Suffragists -- United States; Women -- Suffrage -- United States
“May I express my appreciation and gratitude for the excellent and
manly letter that you have written to President Wilson on woman
suffrage? I am sure that I am only one of many women who feel thankful
to you for it.
“The picketing seems to me a very silly business, and I am sure it is
doing the cause harm instead of good; but the picketers are being
shamefully and illegally treated, and it is a thousand pities, for
President Wilson’s own sake, that he ever allowed the Washington
authorities to enter on this course of persecution. It was high time
for some one to make a protest, and you have made one that has been
heard far and wide . . . .”
Mrs. Carrie Chapman Catt, the President of the National American Woman
Suffrage Association, wrote:
“I was in Maine when your wonderful letter announcing your resignation
came out. It was the noblest act that any man ever did on behalf of our
cause. The letter itself was a high minded appeal . . . . “
Mrs. Norman de R. Whitehouse, the President of the New York State Woman
Suffrage Party, with which Mr. Malone had worked for years, wired:
“Although we disagree with you on the question of picketing every
suffragist must be grateful to you for the gallant support you are
giving our cause and the great sacrifice you are making.”
Mrs. James Lees Laidlaw, Vice Chairman of the New York Suffrage Party,
said:
“No words of mine can tell you how our hearts have been lifted and our
purposes strengthened in this tremendous struggle in New York State by
the reading of your powerful and noble utterances in your letter to
President Wilson. There flashed through my mind all the memories of
Knights of chivalry and of romance that I have ever read, and they all
paled before your championship, and the sacrifice and the high-spirited
leadership that it signifies. Where you lead, I believe, thousands of
other men will follow, even though at a distance, and most inadequately
. . . .”
And from the women voters of California with whom Mr. Malone had kept
faith came the message:
“The liberty-loving women of California greet you as one of the few men
in history who have been willing to sacrifice material interests for
the liberty of a class to which they themselves do not belong. We are
thrilled by your inspiring words. We appreciate your sympathetic
understanding of the viewpoint of disfranchised women. We are deeply
grateful for the incalculable benefit of your active assistance in the
struggle of American women for political liberty and for a real
Democracy.”
I reprint Mr. Malone’s letter of resignation which sets forth in detail
his position.
September 7, 1917.
The President,
The White House,
Washington, D. C.
Dear Mr. President:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account