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DR.  ANNA  HOWARD  SHAW. 

Vice-President-at-Large  of  the  National  American  Woman  Suffrage  Association  1 892- 1 904 
and  President  1904-1915. 


THE    HISTORY 


OF 


WOMAN  SUFFRAGE 


EDITED   BY 


IDA  HUSTED  HARPER 


ILLUSTRATED   WITH    COPPERPLATE   AND   PHOTOGRAVURE 
ENGRAVINGS 


|  O3  ^  i  c- 

VOLUMES  \ 


VOLUME  V  6)  .    ^|    •    9  3  » 

1900—1920 


AFTER    SKVKNTY    YEARS   CAME   THE   VICTORY 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE   ASSOCIATION 


C'ul'YKIC.M  I,     1>)J2,    BY 

NATIONAL    AMI-KUAN    WOMAN    SIIIK.\<,I:    ASSOCIATION 


PRINTED    AND     BOUND     BY 

J.     J.     LITTLE     &     IVES     COMPANY 

NEW    YORK 


PREFACE 

The  History  of  Woman  Suffrage  is  comprised  in  six  volumes 
axe-raging  about  one  thousand  pages  each,  of  which  the  two  just 
finished  are  the  last.  While  it  is  primarily  a  history  of  this 
great  movement  in  the  United  States  it  covers  to  some  degree 
that  of  the  whole  world.  The  chapter  on  Great  Britain  was 
prepared  for  Volume  VI  by  Mrs.  Millicent  Garrett  Fawcett, 
leader  of  the  movement  there  for  half  a  century.  The  accounts 
of  the  gaining  of  woman  suffrage  in  other  countries  come  from 
the  highest  authorities.  Their  contest  was  short  compared  to  that 
in  the  two  oldest  countries  on  the  globe  with  a  constitutional 
form  of  government — the  United  States  and  Great  Britain — 
and  in  the  former  it  began  nearly  twenty  years  earlier  than  in 
the  latter.  The  effort  of  women  in  the  "greatest  republic  on 
earth"  to  obtain  a  voice  in  its  government  began  in  1848  and 
ended  in  complete  victory  in  1920.  In  Great  Britain  it  is  not 
yet  entirely  accomplished,  although  in  all  her  colonies  except 
Smith  Africa  women  vote  on  the  same  terms  as  men. 

Doubtless  other  histories  of  this  world  wide  movement  will 

•.n't  ten  but  at  present  the  student  will  find  himself  largely 

confined  to  these  six  volumes.     This  is  especially  true  of  the 

United  States  and  many  of  the  documents  of  the  earliest  period 

would  have  been  lost  for  all  time  if  they  had  not  been  preserved 

in  the  first  three  volumes.    These  also  contain  much  information 

which  does  not  exist  elsewhere  regarding  the  struggle  of  women 

'ther  rights  besides  that  of  the  franchise.    That  the  materials 

were  collected  and  cared  for  until  they  could  be  utilized  was 

due  to  Miss  Susan  B.  Anthony's  appreciation  of  their  value.    The 

story  of  the  trials  and  tribulations  of  preparing  those  volumes 

during  ten  years  is  told  in  Volume  II,  page  612,  and  in  the 

•ice  of  Volume  IV.    They  were  written  and  edited  principally 

by  Miss  Anthony  and  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Cady  Stanton  and  covered 

their  rom  the  beginning  of  the  century  to  iSSj.     The  \\-rit 

when   they  l»rg;m   in    1877  !••  bring  out  one  small 

iii 


IV  PREFACE 

volume,  perhaps  only  a  large  pamphlet.  When  these  three  huge 
volumes  were  finished  they  still  had  enough  material  for  a  fourth, 
which  never  was  used. 

Miss  Anthony  continued  her  habit  of  preserving  the  records 
and  in  1900,  when  at  the  age  of  80  she  resigned  the  presidency 
of  the  National  American  Woman  Suffrage  Association,  she 
immediately  commenced  preparations  for  another  volume  of  the 
History.  She  called  to  her  assistance  Mrs.  Ida  Husted  Harper, 
who  had  recently  finished  her  Biography,  and  in  her  home  in 
Rochester,  N.  Y.,  they  spent  the  next  two  years  on  the  book, 
Mrs.  Stanton,  who  was  85  years  old,  taking  the  keenest  interest 
in  the  work.1  When  the  manuscript  was  completed  hundreds 
of  pages  had  to  be  eliminated  in  order  to  bring  it  within  the 
compass  of  one  volume  of  1,144  pages. 

Miss  Anthony  then  said :  "Twenty  years  from  now  another 
volume  will  be  written  and  it  will  record  universal  suffrage  for 
women  by  a  Federal  Amendment."  Her  prophecy  was  fulfilled 
to  the  letter.  She  put  upon  younger  women  the  duty  of  collecting 
and  preserving  the  records  and  this  was  done  in  some  degree 
by  officers  of  the  association.  In  1917,  after  the  legacy  of  Mrs. 
Frank  Leslie  had  been  received  by  Mrs.  Carrie  Chapman  Catt, 
president  of  the  association,  she  formed  the  Leslie  Suffrage  Com- 
mission and  established  a  Bureau  of  Suffrage  Education,  one 
feature  of  which  was  a  research  department.  Here  under  the 
direction  of  an  expert  an  immense  amount  of  material  was 
collected  from  many  sources  and  arranged  for  use.  After  the 
strenuous  work  for  a  Federal  Suffrage  Amendment  had  brought 
it  very  near,  Mrs.  Catt  turned  her  attention  to  the  publishing  ol 
the  last  volume  of  the  History  of  Woman  Suffrage  while  the 
resources  of  the  large  national  headquarters  in  New  York  and 
the  archives  of  the  research  bureau  were  available,  and  she  re- 
quested Mrs.  Harper  to  prepare  it.  The  work  was  begun  Jan  2, 
1019,  and  it  was  to  be  entirely  completed  in  eighteen  months. 
No  account  had  been  taken  of  the  enormous  growth  of  the 
suffrage  movement.  It  had  entered  every  State  in  the  Union 
and  it  extended  around  the  world.  It  was  occupying  the 

1  See  Life  and  Work  of  Susan  B.  Anthony,  pages  1210,  1256,  1269.  Placing  in 
libraries,  1279  to  1282.  Bequeathed  to  National  Suffrage  Association,  History  of  Woman 
Suffrage,  Volume  V,  page  205. 


PREFACE  V 

attention  of  Parliaments  and  Legislatures.  In  the  United  States 
conventions  had  multiplied  and  campaigns  had  increased  in 
number;  it  had  become  a  national  issue  with  a  center  in  every 
State  and  defeats  and  victories  were  of  constant  record. 

To  select  from  the  mass  of  material,  to  preserve  the  most 
important,  to  condense,  to  verify,  was  an  almost  impossible  task. 
A  comparison  will  illustrate  the  difference  between  the  work 
re<  i u i red  on  Volume  IV  and  that  on  the  present  volumes.  The 
Minutes  of  the  national  convention  in  1901  filled  130  pages  of 
e  type;  those  of  the  convention  of  1919  filled  320  pages, 
many  of  small  type;  reports  of  congressional  hearings  increased 
in  proportion.  Of  the  State  chapters,  describing  all  the  work 
that  had  been  done  before  1901,  29  contained  less  than  8  pages, 
18  of  these  less  than  5  and  7  less  than  3;  only  6  had  over  i  j 
s.  For  Volume  VI  not  more  than  half  a  dozen  State  writers 
sent  manuscript  for  less  than  14  and  the  rest  ranged  from  20 
to  95  pages.  The  report  on  Canada  in  Volume  IV  occupied 
pages;  in  this  volume  it  fills  18.  The  chapter  on  Woman 
Suffrage  in  Europe  outside  of  Great  Britain  found  plenty  of 
room  in  4  pages;  in  this  one  it  requires  32. 

The  very  full  reports  of  the  national  suffrage  conventions, 
the  congressional  documents,  the  files  of  the  Woman's  Journal 
and  the  Woman  Citizen  and  the  newspapers  furnished  a  wealth 
of  material  on  the  general  status  of  the  question  in  the  United 
Slates.  It  was,  however,  the  evolution  of  the  movement  in  the 
States  that  gave  it  national  strength  and  compelled  the  action 
which  always  was  the  ultimate  goal.  The  attcmp; 
to  give  the  story  of  every  State,  in  many  of  which  no  records 
had  been  kept  or  those  which  had  were  lost  or  destroyed;  the 
difficulty  in  getting  correct  dates  and  proper  names  U 
all  ralculations  on  the  amount  of  material  and  length  of  time, 
ult  the  time  lengthened  to  three  and  a  half  years  and 
the  one  voln:  iiided  into  two,  with  enough  excellent  matter 

eliminated  to  have  made  a  third.  In  each  of  these  chapters 
will  be  inplete  history  of  the  effort  to  seanv  the 

by  means  of  the  State  constitution,  also  the  part   taken 
t«>  obtain  tin  '   Amendment  :m;l  the  action  of  the 

tnre   in   latilsm.  meiMmcnt. 


Vi  PREFACE 

The  accounts  of  the  annual  conventions  of  the  National 
American  Suffrage  Association  demonstrate  as  nothing  else  could 
do  the  commanding  force  of  that  organization,  for  fifty  years 
the  foundation  and  bulwark  of  the  movement.  The  hearings 
before  committees  of  every  Congress  indicate  the  never  ceasing 
effort  to  obtain  an  amendment  to  the  Federal  Constitution  and 
the  extracts  from  the  speeches  show  the  logic,  the  justice  and 
the  patriotism  of  the  arguments  made  in  its  behalf.  The  delay 
of  that  body  in  responding  will  be  something  for  future  genera- 
tions to  marvel  at.  In  Chapter  XX  will  be  found  the  full  history 
of  this  amendment  by  which  all  women  were  enfranchised. 

In  one  chapter  is  a  graphic  account  of  the  effort  for  half  a 
century  to  get  a  woman  suffrage  "plank"  into  the  national  plat- 
forms of  the  political  parties  and  its  success  in  1916,  with  one 
for  the  Federal  Amendment  in  1920.  A  chapter  is  devoted  to 
the  forming  of  the  National  League  of  Woman  Voters  after  the 
women  of  the  United  States  had  become  a  part  of  the  electorate. 
All  questions  as  to  the  part  taken  in  the  war  of  1914-1918  by 
the  women  who  were  working  for  their  enfranchisement  are 
conclusively  answered  in  the  chapter  on  War  Service  of  Organized 
Suffragists.  In  one  chapter  will  be  found  an  account  of  other 
organizations  besides  the  National  American  Association  that 
worked  to  obtain  the  vote  for  women  and  of  those  that  worked 
against  it.  A  full  description  is  given  of  the  organizing  of  the 
International  Woman  Suffrage  Alliance  and  its  congresses  in 
the  various  cities  of  Europe. 

Volumes  V  and  VI  take  up  the  history  of  the  contest  in  the 
United  States  from  the  beginning  of  the  present  century  to 
Aug.  26,  1920,  when  Secretary  of  State  Bainbridge  Colby  pro- 
claimed that  the  I9th  Amendment,  submitted  by  Congress  on 
June  4,  1919,  had  been  ratified  by  the  Legislatures  of  three- 
fourths  of  the  States  and  was  now  a  part  of  the  National 
Constitution.  This  ended  a  movement  for  political  liberty  which 
had  continued  without  cessation  for  over  seventy  years.  The 
story  closes  with  uncounted  millions  of  women  in  all  parts  of 
the  world  possessing  the  same  voice  as  men  in  their  government 
and  enjoying  the  same  rights  as  citizens. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 
CHAPTER  I. 

PAGE 

FOUNDING  OF  NATIONAL  ASSOCIATION 3 

Work  of  the  National  American  Woman  Suffrage  Association 
for  an  amendment  to  the  Federal  Constitution,  to  State  consti- 
tutions and  for  other  reforms — Annual  convention  in  Minne- 
apolis in  1901 — Mrs.  Stanton's  address  on  the  Church,  the 
Bible  and  Woman  Suffrage — Miss  Anthony's  and  others'  opin- 
ions— President's  address  of  Mrs.  Catt  on  obstacles — Dr.  Shaw's 
vice-president's  address  on  Anti-suffragists — Plan  for  national 
work — Miss  Anthony's  report  on  work  with  Congress — Protest 
against  "regulated  vice"  in  Manila — New  York  Sun  and  Woman 
Suffrage — Discriminating  against  women  in  government  de- 
partments— A  tribute  to  the  national  suffrage  conventions. 

CHAPTER  II. 

THE  NATIONAL  SUFFRAGE  CONVENTION  OF  1902 23 

Meeting  in  Washington,  D.  C,  of  committee  to  form  an  Inter- 
national Woman  Suffrage  Alliance — Greeting  of  Clara  Bar- 
ton to  foreign  delegates — Letters  from  Norway  and  Germany 
—Response  of  Mrs.  Friedland  of  Russia — Mrs.  Catt's  presi- 
dent's address  on  World  Progress  leading  to  the  International 
Alliance — Mrs.  Stanton's  address  on  Educated  Suffrage — Miss 
Anthony's  introduction  of  Pioneers — Addresses  on  The  New 
Woman  and  The  New  Man — Women  in  New  York  municipal 
election — Miss  Anthony's  82d  birthday — Mr.  Blackwell  on 
Presidential  suffrage  for  women — Hearings  before  committees 
of  Congress — Addresses  of  Norwegian  and  Australian  dele- 
gates before  Senate  Committee — Dr.  Shaw's  plea  for  a  com- 
mittee to  investigate  conditions  in  Equal  Suffrage  States — 
Speeches  of  Russian,  Swedish  and  English  delegates — Mrs. 
Catt's  insistence  on  a  Congressional  Committee  to  investigate 
the  working  of  woman  suffrage  where  it  exists. 

CHAPTER  III. 

NATIONAL  SUFFRAGE  CONVENTION  OF  1903 55 

Very  successful  meeting  in  New  Orleans — Description  of 
Picayune — Ovation  to  Miss  Anthony  and  Mrs.  Caroline  E. 
Merrick — Dr.  Sh.v  .nse — Mrs.  Catt's  president's  address 

—Times  Democrat  brings  up  Negro  Question,  official  board 
of  the  association  states  its  position — Visit  to  colored  women's 
club — Reports  of  officers — Presidential  suffrage  for  women — 
Colby's  report  mi  Industrial  Problems  relating  to  Women 
and  Children — Addresses  of  Dr.  Henry  Dixon  Bruns,  M.  J. 

vii 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Sanders,  president  of  Progressive  Union— Memorial  service 
for  Mrs.  Stanton — Speeches  on  Educational  Qualification  for 

voting "Dorothy   Dix"   on   The   Woman   with   the    Broom — 

Address  of  Edwin  Merrick— Belle  Kearney  on  Woman  Suf- 
frage to  insure  White  Supremacy — Tribute  to  Misses  Kate 
and  Jean  Gordon. 

CHAPTER  IV. 

NATIONAL  SUFFRAGE  CONVENTION  OF  1904 86 

Letter  of  greeting  to  the  convention  in  Washington  from  Mrs. 
Florence  Fenwick  Miller,  suffrage  leader  in  Great  Britain — 
Delegates  appointed  to  International  Alliance  meeting  in  Ber- 
lin— Mrs.  Catt's  president's  address  on  an  Educational  Re- 
quirement for  the  Suffrage — Address  of  Mrs.  Watson  Lister  of 
Australia — Charlotte  Perkins  Gilman's  biological  plea  for 
woman  suffrage — Report  from  new  headquarters — Addresses 
on  Women  and  Philanthropy  by  the  Rev.  Anna  Garlin  Spencer 
and  Dr.  Samuel  J.  Barrows — Mrs.  Mead  on  Peace  and  Mrs. 
Nathan  on  The  Wage  Earner  and  the  Ballot — Miss  Anthony's 
84th  birthday — A  Colorado  Jubilee,  speeches  by  Governor 
Alva  Adams,  Mrs.  Grenfell  and  Mrs.  Meredith — Mrs.  Terrell 
asks  for  moral  support  of  colored  women — Declaration  of 
Principles  adopted — Mrs.  Catt  Resigns  the  Presidency,  tributes 
— Hearings  before  Congressional  Committees — Distinguished 
testimony  from  Colorado — Mrs.  Catt's  strong  appeal  for  a  re- 
port even  if  adverse. 

CHAPTER  V. 

NATIONAL  SUFFRAGE  CONVENTION  OF  1905 117 

The  convention  in  Portland,  Ore.,  first  held  in  the  West — 
Enthusiastic  welcome  and  great  hospitality — Miss  Anthony 
speaks  of  her  visit  in  1871 — Speech  of  Jefferson  Myers,  presi- 
dent of  the  Exposition — Mrs.  Duniway  on  the  Pioneers — Dr. 
Shaw's  president's  address,  answers  ex-President  Cleveland 
and  Cardinal  Gibbons — Committee  appointed  to  interview 
President  Roosevelt — Protest  to  committee  of  Congress  against 
statehood  constitution  for  Oklahoma  and  other  Territories — 
Fine  work  of  Press  Committee — Woman's  Day  at  Exposition 
— Unveiling  of  Sacajawea  statue — Convention  adopts  Initia- 
tive and  Referendum — Decision  to  have  an  amendment  cam- 
paign in  Oregon — Tribute  to  Mr.  Blackwell — Mrs.  Catt's 
noble  address — Memorial  resolutions  for  eminent  members — 
Speeches  by  prominent  politicians. 

CHAPTER  VI. 

NATIONAL  SUFFRAGE  CONVENTION  OF  1906 151 

The  convention  held  in  Baltimore  one  of  the  most  notable — 
Miss  Anthony,  Julia  Ward  Howe  and  Clara  Barton  on  the 
platform — Welcome  by  Governor  Warfield  and  Collector  of  the 
Port  Stone — Dr.  Shaw  scores  President  Roosevelt's  reference 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS  IX 

PAGE 

to  Women  in  Industry  in  his  message  to  Congress — Ridicules 
Cardinal  Gibbons'  and  Dr.  Lyman  Abbott's  recent  pronounce- 
ments on  woman  suffrage — Organization  of  College  Women's 
League — Florence  Kelley  speaks  on  Child  Labor — College 
Women's  Evening — Women  professors  from  five  large  colleges 
speak — Week  of  hospitality  by  Miss  Mary  E.  Garrett — Speeches 
on  Women  in  Municipal  Government  by  Wm.  Dudley  Foulke, 
Frederick  C.  Howe,  Rudolph  Blankenburg,  Jane  Addams — 
Miss  Anthony  speaks  her  last  words  to  a  national  suffrage 
convention — Mrs.  Howe's  farewell  address — President  Thomas 
and  Miss  Garrett  decide  to  raise  large  fund  for  woman  suf- 
frage— Delegates  go  to  Washington  for  hearings  before  Con- 
gn-jssional  Committees — Miss  Anthony's  86th  birthday  cele- 
brated—Her  last  words  on  the  public  platform. 

CHAPTER  VII. 

NATIONAL  SUFFRAGE  CONVENTION  OF  1907 193 

Bishop  Fallows  welcomes  convention  to  Chicago — Professor 
Breckinridge  on  Municipal  Housekeeping — Florence  Kelley  on 
same — Mary  McDowell,  Anna  Nicholes  and  others  on  Work- 
ingwomen's  Need  of  a  Vote — Addresses  by  Professor  C.  R. 
Henderson,  Hon.  Oliver  W.  Stewart — Memorials  and  service 
for  Miss  Anthony — Organizations  for  Woman  Suffrage — Fare- 
well letter  of  Mary  Anthony — Rabbi  Hirsch  on  woman  suf- 
frage— Near  victories  in  many  States. 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

NATIONAL  SUFFRAGE  CONVENTION  OF  1908 213 

Celebrates  4Oth  anniversary  in  Buffalo — Emily  Howland  on 
Spirit  of  '48 — Kate  Gordon  describes  interview  with  President 
Roosevelt — Widespread  work  of  national  headquarters — Pro- 
gram of  1848  convention — Responses  to  its  Resolutions  by 
Mrs.  (iilman,  Miss  Blackwell,  Mrs.  Blatch,  the  Rev.  Caroline 
Hartlett  Crane  and  others — The  Scriptures  and  St.  Paul  ana- 
lyzed by  Judith  1  lyams  Douglas — Discussion  on  the  Social  Evil 
led  by  the  Rev.  Anna  Garlin  Spencer— College  Women's  Eve- 
ning; addresses  by  Dr.  M.  Carey  Thomas,  Professor  Frances 
Squire  Potter,  Professor  Breckinridge  and  others — Mrs.  Kelley 
on  Laws  for  Women  and  Wage  Earners — Stirring  speech  by 
an  Gordon,  factory  inspector — Maude  Miner  on  Night  Courts 
.vomen — Mrs.  William  C.  Gannett  on  Woman's  Duty — 
Katharine  Reed  Balentinc  on  Disfranchised  Influence — Mrs. 
Philip  Snowdcn  describes  Knglish  situation  l.r-al  Phases  of 
by  llarriette  Jdhn.M.n  Wood  I  'n.-ress  since 
1848 — Mrs.  Catt's  inspiring  addn 

CHAPTER  IX. 

