194It will be remembered that, shortly after the President took his seat in March, 1913, he told a deputation from the Congressional Committee that Suffrage4 was a question to which he had given no thought and on which he had no opinion. During the year, no longer stating that he knew nothing about Suffrage, he gave as a reason for inaction that the Congressional program was too crowded to consider it. By the end of the year, he had reached the point where he stated that he could take no action on the Suffrage Amendment5 until commanded by his Party.
In 1914, he continued to state that he was prohibited from acting6 because of being bound by his Party until June, when he seized on the excuse of States Rights further to explain his inaction. In the autumn of 1915 he first came out personally for Suffrage by voting for it in New Jersey7 but still refused to support it in Congress. His next step forward came in June, 1916, when he caused the principle of Suffrage to be recognized in the Party platform, though as yet neither he nor the Party had endorsed8 the Federal Amendment. In September of that same year—after the Woman’s Party had begun its active campaign in the Suffrage States—the President took another step and addressed a Suffrage Convention of the National American Woman’s Suffrage Association. But as yet he was not committed to the Federal Amendment, had not begun to exert pressure on Congress.
The situation of the President and the Woman’s Party at this juncture9 may be summed up in this way. Wilson, himself, was beginning to realize that the Suffrage Amendment must ultimately pass. But he had just been re-elected. He was safe for four years; he could take his time about it. The Woman’s Party on the other hand, realized that the President being safe for four years, no political pressure could be exerted upon him. They realized that they must devise other methods to keep Suffrage, as a measure demanding immediate10 enactment11, before him.
In the meantime, a feeling of acute discontent was growing 195in the women of the United States. The older women—and they were the third generation to demand the vote—were beginning to ask how long this period of entreaty12 must be protracted13. The younger women—the fourth generation to demand the vote—were becoming impatient with the out-worn methods of their predecessors14. Moreover, when the disfranchised women of the East visited the enfranchised15 States of the West, their eyes were opened in a practical way to the extraordinary injustice16 of their own disfranchisement. Equally, the enfranchised women of the West, moving to Eastern States, resented their loss of this political weapon. On many women in America the militant17 movement of England had produced a profound impression.
A new note had crept into the speeches made by the members of the Woman’s Party—the note of this impatience18 and resentment19. It will be remembered that Mrs. Kent told the President that the women voters of the West were accustomed to being listened to with attention by politicians, and that they resented the effort to make it seem that they were merely trying to bother a very busy official. Mrs. Blatch had told him that the time had gone by when she would stand on street corners and ask the vote from every Tom, Dick, and Harry20; that she was determined21 to appeal instead to the men who spoke22 her own language and who had in charge the affairs of the government.
Doris Stevens, in an interview in the Omaha Daily News for June 29, 1919, voices perfectly23 what her generation was feeling.
A successful young Harvard engineer said to me the other day, “I don’t believe you realize how much men objected to your picketing24 the White House. Now I know what I’m talking about. I’ve talked with men in all walks of life, and I tell you they didn’t approve of what you women did.”
This last with warmer emphasis and a scowl25 of the brow. “I don’t suppose you were in a position to know how violently men felt about it.”
I listened patiently and courteously26. Should I disillusion27 him? I thought it was the honest thing to do. “Why, of course 196men didn’t like it. Do you think we imagined they would? We knew they would disapprove28. When did men ever applaud women fighting for their own liberty? We are approved only when we fight for yours!”
“You don’t mean to say you planned to do something knowing men would not approve?”
I simply had to tell him, “Why, certainly! We’re just beginning to get confidence in ourselves. At last we’ve learned to make and stand by our own judgments29.”
“But going to jail. That was pretty shocking.”
“Yes, indeed it was. It not only shocked us that a government would be alarmed enough to do such a thing, but what was more to the point, it shocked the entire country into doing something quickly about Woman Suffrage.”
It will be seen by the foregoing pages of this book that Suffragists had exhausted30 every form of Suffrage agitation31 known to the United States. In particular, they had sent to the President every kind of deputation that could possibly move him.
They decided32 to send him a perpetual deputation.
Alice Paul, in explanation of her strategy in this matter, uses one of the vivid figures that are so typical of her: “If a creditor33 stands before a man’s house all day long, demanding payment of his bill, the man must either remove the creditor or pay the bill.”
At first, the President tried to remove the creditor. Later he paid the bill.
At ten o’clock on January 10, 1917, the day after the deputation to the President, twelve women emerged from Headquarters and marched across Lafayette Square to the White House. Four of them bore lettered banners, and eight of them carried purple, white, and gold banners of the Woman’s Party. They marched slowly—a banner’s length apart. Six of them took up their stand at the East gate, and six of them at the West gate. At each gate—standing34 between pairs of women holding on high purple, white, and gold colors—two women held lettered banners. 197One read:
MR. PRESIDENT WHAT WILL YOU DO FOR WOMAN SUFFRAGE?
