Judge Clark’s Letter to a Woman Candidate
Asheville, April 15—Miss L. Exum Clement, lawyer of this city, who has announced herself for the house on the Democratic ticket, received the following letter from Chief Justice Clark of the Supreme Court, urging her candidacy:
“My dear Miss Clement: I am gratified to note that your friends are thinking of nominating you for the legislature from your count. I should be glad to see North Carolina take this forward step in recognition of the service women have rendered this state—though a tardy recognition—and hope that you will not decline the honor.
“Napoleon’s power was largely based upon his assertion of the republican doctrine, ‘an avenue open to merit without distinction of birth.’ It is equally necessary that we should assert the doctrine of ‘an avenue to merit without distinction of sex.’
“If a woman can make a better legislator, or a better lawyer, or write a better book than a man, she should not be barred. At any rate, they should be given an opportunity to do the best not only for themselves, but for the state.
“I hope in your case that you will accept the nomination, for by your service in the legislature you will do much to shatter the age-long tradition that women are incompetent to share in the making of laws under which they live.
“I have never found anything in the constitution of North Carolina which debars women from holding office. There are at least 100 women holding office now in this state, as you know, and I hope that you will come down next winter and aid in making broader and wider field for the women in the repeal of the statutes which have hindered women from having a fair and full opportunity of using their abilities in the public service or in whatever field they may see fit to seek.”
Most respectfully,
Walter Clark
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