NATIONAL  SUFFRAGE  CONVENTION  OF  1909 243 

Aninia  •    held    in    Seattle      Delightful     journey    across 

continent— Reception  in  Spokane— Mrs.  Villard  tells  of  open- 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 


ing  of  Northern  Pacific  R.  R. — Welcomed  to  Seattle  by  Mayor 
— Elizabeth  J.  Hauser's  report  of  headquarters  work — Mrs. 
Belmont's  offer  of  headquarters  in  New  York  City — Mrs. 
Mead  urges  association  to  work  for  Peace — Professor  Potter's 
address  on  College  Women  and  Democracy — Mr.  Blackwell's 
last  suffrage  convention — Mrs.  Avery  reports  on  National 
Association's  petition  to  Congress — Mary  E.  Craigie  tells  of 
suffrage  work  with  the  churches — Professor  Potter  elected 
corresponding  secretary — Political  work  for  suffrage  before 
elections  urged,  Illinois  cited — Suffrage  Day  at  the  Exposition. 

CHAPTER  X. 

NATIONAL  SUFFRAGE  CONVENTION  OF  1910       .......     266 

Convention  returns  to  Washington  after  six  years — President 
Taft  makes  speech  of  welcome — Delegates  show  displeasure — 
Exchange  of  letters  between  national  officers  and  the  Presi- 
dent— Official  resolution  of  regret — Comment  of  Woman's 
Journal — Report  of  association's  vast  work  from  New  York 
headquarters — Great  Petition  officially  received  by  Congress 
— Mrs.  Upton  resigns  as  treasurer — Memorial  addresses  for 
Mr.  Blackwell  and  Wm.  Lloyd  Garrison — Alice  Paul  on  "mili- 
tant" suffrage  in  Great  Britain— "Dorothy  Dix"  on  The  Real 
Reason  why  Women  can  not  Vote — Max  Eastman  on  Democ- 
racy and  Woman — Mrs.  Harper's  report  as  chairman  of  Na- 
tional Press  Committee — Hearings  before  Committees  of  Con- 
gress; speeches  by  Dr.  Shaw,  Mrs.  McCulloch,  Eveline  Gano 
of  New  York  on  teachers'  need  of  the  vote;  Dr.  Anna  E. 
Blount  of  Chicago  on  professional  women's  need;  Minnie  J. 
Reynolds  on  writers  signing  petitions — U.  S.  Senator  Shafroth's 
notable  speech  to  Senate  Committee — House  Committee:  Mrs. 
Raymond  Robins,  Elizabeth  Schauss,  factory  inspector;  Laura 
J.  Graddick  of  a  District  Labor  Union  and  Florence  Kelley 
argue  for  the  working  women's  need  of  vote — Speeches  of 
Mrs.  Upton  and  Laura  Clay. 

CHAPTER  XI 

NATIONAL  SUFFRAGE  CONVENTION  OF  1911 310 

Convention  in  Louisville,  Ky.,  celebrates  victories  in  Wash- 
ington and  California — Welcomed  by  Laura  Clay — Mr.  Braly 
tells  of  California  campaign — Mary  Ware  Dennett,  new  cor- 
responding secretary,  reports  world  wide  work — Caroline 
Reilly,  new  chairman,  describes  press  work  in  41  States — 
Jane  Addams,  on  College  League's  Evening  shows  what  women 
might  accomplish  with  the  franchise — Dr.  Thomas  what  the 
suffrage  means  to  college  women — Dr.  Harvey  W.  Wiley 
speaks  on  Women's  Influence  in  Public  Affairs — Katharine 
Dexter  McCormick  on  Effect  of  Suffrage  Work  on  Women 
themselves — Mrs.  McCulloch  on  Equal  Guardianship  Laws — 
Church  needs  Woman  Suffrage — Mrs.  Desha  Breckinridge  dis- 
cusses Prospect  for  Woman  Suffrage  in  the  South — Mrs. 
Pankhurst  receives  ovation. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS  XI 

CHAPTER  XII. 

PAGE 

NATIONAL  SUFFRAGE  CONVENTION  OF  1912 332 

Three  victories  celebrated  at  convention  in  Philadelphia,  suf- 
frage gained  in  Oregon,  Arizona  and  Kansas — Welcomed  by 
Mayor  Blankenburg — Rally  in  Independence  Square — Reports 
show  wonderful  progress — An  Evening  by  Men's  Suffrage 
League — Discussion  on  officers  of  the  association  taking  part 
in  political  campaigns— Great  meeting  in  Metropolitan  Opera 
House,  speeches  by  Julia  Lathrop,  Miss  Addams  and  Dr. 
Burghardt  DuBois — On  last  evening  addresses  by  Bishop 
Darlington,  Baroness  von  Suttner  and  Mrs.  Catt — Hearings 
before  Congressional  Committees,  Dr.  Shaw  and  Miss  Addams 
presiding — Speeches  on  Senate  side  by  James  Lees  Laidlaw, 
president  of  Men's  League;  Jean  Nelson  Penfield,  speaking 
for  women  in  civic  work;  Elsie  Cole  Phillips  and  Caroline  A. 
Lowe  for  the  wage-earning  women — On  the  House  side,  Rep- 
resentatives Raker,  Taylor,  Lafferty  and  Berger;  Mary  E. 
McDowell,  Ida  Husted  Harper — Colloquy  with  committee — 
Klla  C.  Brehaut  speaks  for  anti-suffrage  women. 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

NATIONAL  SUFFRAGE  CONVENTION  OF  1913 364 

Convention  opened  in  Washington  Sunday  afternoon  with  mass 
meeting — Women's  trade  unions  represented  by  speakers — 
Victories  in  Illinois  and  Alaska — Dr.  Shaw's  account  of  Demo- 
cratic National  convention  in  Baltimore — President  Wilson 
urged  to  put  woman  suffrage  in  his  Message — He  receives  a 
delegation — Report  of  year's  work  for  the  Federal  Amend- 
ment by  Alice  Paul,  chairman  of  association's  Congressional 
•mmittee — Objection  to  Congressional  Union — New  Con- 
gressional Committee  appointed  —  Vote  on  Federal  Amend- 
nt  in  Senate — Three  days'  hearings  by  House  Committee  on 
Rules  on  appeal  for  a  Committee  on  Woman  Suffrage,  Dr. 
Shaw  presiding — Speeches  by  Mrs.  Catt,  Mrs.  Gardener,  Mrs. 
Harper,  Jane  Addams,  Mrs.  Breckinridge,  Mary  R.  Beard  and 
Representative  Raker — Women's  Anti-Suffrage  Associations 
out  in  force — In  rebuttal  Miss  Blackwell,  Mrs.  McCulloch  and 
Mrs.  Mondell — Representative  Mondell  closes — Rules  Commit- 
tee refuses  the  appeal. 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

NATIONAL  SUFFRAGE  C  >N  OF  1914 398 

Convention  met  in  I  louse  «»t"  Representatives  at  Nashville,  wel- 
comed by  Mayor  Howse — Dr.  Shaw  eulogizes  Southern  women 
— Governor  Hooper  welcomes  to  State — Anne  Martin  tells  of 
victory  in  Nevada,  Jc.mmtte  Knnkin  in  Montana — National 
Association's  worl  ip.iit^is — Dr.  Shaw  on  the  War — 

Tribute  of  convention  to  her — Address  by  U.  S.  Senator  Luke 
Lea — Heated  com  over  Shafroth  Federal  Amendment 

— Defense    by    Ruth    Hanna    McCormick — Antoinette    Funk 


xii  TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

before  Judiciary  Committee — Her  "brief"  for  amendment — 
Jier  report  of  the  campaigns — Miss  Clay's  and  Mrs.  Bennett's 
bill — Committee  Hearings:  speakers,  Mrs.  Funk,  Mrs.  Colby, 
Mrs.  Beard,  Crystal  Eastman  Benedict,  Dr.  Cora  Smith  King, 
Mrs.  Gardener — National  Anti-Suffrage  Association  headed 
by  Mrs.  Arthur  M.  Dodge,  with  array  of  men  and  women 
speakers. 

CHAPTER  XV. 

NATIONAL  SUFFRAGE  CONVENTION  OF  1915 439 

At  the  convention  in  Washington  defeats  and  victories  to  con- 
sider— First  vote  in  House  on  Federal  Amendment — President 
Wilson  receives  delegates — All  reports  show  progress — Dr. 
Shaw  refuses  to  stand  for  reelection — Her  farewell  address — 
Beautiful  ceremonies — Mrs.  Catt  elected — Ethel  M.  Smith's 
report  on  political  work — Congressmen  card-indexed — Ruth 
Hanna  McCormick  on  first  House  vote — Shafroth  Amendment 
dropped — Conference  with  Congressional  Union,  its  policy  of 
lighting  party  in  power  condemned — Hearing  before  friendly 
Senate  Suit  rage  Committee — House  Committee  controversies 
with  "antis"  and  Congressional  Union — Men  "antis"  grilled. 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

NATIONAL  SUFFRAGE  CONVENTION  OF  1916 480 

Great  meeting  in  Atlantic  City — President  Wilson  attends  and 
announces  his  allegiance — His  address — Dr.  Shaw  responds — 
Mrs.  Catt  on  State  campaigns — Shall  association  work  for 
Federal  and  State  amendments? — Mrs.  Catt  sounds  key-note  in 
speech  on  The  Crisis — Mrs.  Dudley,  Mrs.  Cotnam  and  Mrs. 
Valentine  represent  South — The  "golden  flier" — Sharp  debate 
on  endorsing  candidates — Speeches  of  Owen  Lovejoy,  Julia 
Lathrop  and  Katherine  Bement  Davis — Important  report  of 
Mrs.  Roessing  on  work  in  Congress;  woman  suffrage  planks 
in  national  conventions  at  Chicago  and  St.  Louis;  interview- 
ing presidential  candidates;  revised  plan  for  work  of  associa- 
tion— Dr.  Shaw  on  Americanism  and  the  Flag. 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

NATIONAL  SUFFRAGE  CONVENTION  OF  1917 5x3 

Convention  in  Washington  under  war  conditions — Distin- 
guished reception  committee — Delegates  interview  their  Con- 
gressmen; Association  pledges  loyalty  to  Government;  its 
officers  in  service — New  York  victory  celebrated — Secretary 
Lane  brings  President  Wilson's  greetings — Mrs.  Catt's  great 
address  to  Congress — Maud  Wood  Park's  full  report  of  work 
with  Congress — New  Washington  headquarters — Report  of 
Leslie  Bureau  of  Suffrage  Education — Speech  of  Secretary  of 
War  Baker — Dr.  Shaw  on  Woman's  Committee  of  Council  of 
National  Defense — Miss  Hay  on  New  York's  Socialist  vote — 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS  Xlll 

PAGF 

"Suffrage  Schools"  begun — Last  Hearing  before  Senate  Com- 
mittee. 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

NATIONAL  SUFFRAGE  CONVENTION  OF  1918-1919 550 

Convention  of  1918  first  ever  omitted — War  conditions — Many 
suffrage  gains — Jubilee  Convention  in  St.  Louis  in  1919 — Mrs. 
Catt  calls  for  League  of  Women  Voters — Mrs.  Shuler's  secre- 
tary's report  of  greatest  year's  work,  State  campaigns,  war 
service,  work  with  Congress — Missouri  Legislature  gives 
Presidential  suffrage — Mrs.  Park's  report  on  congressional 
work — Votes  in  House  and  Senate — President  Wilson  asks 
Congress  for  woman  suffrage — Tributes  to  Pioneers — League 
of  Women  Voters  formed — Work  with  Editors — Non-partisan- 
ship reaffirmed — In  Washington:  Hearing  before  new  Com- 
mittee on  Woman  Suffrage — Dr.  Shaw  on  association's  war 
record — Mrs.  Catt's  survey  of  situation;  urges  committee  to 
talk  with  President — Ex-Senator  Bailey's  anti-suffrage  speech 
— Mrs.  Catt  and  Mrs.  Park  answer — Last  suffrage  hearing. 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

X  \TIO\AT,  SUFFRAGE  CONVENTION  OF  1920 594 

Call  to  convention  in  Chicago  the  last — Mrs.  Catt's  Jubilee 
speech — Executive  Council's  recommendations — Mrs.  Shuler's 
secretary's  report  of  year's  gains  and  losses,  work  in  southern 
States,  great  effort  for  Ratification — Mrs.  Rogers'  last  treas- 
urer's report — Smithsonian  Institution  gives  space  for  suffrage 
mementoes — Memorial  meeting  for  Dr.  Shaw,  college  founda- 
tions— Miss  Anthony's  centennial  celebrated — League  of 
Women  Voters  perfected. 

CHAPTER  XX. 

KKAI.  Sri-KK\<;K  AMENDMENT 618 

The  "war  amendments"  discriminate  against  women — National 

Association  formed  for  Federal  Woman  Suffrage  Amendment 

\\onun    vote    undi-r    the    I4th    -  -    Supreme    Court   decides 

them— Eifty  \  cars'  struggle  with  Congress  for  woman 

n- inlnicnt — Hearings   before  committees — Stubborn 

opi  -Votes    and    defeats — Support    of    parties    finally 

Planks  in  their  platforms— Amendment  submitted  to 

Matures— Strenuous  efforts  for  ratification— Victory  at  last. 

CHAPTER  XXL 

VARIOUS  WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  ASSOCIATIONS 656 

ral   Suffrage  Association— U.   S.   Elections   Bill— College 
Women's  League—Friends'  Equal  !  ition— Mi 

es — Southern  Women'  -In- 

:  national  and  National   Me  ;ues — National   Worna; 


XIV  TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

PACT 

Party — Women's  Anti-Suffrage  Association — Man  Suffrage 
Association. 

CHAPTER  XXII. 

LEAGUE  OF  WOMEN  VOTERS 683 

Formed  in  St.  Louis — Mrs.  Catt  outlines  its  work — Its  eight 
departments  presented — Perfected  and  officers  elected  at  Chi- 
cago— Reports  from  department  chairmen — Laws  for  women 
demanded — Citizenship  Schools — League  asks  planks  in  na- 
tional political  conventions — Visits  presidential  candidates. 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 

WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  IN  PRESIDENTIAL  CONVENTIONS 702 

Long  struggle  for  planks  in  national  platforms — Refused  for 
nearly  fifty  years — Woman  suffrage  by  State  action  approved 
in  1916 — Federal  Amendment  endorsed  in  1920 — Graphic  story 
of  opposition. 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 

WAR  SERVICE  OF  ORGANIZED  SUFFRAGISTS 720 

Mrs.  Catt  calls  Executive  Council  of  One  Hundred  to  Wash- 
ington— It  sends  letter  to  President  Wilson  offering  services  of 
National  American  Association — Organizes  four  departments 
of  work — Mass  meeting  held,  Secretary  of  War  Baker  speaks 
— President  expresses  approval  of  the  association's  work — 
Woman's  Committee  of  Government  Council  of  National  De- 
fense formed,  Dr.  Shaw  appointed  chairman,  Mrs.  Catt  and 
other  leading  suffragists  made  members — Reports  of  depart- 
ment heads  at  National  Suffrage  convention — Report  of  as- 
sociation's Oversea  Hospitals,  their  important  work — Anti- 
suffrage  women  attack  suffrage  leaders — After  Armistice  Mrs. 
Catt  calls  meeting  in  New  York,  which  requests  President  Wil- 
son to  appoint  women  delegates  to  Peace  Conference  in  Paris 
— Woman's  Committee  of  National  Defense  ends  work — Sec- 
retary Baker's  tribute  to  Dr.  Shaw. 

APPENDIX 

APPENDIX 741 

Moncure  D.  Conway's  address  at  Mrs.  Stanton's  funeral — 
Miss  Anthony's  last  letter  to  her — National  American  Asso- 
ciation's Declaration  of  Principles — Memorial  building  in 
Rochester  for  Miss  Anthony — Speech  of  Mrs.  Catt  at  Senate 
hearing  in  1910 — Same  in  1915 — Review  of  Shafroth  Federal 
Suffrage  Amendment — Different  National  headquarters — Be- 
quest of  Mrs.  Frank  Leslie — Memorial  tributes  to  Dr.  Shaw 
— Present  Status  of  National  American  Association. 


INTRODUCTION 

A  voice  in  the  Government  under  which  one  lives  is  absolutely 
necessary  to  personal  liberty  and  the  right  of  a  whole  people  to 
a  voice  in  their  Government  is  the  first  requisite  for  a  free 
country.  There  must  be  government  by  a  constitution  made 
with  the  consent  and  help  of  the  people  which  guarantees  this 
right.  It  is  only  within  the  last  century  and  a  half  that  a  con- 
stitutional form  of  government  has  been  secured  by  any  coun- 
tries and  in  the  most  of  those  where  it  now  exists,  not  excepting 
the  United  States,  it  was  won  through  war  and  bloodshed. 
Largely  for  this  reason  its  principal  advantage  was  monopolized 
by  men,  who  made  and  carried  on  war,  and  who  held  that  such 
rnment  must  be  maintained  by  physical  force  and  only  those 
should  have  a  voice  in  it  who  could  fight  for  it  if  necessary. 
There  were  many  other  reasons  why  those  who  had  thus  secured 
their  right  to  a  vote  should  use  their  new  power  to  withhold  it 
from  women,  which  was  done  in  every  country.  Women  then 
had  to  begin  their  own  contest  for  what  by  the  law  of  justice 
theirs  as  much  as  men's  when  government  by  constitution 
established. 

Their  struggle  lasted  for  nearly  three-quarters  of  a  century 

in  the  United  States  and  half  a  century  in  Great  Britain,  the  two 

institutional  governments,  and  a  shorter  time  in  other 

countries,   but    it    was   a   peaceful    revolution.     Not   a   drop   of 

1    was   spilled   and   toward   the   end   of   it,   when   in   Great 

in    the    only    "militancy"    occurred,    its    leaders    gave    the 

;cst  orders  that  human  life  must  be  held  sacred.     Although 

at  the  la-t  the  women  of  Central  Europe  were  enfranchised  as 

the  result  of  war  it  was  not  of  their  making  and  their  part  in 

-t  on  the  battlefield.     This  was  the  most  unequal  contest 

that  .  is  waged,  for  one  side  had  to  fight  without  weapons. 

It   was  held  ;<  ..(.men  that   I  hey   were  not   educated,  but   the 

of  all  institutions  of  learning  were  closed  against  them; 

xv 


XVI  INTRODUCTION 

* 

that  they  were  nut  taxpayers,  although  money-earning  occupations 
were  barred  to  them  and  if  married  they  were  not  allowed  to 
own  property.  They  were  kept  in  subjection  by  authority  of 
the  Scriptures  and  were  not  permitted  to  expound  them  from 
the  woman's  point  of  view,  and  they  were  prevented  from  plead- 
ing their  cause  on  the  public  platform.  When  they  had  largely 
overcome  these  handicaps  they  found  themselves  facing  a  political 
fight  without  political  power. 

The  long  story  of  the  early  period  of  this  contest  will  be 
found  in  the  preceding  volumes  of  this  History  and  it  is  one 
without  parallel.  No  class  of  men  ever  strove  seventy  or  even 
fifty  years  for  the  suffrage.  In  every  other  reform  which  had 
to  be  won  through  legislative  bodies  those  who  were  working 
for  it  had  the  power  of  the  vote  over  these  bodies.  In  the 
Introduction  to  Volume  IV  is  an  extended  review  of  the  helpless 
position  of  woman  when  in  1848  the  first  demand  for  equality 
of  rights  was  made  and  her  gradual  emergence  from  its  bondage. 
No  sudden  revolution  could  have  gained  it  but  only  the  slow 
processes  of  evolution.  The  founding  of  the  public  school  system 
with  its  high  schools,  from  which  girls  could  not  be  excluded, 
solved  the  question  of  their  education  and  inevitably  led  to  the 
opening  of  the  colleges.  In  the  causes  of  temperance  and  anti- 
slavery  women  made  their  way  to  the  platform  and  remained 
to  speak  for  their  own.  During  the  Civil  War  they  entered 
by  thousands  the  places  vacated  by  men  and  retained  them 
partly  from  necessity  and  partly  from  choice. 

One  step  led  to  another ;  business  opportunities  increased ; 
women  accumulated  property;  Legislatures  were  compelled  to 
revise  the  laws  and  the  church  was  obliged  to  liberalize  its 
interpretation  of  the  Scriptures.  Women  began  to  organize; 
their  missionary  and  charity  societies  prepared  the  way  to  clubs 
for  self -improvement;  these  in  turn  broadened  into  civic  organ- 
izations whose  public  work  carried  them  to  city  councils  and 
State  Legislatures,  where  they  found  themselves  in  the  midst 
of  politics  and  wholly  without  influence.  Thus  they  were  led 
into  the  movement  for  the  suffrage.  It  was  only  a  few  of  the 
clear  thinkers,  the  far  seeing,  who  realized  at  the  beginning  that 
the  principal  cause  of  women's  inferior  position  and  helplessness 


INTRODUCTION 

lay  in  their  disfranchisement  and  until  they  could  be  made  to 
see  it  they  were  a  dead  weight  on  the  movement.  Men  fully 
understood  the  power  that  the  vote  would  place  in  the  hands 
of  women,  with  a  lessening  of  their  own,  and  in  the  mass  they 
did  not  intend  to  concede  it. 

