as the senate was still sitting and could at any time reverse its action in regard to the suffrage amendment, the woman’s party decided to protest against its defeat of the amendment and to demand a reversal.
they began to picket the senate and in especial the thirty-four senators whose adverse vote had again delayed the passage of the amendment.
on the morning of october 7, four banner bearers ascended the steps of the capitol. they were: elizabeth kalb; vivian pierce; bertha moller; mrs. horton pope. the lettered banner, flanked as usual with the suffrage tri-color, read:
we demand an amendment to the united constitution
enfranchising women.
they had hardly mounted the steps when the capitol police placed them under arrest. they took the prisoners to the guard room in the capitol, kept them there for fifteen minutes, and then released them. it was, of course, not exactly an arrest; and no one seemed exactly responsible for the order. the banners were, however, confiscated.
that afternoon, the same women, except that bertha arnold was substituted for mrs. pope, mounted the steps bearing a large banner which read:
we protest against the 34 wilful senators who have
delayed the political freedom of american women.
they have obstructed the war program of the president.
they have lined up the senate with prussia by
denying self-government to the people.
373all the afternoon, the banner bearers were detained in the courtroom at intervals. when they were released, they went back to the capitol; were arrested; detained in the courtroom again; released again.
on the morning of october 10, four more pickets, edith ainge, bertha moller, maud jamison, clara wold, started for the capitol. crowds of men and women gathered in the park to see what was going to happen, and rows of police stood on the capitol steps awaiting the pickets. as soon as the big protest banner was unfurled, the police seized it. maud jamison and clara wold tried to mount the steps with the tri-color, but several policemen rushed upon them, and conducted them up the steps and into the capitol building. as the police said over and over again that there were no arrests, the women insisted on carrying their banners.
protesting against the curious and inconsistent action on the part of the police, the women were conducted into the presence of the captain. he iterated and reiterated that this action was all in accordance with the rules of colonel higgins, the democratic sergeant-at-arms who is under the rules committee which carries out the democratic program. the suffragists demanded by what authority they were held and the captain informed them that it did not make any difference about the law, that colonel higgins had taken the law into his own hands. the four suffragists waited for a few minutes. their purple, white, and gold banners had been confiscated, but the protest banner was still there. suddenly, without any interference from anybody, they took up their protest banner, walked out of the guard room, went over to the senate office building and stood with it, at the top of the steps, the rest of the day. later vivian pierce, mrs. stewart polk, mary gertrude fendall and gladys greiner joined this group of pickets.
in the meantime, other suffragists were trying vainly to take the suffrage colors to the capitol steps. they walked from the office building on to the plaza by twos. the instant they appeared, policemen, rushing down the steps, rushing 374from the curb, rushing from the crowd which had gathered, seized them. they tried to wrench the banners away; and this was, of course, an unequal contest, in which sometimes the women were pulled completely off the ground and always their wrists painfully twisted. but the women clung to the banners, walked as calmly as the situation permitted into the capitol, and down to the guard room. here the banners were always confiscated, but they, themselves, were released. if anybody in the crowd showed any disposition to resent the attitude of the police, he was placed under arrest too; but he also was released.
on october 11 the suffragists picketed only the senate office building, as congress was not in session. at the beginning of the day, mrs. george atwater and betty cram held the banners. mrs. atwater’s two little girls, edith and barbara, assisted their mother by holding the tri-colors.
others who picketed that day were: grace needham, mrs. george odell, elizabeth kalb, virginia arnold, mary gertrude fendall, gladys greiner, maud jamison, vivian pierce, bertha moller, clara wold.
on october 13, plans for another demonstration were announced in the washington papers. edith ainge, bearing the american flag, was to lead a procession of suffragists on to the senate floor. there the words of the anti-suffrage senators in praise of democracy were to be burned. for an hour before the line formed, the capitol police were lined up, ready for the pickets. above, senators hung over the balcony where they could witness the demonstration. below, motor after motor drove up to the curb and stopped, waiting to see what was going to happen. at length, the suffragists arrived. they formed in line outside the senate office building, and started towards the capitol. they were beset by a battalion of police, and taken to the guard room. women standing in the crowd, who were not in the procession, but who wore the suffrage colors were taken along also. 375alice paul, who wore no regalia of any kind, was caught in the net.
these women were: alice paul; vivian pierce; bertha moller; bertha arnold; elizabeth mcshane; edith ainge; edith hilles; julia emory; clara wold; elizabeth kalb; virginia arnold; grace frost; matilda young; mrs. k. g. winston.
the woman’s party now decided to open a “banner” campaign on each of the senators who had helped to defeat the suffrage amendment. they began with senator wadsworth. they unrolled on the steps of the senate office building a banner which read:
senator wadsworth’s regiment is fighting for
democracy abroad.
senator wadsworth left his regiment and is fighting
against democracy in the senate.
senator wadsworth could serve his country better by
fighting with his regiment abroad than by
fighting women.
later appeared another banner, proclaiming the case of senator shields:
senator shields told the people of tennessee he
would support the president’s policies. the only time
the president went to the senate to ask its support,
senator shields voted against him. does tennessee back
the president’s war program or senator shields?
these banners were taken up by the newspapers of the senators’ states and focussed unfavorable attention upon them.
