HOME AND EDUCATION

...Gwyneth King Roe wrote this of the New York Suffrage Parade of October 23rd: "The Suffrage Parade was really wonderful...

...It should always teach some great historic lesson, he said, and portray the deeds and thoughts of by-gone days and inspire the young for unselfish work in the future...

...when we were all subjects of a hereditary ruler...

...To the young and inexperienced, it seems unbearable that so much effort is required to secure what is so plainly a simple matter of right and justice...

...From white friends, I heard some criticism as to the historical aspect of the Pageant and as to its intellectual rather than emotional appeal, yet all agreed it had power of entertainment and great educational possibilities...

...The best thing said about the parade was that 'George Middleton, marshall for the veterans, had some difficulty in getting the right ones together as when he sent out a call for the original 92 who marched in the first parade he had 446 replies.' "The teachers...

...It is all wrong to be discouraged, to talk of abandoning the work in the states, just because there were not enough votes to carry them at this election...

...and that in revealing the history, progress and achievement of the race, the pageant offers wholesome outlet to pent up emotions, gives healthy direction to the thought of the people, leaves lasting impression for the imagination to dwell upon, and inspires the masses with ambition and hope for the future...

...Count the gain...

...I want to tell you what this vote has done for them...

...More than half a minion men voted for woman suffrage in New York state,—sixty thousand more votes than were cast for the Republican ticket in 1912...

...I was inspector for the fifth assembly district which is regarded as rather 'tough.' The inspector had to cover the polling places as many times as possible during voting hours...

...At any rate, the big question at stake in the world's evolution is whether there shall remain on the face of the earth a single nation where one ruler or one class shall govern another class...

...With half a million men enlisted women now can feel it is a shoulder-to-shoulder march forward...

...The colored people constitute one-tenth of our population...

...Grace and I fell out at the finish and having marched so near the front saw the whole of it, nearly freezing...

...A Note from the Firing Line A PERSONAL letter from Fola La Follette contains the following comment: "Didn't you think it was triumphant—our polling 500,000 votes for Suffrage in New York State...

...And yet they weren't...

...The great obstacle we are compelled to surmount is inertia,—which "allows" that "whatever is, is right...

...Consider the newspaper space and the wide general publicity the cause received,—no ridicule, no jeers or scoffing, untiring enthusiastic support from advocates, serious respectful attention from the doubtful, nervous apprehension on the part of the opposition...

...I am sure some hundreds dropped out before their division started...

...that the inevitable tendency was to dwell upon it, and to move in a circle in the effort for solution...

...Every vote for suffrage represents conviction...

...Cleveland was elected Governor over his Republican opponent in 1882 by a majority of 192,854, two years later he carried the state against Blaine for President by a majority of only 1,149...

...It was so far ahead of anything I had dared hope for in old hide-bound, machine-ridden New York...

...There is no reason for conflict or cross-purpose...

...When I returned at 9:00 p. m., I got some dinner and telephoned to the Tribune office— where our Empire State Campaign and Publicity Council were Mrs...

...I think the psychology of it was: the women were tired from the great campaign, tired from watching, picketing, inspecting, and weary with expecting, and so they fell asleep—still standing, as it were—and dreamed it would take a majority vote to rouse them up again...

...ONCE when I was speaking in Indiana and displayed a map which showed the states that had equal suffrage, white, and those where women had no voting privilege, black, I put the question to the large audience whether they thought that map would become all white or all black...

...Let's get to work again at once...

...Roe wrote as follows: "Last night, when the returns came in, there was depression for one short brief space...

...Then turning restlessly in this half-sleep they read the bulletins and headlines: 'Suffrage overwhelmingly defeated'—spirits drooped and shadows flitted over faces...

...it calls for a great number of participants...

...The night before election when she had finished her great speaking tour, Dr...

...scribed it as "an impressive spectacle both from the historical point of view and as a forecast...

...And what a wonderful campaign it has been...

...the hundreds of participants had only three weeks for preparation and of course only limited opportunity for rehearsals...

...Have either of the two parties been discouraged about carrying New York because of these shifting majorities one way or the other...

...First of all, is it not extraordinary that suffrage should have been voted on in four notably conservative big eastern states...

...What has been accomplished in Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York is working capital for "next time" in those states and in other states as well...

...Du Bois said, is a great Folk Play given usually out of doors...

...It was bright and lovely at threo, although windy...

...Count the gain...

...The mutual reaction and inter-dependence of the two lines of activities is plain as a pikestaff...

...Throughout the country, this was a recognized fact...

...They're marching now in glorious stride—to Certain Victory SOON...

...Work on...

...the New York Outlook de...

...Who even a decade ago could have hoped for such conditions...

...A Notable Negro Fageant DR...

...The field was too large for the best effect...

...Any movement that tends as this one does, to enlighten the masses and raise the standards of individual and racial Negro self-development is a contribution to our national life and is entitled to encouragement from every viewpoint...

...Think of it...

...We are apt to assume because we have universal manhood suffrage through the United States, that it is a normal condition...

...The old line politicians and the police officers say there never has been such an orderly election as this one where the women were at the polls...

