Suffragists -- United States; Women -- Suffrage -- United States
This bill, which died a well-deserved death, is so amusing as to
warrant reproduction. Although lamenting our comparison between the
President and the Kaiser, it will be seen that Senator Myers brought
forth a thoroughly Prussian document:
A BILL
For the better protection and enforcement of peace and order and the
public welfare in the District of Columbia.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives o f the United
States o f America in Congress assembled, That when the United States
shall be engaged in war it shall be unlawful for any person or persons
to carry, hold, wave, exhibit, display, or have in his or her
possession in any public road, highway, alley, street, thoroughfare,
park, or other public place in the District of Columbia, any banner,
flag, streamer, sash, or other device having thereon any words or
language with reference to the President or the Vice President of the
United States, or any words or language with reference to the
Constitution of the United States, or the right of suffrage, or right
of citizenship, or any words or language with reference to the duties
of any executive official or department of the United States, or with
reference to any proposed amendment to the Constitution of the United
States, or with reference to any law or proposed law of the United
States, calculated to bring the President of the United States or the
Government of the United States into contempt, or which may tend to
cause confusion, or excitement, or obstruction of the streets or
sidewalks thereof, or any passage in any public place.
Sec. 2. That any person committing any foregoing described offense
shall, upon conviction thereof, for each offense be fined not less than
$100 nor more than $1,000 or imprisoned not less than thirty days nor
more than one year, or by both such fine and imprisonment.
Voices were raised in our behalf, also, and among them I note the
following letter written to Major Pullman by Gilson Gardner:[1]
[1] The distinguished journalist who went to Africa to meet Theodore
Roosevelt and accompanied him on his return journey to America.
Mr. Raymond Pullman,
Chief of Police,
Washington, D. C.
My dear Pullman,—
I am writing as an old friend to urge you to get right in this matter
of arresting the suffrage pickets. Of course the only way for you to
get right is to resign. It has apparently become impossible for you to
stay in office and do your duty. The alternative is obvious.
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