The other read:
HOW LONG MUST WOMEN WAIT FOR LIBERTY?
These were the first women to picket the White House.
The first picket line appeared on January 10, 1917; the last, over a year and a half later. Between those dates, except when Congress was not in session, more than a thousand women held lettered banners, accompanied by the purple, white, and gold tri-colors, at the White House gates, or in front of the Capitol. They picketed35 every day of the week, except Sunday; in all kinds of weather, in rain and in sleet36, in hail, and in snow. All varieties of women picketed: all races and religions; all cliques37 and classes; all professions and parties. Washington became accustomed to the dignified38 picture—the pickets39 moving with a solemn silence, always in a line that followed a crack in the pavement; always a banner’s length apart; taking their stand with a precision almost military; maintaining it with a movelessness almost statuesque. Washington became accustomed also to the rainbow splash at the White House gates—“like trumpet40 calls,” somebody described the banners. Artists often spoke of the beauty of their massed color. In the daytime, those banners gilded41 by the sunlight were doubly brilliant, but at twilight42 the effect was transcendent. Everywhere the big, white lights—set in the parks on such low standards that they seemed strange, luminous43 blossoms, springing from the masses of emerald green shrubbery—filled the dusk with bluish-white splendor44, and, made doubly colorful by this light, the long purple, white, and gold ribbon stood out against a background beautiful and appropriate; a mosaic45 on the gray of the White House pavement; the pen-and-ink blackness of the White House iron work; the bare, brown 198crisscross of the White House trees, and the chaste46 colonial simplicity47 of the White House itself.
With her abiding48 instinct for pageantry and for telling picturesqueness49 of demonstration50, Alice Paul soon punctuated51 the monotony of the picketing by special events. Various States celebrated52 State days on the picket line. Maryland was the first of these, and the long line of Maryland women bearing great banners, extended along Pennsylvania Avenue the entire distance from the East gate to the West gate. Pennsylvania Day, New York Day, Virginia Day, New Jersey Day, followed. The Monday of every week was set aside finally for District of Columbia Day.
The New York delegation53 carried on their banners phrases from President Wilson’s book, The New Freedom.
LIBERTY IS A FUNDAMENTAL DEMAND OF THE HUMAN SPIRIT.
WE ARE INTERESTED IN THE UNITED STATES, POLITICALLY
SPEAKING, IN NOTHING BUT HUMAN LIBERTY.
On College Day, thirteen colleges were represented, the biggest group from Goucher College, Baltimore. Then came Teachers’ Day; Patriotic54 Day, and Lincoln Day. On Patriotic Day, one of the banners read:
DENMARK ON THE VERGE55 OF WAR GAVE WOMEN THE VOTE.
WHY NOT GIVE IT TO AMERICAN WOMEN NOW?
On Lincoln Day, they said:
WHY ARE YOU BEHIND LINCOLN?
AFTER THE CIVIL WAR WOMEN ASKED FOR POLITICAL FREEDOM.
THEY WERE TOLD TO WAIT—THIS WAS THE NEGRO’S HOUR.
IN 1917, AMERICAN WOMEN STILL ASK FOR FREEDOM.
WILL YOU, MR. PRESIDENT, TELL THEM TO WAIT—THAT THIS IS THE PORTO RICAN’S HOUR?
199On Sunday, February 18, came Labor56 Day on the picket line. It was, of course, impossible for wage-earning women to picket the White House on any other day. They represented not only office workers, but factory workers from the great industrial centers. Many of them had come from other cities.
Susan B. Anthony’s birthday, February 15, was celebrated impressively, although it rained and snowed heavily. Three new banners appeared that day. The first—big enough and golden enough even to suit that big, golden woman—bore quotations57 from Susan B. Anthony:
WE PRESS OUR DEMAND FOR THE BALLOT59 AT THIS TIME IN
NO NARROW, CAPTIOUS60, OR SELF-SEEKING SPIRIT, BUT FROM
PUREST PATRIOTISM61 FOR THE HIGHEST GOOD OF EVERY CITIZEN,
FOR THE SAFETY OF THE REPUBLIC, AND AS A GLORIOUS
EXAMPLE TO THE NATIONS OF THE EARTH.
The second Susan B. Anthony banner said:
AT THIS TIME OUR GREATEST NEED IS NOT MEN OR MONEY,
VALIANT62 GENERALS OR BRILLIANT VICTORIES, BUT A CONSISTENT
NATIONAL POLICY BASED UPON THE PRINCIPLES THAT
ALL GOVERNMENTS DERIVE63 THEIR JUST POWERS FROM THE
CONSENT OF THE GOVERNED.
The third Susan B. Anthony banner said:
THE RIGHT OF SELF-GOVERNMENT FOR ONE-HALF OF ITS
PEOPLE IS OF FAR MORE VITAL CONSEQUENCE TO THE NATION
THAN ANY OR ALL OTHER QUESTIONS.
