 The speakers at the Cooper Union rally reinforced the need for women’s independence in their individual responses.These responses centered upon statements made by senators regarding the protection of women from the vote, citing the need to preserve marital harmony, female morality, and femininity.Mollie Schepps recounted the treatment striking shirtwaist makers received from the New York City police and judges, emphasizing its brutality and attacked the notion that equal wages between the sexes would erode the sanctity of marriage.