At the mass-meeting, preliminary to waiting upon the President, Melinda Scott, an organizer of the Women’s Trade union League, said:
No one could be serious when they maintained that the ballot4 will not help the working woman. It has helped the working-man to better his conditions and his wages. Men of every class regard the ballot as their greatest protection against the injustice5 of other men. Women even more than men need the ballot to protect their especial interests and their right to earn a living.... We want a law that will prohibit home-work.... We hear about the sacredness of the home. What sacredness is there about a home when it is turned into a factory, where we find a mother, very often with a child at her breast, running a sewing machine? Running up thirty-seven seams for a cent. Ironing and pressing shirts seventy cents a dozen, and children making artificial flowers for one cent a gross. Think of it—one hundred and forty flowers for one cent. Taking stitches out of coats, helping6 their mothers where they have finished them for six cents a coat. These women have had no chance 58to make laws that would protect themselves or their children....
The organized working woman has learnt through her trade union the power of industrial organization, and she realizes what her power would be if she had the ballot.... Men legislating7 as a class for women and children as a class have done exactly what every other ruling class has done since the history of the world. They discriminate8 against the class that has no voice. Some of the men say, “You women do not need a ballot; we will take care of you.” We have no faith in man’s protection.... Give us the ballot, and we will protect ourselves.
This army of four hundred arrived safely, with perfect police escort, at the doors of the White House. They were amazed to learn that the President would see only twenty-five of the women. He had said he would “receive the delegation9.” The selected number then went in, the remaining three hundred and seventy-five waited in line outside.
Margaret Hinchey, a laundry worker of New York, said:
Mr. President: It is shaking and trembling, I, as a laundry worker, come here to speak in behalf of the working women of the United States. I have read about you, and think you are fair, square, on the level, and so much a real democrat10, that I believe when it is made clear to you how much we working women, who organize in the factories, the mills, the laundries, and the stores, can help every true democrat, you will use your power to wipe out this great injustice to women by giving us a vote.
Rose Winslow said:
Mr. President: I am one of the thousands of women who work in the sweated trades, and have been since a child, who give their lives to build up these tremendous industries in this country, and at the end of the years of work, our reward is the tuberculosis11 sanatorium or the street. I do not think to plead with you, Mr. President, nor make a regular speech. I do not speak to Presidents every day; it hasn’t been my job, so I don’t do it very gracefully12.
Here the President interrupted Miss Winslow by stating that he did not see why she should be so nervous, as Presidents are perfectly13 human. Miss Winslow then continued:
59Yes, I know, and that is why I can speak to you, because you are human and have a heart and mind and can realize our great need. I do not need to remind you how we women need the ballot, etc.
The President said:
I need not tell you that a group of women like this appeals to me very deeply indeed. I do not have to tell you what my feelings are, but I have already explained—because I feel obliged to explain—the limitations that are laid upon me as the leader of a Party. Until the Party, as such, has considered the matter of this very supreme14 importance and taken its position, I am not at liberty to speak of it; and yet, I am not at liberty to speak as an individual, for I am not an individual. As you see, I either speak to it in a message, as you suggest, or I do not speak at all. That is the limitation I am under, and all I can say to you ladies, is that the strength of your agitation16 in this matter undoubtedly17 will make a profound impression.
In view of later opinions of the President in regard to his leadership—and in view of the fact that later even Democratic Congressmen referred to his “dictatorship”—his attitude to the women this day was most interesting.
Mrs. Glendower Evans, who was in charge of the deputation, said:
We understand your position and its difficulties quite well, Mr. President, but nevertheless we ask, where can we look for political action? We recognize that the verdict must come not from you alone, but from the whole Party. I do not ask you to break with your Party. What I ask is, will you use your influence within your Party? I do not ask the impossible, though I might from you, for you have done the impossible.
It is apparent that the President’s education was progressing. He was beginning to be struck with the strength of the Woman Suffrage agitation; although he still believed himself powerless to help in the work with Congress.
Early in June, 1914, the National Federation18 of Women’s Clubs meeting in Chicago, had given its indorsement, as an organization, to Woman Suffrage. Following this action by 60the Federation, another delegation—the seventh—of five hundred club women under the leadership of Mrs. Harvey W. Wiley, waited upon the President on June 30. I quote from the Suffragist:
The deputation had assembled for a preliminary mass-meeting at the Public Library.... Leaving the Library, the deputation, which extended over several blocks, marched in single files to the White House.... It passed through the Arcade19 and into the East Room.... Women were massed about the State Apartment, filling it from end to end, and leaving a hollow square in which Mrs. Ellis Logan and Mrs. Wiley and Rheta Childe Dorr awaited the President’s arrival. Preceded by his aide, the President entered....