On March 2, 1917, the Congressional union and its Western organization, the Woman’s Party, met in joint64 convention and organized themselves into the National Woman’s Party.
On that occasion, Alice Paul said:
200We feel that by combining the Congressional union and the Woman’s Party we shall bring about a unity65 in organization which will make impossible duplication, difference of opinion, and divergence66 of method. By uniting we make, moreover, for unity of spirit in the whole Suffrage movement, bringing the voters and non-voters together in a movement in which they should both be integral parts.
The original purpose for which the Woman’s Party, as an organization confined to women voters alone, was formed, has, we believe, been served. In the first three years of our work we endeavored to call the attention of political leaders and Congress to the fact that women were voting and that these voting women were interested in Suffrage. But words alone did not have much effect. We found we had to visualize67 the existence of voting women out in the West and their support of the Suffrage Amendment. The Woman’s Party was formed as one means of doing this.
The Woman’s Party did, I believe, have an effect on the political leaders. It was very clear, I think, at the convention in Chicago and in St. Louis that the idea that women were voting and that those women were interested in the Federal Amendment was at last appreciated. This November’s election completed our work in getting that fact into the minds of Congressmen and political leaders. There is no longer any need to draw a line around women voters and set them off by themselves in order to call attention to them. They now enter into the calculations of every political observer.
If we amalgamate68 and make ourselves one great group of voters and non-voters all working for the Federal Amendment, the question arises: What name shall we be called by, the Congressional union or the Woman’s Party? Our Executive Committee felt that we ought to keep the name of the Woman’s Party, because it stands for political power.
The objections brought against this are, I think, two. First, that non-voters should not, according to custom, be part of a political Party; second, that if they are included, that Party will not command as much respect as would a Party composed solely69 of voters. There are non-voters in the Socialist70, the Progressive, and the Prohibition71 Parties; there is no reason why, if we are interested in precedent72 and custom, they should not be in our Party also. As to the second point: The Congressional union has the reputation of being an active, determined, and well-financed organization. When the political world realizes that this young Woman’s Party has been strengthened by the influx73 201of twenty-five thousand workers of the Congressional union ready to give their service and money it will consider that the Woman’s Party stands for more power than if formed of the women of the Western States only.
Wage Earners Picketing the White House, February, 1917.
Photo Copr. Harris and Ewing, Washington, D. C.
All of us in the Congressional union feel an affection for it. But that is no reason for continuing the organization. The Congressional union has served a useful purpose, we believe. But now that we have created the Woman’s Party we ought, it seems to me, to develop and make that the dominant74 Suffrage factor in this country because that, through its name and associations, throws the emphasis more than does the Congressional union on the political power of women.
The following officers were elected unanimously at the morning session: Chairman of the National Woman’s Party, Alice Paul; Vice-Chairman, Anne Martin; Secretary, Mabel Vernon; Treasurer75, Gertrude Crocker. The executive board elected were: Lucy Burns, Mrs. O. H. P. Belmont, Mrs. J. W. Brannan, Mrs. Gilson Gardner, Abby Scott Baker76, Mrs. William Kent, Maud Younger, Doris Stevens, Florence Bayard Hilles, Mrs. Donald Hooker, Mrs. J. A. H. Hopkins, and Mrs. Lawrence Lewis.
At that Convention, various resolutions were passed; the most notable in regard to the attitude of the National Woman’s Party towards the rapidly developing war situation. That resolution runs as follows:
Whereas the problems involved in the present international situation, affecting the lives of millions of women in this country, make imperative77 the enfranchisement78 of women,
Be it resolved that the National Woman’s Party, organized for the sole purpose of securing political liberty for women, shall continue to work for this purpose until it is accomplished79, being unalterably convinced that in so doing the organization serves the highest interests of the country.
And be it further resolved that to this end we urge upon the President and the Congress of the United States the immediate passage of the National Suffrage Amendment.
It was decided to present these resolutions to the President. Shortly after, Dudley Field Malone, Collector of the 202Port of New York, on behalf of the Woman’s Party, informed the President that a deputation would visit him for that purpose.
This demonstration was not so much a protest at the failure of the first administration to pass the Anthony Amendment, or at the adjournment80 of Congress without passing it, as a presentation of the demands of the National Woman’s Party immediately upon the opening of President Wilson’s second term.
During the first three days in March, Washington filled steadily81 with inauguration82 crowds. When they got off the train, the Great Demand banner of the National Woman’s Party confronted them, and girls handed them slips inviting83 them to the demonstration of the National Woman’s Party at the White House on Inauguration Day and to the mass-meeting of the National Woman’s Party to be held that night. Girls also stood in theatre lobbies, handing out more of these slips. Girls made the rounds of the government departments, handing out still more. Everywhere great posters said:
COME TO THE WHITE HOUSE ON MARCH 4.