The  pioneers  in  the  movement  for  the  rights  of  women,  of 
which  the  suffrage  was  only  one,  contested  every  inch  of  ground 
and  little  by  little  the  old  prejudice  weakened,  public  sentiment 
was  educated,  barriers  were  broken  down  and  women  pressed 
forward.  At  the  opening  of  the  present  century,  while  they 
had  not  obtained  entire  equality  of  rights,  their  status  had  been 
completely  transformed  in  most  respects  and  they  were  prepared 
to  get  what  was  lacking.  None  of  these  gains,  however,  had 
required  the  permission  of  the  masses  of  men  but  only  of  selected 
groups,  boards  of  trustees,  committees,  legislators.  It  was  when 
women  found  that  with  all  their  rights  they  were  at  tremendous 
disadvantage  without  political  influence  and  asked  for  the  suf- 
frage that  they  learned  the  difficulty  of  changing  constitutions. 
They  found  that  either  National  or  State  constitutions  had  to 
he  amended  and  in  the  latter  case  the  consent  of  a  majority  of  all 
men  was  necessary.  In  Volume  VI  the  attempt  to  obtain  the 
vote  through  State  action  is  described  in  48  chapters  and  their 
reading  is  recommended  to  those  who  insisted  that  this  was  the 
way  women  should  be  enfranchised.  Fifty-six  strenuous  cam- 
paicms  were  conducted,  with  their  heavy  demands  on  time, 
strength  and  money,  and  as  a  result  13  States  gave  suffrage  to 
women !  Wyoming  and  Utah  entered  the  Union  with  it  in  their 

'itutirms.  Compare  this  result  with  the  proclamation  of  the 
adaption  of  a  Federal  Amendment,  which  in  a  moment  and  a 
sentence  conferred  the  complete  franchise  on  the  women  of  all 

ther  States. 

The  leaders  recognized  this  advantage  and  the  National  Suf- 

ition  was  formed  for  the  express  purpose  of  securing 

a  Federal  Amendment  in  1869,  as  soon  as  it  was  learned  through 

enfranchisement  of  negro  men  that  this  method  was  possible. 
A  short  experience  with  Congress  convinced  them  that  there 

'd  have  to  be  some  demonstration  of  woman  suffrage  in  the 
e  they  could  hope  for  Federal  action  and  therefore 


XV111  INTRODUCTION 

they  carried  on  the  work  along  both  lines.  The  question  had 
to  be  presented  purely  as  one  of  abstract  justice  without  appeal 
to  the  special  interests  of  any  party,  but  from  1890  to  1896 
woman  suffrage  had  been  placed  in  the  constitutions  of  four 
States  and  there  was  hope  that  it  was  now  on  the  way  to  general 
success.  From  this  time,  however,  such  idealism  in  politics 
as  may  have  existed  in  the  United  States  gradually  disappeared. 
The  Republican  party  was  in  complete  control  of  the  Govern- 
ment at  Washington  and  was  largely  dominated  by  the  great 
financial  interests  of  the  country,  and  this  was  also  practically 
the  situation  in  the  majority  of  the  States.  The  campaign  fund 
controlled  the  elections  and  the  largest  contributors  to  this  fund 
were  the  corporations,  which  had  secured  immense  power,  and 
the  liquor  interests,  which  had  become  a  dominant  force  in 
State  and  national  politics,  without  regard  to  party.  Both  of 
these  supreme  influences  were  implacably  opposed  to  suffrage 
for  women;  the  corporations  because  it  would  vastly  increase 
the  votes  of  the  working  classes,  the  liquor  interests  because  they 
were  fully  aware  of  the  hostility  of  women  to  their  business 
and  everything  connected  with  it. 

This  was  the  situation  faced  by  those  who  were  striving  for 
the  enfranchisement  of  women.  Congress  was  stone  deaf  to 
their  pleadings  and  arguments  and  from  1894  to  1913  its  com- 
mittees utterly  ignored  the  question.  When  a  Legislature  was 
persuaded  to  submit  an  amendment  to  the  State  constitution 
to  the  decision  of  the  voters  it  met  the  big  campaign  fund  of 
the  employers  of  labor  and  the  thoroughly  organized  forces 
of  the  liquor  interests,  which  appealed  not  only  to  the  many  lines 
of  business  connected  with  the  traffic  but  to  the  people  who  for 
personal  reasons  favored  the  saloons  and  their  collateral  branches 
of  gambling,  wine  rooms,  etc.  They  were  a  valuable  adjunct 
to  both  political  parties.  The  suffragists  met  these  powerful 
opponents  without  money  and  without  votes.  A  reading  of 
the  State  chapters  will  demonstrate  these  facts.  From  1896  for 
fourteen  years  not  one  State  enfranchised  its  women. 

These  were  years,  however,  of  marvelous  development  in  the 
status  of  women,  which  every  year  brought  nearer  their  political 
recognition.  Girls  outnumbered  boys  in  the  high  schools ;  women 


INTRODUCTION 

crowded  the  colleges  and  almost  monopolized  the  teaching  in  the 
public  schools.  Their  organizations  increased  in  size  until  they 
numbered  millions  and  stretched  across  the  seas.  In  1904  the 
International  Woman  Suffrage  Alliance  was  formed  which  soon 
encircled  the  globe.  This  year  the  International  Council  of 
Women,  the  largest  organi/ed  body  of  women  in  existence, 
formed  a  standing  committee  on  woman  suffrage  with  branches 
in  every  country.  In  10,14  the  General  Federation  of  Women's 
Clubs,  the  largest  organization  in  the  United  States,  declared 
for  woman  suffrage  and  this  was  preceded  or  followed  by  a 
similar  declaration  by  every  State  Federation.  National  asso- 
ciations of  women  for  whatever  purpose,  with  almost  no  excep- 
tions, demanded  the  franchise  as  an  aid  to  their  objects,  until 
the  stock  objection  that  women  do  not  want  to  vote  was  silenced. 
Women  who  opposed  the  movement  became  alarmed  and  under- 
took to  organize  in  opposition,  thereby  exposing  their  weakness. 
Their  organization  was  largely  confined  to  a  small  group  of 
eastern  States  and  developed  no  strength  west  of  the  Allegheny 
mountains.  Its  leaders  were  for  the  most  part  connected  with 
corporate  interests  and  did  not  believe  in  universal  suffrage  for 
men.  There  was  no  evidence  that  they  exercised  any  con- 
siderable influence  in  Congress  or  in  any  State  where  a  vote 
was  taken  on  granting  the  franchise  to  women. 

An  outstanding  feature  of  the  present  century  has  been  the 
entrance  of  women  into  the  industrial  field,  following  the  work 
whirli  under  modern  conditions  was  taken  from  the  homes  to 
the  f  .  Thus  without  their  volition  they  became  the  com- 

petitors of  men  in  practically  every  field  of  labor.     ITnorgani/od 
and  without   the  protection  of  a  vote  they  were  underpaid  and 
nace  to  working  mm.      In  use,  therefore,  the  labor 

unions  v.  •• 'polled  to  demand  the  ballot  for  women.     They 

followed    by   other   organizations   of   men    until    hundreds 
were  on  as  favoring  woman  suffrage.     Men  trying  to 

bring   about    civic    or   political    reforms    in,   the    old    parties    or 
Tiew  ones  and  feeling  their  weakness  turned  to  women 
with  their  gr-  nizations  bul    JOOfl  rcali/ed  their  inefficiency 

without  political  power.     The  old  objections   were  losing  their 
The   lessening  size  of    families   and   the  removal  of  the 


XX  INTRODUCTION 

old  time  household  tasks  from  the  home  left  women  with  a 
great  deal  of  leisure  which  they  were  utilizing  in  countless  ways 
that  took  them  out  into  the  world,  so  that  there  was  no  longer 
any  weight  in  the  charge  that  the  suffrage  would  cause  women 
to  forsake  their  domestic  duties  for  public  life.  Women  of 
means  began  coming  into  the  movement  for  the  suffrage  and 
relieving  the  financial  stringency  which  had  constantly  limited 
the  activities  of  the  organized  work.  The  opening  of  large 
national  headquarters  in  New  York,  the  great  news  center  of  the 
country,  in  1909,  marked  a  distinct  advance  in  the  movement 
which  was  immediately  apparent  throughout  the  country.  The 
friendly  attitude  of  the  metropolitan  papers  extended  to  the 
press  at  large.  Following  the  example  of  England,  parades  and 
processions  and  various  picturesque  features  were  introduced 
in  New  York  and  other  large  cities  which  gave  the  syndicates 
and  motion  pictures  material  and  interested  the  public.  Woman 
suffrage  became  a  topic  of  general  discussion  and  women  flocked 
into  the  suffrage  organizations. 

Politicians  took  notice  but  they  remained  cold.  This  political 
question  had  not  yet  entered  politics.  The  leaders  of  the  National 
Suffrage  Association  strengthened  its  lines  and  established  its 
outposts  in  every  State,  but  they  still  made  their  appeals  to 
unyielding  committees  of  Congress.  The  Republican  "machine" 
was  in  absolute  control  and  woman  suffrage  had  long  been  under 
its  wheels  with  other  reform  measures.  Then  came  in  1909-10 
the  "insurgency"  in  its  own  ranks  led  by  members  from  the 
western  States,  and  in  those  States  the  voters  repudiated  the 
railroad  and  lumber  and  other  corporate  interests  and  instituted 
a  new  regime.  One  of  its  first  acts  was  the  submission  of  a 
woman  suffrage  amendment  in  the  State  of  Washington  and 
with  a  free  election  and  a  fair  count  it  was  carried  in  every 
county  and  received  a  majority  of  more  than  two  to  one.  The 
revolt  extended  to  California,  whose  Legislature  sent  an  amend- 
ment to  the  voters  in  1911  after  having  persistently  refused  to 
do  so  for  the  past  15  years,  and  here  again  there  was  victory  at 
the  polls.  With  the  gaining  of  this  old  and  influential  State 
the  extension  of  the  movement  to  the  Mississippi  was  assured. 

The  insurgency  in  the  Republican  party  resulted  in  a  division 


INTRODUCTION  XXI 

at  the  national  convention  in  1912  and  the  forming  of  the  Pro- 
gressive party  headed  by  Theodore  Roosevelt.  The  Resolutions 
Committee  of  the  regular  party  gave  the  suffragists  seven  minutes 
to  present  their  claims  and  ignored  them.  The  new  party  needed 
a  fresh,  live  issue  and  found  it  in  woman  suffrage,  which  was 
made  a  plank  in  its  platform.  The  leaders  of  the  National  Suf- 
frage Association  were  required  by  its  constitution  to  remain 
non-partisan  and  with  one  exception  did  so,  but  thousands  of 
women  rallied  to  the  standard  of  the  new  party.  As  most  of 
them  were  disfranchised  they  brought  little  voting  strength  but 
the  other  parties  were  forced  to  admit  them  and  for  the  first 
time  they  gained  a  foothold  in  politics.  The  division  in  Repub- 
lican ranks  resulted  in  putting  into  power  the  Democratic  party, 
with  an  unfavorable  record  on  woman  suffrage  and  a  President 
who  was  opposed  to  it,  but  " votes  for  women"  was  now  a  national 
political  issue. 

When  the  suffrage  leaders  went  to  the  new  Congress  for  a 
Federal  Amendment  they  met  a  Senate  Committee  every  member 
but  one  of  which  was  in  favor  of  it.     The  vote  in  the  Senate 
on  March  14,  1914,  resulted  in  a  majority  but  not  the  required 
two-thirds,  and  it  was  a  majority  of  Republicans.     The  history 
of  the  struggle  for  this  amendment  for  the  next  six  years,  through 
Democratic  and   Republican  administrations,   will   be   found  in 
Chapter  XX.     Speaker  Champ  Clark  was  a  steadfast   friend. 
In    1914  William  Jennings  Bryan  declared   for  it  and  thence- 
forth spoke  for  it  many  times.     In   1915  President  Woodrow 
Wilson   announced   his   conversion   to   woman    suffrage   and    in 
1918   to   the   Federal    Amendment   and   never   wavered    in    his 
loyalty,  rendering  every  assistance  in  his  power.     His  record 
will  be  found  in  these  volumes.     In  1916,  after  Justice  Charles 
A  as  nominated  by  the  Republicans  for  the  presi- 
.  IK    announced  his  adherence  to  the  Federal  Amendment, 
in  advance  of  his  party.     This  year  the  Republican  and 
hemorraiir    national   platforms    for  the  first   time  contained  a 
plank  in   favor  of  woman  suffrage  but  by  State  and  not  Federal 
action.     A   remarkable  feature  of  the  progress  of  this  amend- 
in  Congress  was  the  increase  of  its  advocates  among  mem- 
from  the  South,  who  for  the  most  part  believed  it  to  be 


xxii  INTRODUCTION 

an  interference  with  the  State's  rights.  In  1887,  when  the 
first  vote  was  taken  in  the  Senate  not  one  southern  member 
voted  for  it.  On  the  second  occasion  in  1914  Senators  Lea  of 
Tennessee,  Ransdell  of  Louisiana,  Sheppard  of  Texas,  Ashurst 
of  Arizona  and  Owen  of  Oklahoma  voted  in  favor.  In  1919 
on  the  final  vote,  if  Arizona,  New  Mexico  and  Delaware  are 
included,  17  Senators  from  southern  States  cast  their  ballots 
for  the  Federal  Amendment,  and  four  from  northern  States 
who  did  so  were  born  in  the  South.  It  received  the  votes  of 
75  Representatives  from  southern  States.  The  women  of  every 
southern  State  suffrage  association  worked  for  this  amendment, 
believing  that  it  was  hopeless  to  expect  their  enfranchisement 
from  State  action,  and  the  above  members  took  the  same  view. 
It  received  a  large  Republican  majority  in  Senate  and  House. 

While  this  contest  was  in  progress  many  events  were  taking 
place  which  had  an  influence  on  it.  The  movement  for  woman 
suffrage  was  progressing  in  Europe  but  when  the  war  broke 
out  in  1914,  involving  all  countries,  it  was  thought  that  all 
advance  was  lost.  On  the  contrary  the  splendid  service  of  the 
women  obtained  the  franchise  for  them  in  Great  Britain,  The 
Netherlands  and  other  countries,  and  at  the  close  of  the  war 
the  revolution  in  the  Central  countries  resulted  in  the  suffrage 
for  men  and  women  alike.  The  war  work  of  Canadian  women 
brought  full  enfranchisement  to  them.  When  the  United 
States  entered  the  war  the  patriotic  response  of  the  women  to 
every  demand  of  the  Government  and  the  magnificent  service 
they  rendered  swept  away  forever  the  objection  to  their  voting 
because  they  could  not  do  military  duty. 

Stimulated  by  the  action  of  Washington  and  California  other 
western  States  gave  suffrage  to  their  women  and  its  practical 
working  effectually  disproved  every  charge  that  had  been  made 
against  it.  At  the  close  of  1915  Mrs.  Carrie  Chapman  Catt 
became  president  of  the  National  Association  and  bringing  to 
bear  her  great  executive  and  organizing  ability  she  re-formed 
it  along  the  lines  followed  by  the  political  parties,  created  a 
large,  active  working  force  and  prepared  for  intensive  State 
and  national  campaigns.  Soon  afterwards  she  received  a  legacy 
of  almost  a  million  dollars  from  Mrs.  Frank  Leslie  to  be  used  for 


INTRODUCTION  XX111 

promoting  the  cause  of  woman  suffrage  and  thus  she  was  equipped 
for  carrying  the  movement  to  certain  victory. 

In  1917  the  voters  of  New  York  State  by  an  immense  ma- 
jority gave  the  full  suffrage  to  women,  guaranteeing  probably  45 
votes  in  Congress  for  the  Federal  Amendment.  In  1917  and  1918 
the  great  "drive"  was  made  on  the  Legislatures  to  give  women 
the  right  to  vote  for  Presidential  electors  and  this  was  done  in 
i  4  States,  granting  this  important  privilege  to  millions  of  women. 
In  several  States  the  Legislature  added  the  franchise  for  munici- 
pal and  county  officers.  In  1917  the  Legislature  of  Arkansas 
gave  them  the  right  to  vote  at  all  Primary  elections  and  in  1918 
that  of  Texas  conferred  the  same,  which  is  equivalent  to  the  full 
suffrage,  as  the  primaries  decide  the  elections.  By  1918  in  15 
States  women  had  equal  suffrage  with  men  through  amendment 
of  their  constitutions.1 

In  January,  1918,  the  Federal  Prohibition  Amendment  went 
into  effect,  putting  an  end  to  the  powerful  opposition  of  the  liquor 
interests  to  woman  suffrage.  All  political  parties  were  committed 
to  the  Federal  Amendment.  In  January,  1918,  it  passed  the 
Lower  House  of  Congress  but  the  opposition  of  two  Senators 
and  finally  of  one  prevented  its  submission.  Meanwhile  the 
I  )i  niocratic  administration  of  eight  years  had  been  succeeded  by 
a  Republican.  This  party  during  44  years  in  power  had  refused 
to  enfranchise  women  but  now  it  atoned  for  the  wrong  and  with 
the  help  of  Democratic  members  the  Amendment  was  submitted 
in  the  Legislatures  on  June  4,  1919.  Nearly  all  had  adjourned 
;wo  years  and  if  women  were  to  vote  at  the  next  presidential 
ial  sessions  would  be  necessary.  One  of  the  most 
\orihy  political  feats  on  record  \\as  that  of  the  president  of 
the  National  Suf'fra-e  Association,  with  the  assistance  of  others, 
in  managing  to  have  the  (iovcrnors  of  the  various  States  call  i 

It  is  told  in  the  State  chapters  with  the  dramatic  ending 
in  Tennessee. 

'I  he  certificate  was  delivered  to  Secretary  of  State  Hainhridge 

1  It    is   worthy   of   note   tli   '  :    the   only    instance   in    the   world 

the  voters  them»elv<  •• 

•it     li.i'l     nut     tin-     |io.\cr     to     K'Ve 

Dominion  election*.     In  all  •  suffrage  was  con 

by    a    simple    majority    vote                                                    Tin-  U.     S.    r<>m:r«  ss    ha«l    not    tliis 

c   was  necessary   to   setnl    it    to   the    48 

Legislatures    for                         on.      The    Federal    SuffraK'  "t    h.td    to    l.«     passed 
upon    by    about    6,000    legislator*. 


XXIV 


INTRODUCTION 


Colby  at  4  o'clock  in  the  morning  on  August  26,  1920,  and  at  9 
he  issued  the  official  proclamation  that  the  I9th  Amendment 
having  been  duly  ratified  by  36  State  Legislatures  "has  become 
valid  to  all  intents  and  purposes  as  a  part  of  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States."  It  reads  as  follows : 

"The  right  of  citizens  of  the  United  States  to  vote  shall  not  be 
denied  or  abridged  by  the  United  States  or  by  any  State  on  ac- 
count of  sex. 

"Congress  shall  have  power  to  enforce  this  article  by  appro- 
priate legislation." 


THE  NATIONAL  AMERICAN  WOMAN  SUFFRAGE 
ASSOCIATION 

FOREWORD 

The  National  Woman  Suffrage  Association  was  organized  in 
New  York  City,  May  15,  1869,  with  Elizabeth  Cady  Stanton 
president  and  Susan  B.  Anthony  chairman  of  executive  com- 
mittee. [History  of  Woman  Suffrage,  Volume  II,  page  400.] 
It  held  annual  conventions  for  the  next  half  century,  always  in 
Washington,  D.  C,  until  1895,  after  -which  date  they  were  taken 
in  alternate  years  to  other  cities,  meeting  in  the  national  capital 
during  the  first  session  of  each  Congress.  The  object  of  the  asso- 
ciation from  its  beginning  was  to  obtain  an  amendment  to  the 
Federal  Constitution  which  would  confer  full,  universal  suffrage 
on  the  women  of  the  United  States,  and  its  work  for  amending  the 
constitutions  of  the  States  to  enfranchise  their  women  was  under- 
taken as  one  means  to  achieve  this  main  purpose.  The  American 
Woman  Suffrage  Association  was  organized  in  Cleveland,  Ohio, 
Nov.  24,  1869,  wiln  Henry  Ward  Beecher  president  and  Lucy 
Stone  chairman  of  executive  committee,  principally  for  action 
through  the  States,  and  it  also  held  annual  conventions.  [Volume 
II,  page  756.]  In  1890  the  two  united  in  Washington  under 
the  name  National  American  Woman  Suffrage  Association 
[Volume  IV,  page  164],  and  the  work  was  continued  by  both 
methods.  Full  reports  of  conventions  may  be  found  in  preceding 
volumes  of  the  History  of  Woman  Suffrage,  the  list  ending  in 
Volume  IV  with  that  of  1900.  This  convention  was  especially 
distinguished  by  the  public  celebration  of  the  Soth  birthday  of 
Susan  B.  Anthony  and  her  retirement  from  the  presidency  of  tin- 
association  which  she  had  helped  to  found  and  in  which  she  had 
continuously  held  official  position,  and  by  the  election  of  Mrs. 
Carrie  Chapman  Catt  as  her  successor.1 

»  History  of  Woman  SuffraRe,  Volume  IV,  Chapters  XX  and  XXI. 