...They have just gone about perfecting their organizations for next time...

...but we need go back into history only a little way to the time when no one voted...

...The women of New York are thinking of it...

...Du Bois explained the motives that led to the creation of the Negro Folk Play...

...it grew colder every half hour and by seven-thirty, when the parade was over it was bitter cold...

...I'll work no more.' But it is more startlingly true that outside, the on-lookers on every side are saying: 'Where have I been...

...Election day was a very interesting experience...

...With her New England traditions, her great women leaders, I had hoped she might be the banner state...

...From the colored people of whatever occupation or opportunity, I heard only the roost enthusiastic expressions of joy, appreciation and uplift...

...In times past, the state of New York has swung from one of the great political parties to the other by no less majority...

...SOME TRADITIONS and obstacles had to be met and overcome in producing the Negro Pageant...

...But is it not so in every forward step we take...

...only need to convert ten per cent, more...

...Dear old Massachusetts was a disappointment...

...There were —there always are—some delays and breaks in the performance, but considering all the circumstances, the result was wonderfully fine...

...It proved a success, the audience aggregating 14,000...

...The Labor Organizations, women and men together, marched with a young man and young woman at the head carrying a banner (with arm of each over the other's shoulder) bearing the words 'Shoulder to Shoulder.' To my mind that was the best and most beautifully significant thing in the parade...

...The Pageant had its origin in the religious festivals of ancient and mediaeval days and has recently been revived in England and America...

...She carried thirty-two of the sixty-seven counties and was lost by only 50,-000 votes...

...It seemed to me every friend I have had been working in some capacity night and day for the suffrage amendment...

...From every motive and from every standpoint the two movements should be made to complement each other harmoniously...

...Dear old Massachusetts was the worst of all the states...

...WITHOUT any shadow of doubt, the spirit and effect of this Folk Drama is not to incite race feeling but to allay it and its production throughout the United States wherever there are considerable centers of Negro population must be good for both races and should have the support of all persons of social vision...

...Du Bois has rendered a distinct service in the creation and production of this remarkable pageant covering a field and conveying a message of such timely and extraordinary importance to the American people...

...The women were trumps, and it was amazing that so many hundreds of men waited to march...

...Ogden Mills Reid's guests to hear the returns—to Mrs...

...DU BOIS, eminent publicist, editor of The Crisis, author of Souls of Black Folk, has dramatized the story of the Negro race in the form of a historic and symbolic pageant...

...I know Mother must have been surprised at what a wonderful majority Penn-sylania rolled up for Suffrage...

...Just as I got into the car 'me friend2 who had inquired if 'them could eat 'em' came out and said to me, 'Do ye know what one of the men in there said about you?' I answered, 'No, what?' 'He said that a fine huzzy like you had ought to be working for Tammany Hall.' The sincerest tribute one politician could give another, eh...

...Each of the half million gained is now an advocate, a working force for the next election...

...I can think of several inactive ones—myself included?—wishing success, but looking on...

...There was no convenient outdoor place, so it had to be given at night and indoors...

...The women are starting right ahead with their plans for the next campaign...

...Perhaps out of all this carnage and waste there may result more government by the people...

...When I went around after the polls had closed with my coffee and sandwiches, I made it a point to say to the men in the booths, that now the polls were closed and it could not be taken as electioneering, I wanted to say for myself and the other women that whether they had voted for us or against us we all appreciated the courtesy and consideration that had been shown us...

...And they're feeling something they haven't felt before Humiliation has gone out of the struggle...

...Reid suggesting that as it then looked as though we had lost the state, we get together and start speaking at ten minutes after twelve to initiate the new campaign—so a little after twelve a few of us went down and held a'Suffrage meeting under Ben Franklin's statue...

...That boy really voiced the ultimate basis of the opposition to suffrage in this country...

...At the same time, Carrie Chapman Catt, who devoted her great abilities to the work of organization, said, "It is all a matter of education...

...It was wonderful—and then the caps and gowns, and the big delegations from Radcliffe, Wellesley, Cornell, Barnard, Adelphi, Vassar, etc.—then the lawyers, doctors, physicians and surgeons, scientists (each a big delegation), sculptors, singers (singing), musicians, actresses (also singing), etc., etc...

...Nothing can ever keep me out of the next campaign.' As for myself, I mean to cultivate such power of speech and persuasion that South Dakota can't get along without me in her campaign before we reach ours here...

...Then there were inspectors for each assembly district...

...In one of the worst districts that I had, when I took the sandwiches in, one man spoke up and said, 'Can them as voted against ye eat 'em?' I answered, 'Them can,' and then made my little thank-you speech...

...The dancing of the children, the cotton pickers scenes the military parade were especially thrilling...

...He said the Negro problem was an ever present one...

...Organization work was what really got us that 500,000...

...On the other hand, Pennsylvania was a happy surprise...

...What though the majority against suffrage was 175,000 more or less—at this writing it is growing less...

...Considered broadly, the cause of suffrage is not just a question of votes for women in America...

...But it only lasted an hour...

...Regular Tammany tactics, eh...

