Maryland suffrage news., October 16, 1920, Page 232, Image 8

About Maryland suffrage news. (Baltimore, Md.) 1912-1920

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Published Weekly by the
JUST GOVERNMENT LEAGUE OP MARYLAND
SIT N. Charles Street
Svbscription: $2.00 per year.
Joint Subscription j agist | s3 ‘°° Per Yeat
Make checks payable to Dora G. Ogle, Business Manager.
DEDICATION.
To the poor women without homes, to the little toilers who
should be in the schools and playgrounds, to the white slaves in
their tragic bondage, and to the children who die, these pages
are dedicated! May every woman who is not too idle to have a
thought, or too vain to have a soul, or too rich in gold to have a
heart, join in the great struggle for women’s freedom!
Purity, Liberty, Justice —these we must work for!
WHITED SEPULCHURES
IN connection with the present sanctimonious attitude of Senator
Smith, it is interesting to recall that at no distant date the Democratic
organization in Baltimore City, which naturally supports this man, was
concerned in an event of very dubious character.
When the National Democratic Convention met in Baltimore and first
nominated President Wilson, the organization leaders in South Balti
more arranged a dance for the members of the convention and distributed
dance program containing some 14 advertisements of disreputable houses
in the segregated district where white women were bought, and sold.
These advertisements gave the names and addresses of the houses
and in some cases even the telephone numbers, and caused a great wave
of indignation among the suffragists.
Mrs. Thomas S. Cullen, Miss Mary E. Lent, Mrs. Donald R. Hooker,
Mrs. C. N. Gabriel and others saw these abominable publications after the
dance was held, but although they protested vigorously and sought to give
publicity to the outrage, their efforts availed little.
Now, in face of the coming election, it sheds light upon Senator
Smith’s opposition to woman suffrage to observe the character of the
machine that is supoprting him.
Let no woman vote for a man who profits from evil and who feels
that politics is too “vile” for decent women’s participation.
If you believe in a single standard of morals, vote against Senator
Smith and help destroy the malign power of his chief lieutenant in Balti
more city, the “Uncrowned King of the Underworld.”
THE PURPOSE OF THE J . G. L.
IN these stormy days preceding election it is easy to forget that even
after the deluge on November 2 the world will still be here to con
quer. Whether Mr. Cox or Mr. Harding wins, and the chances seem
slim enough for anyone else, it is not to be anticipated that the millenium
will at once set in, except temporarily for a few officeholders, so those
who have bided their time so long for the vote are now industriously
laying plans for the long years that stretch ahead and are not concerning
themselves overmuch with the tempestuous accompaniments of the present
campaign.
Whatever happens on November 2, the women know that there will
still be schoolhouses to be built, prohibition to be enforced, a single
standard of morals to be set up, and economic justice to be achieved.
Suffragists have long since known that the ballot is but the tool which,
diligently used, can improve the social structure, so they are reconciled
to the prospect of much study and investigation, and anticipate results
only in proportion as they are truly labored for.
MARY LAND SUFFRAGE NEWS
Mention the Maryland Suffrage News When Patronizing Our Advertisers.
It is a patent fact that in the past the point of view of women in
government has been consistently overlooked, and it is equally obvious
that certain of the great concerns of life, such as the care and education
of children, public and private morals, prohibition and justice toward
their sex, touch women more closely than they do men.
It is for these reasons that the members of the Just Government
League have determined to enlarge and perfect their organization and
to bend their efforts in and out of campaign season toward constructing
a Government based upon principles rather than upon personalities. Dur
ing the winter the immediate demands of women will be phrased so that
they can be succinctly conveyed in a non-partisan spirit to all the political
parties and candidates in advance of the election of the next General
Assembly.
For example, the almost universal demand among women that prohi
bition be strictly enforced and that the age of protection for minor chil
dren of both sexes be raised will be embodied in definite legislation, and
the endorsement of all political parties for these measures will be
requested.
As a result of study classes, lectures and private reading, a conserva
tive, constructive program of legislation wil be framed, and the co-opera
tion of social betterment organizations throughout the State will be
sought in bringing this program to the attention of the politicians.
It is of the greatest importance that large numbers of women should
participate in the preparation of this program, to the end that the true
feminine point of view shall at last gain recognition on the statute books
and in the practical operation of government.
Neither Rome nor good schools can be built in a day, and the same is
true of morals and economic and social justice.
“Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty,” and the members of the
Just Government League are prepared to pay the price.
AFFILIATION ECCENTRICITIES
WE are indebted to Mrs. Mary Fennimore Sheppard for having
called our attention to a ruling of former Attorney-General
Ritchie. In a letter sent by Mrs. Sheppard to the Clerk of Election Super
visors in Queen Anne’s county she answers Mr. Goldsborough, who had
instructed the registers of that county that “those persons who decline
party affiliation cannot affiliate in time for the primaries.”
Mrs. Sheppard writes:
E. B. Goldsborough,
Centreville, Md.
Hon. Clerk to Board of Supervisors.
According to the decision rendered two years ago by former Attorney-
General Ritchie, voters having declined affiliation are permitted to affiliate
just prior to the primaries.
Mary Fennimore Sheppard,
Just Government League.
This ruling is correct as given by Mrs. Sheppard and verified by
Governor Ritchie’s secretary. But while the ruling permits independents
to affiliate just prior to primaries, the organization forces have seen to it
that there are no registration days in Baltimore city prior to the primaries
at which time it might be possible for independents to affiliate.
We understand that in the counties a registration day is provided,
but it is not always possible to affiliate at that time, because the party has
the power to fix the date of the primaries.
Under such circumstances, if it didn’t suit the party to reckon with a
large independent vote, they could quite easily fix the primaries before
registration day and play the game in an undisturbed atmosphere.
The Just Government League appealed to Governor Ritchie to fix a
registration day before the primaries at the special session, but the appeal
was unheeded.
How long will Maryland voters be managed by party machines ?
After looking over the registration figures the anti-suffrage Democrats
must wonder if all the women will vote “just like their husbands and
merely double the vote,” as they prognosticated at Annapolis last spring.
[October 16, 1920.]