Suffragists -- United States; Women -- Suffrage -- United States
No. As Chief of Police you have no more right to complain of the
sentiments of a banner than you have of the sentiments in an editorial
in the Washington Post, and you have no more right to arrest the
banner-bearer than you have to arrest the owner of the Washington Post
. . . . Congress refused to pass a press censorship law. There are
certain lingering traditions to the effect that a people’s liberties
are closely bound up with the right to talk things out and those who
are enlightened know that the only proper answer to words is words.
When force is opposed to words there is ground for the charge of
“Kaiserism.” . .
There was just one thing for you to have done, Pullman, and that was to
give full and adequate protection to these women, no matter what
banners they carried or what ideas their banners expressed. If there is
any law that can be invoked against the wording of the banners it was
the business of others in the government to start the legal machinery
which would abate them. It was not lawful to abate them by mob
violence, or by arrests. And if those in authority over you were not
willing that you thus do your duty, it was up to you to resign.
After all it would not be such a terrible thing, Pullman, for you to
give up being Chief of Police, particularly when you are not permitted
to be chief of police, but must yield your judgment to the district
commissioners who have yielded their judgment to the White House. Being
Chief of Police under such circumstances can hardly be worth while. You
are a young man and the world is full of places for young men with
courage enough to save their self- respect at the expense of their
jobs. You did that once,-back in the Ballinger-Pinchot days. Why not
now?
Come out and help make the fight which must be made to recover and
protect the liberties which are being filched from us here at home.
There is a real fight looming up for real democracy. You will not be
alone. There are a lot of fine young men, vigorous and patriotic, in
and out of the Administration who are preparing for this fight. Yours
will not be the only resignation. But why not be among the first? Don’t
wait. Let them have your resignation. now and let me be the first to
welcome and congratulate you.
Sincerely,
(Signed) GILSON GARDNER.
Representative John Baer of North Dakota, having witnessed for himself
the riotous scenes, immediately introduced into the House a
resolution[1] demanding an investigation of conditions in the Capital
which permitted mobs to attack women. This, too, went to certain death.
Between the members who did not dare denounce the Administration and
the others who did dare denounce the women, we had to stand quite
solidly on our own program, and do our best to keep them nervous over
the next step in the agitation.
[1] See Appendix 3 for full text of resolution.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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