2  HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

The  assertion  is  frequently  made  that  the  enfranchisement  of 
women  was  due  to  a  natural  evolution  of  public  sentiment.  A 
reading  of  the  following  chapters,  which  give  the  history  of  the 
work  of  the  National  American  Woman  Suffrage  Association, 
will  show  how  largely  the  creation  of  this  sentiment  was  due  to 
this  organization  to  which  all  the  State  associations  were  aux- 
iliary. It  represented  the  organized  movement  during  half  a 
century  to  secure  the  vote  for  women — a  struggle  such  as  was 
never  made  by  men  for  this  right  in  any  country  in  the  world.  It 
was  the  only  large  organization  for  this  purpose  that  ever  existed 
in  the  United  States  and  its  efforts  never  ceased  in  the  more 
than  fifty  years.  At  each  annual  convention  some  advance  was 
recorded.  These  chapters  show  that,  while  the  principal  object 
of  the  association  was  a  Federal  Amendment,  it  gave  valuable 
assistance  to  every  campaign  for  the  amendment  of  State  con- 
stitutions and  that  it  was  responsible  for  the  granting  of  the 
Presidential  franchise,  which  was  so  important  a  factor  in  gain- 
ing the  final  victory.  The  reports  of  its  officers  each  year  show 
the  large  amount  of  money  raised  and  expended,  the  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  letters  written,  the  millions  of  pieces  of  literature 
circulated,  the  thousands  of  meetings  held,  the  many  workers  in 
the  field.  The  committee  reports  and  the  resolutions  adopted 
show  that  all  reforms  vital  to  the  welfare  of  women  and  chil- 
dren and  many  of  a  wider  scope  were  included  in  the  work  of 
the  association.  The  names  of  the  speakers  at  the  national  con- 
ventions and  at  the  hearings  before  the  committees  of  Congress 
during  all  these  years  prove  that  this  cause  was  championed  by 
the  leaders  among  the  men  and  women  of  their  generation.  Such 
quotations  from  their  speeches  as  space  has  permitted  show  that 
in  eloquence,  logic  and  strength  they  were  unsurpassed  and  that 
their  arguments  were  unanswerable. 

If  this  volume  contained  only  the  first  nineteen  chapters  tin- 
reader  could  not  fail  to  be  convinced  that  principally  to  the  efforts 
of  the  National  American  Woman  Suffrage  Association  the 
women  of  the  United  States  owe  their  enfranchisement,  but  it 
shows  too  that  in  the  forty-eight  auxiliary  States  they  also  fought 
their  own  hard  battles. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE  NATIONAL  AMERICAN  CONVENTION  OF   IQOI. 

The  Thirty-third  annual  convention  opened  on  the  afternoon 
of  May  30,  1901,  in  the  First  Baptist  Church  of  Minneapolis,  -with 
the  new  president,  Mrs.  Carrie  Chapman  Catt,  in  the  chair,  and 
continued  through  June  4,  with  144  delegates  from  twenty-six 
States  present.1 

Miss  Anthony  was  present  at  this  Minneapolis  convention, 
alert  and  vigorous  but  happy  to  relinquish  her  official  duties  to 
one  in  whose  ability  and  judgment  she  had  implicit  confidence; 
and  the  rest  of  the  official  board  were  there  ready  to  give  the  same 
allegiance  and  loyalty  to  the  new  chief  which  they  had  rendered 
for  many  years  to  the  supreme  leader.  The  Minneapolis  Journal 
said :  "The  formal  opening  of  the  suffrage  convention  yesterday 
afternoon  was  an  impressive  affair.  Among  the  national  officers 
seated  on  the  platform  were  women  who  saw  the  first  dawn  of  the 
suffrage  movement,  those  who  came  into  its  fold  midway  of  its 
life  and  those  whose  earnest  endeavors  are  of  more  recent  record. 
Among  the  first  was  the  most  honored  member  of  the  body,  Miss 
iii  B.  Anthony,  and  among  the  latter  is  the  president,  Mrs. 
ie  Chapman  Catt.  When  the  delegates  rose  and  the  Rev. 
<  )lympia  P.rown  of  Wisconsin  stepped  to  the  front  of  the  plat- 

*  Part  of  Call:  The  first  years  of  the  new  century  are  destined  to  witness  the  most 
strenuous  and  intense  struggle  of  the  movement.  Iniquity  lias  become  afraid  of  the  votes 
of  women.  Vice  and  immorality  are  consequently  organized  in  opposition,  while  con- 
servative morality  stands  shoulder  to  shoulder  with  them,  blind  to  the  nature  of  the 
illicit  partnership.  Believers  in  this  cause  are  legion,  but  many  satisfied  th.it  victory 
will  come  without  their  help,  do  nothing.  We  are  approaching  the  climax  of  the  great 
contest  and  every  friend  is  needed.  If  the  final  victory  is  long  in  coming,  the  respon- 
sibility rents  with  those  who  believe  but  who  do  not  a«t. 

ELIZABETH  CADY  STANTON,     ,    Hon  Presidents. 

SUSAN  B.  ANTHONY, 

CARRIE  CHAPMAN   CATT,  President. 

ANNA  HOWARD  SHAW,  Vice  l'r< -si. lent. 

I.L  FOSTER  AVERY,  Corresponding  Secretary. 

AIHE  STONE   BLACK v.  i.ling   Secretary. 

HARRIET  TAYLOI  UPTON,  Treasurer. 

LAURA  CLAY,  / 

CATHARINE  WAUOU   McCuu.ocH, 

3 


4  HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

form  and  turned  her  face  heavenward,  saying,  "In  the  name  of 
liberty,  Our  Father,  we  thank  thee,"  the  impression  even  upon 
an  unbeliever  must  have  been  that  of  entire  consecration  and  one 
was  reminded  of  when  the  early  Christians  met  and  consulted, 
fought  and  endured  for  the  faith  that  was  in  them." 

Although  this  was  the  first  convention  in  many  years  over 
which  Miss  Anthony  had  not  presided  she  was  the  first  to  speak, 
as  Mrs.  Catt  at  once  presented  her  to  the  audience.  With  the 
loyalty  which  had  characterized  her  life  Miss  Anthony  first  read 
a  letter  from  the  honorary  president,  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Cady  Stan- 
ton,  then  in  her  86th  year,  which  she  prefaced  by  saying:  "It 
is  fitting  that  I  should  read  this  greeting  from  her,  as  I  have 
stood  by  Mrs.  Stanton's  side  for  fifty  years."  The  letter  urged 
the  same  vigorous  work  in  the  church  for  woman's  emancipation 
as  had  been  kept  up  in  the  States  and  said :  "The  canon  law,  with 
all  the  subtle  influences  that  grow  out  of  it,  is  more  responsible 
for  woman's  slavery  today  than  the  civil  code.  With  the  pro- 
gressive legislation  of  the  last  half  century  we  have  an  interest 
in  tracing  the  lessons  taught  to  women  in  the  churches  to  their 
true  origin  and  a  right  to  demand  from  our  theologians  the  same 
full  and  free  discussion  in  the  church  that  we  have  had  in  the 
State,  as  the  time  has  fully  come  for  women  to  be  heard  in  the 
ecclesiastical  councils  of  the  nation.  To  this  end  I  suggest  that 
committees  and  delegates  from  all  our  State  and  national  asso- 
ciations visit  the  clergy  in  their  several  localities  and  assemblies 
to  press  on  their  consideration  the  true  position  of  woman  as  a 
factor  in  Christian  civilization." 

Press  reports  of  Mrs.  Stanton's  paper  were  as  follows : 

"Woman  today,  as  ever,  supplies  the  enthusiasm  that  sustains  the 
church  and  she  has  a  right  in  turn  to  ask  that  the  church  sustain  her 
in  this  struggle  for  liberty  and  take  some  decided  action  with  reference 
to  this  momentous  and  far-reaching  movement.  It  matters  little  that 
here  and  there  some  clergyman  advocates  our  cause  on  our  platform, 
so  long  as  no  religious  organization  has  yet  recognized  our  demand 
as  a  principle  of  justice.  Discussion  is  rarely  held  in  their  councils 
but  it  is  generally  treated  as  a  speculative,  sentimental  question 
unworthy  of  serious  consideration.  Neither  would  it  be  sufficient 
if  they  gave  their  adhesion  to  the  demand  for  political  equality,  so 
long  as  by  scriptural  teachings  they  perpetuate  our  racial  and 
religious  subordination."  Mrs.  Stanton  would  demand  that  an  ex- 


THE    NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQOI  5 

purgated  Bible  be  read  in  churches.  "Such  parables  as  refer  to 
woman  as  'the  author  of  sin/  'an  inferior/  'a  subject/  'a  weaker 
vessel/  "  she  says,  "should  be  relegated  to  the  ancient  mythologies  as 
mere  allegories,  having  no  application  whatever  to  the  womanhood 
of  this  generation.  It  is  not  civil  nor  political  power  that  holds  the 
Mormon  woman  in  polygamy,  the  Turkish  woman  in  the  harem,  the 
American  woman  as  a  subordinate  everywhere.  The  central  false- 
hood from  which  all  these  different  forms  of  slavery  spring  is  the 
doctrine  of  original  sin  and  woman  as  a  medium  for  the  machinations 
of  Satan,  its  author.  The  greatest  block  today  in  the  way  of  woman's 
emancipation  is  the  church,  the  canon  law,  the  Bible  and  the  priest- 
hood. Canon  Charles  Kingsley  said  not  long  ago :  'This  will  never 
l>e  a  good  world  for  woman  till  the  last  remnant  of  canon  law  is 
stricken  from  the  face  of  the  earth/  "  1 


After  finishing  Mrs.  Stanton's  letter  Miss  Anthony  presented 
her  own  greeting,  in  the  course  of  which  she  said : 

"If  the  divine  law  visits  the  sins  of  the  parents  upon  the  chil- 
dren, equally  so  does  it  transmit  to  them  the  virtues  of  the 
parents.  Therefore  if  it  is  through  woman's  ignorant  subjection 
to  man's  appetites  and  passions  that  the  life  current  of  the  race 
is  corrupted,  then  must  it  be  through  her  intelligent  emancipation 
that  it  shall  be  purified  and  her  children  rise  up  and  call  her 
blessed.  ...  I  am  a  full  and  firm  believer  in  the  revelation  that 
it  is  through  woman  the  race  is  to  be  redeemed.  For  this  reason 
I  ask  for  her  immediate  and  unconditional  emancipation  from  all 
political,  industrial,  social  and  religious  subjection.  It  is  said, 
'Men  are  what  their  mothers  made  them/  but  I  say  that  to  hold 
mothers  responsible  for  the  characters  of  their  sons  while  deny- 
ing to  them  any  control  over  the  surroundings  of  the  sons'  lives 
orse  than  mockery,  it  is  cruelty.  Responsibilities  grow  out 
of  rights  and  powers.  Therefore  before  mothers  can  rightfully 
l>o  held  responsible  for  the  vices  and  crimes,  for  the  general 
demoralization  of  society,  they  must  possess  all  possible  rights  ami 

1  ^fi*s  Anthony  had  entreated  Mrs.  Stanton  to  send  instead  of  this  letter  to  the  con- 
vention one  of  her  grand,  old-time  arguments  for  woman  suffrage  but  she  refused, 
saying  the  time  was  past  for  these  and  the  church  must  he  recognized  as  the  greatest  of 
obstacles  to  its  success.  Miss  Anthony  felt  that  it  would  arouse  criticism  and  prejmliYr 
.it  thr  very  beginning  but  declared  that  no  matter  what  the  effect  she  would  give  what 
would  probably  be  Mrs.  Stanton's  last  message.  A  number  of  the  officers  and  delegates 
were  interviewed  for  the  press  and  none  was  found  who  fully  agreed  with  Mrs.  Stanton's 
views.  The  Rev.  Olympia  Brown  and  the  Rev.  Anna  Howard  Shaw  believed  the 
obstacles  to  be  in  the  false  interpretation  of  the  Scriptures  and  its  application  to 
The  Methodist  General  Conference  had  this  year  admitted  women  delegates. 


6  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

powers  to  control  the  conditions  and  circumstances  of  their  own 
and  their  children's  lives." 

The  audience  then  listened  with  keen  appreciation  to  the  presi- 
dent's address,  during  which  she  said :  "If  I  were  asked  what  are 
the  great  obstacles  to  the  speedy  enfranchisement  of  women  I 
should  answer:  There  are  three;  the  first  is  militarism,  which  once 
dominated  the  entire  thought  of  the  world  and  made  its  history. 
Although  its  old  power  is  gone  and  its  influence  upon  public 
thought  grows  constantly  less,  it  still  molds  the  opinions  of  mil- 
lions of  people  and  holds  them  to  the  old  ideals  of  force  in  govern- 
ment and  headship  in  the  family.  The  second  obstacle  is  the 
unconscious,  unmeasured  influence  upon  the  estimate  in  which 
women  as  a  whole  are  held  that  emanates  from  that  most  debasing 
of  our  evil  institutions,  prostitution.  .  .  .  The  third  great  cause 
is  the  inertia  in  the  growth  of  democracy  which  has  come  as  a  re- 
action following  the  aggressive  movements  that  with  possibly  ill- 
advised  haste  enfranchised  the  foreigner,  the  negro  and  the  Indian. 
Perilous  conditions,  seeming  to  follow  from  the  introduction  into 
the  body  politic  of  vast  numbers  of  irresponsible  citizens,  have 
made  the  nation  timid.  These  three  influences,  born  of  centuries 
of  tradition,  shape  every  opinion  of  the  opponents  of  woman  suf- 
frage. Not  an  objection,  argument  or  excuse  can  be  urged  against 
the  movement  which  may  not  be  traced  to  one  of  these  causes." 

At  the  close  of  Mrs.  Catt's  address  Mrs.  Mary  C.  C.  Bradford 
of  Denver  presented  her  with  a  handsome  gavel  in  behalf  of 
the  suffrage  association  of  Colorado.  The  gavel  was  made  of 
Colorado  silver  and  the  settings  and  engravings  of  Colorado 
gold.  In  one  side  was  a  Colorado  amethyst'  and  the  Colorado 
flower,  the  columbine,  was  burned  into  the  gavel  by  a  Colorado 
girl.  Mrs.  Bradford  said  she  wished  Mrs.  Catt  the  good  luck 
said  to  follow  the  possessor  of  an  amethyst,  who  "shall  speak  the 
right  word  at  the  right  time."  She  presented  it  as  an  expression 
of  gratitude  for  her  aid  in  their  successful  suffrage  campaign  of 
1893.  "We  are  apt  to  attribute  everything  good  in  Colorado  to 
woman  suffrage,"  said  Mrs.  Catt  in  response,  "but  in  my  secret 
mind  I  think  much  of  it  is  due  to  the  progressiveness  of  the 
Colorado  men.  They  must  be  better  than  other  men  or  they 
would  not  have  enfranchised  their  women.  I  cannot  love  Colo- 


THE    NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQOI  7 

rado  any  better  than  I  do  but  I  shall  always  value  this  gavel  as  a 
precious  souvenir  of  that  wonderful  campaign." 

In  her  report  as  vice-president  at  large  the  Rev.  Anna  Howard 
Shaw  said  regarding  her  many  suffrage  speeches  during  the  year : 
"The  manager  of  a  bureau  lately  said  to  me:  'If  you  would  only 
give  up  for  a  time  the  two  reforms  in  which  you  are  most  inter- 
ested, woman  suffrage  and  prohibition,  you  could  earn  enough 
money  on  the  regular  lecture  platform  in  a  few  years  to  live  on 
for  the  rest  of  your  life.'  Any  woman  who  does  not  live  for 
unselfish  service  is  a  useless  cumberer  of  the  earth.  I  would 
rather  be  known  as  an  advocate  of  equal  suffrage  and  starve  than 
to  speak  every  night  on  the  best-paying  platforms  in  the  United 
States  and  ignore  it." 

The  first  evening  of  the  convention  was  opened  with  prayer  by 
the  Rev.  Marion  H.  Shutter.1  The  audience  was  far  beyond 
the  seating  capacity  of  the  large  church  and  in  presenting  the  offi- 
cial speakers  Mrs.  Catt  said :  "This  is  a  great  contrast  to  the  early 
days  when  we  did  not  use  to  be  welcomed  because  we  were  not 
welcome.  Now  we  are  welcomed  wherever  we  go  but  not  often, 
as  here,  by  the  representative  of  a  whole  State."  Governor 
Samuel  R.  Van  Sant  gave  a  hearty  western  greeting,  which,  he 
said,  he  wanted  to  make  as  cordial  as  he  could  express  it  and  as 
broad  as  the  State  he  lived  in.  He  made  this  point  among  others : 
"You  are  doing  a  splendid  work  and  the  reason  you  do  not  get 
the  ballot  sooner  is  because  you  do  not  convert  your  own  sex. 
I  know  for  I  have  been  a  member  of  the  Legislature.  If  you 
wanted  to  vote  as  much  as  you  want  other  things  you  would  go 
there  ami  block  the  legislators  so  they  couldn't  get  to  their 
."  Mayor  Albert  A.  Ames  extended  the  welcome  of  the  city 
and  declared  his  belief  in  woman  suffrage.  Former  Mayor  Wil- 
liam Henry  Eustis  ended  his  address  in  behalf  of  the  Commercial 
Club  and  Board  of  Trade  by  saying:  "Commercial  bodies  are 
temporary  but  a  great  movement  like  this  is  eternal."  Former 
Mayor  James  Gray,  representing  the  press,  assured  them  of  its 
cooperation  and  said  that  from  a  dozen  to  twenty  women  were 

1  Invocation*  were  pronounced  at  difTrrcnt  sessions  by  the  resident  ministers,  C.  B. 
Mitchell,  George  F.  Holt  and  Martin  D.  Hardin,  and  by  thr  visitinR  ministers,  Alice  Ball 
Lootnis,  Celia  Parker  Woolley,  Kate  Hughes  and  Margaret  T.  Olmstead. 


8  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

doing  important  work  on  the  papers  of  the  city.  Mrs.  Maud  C. 
Stockwell,  president  of  the  State  Suffrage  Association,  welcomed 
them  to  "the  hearts  of  the  women  of  Minneapolis/' 

Dr.  Shaw  closed  the  evening  with  a  stirring  address  on  An 
Invisible  Foe,  in  which  she  referred  to  the  many  refusals  they 
had  had  from  the  anti-suffrage  leaders  to  come  to  the  convention 
and  debate  the  question.  She  accused  them  of  wearing  a  khaki- 
colored  uniform  to  conceal  themselves  from  the  foe  and  declared 
they  were  always  careful  to  make  their  attacks  when  the  enemy 
was  not  present,  saying:  "The  anti-suffragists  are  not  fighting 
woman  suffrage,  they  are  fighting  the  ideals  of  democracy  and 
leaning  toward  an  aristocracy.  Take  note  of  the  words  they  use 
to  designate  the  people,  'mob/  'hordes,'  etc.  They  look  at  the 
people  as  not  only  incapable  and  ignorant  now  but  so  for  all 
time  and  they  never  learn  that  in  the  heart  of  every  individual  in 
the  mob  lie  the  forces  which  make  for  martyrs  or  for  brutes." 
"From  point  to  point  through  long  and  close  argument  the  bril- 
liant speaker  moved  with  lightning  velocity,"  said  a  press  report. 
"She  called  up  the  anti-suffrage  arguments  made  by  the  Rev. 
Samuel  G.  Smith  of  St.  Paul,  in  his  recent  series  of  sermons  on 
women,  and  laughed  to  scorn  their  plea  for  'the  days  of  chivalry/ 
which,  she  said,  were  a  man's  protection  of  his  own  women 
against  other  men.  Woman  must  work  out  God's  ideal  of  what 
a  woman  should  be  and  she  cannot  do  it  until  she  is  absolutely 
free  as  man  is  free." 