“Mr. President,” said Mrs. Dorr, “we are well aware that you are the busiest of men. I shall therefore go directly to the point and tell you that our reason for calling on you today is to ask you if you will not use your powerful influence with Congress to have the Bristow-Mondell Amendment20 passed in this session.”
The President replied:
Mrs. Wiley and Ladies: No one can fail to be impressed by this great company of useful women, and I want to assure you that it is to me most impressive. I have stated once before the position which, as leader of a Party, I feel obliged to take, and I am sure you will not wish me to state it again. Perhaps it would be more serviceable if I ventured upon the confident conjecture21 that the Baltimore Convention did not embody22 this very important question in the platform which it adopted because of its conviction that the principles of the Constitution which allotted23 these questions to the State were well-considered principles from which they did not wish to depart.
You have asked me to state my personal position in regard to the pending24 measure. It is my conviction that this is a matter for settlement by the States, and not by the Federal Government, and, therefore, that being my personal conviction, and it being obvious that there is no ground on your part for discouragement in the progress you are making, and my passion being local self-government and the determination by the great communities into which this nation is organized of their own policy and life, I can only say that since you turned away from me as a leader of a Party and asked me my position as a man, I 61am obliged to state it very frankly25, and I believe that in stating it I am probably in agreement with those who framed the platform to which allusion26 has been made.
I think that very few persons, perhaps, realize the difficulty and the dual15 duty that must be exercised, whether he will or not, by a President of the United States. He is President of the United States as an executive charged with the administration of the law, but he is the choice of a Party as a leader in policy. The policy is determined27 by the Party, or else upon unusual and new circumstances by the determination of those who lead the Party. This is my situation as an individual. I have told you that I believed that the best way of settling this thing and the best considered principles of the Constitution with regard to it, is that it should be settled by the States. I am very much obliged to you.
The President paused. He looked relieved. There was a moment’s silence, and then Mrs. Dorr said:
“May I ask you this question? Is it not a fact that we have very good precedents28 existing for altering the electorate29 by Constitutional Amendment?”
The President’s face changed. “I do not think,” he said, “that that has anything to do with my conviction as to the best way that it could be done.”
“It has not,” agreed Mrs. Dorr, “but it leaves room for the women of the country to say what they want through the Constitution of the United States.”
“Certainly it does,” the President said hastily, “there is good room. But I have stated my conviction. I have no right to criticize the opinions of those who have different convictions and I certainly would not wish to do so.”
Mrs. Wiley stepped forward. “Granted that it is a State matter,” she said, “would it not give this great movement an impetus30 if the Resolution now pending before Congress were passed?”
“But the Resolution is for an Amendment to the Constitution,” the President objected.
“The States would have to pass upon it before it became an Amendment,” said Mrs. Wiley. “Would it not be a State matter then?”
“Yes,” the President interrupted, “but by a very different process, for by that process it would be forced upon the minority; they would have to accept it.”
“They could reject it if they wished to,” said Mrs. Dorr. “Three-fourths of the States would have to pass it.”
62“Yes,” the President said, with distinct annoyance31, “but the other fourth could not reject it.”
“Mr. President,” said Mrs. Dorr, “don’t you think that when the Constitution was framed it was agreed that when three-fourths of the States wanted a reform, the other fourth should accept it also?”
The President was plainly disconcerted. He stepped back.
“I cannot say,” he replied frigidly32, “what was agreed upon. I can only say that I have tried to answer your question, and I do not think it is quite proper that I submit myself to cross-examination.”
“Very well,” Mrs. Dorr said quietly. “We will not cross-examine you further.”
“Thank you, Mr. President,” said Mrs. Wiley, “for your courtesy in receiving us.”
The President bowed. “I am very much obliged to you,” he said. “It has been a very pleasant occasion.”
In the Suffragist Lucy Burns said editorially:
The President has told a deputation of club women that they must win political freedom from State Legislatures; but not from him, not from Congress.
This position is obvious pretense33. The national government has the power, granted it by the constitution, to enfranchise34 women. It has, therefore, the duty of doing so, if women’s claim to enfranchisement35 is just.
