Bohemians West by Sherry L. Smith

Author:Sherry L. Smith
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Heyday

Thirteen

POLITICS

THE EARLY NOVEMBER WIND AND RAIN STRIPPED PORTLAND OF ITS AUTUMN reds and golds, leaving only a few remnants of an exuberant October. More subtle colors dominated now, with dogwoods glowing rather than burning, maples shedding mere flakes of gold rather than masses of it, harmony in the carpet of fallen leaves, and hazel bushes fringing the fir forests with a warm, yellowish gray.1

Among the human residents, harmony was less evident. The 1916 presidential election roiled the Pacific Northwest and the rest of the nation, along with other contentious issues. People disagreed fiercely on access to birth control, the right of the “Wobblies” (Industrial Workers of the World) to form a union, and, of course, the drafting of a federal amendment to enfranchise all women. Erskine and Sara took their places in these fights—not always on the same side. In some respect, the contests for power in the public world mirrored the contest for power in their personal relationship. To complicate things further, Erskine’s support of “radicals”—whether that meant birth control advocate Margaret Sanger’s right to speak publicly or the Wobblies’ right to exist as a labor organization—suddenly threatened his position in the law firm he had founded. Sara’s suffrage work, on the other hand, positioned her for career advancement. It was a trying time, with much at stake for both of them.

Erskine supported Wilson’s reelection. He favored anarchists but voted for progressives. Erskine feared a Republican victory would return plutocrats to power and end meaningful reform. Wilson would, at least, salt the Supreme Court with people somewhat sympathetic to radical ideas, and that would provide a foundation for future liberal transformation. True, Wilson did not currently support a suffrage amendment, but that would change.2 Erskine decided, however, to abstain from actively campaigning for Wilson this time.

Sara, on the other hand, campaigned hard against him. For her, suffrage took precedence over all other issues. Since Wilson would not support the amendment, he had to go. Erskine tried to dissuade her. If Charles Evans Hughes won the presidency, he would not push for suffrage either, nor would the suffragists have any leverage over him. If Wilson won, the radical suffragists would have destroyed, through their miscalculation, any political influence they might have had. Further, Wood doubted women spoke with one voice. Those who favored child labor legislation or wanted to remain out of war would not desert Wilson. Too many other “really great issues” mattered more than suffrage. The wiser move: wait four more years and pressure Wilson’s successor instead.3

Erskine also thought the suffragists’ anti-Wilson campaign, which had emerged from the East, smacked of regional arrogance. Western women, he said, resented eastern women telling them how to vote. When the NWP’s Inez Milholland spoke in Portland, Erskine thought she had made two mistakes. She was too stridently anti-Wilson and anti-Democratic Party. Then, by berating women who did not share her position, she incited resentment toward “eastern dictation.” Sara should not make the same errors in her speeches.4 He heard one pro-Wilson

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