by this time, the capitol police had found that their system of arresting and detaining what threatened to prove an 376inexhaustible army of suffragists was futile. so now they reverted to their policy of 1917. they stood aside and let the crowd worry the suffragists. mainly, however, these were small boys, who seized the banners and dragged them through the streets.
on october 23 appeared:
germany has established “equal, universal, secret,
direct franchise.” the senate has denied equal universal
suffrage to america. which is more of a democracy,
germany or america?
the small boys, generally office boys, were allowed to tear up this banner too.
on october 24, julia emory and virginia arnold succeeded in getting to the top of the capitol steps, unseen by the police who were grouped on the sidewalk. their banner said:
we condemn the democratic party. the democratic
party defeated suffrage. the democratic party has
placed america behind germany as a democracy, if
germany has, as she says, established equal, universal,
secret, direct franchise.
the instant they caught sight of this banner, the policemen took the two girls to the guard room, where they held them, until half-past seven that evening.
on october 25, as the senate was not in session, the pickets returned to the office building, where hitherto they had been unmolested. there were four of them, and they carried the great demand banner. they were arrested, and held until six o’clock. they went back to the capitol at eight in the evening, and were again arrested, and held until eleven o’clock. friends or newspaper men, calling at the capitol, could get no information about them. on various 377pretexts, the telephone answered nothing. these women were matilda young; elizabeth kalb; julia emory; virginia arnold.
on october 26, eight pickets bore the wadsworth and shields banners with the tri-color. as usual, the poles of their banners were broken; their banners themselves snatched from them; they were seized and held.
that afternoon, there was an aeroplane demonstration in washington. seven pickets went out with banners: julia emory, maud jamison, bertha arnold, katherine fisher, minna lederman, elizabeth kalb, mrs. frances davies. they were handled with great roughness. maud jamison was knocked senseless by a policeman. several men in uniform protested to the police.
on october 28, twenty-one women, each bearing the purple, white, and gold banners, started for the capitol. they marched a banner’s length apart across the capitol grounds.
they had gone halfway up the steps, when policemen in plain clothes appeared from all sides and grappled with them. many women were injured. annie arniel was thrown to the ground so violently that she fainted. an ambulance was summoned to take her to the hospital. the other women were locked in a basement room until six o’clock, when they were released. they were escorted through the capitol grounds by a member of the vigilant force of guards. he bore the american flag which had been carried at the head of their line. as they reached the limit of the capitol grounds, he returned that to them, but all the lettered banners and tri-colors were retained.
the twenty-one women were: edith ainge; harriet u. andrews; bertha arnold; virginia arnold; annie arniel; olive beale; lucy burns; eleanor calnan; l. g. c. daniels; frances davis; julia emory; mary gertrude fendall; mrs. gilson gardner; sara grogan; maud jamison; elizabeth kalb; augusta m. kelley; lola maverick lloyd; matilda young; h. r. walmsley; alice paul.
378on october 29, two pickets went to the capitol with a banner inscribed:
resistance to tyranny is obedience to god.
they were seized and held until the afternoon.
by some divagation in the police policy, they were seized, while they were walking to the car after their release, and held for another hour.
on october 30, five pickets, carrying the senator baird banner and three tri-colors, picketed the north front of the capitol for an hour. then they marched to the south front, determined to take up their stand on the senate steps. halfway in their progress, they were seized, locked up, and held until six o’clock.
indignant at these arrests without charge, the national woman’s party decided to protest the next day—thursday.
on october 31, therefore, after the usual morning arrest, their lawyer applied to judge siddons of the district supreme court for a writ of habeas corpus. the judge declared that the sergeant-at-arms had no right to hold any one without a charge, that he must either make a charge, or release the suffragists. the sergeant-at-arms released them at once. nevertheless, when the pickets returned in the afternoon, they were seized in the usual violent fashion and conducted to the guard room. however, although their banners were not returned to them, they were detained but a few minutes. on friday, they were released as soon as their banners were seized. fresh banners appeared from time to time all day long. again consulted, judge siddons said that the police had no right to keep the banners. on saturday, however, the police did not have to seize the banners; there appeared a variation in the picket line. a group of women walked up and down in front of the senate office building. they bore no lettered banners; they bore no tri-colors; but they wore on their arms black mourning bands—in 379commemoration of the death of justice in the united states senate.
on november 21, the senate declared a recess without considering the federal suffrage amendment. that day, twelve pickets protested against the recess, marching from the senate office building to the capitol. they were: alice paul, mrs. lawrence lewis, elizabeth kalb, clara wold, bertha arnold, sara grogan, julia emory, anita pollitzer, matilda young, mrs. nicholas kelly, olive beale, maud jamison.
they carried a banner which read:
american women protest against the senate’s recessing
without passing the suffrage amendment.
america enters the peace conference with unclean
hands for democracy is denied to her people.
the nations of the world cannot trust her mediation
if she preaches democracy for all europe while
americans are arrested for asking for it at the capitol.
on this occasion, the women were treated outrageously. the police, two to a picket, pounced upon them as they approached the capitol. one was heard to call, “help! help! they’re coming!” clara wold was knocked down twice on the senate steps; was shaken like a rat. they dragged and pushed alice paul about as though personally enraged with her. when they were taken into the basement room of the capitol a crowd of indignant men and women followed. policeman no. 21 threatened to arrest a man in the crowd because he said: “sure! i believe in woman suffrage.”
