Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-08-23
SUFFRAGE PUZZLE
Continued from page |

/ .
| The house is through with it. If the 3S
runaway members, who are still camping
/ in Alabama, should return and try to undo
/ what the house did Saturday, they would
| find it an impossible task without the
cooperation Of the friends of suffrage.
| But the prospects are that the absentees
will remain out of Tennessee for at least
week, and that the legislature will expire
at the end Of the 20 day period, week
from yesterday.
In the meantime Governor Roberts,
Speaker Todd of the Senate, Republican;
T. X Riddick and others interested IN
certifying to the State Department that
the State has ratified, will press for dis
olution of the injunction secured Satur-
day to stay further action. Suffrage advo-
Gates will ask for the consideration OF the
Injunction today.
The suffragists are finding out just
what it was that turned majority OF
eight or ten in the House to tie vote on
Speaker Seth Walkers vote to table the
ratification resolution.
/ Miss Sue White, who is conducting
| the fight for the National Woman's party,
was one of the first TO see that the suffra-
gists were about to be defeated by mys-
terious influences, and threatened to
publish the names Of legislators who had
pledged themselves in writing and were
then dickering with the opposition.
1--WE won the Tennessee suffrage hight
by an eyelash because we dared to tear
off the mask and bring our enemy into the
open" said she "The contest was bitter
and desperate because we brought 1t to
the light"
when the legislature met on August
there were definite pledges from more than
majority of members Of both houses
Among these pledged was that Of Speaker
Walker of the House, made and reiterated
on more than one occasion, coupled with
his promise to introduce the resolution
and work for il. These promises were gwen
wide publicity and MIR. Walker has never
yet denied making them.
"He is young lawyer and was one OF
the leaders of the fight for Presidential
suffrage in 1919 in giving his promise to
vote and work for ratification he based
his decision upon the fact that he had
convinced himself through a personal
investigation of the legal questions in
volved that he could vote for ratification
without violating his oath OF office.
Then came change. We heard that
in an interview with Gov. Roberts
on Sunday. the day before the Legislature
met. SpeakerWa Walker bed told the governor
that he would vote and work against ratl-
flee ton.
What had changed him There
were two theories advanced, One was
that Gov Roberts was secretly working
against ratification The other was that
Mr.. Walker felt a responsibility to certain
corporate interests which for years have
PLAYED an important part IN Tennessee
politics and with which Mr.. Walker had
recently cast his lot.
On Monday, the day before the
Legislature met. the lobbies We're agog
with the news that the exemplary, ire
proachable young speaker of the House,
Seth Walker, had repudiated his pledge
and would lead the fight against ratifics.
ton. The panic was on. ANY one could
excuse himself for repudiating his pledge
if Speaker Walker could be excused.
On Tuesday morning Betty Gram
of the National Woman's Party met
Mr.. Walker in the lobby of the Capitol
and this is the question she put to him
is the governor of the Louisville and
Nashville Railroad responsible for the
opposition that is developing!
His face turned scarlet, he threw
cut his hends as though he had received
centre shot and cried; You have no
right to ask me such question.
We thought we had the right, as
we needed the information and know
|
Walker was in position 10 give US the
true answer. since he had been in the
past one Of the chief allies of Governor
Roberts and is now connected with the
legal department OF the railroad interests.
The situation began to crystalline
Was the Governor opposing US, or was
it the corporate interests? The Gov
ernor and his friends were put on Their
mettle to clear their skirts and the re3l
opposition was put on its mettle to defeat
us. even though its camouhage had been
torn away.
Nashville was overrun with Anti
Suffrage lobbyists from afar, many
OF them from Baltimore. 1t was even
suggested that Senator Brandegee OF
Connecticut, although himself Republl-
can. had the power 10 defeat ratIhcation
in the Democratic Legislature Of Tennessee
through chain Of corporate interests that
leads from Connecticut through the
United States Senate into Tennessee and
it's House of Representatives, VIA Balti-
more, Md, where lives an Interlocklng
director of the Atlantic Coast Railway
Holding Company and the Louisville
and Nashville Railroad.
Then entered from behind the scenes
into the open, Major +. b. Stahlman,
veteran lobbyist of Tennessee, whose
hand has not yet lost its deftness nor Its
strength. We knew then, without a
doubt, what we had to fight. The invisible
foes had become visible. The Manu-
facturers' Association arose In its might
at Stahlman's call, and took from US
overnight four out of five members of
the Nashville delegation who We're
pledged to Suffrage by every obligation
of honor. =
Those four men were Joe 5. Boyd,
Robert W. Bratton, Thomas J. Smith
and Percy Sharpe, all of Nashville,
who are now sojournlng IN Alabama.
Other members who broke definite pledges
are A. S. Montgomery, c. i. Boyer,
J. T. Whitefeld, j. 4. Cassidy, w: A.
Dunlap, S. L. Frogge, James ii. Gal
braith, G. G. Harvill, j. ID. McMurray,
W. j. Russell and W. G. Thronesbury
These men, together with Seth Walker,
are the sixteen who did not have it in
them to keep faith with American woman
hood in defiance of the invisible govern
ment that fears the woman vote"
''The Suffrage resolution was adopted
by a Democratic Legislature said
United States Senator McKellar yester-
day. THE Legislature stands as fol-
lows: Senate, Democrats % and Repub-
licans s; House, Democrats II and Re
publicans % In the Senate Is Demo
Gratis and 7 Republicans voted for rati-
fication In the House "a Democrats
r. H..