The President knows as well as we do the enormous difficulty of winning the vote by amending36 the Constitution of thirty-nine different States. It is amazing that a man can be found who will calmly direct women to take up this great burden when men are responsible for their need. Men alone, in all but ten States, have the power to change our laws. The good or evil of these laws is their praise or blame. It is a public injustice today that men deny to women in the ballot a means of self-protection which they are glad to possess themselves. Men are ethically37 on the defensive—particularly the men, or group of men, who from time to time monopolize38 political power. For the President of the United States, who incorporates in himself the power of the whole nation, and who is, therefore, more responsible than any other person today for the subjugation39 of women, to declare that he washes his hands of their whole case, is to presume upon greater ignorance among women than he will find they possess.
Nevertheless, we are specifically informed by the President 63that it is “not proper” for us to “cross-examine” him on the grounds of his refusal to help us.
Only fitfully do women realize the astounding40 arrogance41 of their rulers.
And later:
Some few curious commentaries cropped up editorially. Under the caption42, “Heckling the President,” the New York Times says: “It certainly was not proper. The President of the United States is not to be heckled or hectored or made a defendant43.... To catechise him when he had finished his speech to them is a thing never done by similar delegations44 of men.”
The Times has not grasped the fact that no similar delegation of men is possible. Men approach their own representative. If he disagrees with them, they have a legitimate45 remedy in their own hands, and can choose another representative at a duly appointed time. Women approach the President as members of a disfranchised class. The President does not represent them. He bears no constitutional relation to them whatever. If the President rejects their appeal, they have no legal means of redress47. If they may not question the President on the justice of his refusal to help them, cannot question him gently and reasonably as they did—their position is indeed a subservient48 one.
And who told the Times that men never question the President “after he had finished his speech to them?” While the Tariff49 Bill was before Congress, representatives of men’s interests argued with him for hours. But they were men, and voters.
On January 6, 1915, another deputation—the eighth—of one hundred and fifty Democratic women appeared before the President. Mrs. George A. Armes, President of the Association of the National Democratic Women of America, introduced the speakers, Alberta Hill and Dr. Frances G. Van Gasken. He greeted Miss Hill with marked cordiality and listened attentively50 as she briefly51 and with great earnestness pointed46 out that, while the Federal Government protected men in the exercise of citizenship52 throughout the United States, a woman lost her right to vote when she crossed the line from a Suffrage to a non-Suffrage State. Miss Hill read the following extracts from the speech delivered by Mr. Wilson on the occasion of the formation of 64the Wilson and Marshall League at Spring Lake, New Jersey, two months after his nomination53.
When the last word is said about politics, it is merely the life of all of us from the point of view of what can be accomplished54 by legislation and the administration of public offices. I think it is artificial to divide life up into sections: it is all of one piece though you can’t attend to all pieces of it at once.
And so when the women, who are in so many respects at the heart of life, begin to take an interest in politics, then you know that all the lines of sympathy and intelligence and comprehension are going to be interlaced in a way which they have never been interlaced before; so that our politics will be of the same pattern with our life. This, it seems to me, is devoutly55 to be wished.
And so when the women come into politics, they come in to show us all those little contacts between life and politics, on account of which I, for myself, rejoice that they have come to our assistance; they will be as indispensable as they are delightful56.
The President listened with close attention, a smile quivering at the corners of his mouth. As she concluded, a ripple57 of amusement ran around the circle of auditors58, and the President laughed outright59.
“I cannot argue as well as you can,” he told Miss Hill with evident enjoyment60. He said further:
I am most unaffectedly complimented by this visit that you have paid me. I have been called on several times to say what my position is in the very important matter that you are so deeply interested in. I want to say that nobody can look on the fight you are making without great admiration61, and I certainly am one of those who admire the tenacity62 and the skill and the address with which you try to promote the matter that you are interested in.
But I, ladies, am tied to a conviction which I have had all my life that changes of this sort ought to be brought about State by State. If it were not a matter of female Suffrage, if it were a matter of any other thing connected with Suffrage, I would hold the same opinion. It is a long standing63 and deeply matured conviction on my part and therefore I would be without excuse to my own constitutional principles if I lend my support to this 65very important movement for an amendment to the Constitution of the United States.
