Page:History of Woman Suffrage Volume 5.djvu/745

WOMAN SUFFRAGE IN PRESIDENTIAL CONVENTIONS 707 alone ; votes should be theirs as a matter of political wisdom also." Later in a glowing tribute Mr. Roosevelt said: "It is idle to argue whether women can play their part in politics because in this convention we have seen the accomplished fact, and, moreover, the women who have actively participated in this work of launch- ing the new party represent all that we are most proud to asso- ciate with American womanhood. My earnest hope is to see the Progressive party in all its State and local divisions recog- nize this fact precisely as it has been recognized at the national convention. . . . Workingwomen have the same need to com- bine for protection that workingmen have ; the ballot is as neces- sary for one class as for the other ; we do not believe that with the two sexes there is identity of function but we do believe that there should be equality of right and therefore we favor woman suffrage." The Progressive party in State after State followed the lead of the convention and women were welcomed into its deliberations. From this time woman suffrage was one of the dominant political issues throughout the country. The Democratic National Convention met in Baltimore June 25-July 3. The Baltimore suffragists applied on Thursday for a hearing before the Resolutions Committee for Dr. Anna Howard Shaw and were informed that the hearings had ended on Wednesday. Urged by the women the chairman, John W. Kern of Indiana, finally consented to give a hearing that day, al- though he said he had turned away hundreds of men who wanted hearings, and he allotted five minutes to it. Mrs. W. J. Brown of Baltimore, Mrs. Lawrence Lewis of Philadelphia and several others went with Dr. Shaw but after a long wait only Mrs. Lewis and she were admitted. With a strong, logical speech Dr. Shaw presented the following resolution and asked that it be made a plank in the platform : Whereas, The fundamental idea of a democracy is self-govern- ment, the right of citizens to choose their own representatives, to enact the laws >y which they are governed, and whereas, this rii;ht. can 1 '1 only by the e> ore, ed, That the hallnt in the hand of every <|iia1ified cit ue political status of the people and to deprive one- le of the use of the hallot is u deny the first prin- ciple of a drnv.cratic ^o crnmcnt.