Evening star., 1926-01-18
Asks Aid for Amendment.
he petition follows:

We, self-supporting women from
various parts Of the country. have
gathered to ask you as the head of our
Nation and the leader of the party in
control of our Government. to give
your powerful aid to securing the i'm.
mediate passage of the equal rights
amendment.
Equality in the suffrage between
men and women was held so impor-
tant that our national Constitution
was enlarged in order to guarantee
this right to women. Even more i'm
portant To women Is the right to earn
their living on equal terms with men
We ask that this most important right
of all he guaranteed by our national
Constitution so that women shall no
| longer be handicapped by laws debar-
ring them from industrial equality
with men.
We who are earning our living
hnd our struggle made more difficult
by laws that prevent us from Offering
our services to our employers on an
equal isis with men; by laws that
prevent us from entering various oc-
cupations entirely; by laws that pre-
vent us from continuing our work
after we are married. In earning our
living we must struggle against pref
udiCe and custom. We ask that the
laws of our country should not also
be thrown into the scale against us
and our struggle thereby made still
harder. We ask that our National
Government should protect it's women
workers equally with its men workers
We who have been thrown out of
work because Of a law preventing our
working after certain hour in the
day; we who have been thrown out of
work because of a law preventing our
working as many hours as our men
competitors, we who have been thrown
out OF work because of a law prevent
ing us from working overtime on the
same basis as our men competitors.
we who have been thrown out of work
because of law debarring us from
certain occupa tionS: we who have been
thrown out of work because of law
preventing us from continuing our oc-
Cupatlon after marriage: we who have
had our wages lowered and our oppor-
tunlty Tor advancement restricted bv
these same laws. inaSmuch as they
| have narrowed the field of paid work
| open 10 women--we appeal to YOU as
| the responsible head of our country
| to give your backing to this amend.
| nent Wnlch Will guarantee to women
the right to equality with men in the
struggle to support themselves and
| their families
Persecution i'm Laws.
Speakers at the mass meeting, over
which Mrs. Donald Hooker of RaIti
more presided. Contended that "perse.
| cu1lon. not protection, results from So
called welfare laws enacted to apply
10 women. but not to men in indus
| try. The announcement was made
| from the stage that contributions ar-
/ gregatlng more than $4,000 have been
| received or pledged for the equal
| rights campaign.
! Miss Gail Laughlin Of Portland. Me,
| an attorney. insisted that ito put re-
! strictions upon women in business and
In industry which do not apply to the
men competing with them for the
same employment is to handicap WON.
en-, no matter what those restrictions
are" Miss Margaret Hinchev of New
York told the meeting that in New
York mattresses are barred by law
from working at night when trays
are lighter and tips heavier" Three
! thousand railroad women. she de
! clared. were thrown out of work be
I cause of legal restrictions in New
! York. but the welfare" workers who
sought their enactment were not in
/ terested in what happened to the
women they protected
Mrs. Murray said the law now in
terferas with entrance OF women into
| some professions and bars them from
working at night. She urged passage
| OF the equal rights amendment as a
| real protection and the only per
petual safeguard of working women >
Mrs. Florence Bayard Hilles and
| Miss Mabel Vernon Of Wilmington
Del; Mrs. Rheta Childe Dorr Of New
York and Mrs. Margaret Whittemore
| Of California were announced as dele
gates from the National Woman's
Party to the conference which opens
tonight. Mrs. f. j. Brennan. wife
| of the manager of the Hotel Hamil
ton. will represent Washington at tbs
conference. Several score women's
organizations will he represented a,
the general sessions which begin to
morrow morning. when William Green
president of the American Federation
Of Labor: John f. Edgerton, presi
| dent Of the National Association OF
Manufacturers, and Miss Mary Var
kleeck OF the Russell Sage Founda