I Went To The Senate, Accomplished Nothing

I Was Only One Woman Alone, And Had No Power To Move To Action Full-fed, Sleek- Coated, Ease-loving, Pleasure-seeking, Well-paid,and Well-placed Countrymen In This War- Trampled, Dead, Old Land, Each One Afraid That He Should Be Called Upon To Do Something.

Although Its Growth May Seem To Have Been Slow, It Is To Be Remembered That It Is Not A Shrub, Or Plant, To Shoot Up In The Summerand Wither In The Frosts. The Red Cross Is A Part Of Us--it Has Come To Stay--and Like The Sturdy Oak, Its Spreading Branches Shall Yet Encompass And Shelter The Relief Of The Nation.

The Red Cross In Its Nature, It Aims And Purposes, And Consequently, Its Methods, Is Unlike Any Other Organization In The Country.it Is An Organization Of Physical Action, Of Instantaneous Action, At The Spur Of The Moment; It Cannot Await The Ordinary Deliberation Of Organized Bodies If It Would Be Of Use To Suffering Humanity,[ellipsis In Original] It Has By Its Nature A Field Of Its Own.

What Could I Do But Go With Them Civil War Soldiers, Or Work For Them And My Country? The Patriot Blood Of My Father Was Warm In My Veins.

I Have An Almost Complete Disregard Of Precedent, And A Faith In The Possibility Of Something Better. It Irritates Me To Be Told How Things Have Always Been Done. I Defy The Tyranny Of Precedent. I Go For Anything New That Might Improve The Past.