Frankly I do not think that this is the wise or the permanent way to build. I know that perhaps you unanimously disagree with me but you will not think the less of me for being perfectly frank in the avowal64 of my own convictions on that subject; and certainly that avowal writes no attitude of antagonism65, but merely an attitude of principle.
I want to say again how much complimented I am by your call and also by the confidence that you have so generously expressed in me, Mrs. Armes. I hope that in some respect I may live to justify66 that confidence.
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1
jersey
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| n.运动衫 | |
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2
suffrage
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| n.投票，选举权，参政权 | |
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quotations
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| n.引用( quotation的名词复数 )；[商业]行情（报告）；（货物或股票的）市价；时价 | |
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ballot
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| n.（不记名）投票，投票总数，投票权；vi.投票 | |
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injustice
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| n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利 | |
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helping
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| n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的 | |
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legislating
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| v.立法，制定法律( legislate的现在分词 ) | |
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discriminate
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| v.区别，辨别，区分；有区别地对待 | |
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delegation
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| n.代表团；派遣 | |
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democrat
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| n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员 | |
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tuberculosis
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| n.结核病，肺结核 | |
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gracefully
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| ad.大大方方地；优美地 | |
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perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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dual
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| adj.双的；二重的，二元的 | |
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agitation
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| n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动 | |
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undoubtedly
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| adv.确实地，无疑地 | |
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federation
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| n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会 | |
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arcade
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| n.拱廊；(一侧或两侧有商店的)通道 | |
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amendment
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| n.改正，修正，改善，修正案 | |
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conjecture
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| n./v.推测，猜测 | |
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embody
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| vt.具体表达，使具体化；包含，收录 | |
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allotted
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| 分配，拨给，摊派( allot的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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pending
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| prep.直到，等待…期间；adj.待定的；迫近的 | |
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frankly
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| adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说 | |
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allusion
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| n.暗示，间接提示 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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precedents
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| 引用单元； 范例( precedent的名词复数 )； 先前出现的事例； 前例； 先例 | |
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electorate
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| n.全体选民；选区 | |
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impetus
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| n.推动，促进，刺激；推动力 | |
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annoyance
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| n.恼怒，生气，烦恼 | |
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frigidly
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| adv.寒冷地；冷漠地；冷淡地；呆板地 | |
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pretense
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| n.矫饰，做作，借口 | |
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enfranchise
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| v.给予选举权，解放 | |
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enfranchisement
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| 选举权 | |
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amending
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| 改良，修改，修订( amend的现在分词 )； 改良，修改，修订( amend的第三人称单数 )( amends的现在分词 ) | |
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ethically
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| adv.在伦理上，道德上 | |
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monopolize
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| v.垄断，独占，专营 | |
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subjugation
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| n.镇压，平息，征服 | |
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astounding
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| adj.使人震惊的vt.使震惊，使大吃一惊astound的现在分词) | |
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arrogance
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| n.傲慢，自大 | |
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caption
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| n.说明，字幕，标题；v.加上标题，加上说明 | |
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defendant
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| n.被告；adj.处于被告地位的 | |
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delegations
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| n.代表团( delegation的名词复数 )；委托，委派 | |
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legitimate
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| adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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redress
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| n.赔偿，救济，矫正；v.纠正，匡正，革除 | |
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subservient
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| adj.卑屈的，阿谀的 | |
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49
tariff
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| n.关税，税率；(旅馆、饭店等)价目表，收费表 | |
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attentively
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| adv.聚精会神地；周到地；谛；凝神 | |
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briefly
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| adv.简单地，简短地 | |
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citizenship
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| n.市民权，公民权，国民的义务(身份) | |
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nomination
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| n.提名，任命，提名权 | |
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accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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devoutly
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| adv.虔诚地，虔敬地，衷心地 | |
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56
delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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57
ripple
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| n.涟波，涟漪，波纹，粗钢梳；vt.使...起涟漪，使起波纹； vi.呈波浪状，起伏前进 | |
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auditors
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| n.审计员，稽核员( auditor的名词复数 )；（大学课程的）旁听生 | |
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outright
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| adv.坦率地；彻底地；立即；adj.无疑的；彻底的 | |
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enjoyment
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| n.乐趣；享有；享用 | |
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admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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62
tenacity
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| n.坚韧 | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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avowal
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| n.公开宣称，坦白承认 | |
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antagonism
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| n.对抗，敌对，对立 | |
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justify
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| vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护 | |
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