the resolution for the woman suf-
| frage amendment to the constitute
the suffragists laid off. but they ha d
| fred an example in local associa-
ton Of negroes who were demanding
| the dismissal of a man Of their race
| from the local school administra
| ton. So the negro women in em|ll
| ton picketed the streets surround ding
| the school administration buildings
bearing banners. Their picketing,
however. was intermittent, and the
| negro educator to whom they object
ed still holds his job.
British humor all but broke up the
| picketing of the British embassy,
with it's possibilities Of disagreeable
incidents Of an international favor,
| when on the first day, the embassy
| officials sent out and invited the
| pickets in to afternoon tea. 1t prob
ably was a temptation, for cold
| raw wind was sweeping the city, but
! the leaders pulled stern faces and
| declined the invitation.
The embassy is on Connecticut
| avenue in the heart Of the down
| town business and residence district
not far from Dupont circle. The
neighborhood might be ompared to
Fifth avenue in New York in the
| 1fties.
Thousands Of shoppers. tourists
and government clerks and officials
on their way to office pass by and
| for days there was always a small
| crowd watching the pickets and hop
| ing for sorimmage. The old and
! deserted Austrian embassy, once the
| scene of social Raeties in the pros
porous days of tho Hapburgs, stands
| grim, silent and dusty just across
the treet. Nobody know who owns
it. now, it is a highly valuable piece
| of property gone begging. Not far
away is the house James G. Blaine
occupied while secretary Of state,
Dolly Madison's house is not far off
in another direction. Practically
every building in the vicinity has
housed some notable at some time or
other and the neishborhood is a
J playground for the sight-seeing
wagons. The pro Irish pickets sell
| ected a battle ground where there
will be plenty Of onlookers. So =
The first arrests OF the Irish pick
eters were not unaccompanied by