...But the hundreds of men, women and children, who are necessary to the performance of the colored folk drama, must work in the day time, and the majority of the audience can not go long distances to witness a play...

...The color effect of the costuming was beautiful and many features were most picturesque...

...Twenty-five thousand more converts would have changed the result and would not only have given suffrage to the women of Pennsylvania, but would have assured that state's thirty-eight votes for the national amendment in the Congress of the United States...

...Each state gained, helps secure the necessary two-thirds vote in Congress for the national amendment...

...there is little speaking and the story is told by action, costumes, dancing and music...

...A Pageant, Dr...

...Shoulder to Shoulder" IN A PERSONAL LETTER, our friend Mrs...

...We carried the election district that we live in...

...In Washington the Pageant was given at the Baseball Park, which has a seating capacity of 20,000...

...The effort being made here for the enfranchisement of one-half the population is a part of the great world struggle for democracy— government by the people...

...And then the women wakened—wakened to the fact that in this conservative, slow-moving heterogeneous, great Eastern state of New York half a million men had voted for Woman Suffrage at the first election when the question was submitted...

...The work for equal suffrage in the states and for the national amendment to the Constitution, should go hand-in-hand...

...Three performances were given in Washington the week of October 19th, in celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the adoption of the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, abolishing slavery...

...Then, how significant that the chief interest in the elections held in ten states, should center in the proposition of granting votes to women in four of them...

...And so the new cam.naisrn was launched...

...We took sandwiches and coffee to our watchers and to the men watchers...

...FORTY PER CENT of the votes in New Jersey for woman suffrage, including the vote of the President of the United States...

...She was last in the procession, and yet she gave us thirty-six per cent, of her vote...

...I had twenty-three election districts and covered mine four times during voting hours—between 5:30 a. m. and 5:00 p. m. Then I covered them twice after 5:00 p. m. It took me till 9:00 o'clock...

...That is what the suffragists must do...

...that the colored folk have strong musical and dramatic instincts, which the pageant turns into valuable agents of education and uplift...

...We had women watchers at practically all the polls in New York City, and at a great many polls over the state...

...Whistling to keep up my courage...

...If we fail to carry a state we must keep right on working until a majority of the electorate have been made to see the light," The New York women made a campaign that for intelligence, thoroughness and brilliancy commanded the admiration of the nation...

...In a very interesting talk on the subject of pageantry, at the Public Library, the previous week, Dr...

...Anna Shaw said, "Whatever the result, it has been a wonderful campaign,—the most wonderful I have ever known...

...and then look back upon the time when the pioneer suffragists were hooted and rotten-egged, because they dared mount the platform and advocate votes for women...

...When we get the national amendment in Congress, it must be ratified by three-fourths of the states...

...When the author proposed to give it in New York", every one who Had ever had anything to do with pageantry said it must, of eourse, be given out of doors, by daylight...

...The women put up a wonderful fight here in New York...

...Not a bit of it...

...The late Herman Ridder, the distinguished editor of the New York Staats Zcitung, said this War had converted him to the cause of woman suffrage, because women know best the cost of human life and they should have something to say about its destruction...

...Well, talk about the polling booths not being proper places for women—if we women could get the same courtesy, kindness and chivalry in the subway and on the elevated that we got in the polling booths on election day, no woman would ever have to strap-hang from the Battery to the Bronx again...

...the theme must be simple and easily understood, the appeal strong and universal...

...In the United States where women share equally in educational advantages, where such large numbers are engaged in industry, where government is growing more and more to affect every phase of family and social life, with women already enfranchised in almost one-half our territory, not counting Alaska, we need not doubt the outcome nor be impatient with the progress made...

...The day after election Mrs...

...Next time we will win...

...I know the reform movement in Wisconsin would never have gotten anywhere if that policy had been pursued...

...I was amazed— for after her hard experiences with Pennsylvania audiences of two years ago I expected they would be utterly snowed under, it seems, as Steffens says, that there is hope for everyone except the New Englander...

...We can hardly conceive the awful War— which is everywhere recognized as of dynastic origin—being waged, if there were universal manhood suffrage throughout Europe...

...No, I speak out of deep conviction and long years of observation of the course of political progress...

...Oh yes, this half-million vote has given the women of New York their second wind...

...A little boy sitting on the front seat observing that Indiana was BLACK, cried out in a very loud, bold voice, "ALL BLACK...

...I thought they would never stop coming...

...On the other hand the same map shows that in "free" England and "liberty loving" Germany and throughout Europe, great numbers of men are still disfranchised...

...When studied thoughtfully the November elections furnish most striking proof of this conclusion...

...Throughout the production, the natural physical grace and ease of the colored race was notable...

...It is true that in the Suff-¦ rage Camp, among all the hard working women, the brilliant capable women, the home-loving women, all longing to be relieved and about some other work, not one single one has been heard to say: 'I'm through...

...A glance at the political map of the world shows that not only in ten states of the United States, not only in the newer lands,—Alaska, Australia and New Zealand, but in the older countries of Europe,—Finland, Denmark, and Norway, women have the same right to vote as men...

...In a few minutes, we gathered an audience of about two hundred men and we talked to them for over thirty minutes...