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Show sOffragists begin battle for theballdt Arguments by Officials of National Association Presented Pre-sented at Hearing of House Committee. OPPONENTS ARE PRESENT IN FORCE Mrs. James W. Wadsworth, Jr., Puts in Prepared Statement for the Antis. i WASHINGTON, Jan. 3. Arguments by officials of the National American Woman Wo-man Suffrage association occupied all of the first day of the hearing by the house suffrage committee on the constitutional amendment resolution, which the house has agreed to consider next Thursday. Opponents of the measure will be heard tomorrow, and representatives of the woman's wo-man's party will make their statements Saturday. Dr. Anna Howard Shaw, the honorary president, and Mia. Carrie Chapman Catt, president of the Suffrage association, were the principal speakers today. They vigorously opposed a suggestion by Representative Rep-resentative Clark of Florida, that before congress acts the question be submitted to a vote of the women of the country, declaring that this method was illegal and unnecessary and would put congress in a position of saying that it recognized women's right to vote, but had proposed the moat difficult method of having that riyht registered. Leaders in Action. Tho heavy artillery of both sides was represented by nationally known leaders or by prepared statements filed with the committee. Jjr. Anna Howard Shaw, honorary president presi-dent of the National Woman Suffrage association, leading the argument in favor fa-vor of the amendment, declared the fight hud simmered down to a question of whether the extension of suffrage to a large number of inexperienced women voters, naturally sympathetic with human hu-man suffering, would tend to weaken prosecution or the war. She contended most emphatically it would not, and on thrbasis of human suffering women were opposed to an ill-advised peace. Tho an ti- suffragists set forth their Jk principal argument in a prepared state-"T state-"T incut by Mrs. James W. Wadsworth, Jr., president of the National Association Opposed Op-posed to Woman Sufi rage. The argument for the antis declared that suffragists and Socialists, seeking to rlestroy the right of each state to settle the question by popular vote, had resorted to "the lowest political methods." It charged them with circulating a canard that president "Wilson had promised Miss Alice Paul, leader of the White House pickets, that he would secretly aid the HiiiPiidnient. Such a statement, the argument argu-ment declared, was an "insult to the president's character," and added that the president had boon the foremost friend "f women suffrage because of his well-known well-known preference to have the states settle set-tle the question for themselves. Dr. Shaw's Address. "The charge tha t the majority of women are pacifists in the sense in which that- word is used at the present time is absolutely disproved, not alone in the countries of our allies, but in our own country, by the zeal with which women have thrown themselves into war service.' ser-vice.' said Dr. Shaw. "It is no overstatement over-statement to say that where one man offered of-fered voluntarily to enlist, ten women have offered for active war work in the field in which women can serve the govern gov-ern men t and that there aro at present several millions of women today serving 1 heir country with just as much zeal in work- as greatly needed as that in the camps or In the trenches; w hile thousands more are picpa ring t homscl ves for the ser lee so that just as soon as the country coun-try calls more men to tho army, they can fill tho vacancies a ud carry on the absolutely ab-solutely essential w rk of provisioning and providing the army with the equipment equip-ment of war. Example of Canada. "If we nod a more definite statement of this point, we nopd only to turn to tho Inst election in Canada, which hlntrcJ cmirclv upon conscript ion h nd was carried car-ried in favor ni the measure hv the votr? of I lie C.a.nadian women, without which tho govtrhiMit would have heMi defeated ;;ud cnnsi-rtpti'-in would h.ivr failed. When wr rind the srrviens of women recognized hy tin; Kowrimtrnt of Circa t Britain, France and Canada, and cvr-n by Austria." Aus-tria." concluded Pr. Shaw, "it is a clear Vindication t ha t the InyaU y of A mrrh-a u women, measured not only during the war. hut in every rmercency hi our conn-; conn-; try's history, demand t ha t at this time the covcrnment shall reo.nisc tho ser-vi- rs of it. women. Mrs. Travis Whit nry of Brooklyn ana-l".cd ana-l".cd the New York vote to answer Mrs. Wads wort h's content ion that suffrage was won in Now Vork hv the votes of pacifists and Socialists. "Si'ven hundred thousand mm in New York slate voted for woman suffrao." said M's. Whitnev. 'The fact is, that the Snjjilii pro-Mift rai;p vote is swallow ed whole hv the total pr-snft"rasre vote. In all Nnv Yri k f'ity Socialism polled I !.V'"m votrif, Stiff r;i eto polled ov?r Ij"""1'. in -dudinc: the soldier vote. The soldier vote lb t Mmt the Socialist ra t io " down sent t he sn ft ra.ee ra tm up. A - t he hoys in khaki to be considered prn.;erm.in. so to speak '; No pohtirat pari . no .-lass, no .Isms ;in lav exclusive .-laiirt to t ij- snt-! snt-! t r:t ce victory. It was the people's victory." vic-tory." Question of Consistency. Mnv Henry Ware All"n of Wh-1hm. Kan. told tI-.a members rhev h.l dc-n by fdra 1 a. non many t bines n- er a t-tFinpi'M t-tFinpi'M before. "Vp'i h v. e f'ederaltv cns-TiptPd the sniis of the nation and that was rUbt." said she. "Yon have federally t;i-eii the incomes of mn and women, hvA az:n j your action lios been most rnpinT'iidiiMf, T.ess than thro wonks awn ymi your jpart toward ovflFOtiiin; one of rb-3 srent-j srent-j est e-ils of all tims. the drink 1. and you did it as a nation. So wj-v s'ioc.m you h?itnie n tak federal a-t:nn op the nef issiif of r'cht and .iusfi'-e That i? -Tmlns up for yom- insiders r ten " Sure'v this is a r!-'ce here conF'fTer.c y on Id be n ipwej." A The afternoon svm Mr i"nr'i '.'hapivs n Ca : t spkp for t.::r sufTrarits, jakluc .is tier arjj'iinpnt the snoe.-h Chair-Pian Chair-Pian Webb of tbe vidiciary copuni i : ee irad" to the 1 1 o:i o f.r TVe iie.' ,-.f t!-e prohibl Mon cop si it ut :nnal a :r end'nr n t . In 'bar P',fl'-'i Mr. b!- p1a.ie,- with fh iionse t o i-"(er tho a mnn men 1 .i i he -tats and let tho states ,leci,ie for tliCm-sef tliCm-sef es ;ii th.it u.i.v, Rv su lis 1 1 1 ' : ' i nr: the woni '-suffraife" top rhe wor,-j p,-,-,' . lb, . Tinn" tliroitj;l-,.it Ir. V .b'p sr.,-!i. Catt ns.-i tho . on-T.Vc;niAii 't a''g ume:; t lor her caute coinpleteU. |