Was not the judge who tried and sentenced them a direct appointee of President Wilson? Were not the District Commissioners who gave orders to prepare the cells the direct appointees of President Wilson? And was not the Chief of Police of the District of Columbia a direct appointee of these same commissioners? And was not the jail warden who made life for the women so unbearable in prison also a direct appointee of the commissioners?

It was all a merry little ring and its cavalier attitude toward the law, toward justice, and above all toward women was of no importance. The world was on fire with a grand blaze. This tiny flame would scarcely be visible. No one would notice a few "mad" women thrown into jail. And if the world should find it out, doubtless public opinion would agree that the women ought to stay there. And even if it should not agree, this little matter could all be explained away before another election.

Meanwhile the President could proclaim through official channels his disinterestedness. Observe the document, of which I give the substance, which he caused or allowed to be published at this time, through his Committee on Public Information.

"OFFICIAL BULLETIN"

"Published Daily under order of the President of the United States, by the Committee on Public Information.

GEORGE CREEL, Chairman.

"Furnished without charge to all newspapers, post offices, government officials and agencies of a public character for the dissemination of official news of the United States Government."

"Washington, July 3, 1917. No. 46-Vol. i."

There follows a long editorial[1] which laments the public attention which has centered on the militant campaign, appeals to editors and reporters not to "encourage" us in our peculiar conduct by printing defies to the President of the United States even when "flaunted on a pretty little purple and gold banner" and exhorts the public to control its thrills. The official bulletin concludes with:

"It is a fact that there remains in America one man who has known exactly the right attitude to take and maintain toward the pickets. A whimsical smile, slightly puckered at the roots by a sense of the ridiculous, a polite bow-and for the rest a complete ignoring of their existence. He happens to be the man around whom the little whirlwind whirls-the President of the United States." And finally with an admonition that "the rest' of the country ... take example from him in its emotional reaction to the picket question."

[1]From the Woman Citizen.

The Administration pinned its faith on jail - that institution of convenience to the oppressor when he is strong in power and his weapons are effective. When the oppressor miscalculates the strength of the oppressed, jail loses its convenience.

Chapter 4

Occoquan Workhouse