The Crisis by 凱莉.查普曼.卡特
i have taken for my subject, "the crisis," because i believe that a crisis has come in our movement which, if recognized and the opportunity seized with vigor, enthusiasm and will, means the final victory of our great cause in the very near future. i am aware that some suffragists do not share this belief; they see no signs nor symptoms today which were not present yesterday; no manifestations in the year 1916 which differ significantly from those in the year 1910. to them, the movement has been a steady, normal growth from the beginning and must so continue until the end. i can only defend my claim with the plea that it is better to imagine a crisis where none exists than to fail to recognize one when it comes; for a crisis is a culmination of events which calls for new considerations and new decisions. a failure to answer the call may mean an opportunity lost, a possible victory postponed.
the object of the life of an organized movement is to secure its aim. necessarily, it must obey the law of evolution and pass through the stages of agitation and education and finally through the stage of realization. as one has put it: "a new idea floats in the air over the heads of the people and for a long, indefinite period evades their understanding but, by and by, when through familiarity, human vision grows clearer, it is caught out of the clouds and crystalized into law." such a period comes to every movement and is its crisis. in my judgment, that crucial moment, bidding us to renewed consecration and redoubled activity has come to our cause. i believe our victory hangs within our grasp, inviting us to pluck it out of the clouds and establish it among the good things of the world.
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