COME IN THOUSANDS.
Inauguration Day dawned a day of biting wind and slashing84 rain.
Outside Headquarters was turmoil85; inside a boiling activity. Hundreds of women were preparing to picket the White House. To accommodate them, a rubber company, hastily summoned, had commandeered one room and was selling rain-coats; tarpaulin86 hats; rubbers.
An extraordinary, a magnificent demonstration followed. To the music of several bands, nearly a thousand pickets circled the White House four times—a distance of four miles. Vida Milholland, the younger sister of Inez Milholland, marched at the head, carrying on a golden banner her sister’s last words for Suffrage.
203MR. PRESIDENT, HOW LONG MUST WOMEN WAIT FOR LIBERTY?
The Great Demand banner followed, carried by Mrs. Benton Mackaye:
WE DEMAND AN AMENDMENT TO THE CONSTITUTION OF
THE UNITED STATES ENFRANCHISING87 WOMEN.
Beulah Amidon carried the Suffrage banner which Inez Milholland bore in the first Suffrage procession in New York:
“Forward, Out Of Darkness,
Leave Behind The Night.
Forward Out Of Error,
Forward Into Light.”
Behind there came hundreds of women bearing the purple, white, and gold. They were divided according to States; and before each division marched the State flag of the division. The drenching88 rain fell steadily. The pavements turned to shallow lakes, and the banners—their brilliancy accentuated89 by the wet—threw long, wavy90 reflections on the glassy, gray streets. They were of course expecting this demonstration at the White House, and, as though it were dangerous, unusual precautions had been taken against it. Every gate was locked. The Washington force of police officers, augmented91 by police from Baltimore and by squads92 of plain-clothes men, guarded the grounds without and within. Gilson Gardner said the President seemed to think the women were going to steal his grass roots.
There was no one at the locked gates to receive the women or the resolutions except the guards; these guards protested that they had not been ordered to receive either. The women visited every gate, but received the same answer. The cards of the leaders were finally handed over to a guard to present at the White House. He tried to deliver them, but was reprimanded for leaving his post, and sent back. Learning 204that the cards would be delivered at the end of the day, as is the custom with visiting-cards of casual visitors at the White House, the thousand pickets took up their march again.
Gilson Gardner wrote of this demonstration:
The weather gave this affair its character. Had there been fifteen hundred women carrying banners on a fair day, the sight would have been a pretty one. But to see a thousand women—young women, middle-aged93 and old women—and there were women in the line who had passed their three score and ten—marching in a rain that almost froze as it fell; to see them standing and marching and holding their heavy banners, momentarily growing heavier—holding them against a wind that was half gale—hour after hour, until their gloves were wet, their clothes soaked through; to see them later with hands sticky from the varnish94 from the banner poles—bare hands, for the gloves had by this time been pulled off, and the hands were blue with cold—to see these women keep their lines and go through their program fully95, losing only those who fainted or fell from exhaustion96, was a sight to impress even the dulled and jaded97 senses of one who has seen much.
One young woman from North Dakota I saw clinging to the iron pickets around the White House, her banner temporarily abandoned, fighting against what was to her a new feeling, faintness resulting from the pain in her hands. She was brought to the automobile98 in which I was riding before she actually fell to the ground; but after a short rest she was back in the line, and finished with the others.
There is no doubt that what Gilson Gardner said was true—the weather gave this affair its character.
People passing by, thrilled by the gallantry of the marchers, joined the procession. And as Gilson Gardner says, it was not because it was a pretty sight, or because these women were all young. Anna Norris Kendall of Wisconsin, seventy-two years old, and the Rev99. Olympia Brown, eighty-two years old, one of the pioneer Suffragists of the country, both took part.
The Thousand Pickets Try Vainly to Deliver Their Resolutions to the President, March 4, 1917.
A Thousand Pickets Marching Around the White House, March 4, 1917.
That day, a newly elected Congressman100 drove about Washington, showing the city to his wife. He had always 205been a Suffragist. She had always been an anti-Suffragist. The sudden sight of the thousand women marching in the rain not only converted her, but it produced such an effect on her she burst into tears.
Later, President Wilson sent a letter to the National Woman’s Party, acknowledging the resolutions presented to him by the deputations of March 4, and concluded: “May I not once more express my sincere interest in the cause of Woman Suffrage?”
Congress adjourned101 on March 3, 1917. The pickets adjourned with it. On April 2, a Special War Session of Congress convened102. The Suffragist gives an interesting description of that interesting day.
Just half an hour before Congress formally opened, the Suffrage sentinels at the Capitol took their places.... There was tensity in the atmosphere. The Capitol grounds were overrun with pacifists from many cities wearing white-lettered badges; and with war advocates, as plainly labeled, with partisan103 demands. They swarmed104 over the Capitol grounds unmolested, though extra precautions were taken throughout the day and in the evening when troops of cavalry105 were called out. The silent sentinels stood unmoved the while for democracy while peace and war agitation eddied106 around them.