Mrs.  Catt  brought  to  the  presidency  a  definite  belief  that  Con- 
gress would  not  submit  a  Federal  Suffrage  Amendment  nor  would 
important  States  be  gained  on  referendum  until  national  and 
State  officers  and  workers  were  better  trained  for  the  work  re- 
quired. The  increasing  evidence  of  a  united  and  politically  expe- 
rienced opposition  as  manifested  in  legislative  action  and  referen- 
dum results  had  convinced  her  that  the  cause  would  never  be  won 
unless  its  campaigns  were  equipped,  guided  and  conducted  by 
women  fully  aware  of  the  nature  of  opposition  tactics  and  pre- 
pared to  meet  every  maneuver  of  the  enemy  by  an  equally  telling 
counteraction.  She  had  been  appointed  by  Miss  Anthony  chair- 
man of  a  Plan  of  Work  Committee  at  the  convention  of  1895 
and  assembling  the  practical  workers  they  agreed  upon  recommen- 


THE    NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    190!  9 

dations  which  proved  a  turning  point  in  the  association's  policy. 
These  were  presented  to  that  convention  and  adopted.  A  Com- 
mittee on  Organization  was  established  with  Mrs.  Catt  as  chair- 
man and  contrary  to  the  usual  custom  the  convention  voted  that 
she  be  made  a  member  of  the  National  Board.  For  the  last  five 
years  her  committee  had  held  conferences  in  connection  with 
each  convention  which  discussed  and  adopted  plans  for  more  effi- 
cient work.  As  president,  she  now  determined  to  link  more  closely 
the  work  of  national  and  State  auxiliary  organizations  and  in  the 
pursuance  of  this  aim  and  as  ex-officio  chairman  of  the  conven- 
tion program  committee,  she  appointed  the  Executive  Committee 
(consisting  of  the  Board  of  Officers,  the  president  and  one  mem- 
ber from  each  auxiliary  State)  to  be  the  Committee  on  Plan  of 
Work.  For  two  entire  days  preceding  this  convention  the  Execu- 
tive Committee  had  discussed  methods  of  procedure,  as  presented 
by  the  Board  of  Officers,  who  had  prepared  these  recommenda- 
tions at  a  mid-year  meeting  held  in  Miss  Anthony's  home  at 
Rochester  in  August. 

The  convention  accepted  the  report  which  included  the  follow- 
ing:   (i)   Organization.     That  organization  be  continually  the 
first  aim  of  each  State  auxiliary  as  the  certain  key  to  success ;  that 
each  State  keep  at  least  one  organizer  employed  and  endeavor 
to  establish  a  county  organization  in  each  county  or  at  least  to 
form  an  organization  in  each  county  seat  and  at  four  other  points ; 
that  organization  work  be  done  among  women  wage  earners  and 
that  definite  work  be  undertaken  to  win  the  endorsement  and 
cooperation  of  other  associations,  chiefly  the  General  Federation 
of  Women's  Clubs  and  the  National  Education  Association.     (2) 
Nation.     That  each   auxiliary   State   association   appeal   to 
;ress  to  submit  to  the  Legislatures  a  i6th  Amendment  to  the 
Federal  constitution  prohibiting  the  disfranchisement  of  U.   S. 
citizens  on  account  of  sex ;  that  the  plan  initiated  by  Miss  Anthony 
be  continued,  namely,  that  all  kinds  of  national  and  State  con- 
ions  be  asked  to  pass  resolutions  in  favor  of  this  amendment, 
•'t  to  Congress;  that  State  societies  also  a^k  their  Legis- 
lature^ to  pass  resolutions  in  favor  of  a  l6th  Amendment,  these 
Tit  to  Congress;  that  auxiliaries  whose  States  offer  a 
reasonable  possibility  of  a  successful  referendum  try  to  secure  the 


IO  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

submission  of  State  suffrage  amendments  to  the  voters,  with  as- 
surance of  national  cooperation ;  that  auxiliaries  whose  State  con- 
stitutions present  obstacles  to  such  procedure  work  to  secure  statu- 
tory suffrage,  such  as  School,  Municipal  or  Presidential;  that 
auxiliaries  not  strong  enough  to  attempt  a  campaign  work  for  the 
removal  of  legal  discriminations  against  women  and  attempt  to 
secure  co-guardianship  of  children,  equal  property  rights,  the  rais- 
ing of  the  age  of  consent,  the  appointment  of  police  matrons, 
etc.;  that  a  leaflet  be  prepared  by  Mrs.  Laura  M.  Johns  advising 
best  methods  for  successful  legislative  -work.  To  carry  out  this 
plan  the  Committees  on  Congressional  Work,  Presidential  Suf- 
frage and  Civil  Rights  found  their  work  for  the  year.  (3)  Press. 
Recommendations  were  made  for  rendering  this  department  of 
work  more  efficient  in  the  States;  enrollment  of  persons  believing 
in  woman  suffrage  to  be  continued  in  order  to  secure  evidence  of 
the  strength  of  general  favorable  sentiment;  the  literature  of  the 
association  to  include  a  plan  of  work  for  local  clubs. 

Work  conferences  were  interspersed  during  the  convention ; 
one  on  Organization  presided  over  by  Miss  Mary  Garrett  Tlav: 
one  by  Mrs.  Priscilla  D.  TTackstaff,  chairman  Enrollment  Com- 
mittee; one  by  Mrs.  Babcock,  chairman  Press  Committee.  A 
chart  showing  the  date  of  the  opening  of  the  Legislature  in  each 
State;  the  provision  for  amending  its  constitution;  the  suffrage 
and  initiative  and  referendum  laws  and  all  other  information 
bearing  upon  the  technical  procedure  of  securing  the  vote  State  by 
State  was  carefully  drawn  by  the  Organization  Committee.  With 
this  in  hand  each  State  was  given  its  legislative  task.  It  was 
voted  to  urge  the  auxiliaries  of  Kansas,  Indiana,  New  York, 
Washington  and  South  Dakota  to  ask  for  submission  of  State 
constitutional  amendments.  It  was  voted  that  the  corresponding 
secretary  be  elected  with  the  understanding  that  she  would  serve 
at  the  national  headquarters  and  be  paid  a  salary. 

The  Executive  Committee  at  a  preliminary  meeting  repeated 
the  resolution  of  the  preceding  year  against  the  official  regulation 
of  vice  in  Manila,  which  -was  under  United  States  control.  It 
closed :  "We  protest  in  the  name  of  American  womanhood  and  we 
believe  that  this  represents  also  the  opinion  of  the  best  American 


THE    NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQOI  II 

manhood.1  This  resolution  was  unanimously  adopted  by  the  dele- 
gates after  strong  addresses,  and  Miss  Anthony,  Dr.  Shaw,  Mrs. 
Catt,  Mrs.  Avery  and  Miss  Blackwell  were  deputized  to  ask  a 
hearing  and  present  it  to  the  American  Medical  Association  meet- 
ing in  St.  Paul  at  this  time.  That  body  allowed  them  ten  minutes 
to  state  their  earnest  wish  that  it  would  endorse  the  resolution 
hut  it  took  no  action. 

Miss  Anthony  had  consented  to  act  as  chairman  of  the  Con- 
gressional Committee  and  her  report  was  heard  with  deep  inter- 
I  ler  work  during  the  year  was  upon  two  distinct  lines,  the 
old  familiar  petition  to  Congress  to  pass  the  i6th  Amendment 
granting  full  suffrage  to  women,  and  another  brought  about  by 
new  conditions — a  petition  that  the  word  "male"  should  not  be 
inserted  in  the  electoral  clause  of  the  constitutions  proposed  by 
Congress  for  Hawaii  and  Porto  Rico.  These  petitions  were  se- 
cured from  every  State  and  Territory,  a  tremendous  work,  and 
were  laid  before  the  members  of  Congress  from  each  State.  The 
most  interesting  petition  for  the  amendment  -was  from  Wyoming, 
where  one  sheet  was  signed  by  every  State  officer,  several  U.  S. 
officials  and  other  prominent  citizens.  They  had  signed  in  dupli- 
cate several  petitions  and  thus  Miss  Anthony  had  an  autograph 
copy  with  her.  The  work  of  securing  this  petition  was  done 
chiefly  by  Mrs.  Joseph  M.  Cary,  wife  of  the  Senator.  Miss  An 
thony  was  chairman  also  of  the  Committee  on  Convention  Reso- 
lutions and  believed  strongly  that  to  present  the  question  of  woman 
suffrage  to  conventions  of  various  kinds  and  secure  resolutions 
from  them  \va^  an  eH  Various  means  of  propaganda.  Tier  inter 

1  WHEREAS,  Judge  William  Howard  Taft  and  the  Philippine  Commissioners  in  a  tele- 
gram to  Secretary  Root  dated  January  17,  1901,  affirm  that  ever  since  November,  1898, 
the  military  authorities  in  Manila  have  subjected  women  of  bad  character  to  "certified 
examination,"  and  General  MacArthur  in  his  recent  report  does  not  deny  this  but  defends 
it;  and  whereas  the  Hawaiian  government  has  taken  similar  action;  therefore 

RESOLVED,  That  we  earnestly  protest  against  the  introduction  of  the  European  system 
of  State-regulated  vice  in  the  new  possessions  of  the  United  States  for  the  following 
reasons: 

1.  To  subject  women  of  bad  character  to  regular  examinations  and  furnish  them  with 
official  health  certificates  is  contrary  to  good  morals  and  must  impress  both  our  soldiers 
and  the  natives  as  giving  official  sanction  to  vice. 

2.  It  is  a  violation  of  justice  to  apply  to  vicious  women  compulsory  medical  measures 
that  are  not  applied  to  vicious  men. 

3.  Official  regulation  of  vice,  while  it  lowers  the  moral  tone  of  the  community,  every- 
where fails  to  protect  the  public  health. 

Examples  were  given  from  Paris,  garrison  towns  of  England  and  Switzerland,  and  St. 
Louis,  the  only  city  in  the  United  States  that  had  ever  tried  the  system. 


12  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

esting  report  for  1900  made  at  this  time  will  be  found  in  full  in 
the  History  of  Woman  Suffrage,  Volume  IV,  page  439. 

In  introducing  Mr.  Blackwell  (Mass.),  Mrs.  Catt  said:  "The 
woman  suffrage  movement  has  known  many  women  who  have 
devoted  their  lives  and  energies  to  it.  I  know  of  only  one  man. 
Years  ago  when  Lucy  Stone  was  a  sweet  and  beautiful  girl  he 
heard  her  speak  and  afterwards  proposed  to  her  to  form  a  mar- 
riage partnership.  When  she  said  that  this  might  prevent  her 
from  doing  the  large  work  she  wanted  to  do  for  equal  rights  he 
promised  to  help  her  in  it  and  loyally  and  faithfully  all  through 
their  married  life  he  did  so,  as  constantly  and  earnestly  as  Lucy 
Stone  herself;  and  even  after  her  death  he  continues  to  give  his 
time,  his  money  and  his  effort  to  the  same  end.  I  am  glad  to 
introduce  Henry  B.  Blackwell."  Mr.  Blackwell  was  the  pio- 
neer in  urging  the  suffragists  of  every  State  to  try  to  obtain 
from  their  Legislature  a  law  giving  them  a  vote  for  presidential 
electors.  Their  authority  for  this  action  was  conferred  by  the 
National  Constitution  in  Article  2,  Section  2:  "Each  State  shall 
appoint  in  such  manner  as  the  Legislature  thereof  may  direct  a 
number  of  electors  equal  to  the  whole  number  of  Senators  and 
Representatives  to  which  the  State  may  be  entitled  in  the  Con- 
gress." His  comprehensive  report  made  to  this  and  other  con- 
ventions was  an  unanswerable  argument  in  favor  of  the  right  of 
a  Legislature  to  confer  this  vote  on  women  and  eventually  it  was 
widely  recognized. 

The  treasurer,  Mrs.  Harriet  Taylor  Upton  (O.),  reported  the 
total  receipts  of  the  year  $22,522.  Mrs.  Catt  stated  the  needs  of 
the  association  for  the  coming  year  and  under  the  skilful  man- 
agement of  Miss  Hay  subscriptions  of  $5,000  were  soon  ob- 
tained. On  motion  of  Dr.  Shaw  a  vote  of  thanks  was  given  to 
Miss  Hay  for  her  "able  and  efficient  work  in  securing  these 
pledges."  The  report  for  the  Federal  Suffrage  Committee  was 
given  by  Mrs.  Sallie  Clay  Bennett  (Ky.)  x 

The  corresponding  secretary,  Mrs.  Avery  of  Philadelphia,  made 
the  report  of  the  great  bazaar  which  had  been  held  before  the 
Christmas  holidays  in  Madison  Square  Garden,  New  York  City, 

1  The  question  of  giving  to  women  a  vote  for  Representatives  by  an  Act  of  Congress 
is  considered  in  Chapter  I,  Volume  IV,  History  of  Woman  Suffrage. 


THE    NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    ICpI  13 

and  netted  about  $8,500.  It  was  accompanied  by  the  carefully 
prepared  report  of  its  treasurer,  Mrs.  Priscilla  D.  Hackstaff  of 
Brooklyn.  An  exact  duplicate  of  a  beautiful  vase  three  feet  high 
which  had  been  presented  to  Admiral  Dewey  by  the  citizens  of 
Wheeling,  West  Virginia,  at  a  cost  of  $250,  with  the  exception 
that  his  face  on  it  was  replaced  by  Miss  Anthony's,  was  pre- 
sented to  the  bazaar  by  Mrs.  Fannie  J.  Wheat  of  that  city.  As 
no  "chances"  were  allowed  at  suffrage  fairs  it  was  purchased 
by  subscriptions  and  presented  to  Miss  Anthony.1 

A  letter  to  Miss  Blackwell  from  Mrs.  Mary  A.  Livermore,  then 
past  80  years  of  age,  expressing  her  regret  at  not  being  able  to 
attend  the  convention,  closed :  "It  is  not  for  lack  of  interest  in 
our  great  cause  or  indifference  to  the  dear  western  women  with 
whom  I  was  associated  so  many  years  ago  and  who,  like  myself, 
have  grown  gray  in  the  work  for  women.  .  .  .  God  bless  you 
all  and  give  you  an  ennobling  season  together,  harmonious  and 
uplifting  in  its  results.  Remember  me  in  love  to  the  old  friends 
and  pledge  my  affectionate  regard  to  the  new  friends  with  whom 
I  will  try  to  keep  step  here  on  the  Massachusetts  coast.  Yours 
with  a  thousand  good  wishes/'  A  telegram  of  greeting  was  sent 
to  Mrs.  Stanton  and  others  to  Mrs.  Cornelia  C.  Hussey  of  New 
Jersey,  Mrs.  Jane  H.  Spofford  of  Maine  and  Mrs.  Abigail  Scott 
Duniway  of  Oregon,  all  pioneer  workers  for  the  cause.  Miss 
Laura  Clay  (Ky.)  gave  a  strong,  logical  address  on  Counter- 
parts, "the  dualism  of  the  race,"  in  which  she  said: 

Any  social  system  founded  on  a  theory  designed  for  the  elevation 
of  one  sex  alone,  regardless  of  the  other,  is  altogether  false  and 
delusive  to  the  expectations  built  upon  it,  for  the  human  race  is 
dual  and  heredity  keeps  the  stock  common  from  which  both  men  and 
women  spring.  Since  the  common  stock  is  improved  and  invigo- 
rated by  the  acquired  qualities  of  individuals,  without  regard  to  sex, 
it  is  to  the  advantage  of  both  that  all  possibilities  of  development 
shall  be  extended  to  both  sexes.  In  animals  acquired  qualities  can 
be  imparted  to  the  stock  only  by  parenthood;  in  the  human  family 
they  are  imparted  even  more  widely  and  permanently  through  the 
influence  of  ideas.  All  that  woman  has  lost  by  social  systems  which 

1  Among  the  donations  which  brought  in  the  largest  sums  were  the  locomobile  from 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  A.  L.  Barber  of  New  York;  the  Kansas  consignment  of  fine  flour  and 
butter  secured  by  Miss  Helen  Kimber  of  that  State;  the  carload  of  hogs  from  Iowa 
farmers  obtained  by  Mrs.  Eleanor  Stockman  of  Mason  City;  the  handsomely  dressed  doll 
from  Mrs.  William  McKinley  and  a  fine  oil  painting  by  the  noted  landscape  painter, 
William  Keith  of  California. 


H  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

denied  to  her  education  and  the  free  expression  of  her  genius  in 
literature,  art  or  statesmanship,  has  been  lost  to  man  also,  because 
it  has  diminished  the  inheritable  riches  of  the  nature  from  which  he 
draws  his  existence.  He  has  been  less,  though  unhampered  by  the 
shackles  which  bound  her,  because  she  was  less.  The  world  is  not 
more  called  upon  to  rejoice  in  the  triumphs  of  his  genius  in  freedom 
than  to  mourn  over  the  wasted  possibilities  of  hers  in  bonds.  .  .  . 

The  forward  movement  of  either  sex  is  possible  only  when  the 
other  moves  also  and  the  obstacles  to  progress  exist  in  the  attitude 
of  both  sexes  to  it,  not  in  that  of  one  alone.  So  in  this  woman  suf- 
frage movement  we  have  learned  that  the  apathy  of  women  to  their 
own  political  freedom  is  as  great  an  obstacle  to  our  success  as  the 
unwillingness  of  men  to  grant  our  claims.  It  is  of  the  same  impor- 
tance to  us  to  educate  women  out  of  their  indifference  as  it  is  to 
educate  men  out  of  their  unwillingness.  If  it  should  happen  that  this 
education  shall  come  to  women  first,  they  will  never  need  the  argu- 
ment of  force  to  induce  men  to  remove  the  legal  obstacles,  for  men 
and  women  cannot  loiu>-  think  unlike  on  any  subject. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  reports  was  that  of  the  Press  Com- 
mittee, made  by  its  efficient  chairman,  Mrs.  Elnora  Monroe  J 'alt- 
cock  (N.  Y.).  Illustrating  its  work  she  said:  "About  50,000 
stiff  rage  articles  have  been  sent  out  from  the  press  headquarters 
since  our  last  annual  convention;  2,400  of  these  were  specials; 
5,155  articles  and  items  advertising  the  Bazaar;  many  articles  on 
prominent  women  were  furnished  to  illustrated  papers  and  news- 
paper syndicates;  a  page  of  plate  matter  was  issued  every  six 
weeks  and  seven  large  press  associations  were  supplied  with  occa- 
sional articles."  The  names  of  State  chairmen  were  given  and 
the  number  of  papers  they  supplied — New  York,  500;  Pennsyl- 
vania, 336;  Iowa,  237;  Massachusetts,  97;  Indiana,  91 ;  Illinois, 
S5  ;  Ohio,  f>3,  etc.  Mrs.  Babcock  asked  for  a  vote  of  thanks, 
which  was  unanimous,  to  Paul  Dana,  proprietor  and  editor  of  the 
New  York  Sun,  for  having  given  during  the  past  two  and  a  half 
years  and  for  still  giving  two  columns  of  its  Sunday  issue  to  an 
article  by  Mrs.  Ida  Husted  Harper,  an  unprecedented  concession 
by  a  great  metropolitan  paper.  Miss  Anthony  added  her  words 
of  praise  to  Mr.  Dana  and  to  the  department  which  she  her-elf 
had  been  largely  instrumental  in  securing-.1 

1  At  Miss  Anthony's  request  Mrs.  Harper  had  sent  her  a  letter  to  read  to  the  conven- 
tion giving  some  details  as  to  the  scope  of  the  Sun  articles,  in  which  she  said:  "I  consider 
the  success  of  this  department  due  above  all  else  to  the  fact  that  it  deals  with  current 
events.  Its  text  each  Sunday  is  taken  from  the  occurrences  of  the  preceding  week  as 
they  relate  to  women.  .  .  .  Letters  of  commendation  and  of  criticism  have  been  received 


THE    NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQOI  15 

One  of  the  most  popular  addresses  of  the  convention  was  made 
by  Mrs.  Ellis  Meredith  of  Denver — The  Menace  of  Podtmk — 
a  clever  satire  showing  that  narrow  partisanship  and  dishonest 
politics  were  to  be  found  alike  in  New  York  and  Podunk,  Indiana. 

Podunk  is  the  place  where  the  country  is  nothing,  the  caucus 
everything;  where  patriotism  languishes  and  party  spirit  runs  riot. 
It  is  the  centre  of  intelligence  where  they  hold  back  the  returns  until 
advices  are  received  from  headquarters  as  to  how  many  votes  are 
needed.  The  Podunkians  believe  it  is  a  good  thing  to  have  a  strong 
man  at  the  head  of  the  ticket,  not  because  they  care  about  electing 
strong  men  but  because  by  putting  a  good  nominee  at  the  head  of 
the  ballot  it  is  possible  they  may  be  able  to  pull  through  the  seven 
saloon  keepers  and  three  professional  politicians  who  go  to  make  up 
the  rest  of  the  ticket.  .  .  .  But  there  lives  in  Podunk  another  class 
that  is  a  greater  menace  to  the  life  of  the  nation,  the  noble  army  of 
Pharisees.  They  have  read  Bryce's  American  Commonwealth  and 
have  an  intellectual  understanding  of  the  theory  and  form  of  our 
government  but  they  do  not  know  what  ward  they  live  in,  they  are 
vague  as  to  the  district,  have  never  met  their  Congressman  and  do  not 
know  a  primary  from  a  kettle  drum.  .  .  . 

The  politician  and  the  shirk  of  Podunk  are  the  creatures  who  are 
doing  their  noble  best  to  blot  out  the  words  of  Lincoln  and  make  it 
possible  for  the  government  he  died  to  save  to  perish  from  the  earth. 
And  between  these  two  evils  the  least  apparent  is  the  most  real. 
The  man  who  votes  more  than  once  is  nearer  right  than  the  man  who 
refuses  to  vote  at  all.  The  activity  of  the  repeater  in  the  pool  of 
politics  may  be  wholly  pernicious  but  is  no  worse  than  the  stagnation 
caused  by  the  inertia  of  his  self-righteous  brother.  The  republic  has 
less  to  fear  from  her  illiterate  and  venal  voters  than  from  those  who, 
knowing  her  peril,  refuse  to  come  to  the  rescue. 

