Walton went directly to the
point.
"'I have come to offer you the support of the women of Milwaukee,' she
began, 'and that means a great deal at a time when the men are afraid to
say their souls are their own.
"'The women of this city are not under the yoke and they trust to you to
put off the day of their subjugation, if you cannot put them in safety
for all time.
"'We have realized that the hour for woman to assert her power has come;
she cannot vote, nor does she aspire to that questionable right, but she
can influence the votes of the men with whom she comes in contact.
"'You have come to a city that is as effectually closed to you as if it
were walled and the gates were shut in your face. The press, the police,
the labor organizations, every power has been subsidized to work against
you. I know every move that has been made. For there's not a word
uttered that is not brought to the council of women's clubs.
"'The moment it was known that you were to visit this city the order
went forth that you were not to be permitted to hold a public meeting.
You were not to be refused the right to speak; that would have been too
bold and brazen an act for even the Plutocrats to carry out. It was
decided that the same ends could be accomplished by preventing the army
of mercenaries and wage-slaves to parade the streets.
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