The pickets convened with Congress. They continued to stand at the gates of the White House, but they extended their line to the Capitol. Three pickets, led by Elsie Hill, took up their station by the House entrance and three by the Senate entrance. At night—this evoked107 from the newspapers sly allusions108 to the Trojan horse—they used to store their banners in the House Office Building.
On April 7, the United States declared itself to be at war with Germany.
After war was declared, the Woman’s Party continued—and continued with an increasing force and eloquence—to 206demand the enfranchisement of the women of the United States by Constitutional Amendment. This brought down upon their heads a storm of criticism; antagonism109; hostility110. But Alice Paul was not deflected111 by it from her purpose. She recalled that, at the outbreak of the Civil War, Suffragists of that day, were entreated112 to relinquish113 their Suffrage work in favor of war work. They were promised that, at the end of the war, they would be enfranchised. Susan B. Anthony complied with great reluctance114, carried on, against her will, by the majority of those who surrounded her.
At the end of the war, the black man was enfranchised. The white women had been asking for the vote ever since.
Every effort was made to shake this young leader in her fearless stand. All kinds of people came to her and begged her to give up the picketing. One strong friend, a newspaper man, said, “It’s as though you opened the windows and said, ‘There’s a nice big cyclone115 coming. Come out of your cyclone-cellars, girls, and let’s go in it!’” Denunciations, violence, mobs, murders were predicted.
There was no officer of the National Woman’s Party who did not realize what it meant to go on with such a fight at such a time.
They determined, whatever befell, not to lower their banners; to hold them high.
Alice Paul announced in the editorial columns of the Suffragist, that members of the Woman’s Party would, if they so desired, work for war through various organizations, especially organized for war work, but that the Woman’s Party itself would continue to work only for the enfranchisement of women.
The eyes of the world were now turned on the White House. Distinguished116 men from all over the country visited the President. Foreign missions came one after another.
207Picturesque events continued to happen on the picket line. Arthur Balfour, the leader of the British Mission, called at the White House to pay his respects. He was confronted with forty pickets. Their banners were inscribed117 with the President’s own words:
WE SHALL FIGHT FOR THE THINGS WHICH WE HAVE ALWAYS HELD NEAREST OUR HEARTS—FOR DEMOCRACY, FOR THE RIGHT OF THOSE WHO SUBMIT TO AUTHORITY TO HAVE A VOICE IN THEIR OWN GOVERNMENTS.—President Wilson’s War Message, April 2, 1917.
This quotation58 from the President’s words became a slogan among the Suffragists.
The pickets recalled that when Arthur Balfour used to emerge into Downing Street, where the English militants118 were producing a demonstration, he always wore a bunch of violets in his buttonhole, to show his sympathy with them.
The spring brought its usual beautiful metamorphosis to Washington. If the pickets had seemed beautiful in the winter, they were quadruply so when the fresh green came. Everywhere that luxuriance of foliage119, exquisitely120 tender and soft, which marks Washington, made an intensive background for their great golden banners and their tri-color. The pickets found it a delightfully121 humorous coincidence that, when they came to take up their station at the White House, the White House lawns were ablaze122 with their tri-color—the white of hyacinths, the purple of azalea, and the gold of forsythia. The Little White House itself was not exempt123 from this burst of bloom. The huge wistaria vine on its fa?ade turned to a purple cascade124; and out of it spirted the purple, white, and gold of their tri-color and the red, white, and blue of the national banner. When the French Commission, including Joffre and Viviani, passed all this massed color, they leaped to their feet, waving their hats and shouting their approval.
208On June 20, the Mission headed by Bakmetief, sent by the new Russian Republic which had just enfranchised its women, was officially received by President Wilson. When they reached the White House gates, they were confronted by a big banner—since known as the “Russian” banner—borne by Lucy Burns and Mrs. Lawrence Lewis.
PRESIDENT WILSON AND ENVOY125 ROOT ARE DECEIVING RUSSIA.
THEY SAY “WE ARE A DEMOCRACY. HELP US WIN THE
WAR SO THAT DEMOCRACIES MAY SURVIVE.”
WE WOMEN OF AMERICA TELL YOU THAT AMERICA IS NOT A
DEMOCRACY. TWENTY MILLION WOMEN ARE DENIED THE
RIGHT TO VOTE. PRESIDENT WILSON IS THE CHIEF OPPONENT
OF THEIR NATIONAL ENFRANCHISEMENT.
HELP US MAKE THIS NATION REALLY FREE. TELL OUR
GOVERNMENT THAT IT MUST LIBERATE126 ITS PEOPLE BEFORE
IT CAN CLAIM FREE RUSSIA AS AN ALLY.