The  resolutions  were  presented  by  Mr.  Blackwell,  who,  at  con- 
ventions almost  without  number,  served  as  chairman  of  this  im- 
portant committee,  and  the  first  ones  set  forth  the  political  status 
of  the  women  in  the  year  1901  as  follows: 

"We  congratulate  the  women  of  America  upon  the  measure  of 
success  already  attained — school  suffrage  in  twenty-two  States 
and  Territories;  municipal  suffrage  in  Kansas;  suffrage  on  ques- 

from  all  parti  of  the  United  States  and  from  London,  Paris,  Copenhagen,  Berlin,  Dresden, 
Zurich  and  Rome  and  from  Melbourne.  Among  the  writers  are  bishops  and  ministers, 
publishers,  educators,  authors,  college  presidents,  physicians,  women's  societies,  working- 
men's  organizations  and  scores  of  men  and  women  in  the  private  walks  of  life.  One 
article  brought  twenty-five  pages  of  legal  cap  from  lawyers  in  New  York  and  Brooklyn. 
It  is  a  noteworthy  fact  that  it  is  the  first  metropolitan  daily  paper  to  make  a  woman 
suffrage  department  a  regular  feature." 

The  articles  were  published   until  the  autumn   of   1903,  almost   five  years.     Mr.   Dana 
old  the  paper  and  it  went  under  the  control    of    William    A.    La  (Tan,    an    anti-suf- 
fragist,  who   discontinued   them. 


1 6  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

tions  of  taxation  in  Iowa,  Montana,  Louisiana  and  New  York; 
full  suffrage  in  Wyoming,  Colorado,  Utah  and  Idaho — States 
containing  more  than  a  million  inhabitants,  with  eight  Senators 
and  nine  Representatives  in  Congress  elected  in  part  by  the  votes 
of  women. 

"We  rejoice  in  important  gains  during  the  past  year;  the  ex- 
tension of  suffrage  upon  questions  of  taxation  to  200,000  women 
in  the  towns  and  villages  of  New  York  and  to  the  tax-paying 
women  of  Norway;  the  voting  of  women  for  the  first  time  for 
members  of  Parliament  in  West  Australia;  the  almost  unanimous 
refusal  of  the  Kansas  Legislature  to  repeal  municipal  woman 
suffrage  and  the  acquittal  in  Denver  of  the  only  woman  ever 
charged  with  fraudulent  voting." 

A  tribute  was  paid  to  the  tried  and  true  friends  of  woman  suf- 
frage who  had  died  during  the  year,  many  of  them  veterans  in 
the  cause:  Sarah  Anthony  Burtis,  aged  90,  secretary  of  the 
first  Woman's  Rights  Convention  in  1848  when  adjourned  to 
Rochester,  N.  Y. ;  Charles  K.  Whipple,  aged  91,  for  many  years 
secretary  of  the  Massachusetts  and  New  England  Woman  Suf- 
frage Associations;  Zerelda  G.  Wallace  of  Indiana,  the  "mother" 
of  "Ben  Hur";  Paulina  Gerry,  the  Rev.  Cyrus  Bartol,  Carrie 
Anders,  Dr.  Salome  Merritt,  Matilda  Goddard  and  Mary  Shan- 
non of  Massachusetts ;  Mary  J.  Clay  of  Kentucky ;  Eliza  J.  Patrick 
of  Missouri;  Fanny  C.  Wooley  and  Nettie  Laub  Romans  of 
Iowa;  Eliza  Scudder  Fenton,  the  widow  of  New  York's  war 
governor;  Charlotte  A.  Cleveland  and  Henry  Villard  of  New 
York ;  John  Hooker  of  Connecticut ;  Giles  F.  Stebbins  and  George 
Willard  of  Michigan;  Ruth  C.  Dennison,  D.  C.,  Theron  Nye  of 
Nebraska;  Elizabeth  Coit  of  Ohio;  Major  Niles  Meriwether  of 
Tennessee;  M.  B.  Castle  of  Illinois;  John  Bidwell  of  California; 
Wendell  Phillips  Garrison  of  New  Jersey. 

On  the  evening  when  Miss  Anthony  presided  she  introduced  to 
the  audience  with  tender  words  Mrs.  Charlotte  Pierce  of  Phila- 
delphia, as  one  of  the  few  left  who  attended  the  first  Woman's 
Rights  Convention  at  Seneca  Falls,  N.  Y.,  in  1*848;  Mrs.  Eliza 
Wright  Osborne  of  Auburn,  N.  Y.,  niece  of  Lucretia  Mott  and 
daughter  of  Martha  Wright,  two  of  the  four  women  who  called 
that  convention;  Miss  Emily  Howland,  a  devoted  pioneer  of 


THE    NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQOI  17 

Sherwood,  N.  Y. ;  the  Rev.  Olympia  Brown  of  Racine,  second 
woman  to  be  ordained  as  minister;  Mrs.  Ellen  Sulley  Fray,  a 
pioneer  of  Toledo,  O.,  and  Mrs.  Caroline  E.  Merrick,  wife  of  a 
Chief  Justice  of  Louisiana,  who  organized  the  first  suffrage  club 
in  New  Orleans. 

Mrs.  Rachel  Foster  Avery,  who  had  been  the  corresponding 
secretary  of  the  association  for  twenty-one  years,  had  insisted  that 
she  should  be  allowed  to  resign  from  the  office.  A  pleasant  inci- 
dent not  on  the  program  took  place  one  morning  during  the  con- 
vention when  Miss  Anthony  came  to  the  front  of  the  platform 
and  said :  "1  have  in  my  hand  a  thousand  dollars  for  Rachel  Foster 
Avery.  It  has  been  contributed  without  her  knowledge  by  about 
four  hundred  different  persons;  most  of  you  are  on  the  list.  I 
asked  for  this  testimonial  because  I  felt  that  you  would  all  rejoice 
to  show  your  appreciation  of  her  long  and  faithful  services  and 
her  great  liberality  to  the  cause.  I  should  never  have  been  able 
to  carry  on  the  work  of  the  society  as  its  president  for  so  many 
years  but  for  her  able  cooperation.  She  thinks  she  cannot  talk 
but  we  know  that  she  can  work.  She  has  done  the  drudgery  of 
this  association  for  more  than  twenty  years  and  I  hope  the 
woman  who  will  be  chosen  in  her  place,  whoever  she  may  be,  will 
be  as  consecrated  and  free  from  all  self-seeking." 

Miss  Kate  M.  Gordon,  president  of  the  Era  Club  of  New  Or- 
leans, was  almost  unanimously  elected  as  corresponding  secre- 
The  only  other  change  in  the  official  board  was  the  retire- 
ment of  Mrs.  Catharine  Waugh  McCulloch  as  second  auditor  and 
the  election  of  Dr.  Cora  Smith  Eaton  in  her  place.  In  referring 
to  Dr.  Eaton,  Mr.  Blackwell  said :  "In  my  attendance  upon 
thirty-three  successive  annual  national  conventions  I  have  never 
one  with  such  complete  and  faithful  preparation  by  the  local 
committee  and  such  abundant  and  cordial  welcome.  ...  It 
seemed  natural  to  recognize  the  generous  hospitality  thus  extended 
to  the  convention  by  the  people  of  Minnesota  by  choosing  Dr. 
•n  of  Minneapolis,  chairman  of  this  local  committee,  as  one  of 
;Or  the  coming 

1  Other  local  chairmen  were  Irnn  Win.  hell  Stacy,  Mrs.  A.  T.  Anderson,  J.  Bryan 
Bushnell,  Dr.  Margaret  Koch,  Mrs.  James  Harndcn,  Mrs.  II.  A.  Tuttle,  Mrs.  Marion  D. 
Shutter.  Lora  C.  Little,  Nellie  Keyes,  Mrs.  Sanford  Miles.  Martha  Scott  Anderson,  Josie 
A.  Wanous,  Gracia  L.  Jcnks,  Dr.  Corene  J.  Biasonette,  Mrs.  Stock  well  and  Mrs.  Gregory. 


l8  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

A  closely  reasoned  address  on  the  Ethics  of  Suffrage  was  made 
by  Louis  F.  Post  of  Chicago,  in  the  course  of  which  he  said : 

Suffrage  is  a  right,  not  a  privilege.  That  it  is  a  right  of  every 
individual  is  the  only  basis  for  women's  demanding  it.  If  it  is  not 
a  right  but  a  privilege  that  may  be  granted  to  men  and  withheld  from 
women,  be  granted  to  ihe  white  and  withheld  from  the  black,  be 
given  to  those  who  have  red  hair  and  kept  from  those  with  black 
hair;  if  it  may  be  rightfully  given  to  the  millionaire  and  kept  from 
the  day  laborer;  rightfully  extended  to  those  who  can  read  and 
withheld  from  those  who  cannot,  or  to  those  with  a  college  education 
and  from  those  who  have  onlv  u  common-school  education — if  these 
arc  the  only  bases  on  which  women  claim  a  share  in  government, 
then  the  fundamental  argument  for  woman  sntVra^'  disappears. 

Reason  hack  far  enough  on  the  privilege  line  of  argument  and  you 
soon  come  to  that  fetish  of  tradition,  the  divine  right  of  kings.  So 
it"  yon  cannot  put  your  claim  on  any  better  ground  than  privilege 
you  would  better  not  go  on.  .  .  .  Being  a  right,  it  is  also  a  duty. 
I  le  who  has  a  right  to  maintain  has  a  duty  to  perform.  This  is  the 
firm  rock  upon  which  woman  suffrage  must  rest.  It  must  be  de- 
manded because  women  are  members  of  the  community,  because 
they  have  common  interests  in  the  common  property  and  affairs  of 
the  community;  in  a  wc.nl,  they  have  rights  in  the  community  and 
duties  toward  it  which  are  the  same  as  the  rights  and  duties  of  every 
other  sane  per. son  of  mature  age.  who  keeps  out  of  the  penitentiary. 

An  unexpected  pleasure  was  a  brief  address  by  Dr.  Mary  Put- 
nam Jacobi,  a  veteran  suffragist  and  prominent  physician  of  New 
York,  who  was  attending  the  convention  of  the  American  Medical 
Association.  She  based  her  argument  for  equal  suffrage  on  the 
injustice  practiced  toward  women  physicians  when  they  seek  the 
opportunity  for  hospital  practice.  Mrs.  F.  W.  Hunt,  wife  of  the 
Governor  of  Idaho,  testified  to  the  good  results  of  woman  suf- 
frage in  that  State  for  the  past  five  years.  Others  who  gave 
addresses  were  the  Rev.  Alice  Ball  Loomis  (Wis.),  The  Femi- 
nine Doctor  in  Society;  Mrs.  Lydia  Phillips  Williams,  president 
of  the  Minnesota  Federation  of  Clubs,  Growth  and  Greetings; 
Mrs.  Elizabeth  Boynton  Harbert  (III),  For  the  Sake  of  the 
Child;  Miss  Frances  Griffin  (Ala.),  A  Southern  Tour;  the  Rev. 
Olympia  Brown  (Wis.),  The  Tabooed  Trio;  Mrs.  Annie  L. 
Digges  (Kas.),  The  Duty  of  the  Hour;  Miss  Laura  A.  Gregg 
(Neb.),  Who  Will  Defend  the  Flag?;  the  Rev.  Celia  Parker 
Woolley  (111.) i  W Oman's  Worth  in  the  Community;  the  Rev. 


THE    NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQOI  IQ 

William  B.  Riley  (Minn.),  Woman's  Rights  and  Political  Right- 
eousness.1 

An  inadequate  newspaper  account  of  the  very  able  address  of 
Miss  Gail  Laughlin  (N.  Y.),  on  The  Industrial  Laggard,  said: 

Miss  Laughlin  described  the  nineteenth  as  the  industrial  century 
of  which  the  factory  was  a  notable  product  and  co-operation  the 
spirit.  Men  were  trained  to  do  one  thing  well  and  by  division  of 
labor  the  maximum  result  was  attained  with  the  minimum  expendi- 
ture of  labor  and  capital.  This  principal  of  division  of  labor  has  been 
applied  everywhere  except  in  the  household,  the  field  which  espe- 
cially concerns  women.  Household  labor  is  outside  the  current  of 
industrial  progress.  It  is  not  even  recognized  as  an  industrial  prob- 
lem because  it  is  not  a  wealth-producing  industry.  Students  of 
economics  will  sometime  understand  that  the  industries  which  con- 
sume wealth  should  receive  attention  as  well  as  those  which  produce 
it.  Business  principles  are  not  applied  to  the  domestic  service  prob- 
lem. There  are  no  business  hours.  The  person  is  hired,  not  the 
labor.  One  woman  described  the  situation:  "If  you  have  a  girl,  you 
want  her,  no  matter  at  what  time."  There  is  no  standard  of  work 
and  the  result  is  confusion  worse  confounded.  The  servant's  goings- 
out  and  comings-in  are  watched  and  she  has  no  hours  to  herself. 
Is  it  any  wonder  that  so  many  women  prefer  to  go  into  factory 
life1  at  Irss  pay  but  where  they  can  have  some  hours  of  their  own? 

The  report  of  the  Committee  on  Legislation  for  Civil  Rights, 
Mrs.  Laura  M.  Johns  (Kans.),  chairman,  showed  that  it  had  been 
in  correspondence  with  many  State  associations  which  were  work- 
ing for  the  repeal  of  bad  laws  and  the  enactment  of  good  ones; 
for  raising  the  age  of  consent;  for  child-labor  bills;  for  women 

icians  in  State  institutions;  for  women  on  school  boards 
and  in  high  educational  positions  and  for  many  other  civil  and 
legal  measures.  Mrs.  Clara  Bewick  Colby's  report  on  Industrial 
IVobk-ms  affecting  Women  and  Children  showed  much  diligent 

I rch  into  the  discriminations  against  women  in  the  business 
and  educational  world  and  ^ave  many  flagrant  instances.  "In 

1  Among   those   who   took    part    in   conferences   and   on    committees   were    Helen    Rand 

Annie  K.  Wood    fCal.):    Kllen  Powell  Thompson   (D.  C.);   Mariana  W. 

I  ila   K.  Willrti  and  Florence  Gregory  (N.  Y.);  Clara  Bright  and  Jean  Gordon 

Maud    Starker    (Mich.);    Maude    I. 
w*  (N.  D.);  Eleanor  M.  Hall    (O.) ;  Helm   Kimber  (Kas.);   Eleanor  C.   Stockman. 

Is  and  Dollie   R.  Bradley   (la.);    Kmily  S.   Richards  (Utah);   Ben 

Wade  (Ind.);  Clara  A.  Young  (Neb.);  Evelyn  H.  Belden  (la.);  Addie  N.  Johnson  (Mo.); 
Mrs.     i  -vn     (Minn.);    Cornelia    Gary     (Brooklyn);    Ida    Porter    Boyer    (Pcnn.). 

Valuable  reports  were  made  by  all  of  the  State  presidents. 


2O  HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

Government  positions,"  she  said,  "this  was  clearly  due  to  their 
lack  of  a  vote." 

The  Government  departments  at  Washington  are  almost  entirely 
governed  by  politics  and  women  are  greatly  discriminated  against, 
notwithstanding  civil  service  rules.  The  report  of  A.  R.  Severn, 
chief  examiner  for  the  Civil  Service  Commission,  shows  that  during 
the  last  ten  years  less  than  ten  per  cent,  of  the  women  who  have 
passed  the  examinations  have  been  appointed,  while  more  than  25 
per  cent,  of  the  men  who  passed  obtained  positions.  To  prevent 
the  possibility  of  women  obtaining  high-class  positions  the  examina- 
tions for  these  are  not  open  to  women.  Of  the  58  employments  for 
which  examinations  were  held,  women  were  admitted  to  only  22. 
The  per  cent,  of  women  employed  of  those  who  had  passed  was 
13  in  1898;  6  per  cent,  in  1899,  and  lower  in  1900,  not  a  woman 
being  appointed  to  a  clerk's  position  from  the  waiting  list.  The 
Post  Office  Department  in  the  last  year  sent  out  an  order  that 
women  should  not  be  made  distributing  clerks  wherever  it  was  pos- 
sible to  appoint  men.  .  .  .  Legislation  for  the  protection  of  children 
has  been  defeated  in  Georgia,  Alabama  and  South  Carolina.  In  the 
factories  of  Birmingham,  it  is  stated,  children  of  six  and  seven  are 
obliged  to  be  at  work  by  5 130  a.m.  and  to  work  twelve  hours  daily, 
attending  spindles  for  ten  cents  a  day.  Jane  Addams  says  she 
knows  from  personal  observations  that  in  certain  States  the  condi- 
tions of  child  labor  are  as  bad  as  they  were  in  England  half  a  century 
ago.  In  the  great  cotton  mills  at  Columbia,  S.  C,  she  found  a  little 
girl  scarcely  five  years  old  doing  night  work  thirteen  hours  at  a 
Mixuh,  for  three  days  in  the  week. 

Sunday  afternoon  the  Rev.  Olympia  Brown  gave  the  conven- 
tion sermon — The  Forward  March — in  the  First  Baptist  Church, 
with  scripture  reading  by  Mrs.  Catt,  prayer  by  the  Rev.  Margaret 
T.  Olmstead,  hymns  by  the  Rev.  Kate  Hughes  and  the  Rev.  Mrs. 
Woolley ;  responsive  reading  by  the  Rev.  Alice  Ball  Loomis.  The 
Rev.  Anna  Howard  Shaw  preached  in  the  Church  of  the  Redeemer 
in  the  morning  and  Louis  F.  Post  in  the  evening.  Dr.  Shaw 
preached  in  the  evening  at  the  Hennepin  Avenue  Methodist 
Church;  Miss  Laura  Clay  spoke  at  the  Central  Baptist;  Dr. 
Frances  Woods  at  the  first  Unitarian;  Miss  Laura  Gregg  at 
Plymouth ;  Mrs.  Mary  C.  C.  Bradford  at  the  Wesley  Methodist 
in  the  morning  and  the  Rev.  Olympia  Brown  in  the  evening ;  Mrs. 
Elizabeth  Boynton  Harbert  in  the  Chicago  Avenue  Baptist;  the 
Rev.  Margaret  F.  Olmstead  at  All  Souls;  the  Rev.  Alice  Ball 
Loomis  at  Tuttle  Universalist ;  Mrs.  Mariana  W.  Chapman  at 


THE    NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    190!  21 

the  Friends'  Church ;  Miss  Ella  Moffatt  at  the  Bloomington  Ave- 
nue Methodist,  and  Mr.  and  Miss  Blackwell  at  the  Trinity 
Methodist. 

An  official  letter  was  sent  by  request  to  the  Constitutional  Con- 
vention of  Alabama  asking  for  a  woman  suffrage  clause.  An  invi- 
tation to  hold  a  conference  in  Baltimore  was  accepted.  Arrange- 
ments were  made  to  have  a  National  Suffrage  Conference  Septem- 
ber 9,  10,  in  Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  during  the  Pan-American  Exposition. 
It  was  decided  also  to  accept  an  invitation  from  the  Inter-State 
and  West  Indian  Exposition  Board  to  hold  a  conference  during 
the  Exposition  in  Charleston,  S.  C.  Official  invitations  were  re- 
ceived from  various  public  bodies  to  hold  the  next  convention  in 
\Yashington,  Atlantic  City,  Milwaukee  and  New  Orleans. 

The  president  made  the  closing  address  to  a  large  audience  on 
the  last  evening,  a  keen,  analytical  review  of  the  demand  for 
woman  suffrage.  "Its  fundamental  principle,"  she  said,  "is  that 
'all  governments  derive  their  just  power  from  the  consent  of  the 
governed/  It  is  the  argument  that  has  enfranchised  men  every- 
where at  all  times  and  it  is  the  one  which  will  enfranchise  women." 
As  it  was  extemporaneous  no  adequate  report  can  be  given. 

Nothing  was  left  undone  by  this  hospitable  city  for  the  success 
and  pleasure  of  the  convention.  Very  favorable  reports  and 
commendatory  editorials  were  given  by  the  newspapers.  An  ex- 
cellent program  by  the  best  musical  talent  was  furnished  at  each 
<>n  under  the  direction  of  Mrs.  Cleone  Daniels  Bergren.  An 
iti£  reception  in  honor  of  the  national  officers,  to  which  eight 
hundred  invitations  were  sent,  took  place  in  the  beautiful  home 
of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  W.  D.  Gregory.  The  Business  Woman's  Club, 
Martha  Scott  Anderson,  president,  gave  an  afternoon  reception  in 
its  rooms,  the  invitations  reading:  "The  club  desires  to  show  in 
a  measure  its  appreciation  of  the  labor  by  the  members  of  the 
National  Suffrage  Association  in  behalf  of  women."  Trolley 
rides  tlimiudi  the  hand-nine  suburbs  and  a  visit  to  the  big  flouring 
milN  were  among  the  diversions.1 

1  At  the  close  of  the  convention  twenty-seven  of  the  visitors  made  a  trip  in  a  special 
'    Park,  which  was  arranged  by  Mrs.  Catt  and   MI'M  Hay.     They  had  a 
most  interesting  time  which   was  graphically  described  by   Miss  Black  \v<  II   in   (lie   H 
Journal  of  June  22.     It  also  published  some  of  the  humorous  pot  ins   writim  en   route  by 
the  fay  excursionists. 


