The Story of the Woman's PartyGillmore, Inez Haynes
History
The Story of the Woman's Party
Gillmore, Inez Haynes
National Woman's Party; Paul, Alice, 1885-1977; Women -- Suffrage -- United States
Lucy Burns tells an amusing story of Alice Paul’s experiences in
England. Lord Crewe was to speak at a meeting at Glasgow, and Alice Paul
was delegated to represent the Suffragists at that meeting and to heckle
the speaker. That meant that she must conceal herself in the building,
where the meeting was to take place, the night before. The building was
a big, high one—St. Andrew’s Hall, the girls remember the name—and it
was surrounded by a high, formidable iron fence. The night before Lucy
Burns walked with Alice Paul to the Hall and helped her to climb to the
top of this fence. Then Alice Paul jumped down into the grounds and Lucy
Burns left her there. There was some building going on at this hall and
with great difficulty Alice Paul climbed the scaffolding to the high
second story and settled herself on a roof to spend the night. It rained
all night; and of course she had no protection against the wet. And
after all this discomfort, when daylight broke, laborers coming to work
on a neighboring building observed the strange phenomenon of a woman
lying on a second-story roof. They reported her and she was ignominously
led down and out.
In the summer of 1912, Lucy Burns returned to America. Alice Paul
visited her in Long Island. For some time now, Alice Paul had been
considering the Suffrage situation of the United States in its national
aspect. Here, she broached to Lucy Burns her idea of working for a
Constitutional Amendment in Washington—her belief that with six States
enfranchised—with six States that could be used as a lever on
Congress—the time had come when further work in State campaigns was
sheer waste. More even than English conditions, American conditions
favored the policy of holding the Party in power responsible in regard
to Suffrage. In England, there was no body of women completely
enfranchised. In America there were approximately two million women
voters who, completely enfranchised, could command a hearing from the
politicians. She felt that such a campaign in America would be more
productive of result for still another reason. In pursuing that policy
in England, the Suffragists were often placed in the embarrassing
position of defeating Suffragists and putting in anti-Suffragists. But
in America, no matter what Party was in power, only Suffrage senators
and representatives could be elected from the Suffrage States. In other
words, if, in defeating the Party in power they defeated Suffragists—as
was inevitable in the Suffrage States—other Suffragists as inevitably
took their places. Moreover, there was no immediate motive urging
senators and representatives from the Suffrage States—although often
they were individually helpful—to convert senators and representatives
of their own Party from non-Suffrage States. Were their Party in
jeopardy at home, however, that motive was instantly supplied. Also,
Alice Paul thought that it was more dignified of women to ask the vote
of other women than to beg it of men.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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