The appearance of this banner produced strange results. A man standing at the White House gates leaped at it—the instant the Russian Mission had vanished—and tore the sign from its supports.
The crowd closed in around them. The two women continued to stand facing them. Nina Allender, who saw this from across the street, said that the surging back and forth127 of straw hats as the crowd closed in upon the women gave her a sense of faintness. “One instant the banners were there, the next there were only bare sticks.”
Later, a prominent member of the Mission said to a no less prominent American, “You know, it was very embarrassing for us, because we were in sympathy with those women at the gates.”
The next day, June 21, Lucy Burns and Katherine Morey carried a banner which was the duplicate of the one borne the day before to the lower White House gate. Before they could set it up some boys destroyed it. The police did 209not interfere128; they looked placidly129 on. Immediately other banners were sent off from Headquarters. Hazel Hunkins carried one which said harmlessly:
DEMOCRACY SHOULD BEGIN AT HOME.
The crowds gathered and surged up and down the street but the two pickets stood motionless. Nothing happened for a while. Then a man, who stopped to congratulate Miss Hunkins, was applauded by the crowd. It is an interesting example of mob psychology130 that after this applause such an incident as happened five minutes later could happen. A woman of the War Department, who had been boasting that morning in her office that she was going to do this, attacked Hazel Hunkins. She tore the banners and spat131 on them. The avenue was crowded with government clerks and they immediately fell on the banners and destroyed them after a struggle. Katherine Morey, who was lunching at Headquarters, says in almost Bunyanesque language: “And I heard a great roar.” She ran towards the White House gates and saw that the mobs had charged the pickets, had torn the banners into shreds132. The mob then rushed to the other gate, picketed by Catherine Lowry and Lillian Crans. After a struggle, their banners also were destroyed. Lillian Crans ran to Headquarters for another banner, carrying the news of what had happened.
Immediately, there emerged from the Little White House four women led by Mabel Vernon, carrying purple, white, and gold banners. It was a moment of tension, and the pickets were white-faced with that tension. This silent, persistent133 courage had, however, its inevitable134 effect on the crowd. It fell back. Before it could recover from its interval135 of indecision, the police met the groups of girls, and conducted them to their places. Police reserves ultimately appeared, and cleared the crowd from Pennsylvania Avenue. The pickets kept guard the rest of the day in peace. One of them even did her war-time knitting.
About this time a prominent newspaper man was sent to 210Alice Paul by the powers that be, on a mission of intervention136. He told her it was feared the President might be assassinated137 by some one in the crowds that the pickets collected.
“Is the Administration willing to have us make this public?” Alice Paul asked.
“Oh, no!” was the answer.
Alice Paul replied, “The picketing will go on as usual.”
So now Major Pullman, Chief of Police for the District of Columbia, called at Headquarters. He told Alice Paul that if the pickets went out again they would be arrested. Alice Paul answered in effect:
“Why has picketing suddenly become illegal? Our lawyers have assured us all along that picketing was legal. Certainly it is as legal in June as in January.” She concluded, “The picketing will go on as usual.”
Major Pullman then told her again that the pickets would be arrested if they went out.
Alice Paul replied, “The picketing will go on as usual.”
The next morning, June 22, Miss Paul telephoned Major Pullman that the pickets were going out with the banners. Rows of policemen stood outside Headquarters. However, that did not daunt138 the pickets. Suffragists began to come out; return; emerge again. All this made so much coming and going that, when Mabel Vernon appeared, carrying a box under her arm, nobody paid any attention. That box, however, contained a banner. Miss Vernon crossed to the park and sat down. Presently Lucy Burns came out of Headquarters and walked leisurely139 in one direction; a little later Katherine Morey came out, and strolled in another direction. At a given moment these two women met at the East gate of the White House. Mabel Vernon joined them with the banner. They set it up and stood undisturbed in front of the White House for several minutes. Suddenly one of the policemen caught sight of them: “The little devils!” he exclaimed: “Can you beat that!”
211The banner carried the President’s own words: “We shall fight for the things, etc.”
The day before the police had been in a bad quandary140. Now they were in a worse one: it did not seem reasonable to arrest such a banner. One policeman did, however, start to do so. “My God, man, you can’t arrest that,” another policeman remonstrated141. “Them’s the President’s own words.” They did make the arrest, though—after seven minutes of indecision. When the prisoners arrived at the police station Lucy Burns asked what the charge was: “Charge! Charge!” the policeman said, obviously much puzzled: “We don’t know what the charge is yet. We’ll telephone you that later.”
These two, Lucy Burns and Katherine Morey, were the first of the long list of women to be arrested for picketing the White House. They were, however, never brought to trial.