22  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

This  chapter  has  tried  to  picture  the  first  convention  of  the 
National  American  Suffrage  Association  in  the  new  century,  typi- 
cal of  many  which  preceded  and  followed.  If  it  and  other  chap- 
ters seem  overburdened  with  personal  mention  it  must  be  remem- 
bered that  it  is  a  precious  privilege  to  those  who  assisted  in  this 
great  movement,  and  to  their  descendants,  to  have  their  names 
thus  preserved  in  history.  In  the  biography  of  Susan  B.  Anthony 
(page  1246)  may  be  found  the  following  tribute  to  these  con- 
ventions, which  were  held  annually  for  over  fifty  years. 

It  can  be  said  without  fear  of  contradiction  that  the  National 
Suffrage  Conventions  will  go  down  in  history  as  the  most  notable 
Ill-Id  by  women  during  the  present  age,  excepting,  of  course,  those 
of  an  international  nature.  The  lofty  character  of  their  demands. 
(lie  courage,  ability  and  earnestness  of  their  speakers,  the  unswerving 
fidelity  to  one  central  idea,  give  them  a  dominating  position  which 
they  will  hold  for  all  time.  They  are  pervaded  by  a  remarkable 
spirit  of  democracy  and  fraternity.  Those  who  come  to  scoff 
remain—not  to  pray  but  to  have  a  good  time.  The  reporters  are  all 
converted  during  the  first  two  or  three  meetings  and  become  mem- 
bers of  the  family.  The  delegates  never  wait  for  an  introduction 
to  each  other;  all  have  come  together  on  the  same  mission  and  that 
is  a  sufficient  guarantee.  Nobody  can  remember  afterwards  what 
her  neighbor  wore  and  this  proves  that  all  were  well  dressed.  The 
meetings  are  so  systematic  and  business-like  that  one  never  feels  she 
has  wasted  a  minute.  If  points  of  serious  difference  arise  they  are 
taken  up  and  settled  by  the  Business  Committee,  out  of  sight  of  the 
public,  but  in  all  matters  directly  connected  with  the  association  every 
delegate  has  a  voice  and  vote. 

These  are  trained  and  disciplined  women.  There  is  nothing  hys- 
terical, nothing  fanatical  about  them.  They  are  animated  by  the 
most  serious  and  determined  purpose,  and,  in  order  to  effect  this,  all 
sectarian  bias,  all  political  preference,  all  fads  and  hobbies  in  any 
direction  are  rigidly  barred.  Woman  suffrage — that  is  the  sole  object. 
The  offices  all  represent  hard  work  and  no  salary,  therefore  no 
unseemly  scramble  takes  place  to  secure  them,  and  the  association 
has  the  most  profound  confidence  in  its  National  Board.  Every 
dollar  subscribed  has  a  definite  channel  designated  for  its  expendi- 
ture and  so  there  is  no  big  treasury  fund  to  quarrel  over.  There  is 
always  a  sufficient  number  of  experienced  members  to  hold  the 
younger  and  more  impulsive  recruits  in  check.  Being  one  of  the 
oldest  women's  organizations  in  existence  it  has  accumulated  a  large 
store  of  wisdom  and  judgment.  Even  where  people  disapprove  its 
purposes  they  cannot  fail  to  respect  its  dignified,  orderly  methods. 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE  NATIONAL  AMERICAN  CONVENTION  OF  1902. 

The  association  held  its  Thirty- fourth  annual  convention,  which 

especially  distinguished  by  the  presence  of  visitors  from  other 

lands,  in  the  First  Presbyterian  Church,  Washington,  D.  C.,  Feb. 

u-iS,    1902. 1     There  was  special  significance  in  this  meeting 

place,  as  the  pastor  of  the  church  for  many  years  was  the  Rev. 

>n  Sutherland,2   who   from   its   pulpit   had   more   than   once 

denounced  woman  suffrage  and  its  advocates ;  but  it  was  now 

under  the  liberal  ministry  of  the  Rev.  T.  DeWitt  Talmage,  their 

1  Part  of  Call:  An  International  Woman  Suffrage  Conference  will  be  held  in  connec- 
tion with  this  annual  convention,  to  which  suffrage  associations  of  fourteen  countries  have 
been  invited  to  send  delegates. 

The  principles  which  for  a  century  have  stood  as  the  guarantee  of  political  liberty  to 
American  men,  "Taxation  without  representation  is  tyranny,"  and  "Governments  derive 
their  just  powers  from  the  consent  of  the  governed,"  can  no  longer  be  claimed  as  belong- 
ing to  the  United  States  alone  for  they  have  been  adopted  by  all  civilized  nations.  The 
steadily  increasing  acceptance  of  the  belief  that  self-government  is  the  highest  form  of 
government  has  revolutionized  the  popular  thought  of  the  world  within  the  last  fifty 
During  that  period  all  newly  established  governments  have  been  fashioned  after 
the  model  of  a  Republic;  while  in  most  European  nations  and  their  colonies  the  suffrage 
has  been  so  largely  extended  that  the  mere  skeleton  of  a  monarchy  remains. 

Logical  thinkers  the  world  over  have  been  led  in  consequence  to  ask:  Are  not  women 

jr  capable  with  men  of  self-government?     What  necessary  qualification  fits  men  for 

the  exercise  of  this   sacred  right   which   is   not   likewise   possessed   by   women?     Are   they 

iiclligent?     The  statistics  of  schools,  colleges  and  educational  bureaus  answer  "No." 

Arc   they   less   moral,    peaceful    and   law-abiding   than    men?     The    statistics   of   churches, 

police  courts  and  penitentiaries  answer  "No."     Are  they  less  public  spirited  and  patriotic 

than    men?     The    labors   of    millions    of    organized    women    in    noble    reforms,    in    helpful 

ics  and  wise   philanthropies  answer  "No."  .  .  . 

An  International  Woman   Suffrage  Conference   for  the  exchange  of  greetings,  reports 

and  methods  forms  a  natural  mile-stone  on   the  march  of  progress.     All   persons  believing 

c   fundamental   principles  o;  unient  contained   in   the   Declaration   of    Imlr- 

•  ce  and  the  Constitution  of  the   United   States  apply  to  women  as  well  as  to   men, 

ited  to  visit  the  convention  and  to  unite  in  welcome  to  our  foreign  guests. 

ELIZABETH  CADY  STANTON,  )   _, 

I  Honorary   Presidents. 
SUSAN  B.  ANTHONY, 

CARRIE  CHAPMAN   CATT,  President. 

ANNA    HOWARD    SHAW,    Vice-President-at-Large. 

KATE   M.   GORDON,  Corresponding   Secretary. 

r.   STONE  BLACKWELL,   Recording  Secretary. 
KIET  TAYLOR  UPTON,  Treasurer. 

LAI-RA  CLAY.  )     . 

v  Auditors. 
CORA  SMITH   EATON,  f 

:  History  of  Woman  Suffrage,  Volume  I,  page  543. 

23 


24  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

strong  and  valued  advocate.  The  Washington  Post  said :  "More 
than  a  thousand  visitors  were  present  yesterday  afternoon  at  the 
first  session  of  the  National  American  Suffrage  Convention  and 
the  first  International  Woman  Suffrage  Conference.  Perhaps 
no  other  meeting  of  its  kind  ever  has  occasioned  as  much  interest 
on  the  part  of  Washington  women  generally.1  The  large  audi- 
ence room  was  packed  to  the  doors  .  .  .  and  it  has  been  ar- 
ranged to  hold  overflow  meetings  in  the  church  parlors."  The 
platform  was  banked  with  flowers  over  which  waved  the  flags 
of  thirty  nations,  lent  by  Miss  Clara  Barton,  founder  of  the 
Red  Cross,  to  whom  they  had  been  presented  by  representatives 
of  each  individual  nation.  Above  them  all  hung  the  "suffrage 
flag"  with  four  golden  stars  on  its  blue  ground  for  the  four 
States  where  women  were  fully  enfranchised — Wyoming,  Colo- 
rado, Utah  and  Idaho.  The  president,  Mrs.  Carrie  Chapman 
Catt,  was  in  the  chair. 

This  convention  will  be  ever  memorable  because  under  its 
auspices  the  First  International  Woman  Suffrage  Confrence  was 
held  which  resulted  later  in  the  founding  of  the  International 
Alliance.  The  proceedings  of  this  conference  are  described  in 
the  chapter  devoted  to  the  Alliance.  Ten  countries  were  repre- 
sented and  their  delegates  took  part  in  the  convention,  which  was 
•welcomed  on  the  opening  afternoon  by  the  Hon.  Henry  B.  F. 
McFarland,  president  of  the  board  of  commissioners  of  the  Dis- 
trict of  Columbia.  He  addressed  the  delegates  as  "stockholders 
in  the  national  capital"  and  said:  "Personally  I  welcome  not  only 
you  but  your  cause.  In  common,  I  believe,  with  the  majority  of 
intelligent  men  I  think  you  have  won  your  case  on  the  argu- 
ment. Equal  suffrage  is  equal  justice  and  there  is  no  reason 
why  such  women  as  you  should  be  classed  in  the  States  with 
idiots  and  criminals."  Mrs.  May  Wright  Sewall,  who  was  to 

1  "February  could  be  appropriately  marked  on  the  calendar  as  woman's  month  at  the 
national  capital.  For  many  years  one  or  more  national  bodies  of  women  have  met  in 
Washington  some  time  in  February.  This  year  an  unusually  large  number  are  assem- 
bling. On  February  17,  the  day  before  the  National  Suffrage  Convention  ends,  the 
Continental  Congress  of  the  Daughters  of  the  American  Revolution  will  open  to  continue 
five  days.  The  fourth  triennial  of  the  National  Council  of  Women  of  the  United  States 
will  begin  on  February  19  and  extend  over  the  25th.  The  National  Congress  of  Mothers 
will  convene  February  25  and  be  in  session  until  the  zSlh." 


THE    NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQO2  25 

greet  the  foreign  guests  in  the  name  of  the  International  Council 
of  \Yoinen,  of  which  she  was  president,  was  detained  until  later. 
Mrs.  Catt  with  words  of  highest  eulogy  introduced  Miss  Barton, 
who  said : 

Madam  President,  Ladies  and  Delegates:  Among  many  honors 
which  from  time  to  time  have  been  tendered  me  by  my  generous 
country  people,  not  one  has  been  more  appreciated  than  the  privi- 
lege of  giving  this  word  of  public  welcome  to  the  honored  delega- 
tion of  women  present  with  us. 

Indies  of  Europe,  if  a  hundred  tongues  were  mine  they  could  not 
speak  the  glad  welcome  in  our  hearts.  It  is  an  epoch  in  the  history 
of  the  world  that  your  coming  marks.  For  the  first  time  within 
the  written  history  of  mankind  have  the  women  of  the  nations  left 
their  homes  and  assembled  in  council  to  declare  the  position  of 
women  before  the  world,  bringing  to  national  and  international  view 
the  injustice  and  the  folly  of  the  barriers  which  ignorance  has 
created  and  tradition  fostered  and  preserved  through  the  unthink- 
ing ages  until  they  came  to  be  held  not  only  as  a  part  of  the  natural 
laws  and  rights  of  man  but  as  the  immutable  decrees  of  Divinity 
itself.  ...  If  woman  alone  had  suffered  under  these  mistaken  tradi- 
tions, if  she  could  have  borne  the  evil  by  herself,  it  would  have  been 
•  it  if  ul.  hut  her  brother  man,  in  the  laws  he  created  and  igno- 
rantly  worshipped,  has  suffered  with  her.  He  has  lost  her  highest 
help ;  he  has  crippled  the  intelligence  he  needed ;  he  has  belittled  the 
very  source  of  his  own  being  and  dwarfed  the  image  of  his  Maker. 

Ladies,  there  is  a  propriety  in  your  crossing  the  seas  to  hold  the 
first  council  in  America,  for  it  was  in  this  new  untrammeled  land 
of  freedom,  free  birth,  free  thought  and  free  speech  that  the  first 
outspoken  notes  were  given,  the  first  concerted  action  taken  toward 
the  release  of  woman,  the  enlightenment  of  man  as  a  lawmaker,  and 
the  attention  of  the  world  directed  to  the  injustice,  unwisdom  and 
folly  of  the  code  under  which  it  lived.  It  was  here  that  the  first 
hard  blows  were  struck.  It  was  here  the  paths  were  marked  out 
that  have  1»een  trodden  with  bleeding1  feet  for  half  a  century,  until 
•icfth  the  blows  no  longer  rebound  and  the  hands  of  the  grateful, 
loving  womanhood  of  the  world  struggle  for  a  place  to  scatter  roses 
in  the  paths  which  erstwhile  were  flint  and  thorns ;  and  an  admiring 
world  of  women  and  men  alike  breathe  in  tones  of  respect,  gratitude 
and  love  the  names  of  Elizabeth  Cady  Stanton  and  Susan  B. 
Anthony. 

Miss  Anthony.  I  am  glad  to  stand  beside  you  while  I  tell  these 

ri  from  the  other  side  of  the  world  who  has  brought  them  here. 

This  .f   Euro!  •    prototype-  -this   the  woman 

'den  the  >f  the  pioneer  till  the  thorns 

:  tin's,  the  woman  who  has  lived  to  hear  the  hisses 

turn  to  dulcet  strains  of  music;  the  woman  who  has  dared  to  plead 

for  every  good  cause  under  heaven,  who  opened  her  door  to  the 


26  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

fleeing  slave  and  claimed  the  outcast  for  a  brother;  the  woman 
beloved  of  her  own  country  and  honored  in  all  countries. 

Although  a  slow  lesson  to  learn  it  has  always  proved  that  the 
grandeur  of  a  nation  was  shown  by  the  respect  paid  to  woman.  The 
brightest  garlands  of  Spain,  linked  with  immortelles,  twine  about 
the  name  of  Isabella.  The  highest  glory  of  England  today  is  not 
that  she  placed  her  crown  on  the  brow  of  her  trusted  and  beloved 
new  monarch,  a  man  whom  the  nations  of  the  earth  welcome  to  their 
galaxy  of  rulers,  but  that  she  lays  her  mantle  of  fifty  years'  rule 
through  war  and  peace  and  progress  such  as  never  was  known 
before,  upon  the  grave  of  a  woman — that  mantle  on  which  no  stain 
has  ever  rested  and  on  which  the  sunlight  of  happiness  is  shadowed 
and  dimmed  only  by  the  tears  of  a  sorrowing  nation,  as  it  is 
reverently  borne  to  its  honored  rest.  England,  thank  God  you  had 
no  Salic  law!  America  has  none,  and,  Miss  Anthony,  the  path 
which  you  have  trodden  through  these  oft  painful  years  leads  to 
that  goal ;  and,  though  your  eyes  will  have  opened  upon  the  blessed 
light  of  the  heaven  beyond,  verily  there  may  be  some  standing  here 
who  shall  not  taste  death  until  these  things  come. 

Ladies  and  Delegates:  In  the  name  of  the  noble  leader  who  has 
called  you,  we  welcome  you.  In  the  name  of  our  country,  its  great 
institutions  of  learning  and  equal  privileges  to  all,  we  welcome  you. 
In  the  name  of  the  brotherhood  of  man,  we  welcome  you.  In  the 
name  of  our  never-forgotten  pioneers,  a  Mott,  a  Stone,  a  Gage,  a 
Griffing,  a  Garrison,  a  May,  a  Foster,  a  Douglass,  a  Phillips,  we 
reverently  welcome  you.  In  the  name  of  God  and  humanity,  in 
the  name  of  the  angels  of  earth  and  the  angels  of  heaven,  we 
welcome  you  to  our  shores,  to  our  halls,  to  our  homes  and  to  our 
hearts. 

Miss  Susan  B.  Anthony,  honorary  president  of  the  association, 
•who  was  next  presented  and  enthusiastically  received,  closed  her 
brief  welcome  by  saying  that  Mrs.  Stanton  and  herself  con- 
ceived the  idea  of  holding  an  International  Suffrage  Conference 
in  1883  when  they  were  in  Europe  but  the  time  was  too  early  for 
it,  and  now,  twenty  years  later,  European  women  had  come  as 
delegates  to  one  in  the  United  States  and  henceforth  the  women 
of  the  two  countries  would  go  forward  together  in  this  cause. 
Dr.  Anna  Howard  Shaw,  vice-president-at-large,  referred  to  the 
fact  that  she  was  born  in  England  and  transplanted  to  America, 
and  said :  "While  you  are  divided  from  us  by  geographical  lines, 
which  are  imaginary,  and  by  a  language  which  is  not  the  same, 
you  have  not  come  to  an  alien  people  or  land.  In  the  realm  of 
the  heart,  in  the  domain  of  mind,  there  are  no  geographical  lines 
dividing  the  nations.  You  come  to  us  as  members  of  one  family. 


THE    NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQO2  27 

You  come  that  we  may  all  stand  on  one  plane  of  freedom.  I  wish 
we  could  take  you  to  our  four  'star  States'  where  women  vote. 
\Ve  mean  to  give  you  of  our  best  but  we  expect  to  get  from  you 
much  more  than  we  give.  You  will  show  us  thai  those  who  speak 
English  are  not  the  only  ones  whose  hearts  are  alive  to  the  great 
flame  of  liberty." 

The  national  corresponding  secretary,  Miss  Kate  Gordon,  read 
a  telegram  from  Dr.  Augusta  Stowe  Gullen,  leader  of  the  suffrage 
movement  in  Canada:  "Greetings  and  best  -wishes  from  your  sis- 
ter- across  the  line":  a  cablegram  from  Christiana:  "Success  to 
your  work,  from  the  National  \Yoman  Suffrage  Association  of 
Xorway."  A  letter  was  read  by  the  delegate  from  Norway,  Mrs. 
( iudrun  Drewsen,  from  the  president  of  the  association,  Miss 
Gina  Krog,  which  said  in  part :  "The  woman  suffrage  move- 
ment !  I  know  of  no  movement,  no  cause  that  is  at  the  same  time 
so  national  and  so  international.  The  victory  now  gained  in 
Xorway,  municipal  suffrage  and  eligibility  to  municipal  office 
for  a  great  many  women,  will  no  doubt  in  time  influence  every 
home  in  our  country;  but  we  could  not  have  won  this  victory 
without  receiving  impulses  from  other  civilized  nations.  We 
are  indeed  indebted  to  men  and  women  in  several  European  coun- 
tries for  the  privileges  which  we  now  possess,  but  from  no  other 
country  in  the  world  have  we  received  the  inspiration  in  our 
work  which  we  have  had  from  the  United  States;  to  no  women 
in  the  world  are  we  so  indebted  as  to  the  women  of  this  country. 
Those  great  and  noble  pioneers  and  their  fervent  struggle — how 
they  have  inspired  us  and  awakened  our  enthusiasm!  Thai 
siduoux  work,  year  after  year — how  it  lias  strengthened  our 
hands!  That  glorious  example,  those  results  attained  in  your 
count  r\  how  we  have  brought  them  before  our  legislalo; 
awaken  their  sen^e  of  justice!  I  sincerely  wish  that  the  news 
of  the  victory  achieved  in  our  country  may  prove  an  imix-lus  to 
you  in  your  work.  To  be  assured  of  this  would  give  us  the  great 
;on  of  feeling  that  at  all  events  a  small  fraction  of  our 
debt  to  you  -was  paid." 

Miss  Gordon  read  a  letter  from  the  Federation  of  Progressive 

n   <  iennaiiv  \\hi-1i  declared  that   its   InM   and 

nost  object  was  to  Of  (  «  nnan  women   full  jxilitical 


28  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

rights  and  continued:  "We  watch  with  especial  interest  and 
sympathy  the  effort  of  those  who  persistently  and  courageously 
work  for  the  full  citizenship  of  women.  The  women  of  the 
United  States  have,  in  this  struggle,  set  a  noble  example  to  the 
women  of  Europe.  In  Germany  we  recall  with  tender  veneration 
such  names  as  Lucy  Stone,  Frances  Willard,  Elizabeth  Cady 
Stanton,  the  Rev.  Anna  Howard  Shaw  and  Susan  B.  Anthony. 
The  women  of  Germany  are  without  political  rights.  It  is  far 
easier  to  fight  for  equality  and  freedom  in  a  young  country,  like 
the  United  States,  than  in  an  old  civilization,  cumbered  with  tradi- 
tions— a  country  that  looks  back  on  a  history  of  many  centuries, 
that  only  a  few  decades  ago  fought  its  way  through  severe  con- 
flicts and  painful  changes  to  political  unity  and  is  now  slowly 
growing  into  responsibilities  which  social  and  political  problems 
impose  on  a  modern  State." 

