Page:Democratic Ideals (Olympia Brown).djvu/77

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.

The Federal Suffrage Association


frage Association, and petitions to the United States Senate circulated asking for the passage of Senate Joint Resolution No. 1. Several thousand signatures were obtained. The committee occupied the tent at Gettysburg from June 31 to July 7, experiencing many hardships and suffering much from the heat and hard work involved, but it was gratifying to see the readiness with which people gave their names for the cause, especially the old soldiers who seemed to feel it a privilege to sign the petition. What was most remarkable was that the Confederate soldiers were quite as eager to inscribe their names on the petition for woman's enfranchisement as any of the Union soldiers. Mrs. Anson Wells and Mrs. Henry P. Blair with other friends of the cause contributed generously to the expense of the enterprise. Although the effort cost considerable money, time and labor, yet the committee felt that it was well worth doing as a means of awakening interest in and advancing the cause of woman's suffrage.

The Federal Suffrage measure has commended itself to thoughtful and unprejudiced people. The law should have been passed by Congress long ago as has been well said by Mrs. Ida Husted Harper in an article published in the Washington Herald of June 5, 1914, as follows:

"The immense advantage which this pro