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picket
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| n.纠察队；警戒哨；v.设置纠察线；布置警卫 | |
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briefly
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recapitulate
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suffrage
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amendment
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acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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7
jersey
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| n.运动衫 | |
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8
endorsed
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| vt.& vi.endorse的过去式或过去分词形式v.赞同( endorse的过去式和过去分词 )；在（尤指支票的）背面签字；在（文件的）背面写评论；在广告上说本人使用并赞同某产品 | |
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9
juncture
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| n.时刻，关键时刻，紧要关头 | |
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10
immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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11
enactment
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| n.演出，担任…角色；制订，通过 | |
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12
entreaty
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| n.恳求，哀求 | |
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13
protracted
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| adj.拖延的；延长的v.拖延“protract”的过去式和过去分词 | |
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14
predecessors
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| n.前任( predecessor的名词复数 )；前辈；（被取代的）原有事物；前身 | |
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enfranchised
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| v.给予选举权( enfranchise的过去式和过去分词 )；（从奴隶制中）解放 | |
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16
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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17
militant
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| adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士 | |
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18
impatience
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| n.不耐烦，急躁 | |
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19
resentment
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| n.怨愤，忿恨 | |
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20
harry
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| vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼 | |
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21
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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22
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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23
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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24
picketing
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| [经] 罢工工人劝阻工人上班，工人纠察线 | |
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25
scowl
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| vi.(at)生气地皱眉，沉下脸，怒视；n.怒容 | |
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26
courteously
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| adv.有礼貌地，亲切地 | |
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27
disillusion
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| vt.使不再抱幻想，使理想破灭 | |
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28
disapprove
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| v.不赞成，不同意，不批准 | |
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29
judgments
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| 判断( judgment的名词复数 )； 鉴定； 评价； 审判 | |
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30
exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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31
agitation
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| n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动 | |
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32
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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33
creditor
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| n.债仅人，债主，贷方 | |
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34
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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35
picketed
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| 用尖桩围住（picket的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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36
sleet
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| n.雨雪；v.下雨雪，下冰雹 | |
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37
cliques
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| n.小集团，小圈子，派系( clique的名词复数 ) | |
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38
dignified
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| a.可敬的，高贵的 | |
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39
pickets
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| 罢工纠察员( picket的名词复数 ) | |
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40
trumpet
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| n.喇叭，喇叭声；v.吹喇叭，吹嘘 | |
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41
gilded
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| a.镀金的，富有的 | |
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42
twilight
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| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
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43
luminous
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| adj.发光的，发亮的；光明的；明白易懂的；有启发的 | |
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44
splendor
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| n.光彩；壮丽，华丽；显赫，辉煌 | |
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45
mosaic
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| n./adj.镶嵌细工的，镶嵌工艺品的，嵌花式的 | |
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46
chaste
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| adj.贞洁的；有道德的；善良的；简朴的 | |
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47
simplicity
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| n.简单，简易；朴素；直率，单纯 | |
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48
abiding
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| adj.永久的，持久的，不变的 | |
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49
picturesqueness
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50
demonstration
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| n.表明，示范，论证，示威 | |
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51
punctuated
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| v.（在文字中）加标点符号，加标点( punctuate的过去式和过去分词 )；不时打断某事物 | |
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52
celebrated
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| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
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53
delegation
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| n.代表团；派遣 | |
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54
patriotic
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| adj.爱国的，有爱国心的 | |
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55
verge
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| n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临 | |
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56
labor
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| n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦 | |
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57
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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58
quotation
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| n.引文，引语，语录；报价，牌价，行情 | |
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59
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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60
captious
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| adj.难讨好的，吹毛求疵的 | |
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61
patriotism
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| n.爱国精神，爱国心，爱国主义 | |
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62
valiant
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| adj.勇敢的，英勇的；n.勇士，勇敢的人 | |
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63
derive
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| v.取得；导出；引申；来自；源自；出自 | |
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64
joint
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| adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合 | |
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65
unity
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| n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调 | |
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66
divergence
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| n.分歧，岔开 | |
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67
visualize
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| vt.使看得见，使具体化，想象，设想 | |
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68
amalgamate
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| v.(指业务等)合并，混合 | |
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69
solely
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| adv.仅仅，唯一地 | |
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70
socialist
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| n.社会主义者；adj.社会主义的 | |
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71
prohibition
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| n.禁止；禁令，禁律 | |
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72
precedent
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| n.先例，前例；惯例；adj.在前的，在先的 | |
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73
influx
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| n.流入，注入 | |
