The Resolutions presented by Mr. Blackwell, chairman of the committee, covered a wide range of subjects, among them the following:
In view of the fact that in only 14 of our States have married mothers any legal right to the custody, control and earnings of their minor children, we urge the women of the other States to work for laws giving to mothers equal rights with fathers.
The traffic in women and girls which is carried on in the United States and in other countries is a heinous blot upon civilization and we demand of Congress and our State Legislatures that every possible step be taken to suppress the infamous traffic in this country.
We urge upon Congress and State Legislatures the enactment of laws prohibiting the employment of children under 16 years of age in mines, stores or factories.
We favor the adoption of State amendments establishing direct legislation by the voters through the initiative and referendum.
Inasmuch as in the second Hague Peace Conference there will be offered the greatest opportunity in human history to lessen the burden of militarism, therefore we request the President of the United States to approve the recommendations for the action of that conference which were presented by the Inter-Parliamentary Union, to-wit: (1) An advisory world congress; (2) a general arbitration treaty; (3) the limitation of armaments; (4) protection of private property at sea in time of war; (5) investigation by an impartial commission of difficulties between nations before declaration of hostilities.
The convention at one evening session listened to interesting addresses by Mrs. Mary E. Coggeshall, president of the Iowa Suffrage Association, Then and Now; Professor Emma M. Perkins of Western Reserve University (Ohio), Educational Ideals; Louis F. Post, editor of The Public, The Denatured Woman. Mrs. Avery gave a much enjoyed report of the Congress of the International Suffrage Alliance in Copenhagen the preceding August. On the last evening addresses were made by John Z. White of Chicago; Mrs. Upton on What Next? Miss Lexow on The Place of Equal Suffrage in Higher Education. Dr. Shaw closed the convention with a few eloquent words of encouragement, hope and prophecy for the success of the cause to which they gladly gave to the utmost their time, their labor and the best of everything they possessed.
FOOTNOTES:
[48] Part of Call: The friends of equal rights will come together on this occasion with an outlook even more than usually bright. During the last year full suffrage has been granted to the women of Finland, the greatest victory since full national suffrage was given to the women of Federated Australia in 1902. Within the past year the Municipal franchise has been given to women in Natal, South Africa; national associations have been organized in Hungary, Italy and Russia and the reports at the recent meeting of the International Alliance at Copenhagen showed a remarkable increase in the agitation for woman suffrage all over Europe. In England, out of the 670 members of the present House of Commons, 420 are pledged to its support.
In the United States widely circulated newspapers and magazines representing the most opposite political views have lately declared for woman suffrage; the National Grange and the American Federation of Labor have unanimously endorsed it. In Chicago 87 organizations with an aggregate membership of 10,000 women have petitioned for a Municipal suffrage clause in the new charter and the men and women most prominent in the city's good works are supporting the plea.