(_October 25, 1917_)
The President received at the White House a delegation from the New
York State Woman Suffrage Party. Answering the address made by the
chairman, Mrs. Norman de R. Whitehouse, the President spoke as
follows:
Mrs. Whitehouse and Ladies,--It is with great pleasure that
I receive you. I esteem it a privilege to do so. I know the
difficulties which you have been laboring under in New York State, so
clearly set forth by Mrs. Whitehouse, but in my judgment those
difficulties cannot be used as an excuse by the leaders of any party
or by the voters of any party for neglecting the question which you
are pressing upon them. Because, after all, the whole world now is
witnessing a struggle between two ideals of government. It is a
struggle which goes deeper and touches more of the foundations of the
organized life of men than any struggle that has ever taken place
before, and no settlement of the questions that lie on the surface
can satisfy a situation which requires that the questions which lie
underneath and at the foundation should also be settled and settled
right. I am free to say that I think the question of woman suffrage
is one of those questions which lie at the foundation.
The world has witnessed a slow political reconstruction, and men have
generally been obliged to be satisfied with the slowness of the
process. In a sense it is wholesome that it should be slow, because
then it is solid and sure. But I believe that this war is going so to
quicken the convictions and the consciousness of mankind with regard
to political questions that the speed of reconstruction will be
greatly increased. And I believe that just because we are quickened
by the questions of this war, we ought to be quickened to give this
question of woman suffrage our immediate consideration.