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74
dominant
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| adj.支配的，统治的；占优势的；显性的；n.主因，要素，主要的人(或物)；显性基因 | |
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75
treasurer
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| n.司库，财务主管 | |
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76
baker
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| n.面包师 | |
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77
imperative
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| n.命令，需要；规则；祈使语气；adj.强制的；紧急的 | |
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78
enfranchisement
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| 选举权 | |
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79
accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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80
adjournment
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| 休会； 延期； 休会期； 休庭期 | |
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81
steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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82
inauguration
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| n.开幕、就职典礼 | |
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83
inviting
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| adj.诱人的，引人注目的 | |
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84
slashing
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| adj.尖锐的；苛刻的；鲜明的；乱砍的v.挥砍( slash的现在分词 )；鞭打；割破；削减 | |
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85
turmoil
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| n.骚乱，混乱，动乱 | |
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86
tarpaulin
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| n.涂油防水布，防水衣，防水帽 | |
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87
enfranchising
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| v.给予选举权( enfranchise的现在分词 )；（从奴隶制中）解放 | |
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88
drenching
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| n.湿透v.使湿透( drench的现在分词 )；在某人（某物）上大量使用（某液体） | |
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89
accentuated
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| v.重读( accentuate的过去式和过去分词 )；使突出；使恶化；加重音符号于 | |
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90
wavy
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| adj.有波浪的，多浪的，波浪状的，波动的，不稳定的 | |
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91
Augmented
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| adj.增音的 动词augment的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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92
squads
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| n.（军队中的）班( squad的名词复数 )；（暗杀）小组；体育运动的运动（代表）队；（对付某类犯罪活动的）警察队伍 | |
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93
middle-aged
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| adj.中年的 | |
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94
varnish
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| n.清漆；v.上清漆；粉饰 | |
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95
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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96
exhaustion
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| n.耗尽枯竭，疲惫，筋疲力尽，竭尽，详尽无遗的论述 | |
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97
jaded
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| adj.精疲力竭的；厌倦的；（因过饱或过多而）腻烦的；迟钝的 | |
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98
automobile
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| n.汽车，机动车 | |
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99
rev
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| v.发动机旋转，加快速度 | |
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100
Congressman
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| n.（美）国会议员 | |
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101
adjourned
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| （使）休会， （使）休庭( adjourn的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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102
convened
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| 召开( convene的过去式 )； 召集； （为正式会议而）聚集； 集合 | |
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103
partisan
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| adj.党派性的；游击队的；n.游击队员；党徒 | |
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104
swarmed
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| 密集( swarm的过去式和过去分词 )； 云集； 成群地移动； 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去 | |
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105
cavalry
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| n.骑兵；轻装甲部队 | |
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106
eddied
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| 起漩涡，旋转( eddy的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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107
evoked
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| [医]诱发的 | |
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108
allusions
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| 暗指，间接提到( allusion的名词复数 ) | |
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109
antagonism
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| n.对抗，敌对，对立 | |
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110
hostility
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| n.敌对，敌意；抵制［pl.］交战，战争 | |
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111
deflected
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| 偏离的 | |
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112
entreated
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| 恳求，乞求( entreat的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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113
relinquish
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| v.放弃，撤回，让与，放手 | |
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114
reluctance
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| n.厌恶，讨厌，勉强，不情愿 | |
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115
cyclone
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| n.旋风，龙卷风 | |
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116
distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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117
inscribed
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| v.写，刻( inscribe的过去式和过去分词 )；内接 | |
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118
militants
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| 激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 ) | |
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119
foliage
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| n.叶子，树叶，簇叶 | |
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120
exquisitely
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| adv.精致地；强烈地；剧烈地；异常地 | |
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121
delightfully
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| 大喜，欣然 | |
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122
ablaze
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| adj.着火的，燃烧的；闪耀的，灯火辉煌的 | |
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123
exempt
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| adj.免除的；v.使免除；n.免税者，被免除义务者 | |
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124
cascade
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| n.小瀑布，喷流；层叠；vi.成瀑布落下 | |
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125
envoy
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| n.使节，使者，代表，公使 | |
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126
liberate
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| v.解放，使获得自由，释出，放出；vt.解放，使获自由 | |
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127
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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128
interfere
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| v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰 | |
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129
placidly
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| adv.平稳地，平静地 | |
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130
psychology
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| n.心理，心理学，心理状态 | |
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131
spat
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| n.口角，掌击；v.发出呼噜呼噜声 | |
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132
shreds
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| v.撕碎，切碎( shred的第三人称单数 )；用撕毁机撕毁（文件） | |
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133
persistent
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| adj.坚持不懈的，执意的；持续的 | |
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inevitable
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| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
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135
interval
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| n.间隔，间距；幕间休息，中场休息 | |
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136
intervention
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| n.介入，干涉，干预 | |
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137
assassinated
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| v.暗杀( assassinate的过去式和过去分词 )；中伤；诋毁；破坏 | |
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138
daunt
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| vt.使胆怯，使气馁 | |
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139
leisurely
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| adj.悠闲的；从容的，慢慢的 | |
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140
quandary
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| n.困惑，进迟两难之境 | |
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141
remonstrated
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| v.抗议( remonstrate的过去式和过去分词 )；告诫 | |
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