OCR Text |
Show SUFFRAGE MEETING'S CALLED' In Every City Throughout United States "Woman Suffrage Day" New York. Feb. 28. Throughout the United States today ln every city in which a meeting could be arrange .1, there was an "Equal suffrage .demonstration," .demon-stration," under tho auspices or th Socialist party and the Socialist Women's Wo-men's societies. The meetings were provided for at the national conference confer-ence of the Socialist party in Chicago, which set aside a "Woman Suffrage Day," Feb. 28. Two meetings were held here, one in the Murray Hill Lyceum in Manhattan, Man-hattan, the other In the Labor Lyceum In Brooklyn. Prominent Socialises and suffragists were present and the enthusiasm manifested was sincere and earnest. In the Manhattan meeting, Miss Lec-na Lec-na O'Reilly, the "Girl of the Tenements," Tene-ments," and a prominent member of the Woman's Trade union, denounced the women who oppose equal suffrage. suf-frage. Miss O'Reilly was one of those who spolte before the Judiciary committer of the assembly at Albany last week. She said one of the legislators had spoken flippantly of the quality of wo men's brains. "There are many men there," said Miss O'Reilly, "who are no earthly good. They need the brain? pf women. I think that, as a rule, women's braln6 are better than men b brains." . . Mrs. Anita Block, secretary of the Women's Socialist society, presided. She said phe wa3 both glad and sad to call attention to the fact that this was the first woman suffrage mooting ever held. under the avowed auepiceB of a great political party. "The Socialist party," she said, 'ls now the recognized champion In the political arena of women." Miss Metta Stein, well known a.3 a Socialist writer under the name ot "Hebe," derided the pampered and petted women of the so-called uppei' class, who have owned antl-suffrago societies. She said they were "fooltph and narrow" and afraid of responsibility. responsi-bility. One thousand women and several hundred men attended the meeting ln Brooklyn, which enthusiastically endorsed en-dorsed the right of women to vote. Mrs. Frances Mathew Frarer, wrn presided, declared if women were granted the right of suffrage, child labor la-bor would undoubtedly be regulate' on a more humane basl3 If permitted at all. |