"The  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union  of  Tasmania 
sends  hearty  greetings  and  trusts  that  the  International  Suffrage 
Conference  may  be  successful  and  that  it  -will  bring  nearer  that 
day  when  man  and  woman  shall  sit  'side  by  side,  full  summed 
in  all  their  powers,'  "  was  the  message  signed  by  Jessie  S.  Rooke, 
its  president,  which  was  given  by  Miss  Anna  Gordon,  president 
of  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  of  the  United  States.  The  response  to  the 
addresses  of  welcome  was  made  by  Madame  Sofja  Levovna 
Friedland  of  Russia,  who  said  in  beautiful  English: 

I  am  a  loyal  daughter  of  a  friendly  country,  who  thanks  you  for 
your  welcome  and  brings  greetings  from  her  distant  home.  Russia 
and  the  United  States  have  l>een  friends  for  many  a  year  and  are 
friends  today,  proven  friends,  who  have  stood  by  each  other  in  the 
hour  of  need.  In  1863  the  French  ambassador  at  the  court  of  St. 
Petersburg  laid  before  the  Czar  the  propostion  of  Napoleon  III,  to 
interfere  in  your  civil  war  for  the  purpose  of  perpetuating  the  divi- 
sion between  the  North  and  the  South.  After  listening  to  this  bold 
proposal  of  the  French  Emperor,  Czar  Alexander,  the  man  who 
had  freed  twenty-five  million  slaves  in  one  stroke  of  his  pen,  replied : 
"Tell  your  Emperor  that  the  United  States  is  our  friend  and  tell 
him  also  that  it  has  the  same  right  to  maintain  a  republican  form 
of  government  as  we  have  to  choose  a  monarchy.  Tell  him  also 
that  he  must  keep  his  hands  off  and  not  meddle  in  its  affairs  for  I 
will  not  allow  anyone  to  interfere  on  the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic. 
He  who  strikes  my  friend,  strikes  me."  This  answer  in  diplomatic 
language  went  the  same  day  to  Paris  and  soon  after  Russian  battle- 


THE    NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQO2  2O, 

ships  arrived  in  the  harbors  of  New  York  and  San  Francisco. 
There  are  still  men  and  women  who  remember  them.  They  used  to 
wonder  why  the  Russian  men-of-war  were  lying  peacefully  in  Ameri- 
can waters.  President  Lincoln  could  have  given  the  answer,  for  in 
a  private  message  from  the  Czar  he  had  been  assured  of  the  friend- 
ship of  the  great  Eastern  Empire.  He  knew  that  the  commanders 
of  the  Russian  ships  had  secret  orders  to  act  in  case  of  necessity. 

But  the  American  people  have  done  more,  for  there  came  a  morn- 
ing when  the  glorious  winter  sun  of  Russia  greeted  the  Star-Spangled 
Banner,  when  American  ships  landed  on  Russian  shores  ready  to  pro- 
tect us  from  a  more  cruel  enemy — hunger.  The  cry  of  distress 
from  our  famine-stricken  villages  had  found  an  echo  in  American 
hearts  and  the  ships  which  came  did  not  bear  government  orders, 
they  bore  the  tokens  of  love  from  one  brother  to  another;  they 
brought  us  wheat  and  corn  to  feed  our  people. 

Madame  Friedland  told  of  the  visit  of  the  Grand  Duke  Alexis 
to  this  country  and  of  the  poem  read  by  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes 
at  a  banquet  given  in  his  honor,  and  closed :  "Thus  an  American 
poet  has  expressed  the  feelings  of  his  countrymen  and  'women. 
God  bless  the  United  States!  Long  life  to  President  Roosevelt 
and  prosperity  to  you  all!  In  the  days  to  come  and  the  years 
to  follow  may  our  two  great  nations  stand  side  by  side  in  harmony 
and  peace.  May  the  Star-Spangled  Banner  and  the  Russian 
Double  Eagle  soar  aloft,  not  on  battlefields,  not  against  any 
nation,  but  for  a  brotherhood  of  men  in  the  federation  of  the 
world.''  The  opening  session  ended  with  the  president's  address 
by  Mrs.  Catt,  in  the  course  of  which  she  said: 

In  ready  response  to  growing  intelligence  and  individualism  the 
principle  of  self-government  has  been  planted  in  every  civilized 
nation  of  the  world.  Before  the  force  of  this  onward  movement 
the  most  cherished  ideals  of  conservatism  have  fallen.  Out  of  the 

ilie  old,  phojnix-like  has  arisen  a  new  institution,   vigorous 
and  strong,  yea,  one  which  will  endure  as  long  as  men  occupy  the 
earth.    The  little  band  of  Americans  who  initiated  the  modern  move- 
would  never  have  predicted  that  within  a  century  "Taxation 
ten  without  representation  is  tyranny"  would  have  been  written 
into  the   fundamental  law  of  all  the  monarchies  of  Europe  except 
.  and  that  even  there  self-government  would  obtain 
in  the  nmiiidpnlities.     The  most  optimistic  seer  among  them  would 
not  have  prophesied  that  Mongolian  Japan,  then  tightly  shutting  h 
mnicrce  of    the    world    and   jealously    guardi 
would    before    the    century    dosed    lia\e    \v<  i 
d   established  universal  suffrage  for 


3O  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

its  men.  He  would  not  have  dreamed  that  every  inch  of  the  great 
continent  of  South  America,  then  chiefly  an  unexplored  region  over 
which  bands  of  savages  roved  at  will,  would  he  covered  by  written 
constitutions  guaranteeing  self-government  to  men  inspired  by  Dec- 
larations of  Independence  similar  to  that  of  this  country;  that  the 
settlements  in  Mexico  and  Central  America  and  many  islands  of  the 
ocean  would  grow  into  republics,  and  least  of  all  that  the  island  con- 
tinent of  Australia,  with  its  associates  of  New  Zealand  and  Tas- 
mania, then  unexplored  wildernesses,  would  Income  great  democ- 
racies where  self-government  would  be  carried  on  with  such  enthusi- 
asm, fervor  and  wisdom  that  they  would  give  lessons  in  methods  and 
principles  to  all  the  rest  of  the  world.  .  .  . 

Hard  upon  the  track  of  the  man  suffrage  movement  presses  the 
movement  for  woman  suffrage,  a  logical  step  onward.  It  has  come 
as  inevitably  and  naturally  as  the  flower  unfolds  from  the  bud  or  the 
fruit  develops  from  the  flower.  Why  should  woman  suffrage  not 
come?  Men  throughout  the  world  hold  their  suffrage  by  the  guar- 
antee of  the  two  principles  of  liberty  and  for  these  reasons  only: 
(  )ne,  "Taxation  without  representation  is  tyranny" ;  who  dares  deny 
it?  And  are  not  women  taxed?  The  other,  "Governments  derive 
their  just  powers  from  the  consent  of  the  governed."  How  simple 
and  unanswerable  that  petition  of  justice!  .  .  .  Woman  suffrage 
must  meet  precisely  the  same  objections  which  have  been  urged 
against  man  suffrage  and  in  addition  it  must  combat  sex-prejudice, 
a  prejudice  against  the  rights,  liberties  and  opportunities  of  women. 

Mrs.  Catt  closed  her  address  with  these  words :  "Yet  before 
the  attainment  of  equal  rights  for  men  and  women  there  will  be 
years  of  struggle  and  disappointment.  We  of  a  younger  genera- 
tion have  taken  up  the  work  where  our  noble  and  consecrated 
pioneers  left  it.  We  in  turn  are  enlisted  for  life  and  generations 
yet  unborn  will  take  up  the  work  where  we  lay  it  down.  So 
through  centuries  if  need  be  the  education  will  continue,  until  a 
regenerated  race  of  men  and  women  who  are  equal  before  God  and 
man  shall  control  the  destinies  of  the  earth.  It  will  be  the  proud 
duty  of  the  new  International  Alliance,  if  one  shall  be  formed, 
to  extend  its  helping  hand  to  the  women  of  every  nation  and  every 
people  and  its  completed  duty  will  not  have  been  performed  until 
the  last  vestige  of  the  old  obedience  of  one  human  being  to  an- 
other shall  have  been  destroyed." 

The  presence  of  the  foreign  visitors  and  the  greetings  from 
abroad  made  an  original  and  pleasing  variation  of  the  usual  pro- 
gram at  national  conventions.  The  Evening  with  the  Pioneers 


THE    NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQO2  31 

opened  with  the  singing  by  the  audience  of  The  Battle  Hymn  of 
the  Republic,  written  by  one  of  them,  Mrs.  Julia  Ward  Howe, 
led  by  another,  John  Hutchinson,  a  member  of  the  famous  family 
of  singers,  who  the  day  before  had  celebrated  his  goth  birthday. 
Miss  Anthony  presided  and  the  Washington  Times  said  that  she 
"was  greeted  with  a  storm  of  applause,  the  convention  rising  as 
one  woman  and  with  waving  handkerchiefs  cheering  her  to  the 
echo  for  several  minutes."  The  Loyal  Legion  of  Women  through 
its  president  gave  her  an  armful  of  red  roses  and  in  accepting 
them  she  observed  smilingly :  "I  can  only  say  what  I  have  often 
said  in  late  years — it  is  much  pleasanter  to  be  pelted  with  roses 
than  stones!  The  National  Suffrage  Association  stands  like  a 
Mother  Church  with  her  arms  wide  open  to  those  who  want  to 
come  in  and  we  are  especially  glad  to  receive  loyal  women." 

Mrs.  Florence  Fenwick  Miller,  a  member  of  the  London  School 
Board  for  nine  years,  brought  greetings  from  Mrs.  Priscilla 
Bright  McLaren,  87  years  old,  of  whom  Miss  Anthony  said : 
"She  is  an  elder  sister  of  John  and  Jacob  Bright.  John  was  the 
great  champion  of  manhood  suffrage  but  Jacob  was  still  greater, 
for  he  was  a  champion  of  suffrage  for  women  also.  Mrs.  Mc- 
Laren sent  a  loving  and  appreciative  message  to  "the  dear  Ameri- 
can women  who  have  so  steadfastly  held  up  the  banner  of  woman 
suffrage  and  especially  to  the  octogenarians,  Elizabeth  Cady  Stan- 
ton  and  Susan  B.  Anthony,"  and  closed  it  with  a  Christmas  poem. 
Miss  Anthony  recalled  her  last  visit  to  Mrs.  McLaren  in  Kdin- 
burgh  three  years  before  and  said :  "I  wish  you  could  see  how 
beautiful  she  looked  as  she  lay  on  the  bed  in  her  pretty  white 

iiid  blue  dressing  sack.     She  is  an  inspiration  to  the  women 

:  eat  Britain  and  she  has  been  to  me." 
Mrs.  Clara  Bewick  Colby  (D.  C),  gave  a  greeting  from  Mrs. 

'The  following  pioneer  workers  for  woman  suffrage  were  seated  on  die  platform. 
their  ages  averaging  more  than  75  years:  Mrs.  Virginia  <  nil.  y. 

the   II.  Wolf.    Mrs.    S.    E.    Wall.    Mrs.    Olive    Logan. 

layo.  Miss  1  Mrs.  Caro- 

Merrick.    La.;    Mrs.    Helen    Coti  M.    I  ulm,, 

Thom;,  i  irriet   Jackson,    Md.;    Mrs.    William    Uoyd   Garrison.    Mass.; 

\     J.;    Mrs. 
^  Mary  Anthony.  Mi  Smith    M, 

Meyers,    Mrs  „    K. 

Newlin   Iv  • 
Emmeline  B.   Wells,  Utah;  Miu  Laura  Moore,  Vt.;   Mrs.   M.   II.  Grov< .   W 


32  HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

Stan  ton,  in  her  87th  year,  and  read  her  paper  on  Educated  Suf- 
frage.1    In  this  able  and  scholarly  document  Mrs.  Stanton  said: 

The  proposition  to  demand  of  immigrants  a  reading  and  writing 
qualification  on  landing  strikes  me  as  arbitrary  and  equally  detri- 
mental to  our  mutual  interests.  The  danger  is  not  in  their  landing 
and  living  in  this  country  but  in  their  speedy  appearance  at  the 
ballot-box,  there  becoming  an  impoverished  and  ignorant  balance  of 
power  in  the  hands  of  wily  politicians.  While  we  should  not  allow 
our  country  to  be  a  dumping-ground  for  the  refuse  population  of 
the  old  world,  still  we  should  welcome  all  hardy,  common-sense 
laborers  here,  as  we  have  plenty  of  room  and  work  for  them.  .  .  . 
The  one  demand  I  would  make  for  this  class  is  that  they  should  not 
become  a  part  of  our  ruling  power  until  they  can  read  and  write  the 
English  language  intelligently  and  understand  the  principles  of  re- 
publican government.  ...  To  prevent  the  thousands  of  immigrants 
daily  landing  on  our  shores  from  marching  from  the  steerage  to  the 
polls  the  national  Government  should  prohibit  the  States  from  allow- 
ing them  to  vote  in  less  than  five  years  and  not  then  unless  the  ap- 
plicant can  read  and  write  the  English  language.  ...  To  this  end, 
Congress  should  enact  a  law  for  "educated  suffrage"  for  our  native- 
born  as  well  as  foreign  rulers,  alike  ignorant  of  our  institutions. 
With  free  schools  and  compulsory  education,  no  one  has  an  excuse 
for  not  understanding  the  language  of  the  country.  As  women  are 
governed  by  a  "male  aristocracy"  we  are  doubly  interested  in  having 
our  rulers  able  at  least  to  read  and  write. 

The  popular  objection  to  woman  suffrage  is  that  it  would  "double 
the  ignorant  vote."  The  patent  answer  to  this  is,  abolish  the  igno- 
rant vote.  Our  legislators  have  this  power  in  their  own  hands. 
There  have  been  various  restrictions  in  the  past  for  men.  We  are 
willing  to  abide  by  the  same  for  women,  provided  the  insurmount- 
able qualification  of  sex  be  forever  removed.  .  .  .  Surely,  when  we 
compel  all  classes  to  learn  to  read  and  write  and  thus  open  to  them- 
selves the  door  of  knowledge  not  by  force  but  by  the  promise  of  a 
privilege  all  intelligent  citizens  enjoy,  we  are  benefactors,  not  tyrants. 
To  stimulate  them  to  climb  the  first  rounds  of  the  ladder  that  they 
may  reach  the  divine  heights  where  they  shall  be  as  gods,  knowing 
good  and  evil,  by  withholding  the  citizen's  right  to  vote  for  a  few 
years  will  be  a  blessing  to  them  as  well  as  to  the  State.  .  .  . 

Mrs.  Stanton  had  made  her  last  address  in  person  to  a  national 
convention  in  1892,  when  she  resigned  the  presidency  of  the  asso- 
ciation— that  incomparable  essay  on  The  Solitude  of  Self — but 
she  never  had  failed  to  send  her  annual  battle  cry.  The  one  to 

1  Miss  Anthony  had  objected  strongly  to  Mrs.  Stanton's  letter  to  the  convention  of 
1901  criticising  the  church,  and  she  did  not  approve  of  demanding  an  educational  require- 
ment for  the  suffrage  when  women  would  have  to  obtain  it  by  consent  of  men  of  all 
classes.  Mrs.  Stanton's  letter,  therefore,  was  sent  for  Mrs.  Colby  to  read,  who  was  in 
sympathy  with  its  sentiment. 


THE    NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQO2  33 

this  convention,  which  began  the  fulfilment  of  her  dream  of  a 
world-wide  movement  for  woman  suffrage,  was  written  with  all 
her  old-time  logic  and  forceful  argument  and  it  proved  to  be  her 
last,  as  her  long  and  valuable  life  was  ended  the  next  November. 

Mrs.  Harriet  Taylor  Upton  (O.)  read  the  paper  of  Mrs.  Caro- 
line Hallowell  Miller  (Md.),  detained  at  the  last  moment,  on 
\Yliy  We  Come  Again,  in  which  she  explained  why  the  suf- 
fragists would  continue  to  come  to  Washington  and  haunt  Con- 
gress until  their  object,  a  Federal  Amendment,  had  been  attained. 
The  humor  for  which  Mrs.  Miller,  a  staid  "Quaker,"  was  noted 
sparkled  in  its  sentences  although  she  protested  that  she  was  en- 
tirely serious.  Miss  Anthony  introduced  Henry  B.  Blackwell 
(Mass.)  with  the  quaint  remark:  "He  was  the  husband  of  Lucy 
Stone ;  I  don't  think  he  can  quite  represent  her  but  he  will  do  the 
best  he  can!"  Mr.  Blackwell  briefly  reviewed  the  agitation  for 
women  suffrage  during  the  first  half  of  the  I9th  century.  He 
told  of  meeting  Lucy  Stone  in  1850  and  being  so  charmed  he 
advised  his  elder  brother  to  make  her  acquaintance;  of  hearing 
her  address  a  Massachusetts  constitutional  convention  in  1852 
with  \Yilliam  Lloyd  Garrison  and  Wendell  Phillips;  of  making 
his  own  first  suffrage  speech  in  Cleveland,  O.,  in  1853  and  of 
his  marriage  in  1855.  In  presenting  the  next  speaker  Miss  An- 
thony said :  "Mr.  Blackwell  alluded  to  his  brother,  who  did  not 
marry  Lucy  but  Antoinette — the  Rev.  Antoinette  Brown  Black - 
.  the  first  ordained  woman  minister — who  will  now  address 
Her  paper  on  Chivalry  was  a  clear  analysis  of  the  changed 
ideas  of  this  word,  touching  with  sarcasm  on  that  of  the  days 
when  the  effort  for  the  rights  of  women  began,  a  chivalry  which 
gave  the  person  and  property  of  the  wife,  the  guardianship  of 

hildren,  all  her  legal  privileges,  to  the  husband.     She  ti 
the  evolution  from  the  early  privations  of  the  pioneer  suffragists 

<•  honors  that  arc  now  showered  upon  them  and  drew  a  strik- 
ast  between  "ti  old  chivalry,  which  made  itself 

ole  umpire  of  the  benef its  to  I.e  -ranted,  and  the  mere. 

chivalry,    which   consult    the   l>eneficiaries   themselves   as   to 

Miss    \nthonv    then    introduced   the   first    woman   ordained   by 
the  Univers  arch,  th  >  Mvmpia    Kruwn,  who  struck 


34  TITSTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

the  keynote  of  her  address  in  saying:  "When  we  are  vexed  by 
the  seeming  irrationality  of  some  of  our  Congressmen,  may  we 
not  explain  it  as  due  to  the  fact  that  they  are  thinking  of  the 
kind  of  men  who  elected  them?  The  United  States  debars  in- 
telligent American  women  from  voting  and  says  to  the  riffraff 
of  Europe,  'Come  over  and  help  govern  us.'  It  is  an  experiment 
which  no  other  country  in  the  world  ever  did  make  and  no  other 
ever  will  make  and  1  predict  that  it  will  be  a  failure.  It  will 
be  necessary  to  call  in  the  aid  of  the  intelligent  American  women 
and  soon  or  late  this  will  be  done." 

Mrs.  Elizabeth  Smith  Miller,  daughter  of  the  noted  Abolition- 
ist, Gerrit  Smith,  was  asked  to  rise  and  Miss  Anthony  paid  glow- 
ing tribute  to  him  and  to  many  men  and  women  who  had  stood 
by  the  cause  of  woman  suffrage  in  its  early  days.  The  audience 
were  pleased  to  enjoy  once  more  her  informal  and  unique  method 
of  presiding,  as  glancing  over  the  audience  she  singled  out  veteran 
suffragists  who  had  come  to  hear  and  not  to  speak,  calling  them 
by  name  with  some  reminiscent  comment.  Her  eye  fell  upon 
William  H.  Bright,  who  sponsored  the  bill  in  the  Legislature  of 
Wyoming  -which  gave  the  first  equal  suffrage  ever  granted  any- 
where to  women.  In  answering  the  demand  of  the  audience 
for  a  speech  he  told  how  Mrs.  Esther  Morris  had  come  from 
New  York  State  to  Wyoming  in  1867  and  how  she  and  his 
wife  had  persuaded  him  to  prepare  the  bill,  which  was  passed 
by  a  Democratic  Legislature  and  signed  by  a  Republican  Gov- 
ernor. In  response  to  a  general  request  Miss  Anthony  told 
the  story,  of  which  audiences  never  seemed  to  tire,  of  that  his- 
toric occasion  when  she  broke  all  precedents  by  addressing  a 
Teachers'  Convention  in  1853.  This  interesting  session  closed 
with  the  singing  of  Auld  Lang  Syne  led  by  the  venerable  John 
Hutchinson. 

During  a  morning  session  Miss  Gordon  made  her  report  as 
corresponding  secretary,  saying  that  although  it  covered  only 
the  seven  months  since  the  last  convention  it  showed  that  6,500 
letters  had  been  sent  out  from  the  headquarters  during  this  period. 
In  1895,  when  Mrs.  Catt  became  chairman  of  the  Organization 
Committee,  she  had  established  headquarters  for  her  work  in  one 
little  room  in  the  New  York  World  building,  that  was  really  an 


THE    NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQO2  35 

annex  of  her  husband's  offices,  and  begun  the  publication  of  a 
Bulletin,  -which  was  the  organ  of  the  committee.  In  1897  it  be- 
came the  organ  of  the  National  Association  and  had  now  ex- 
panded into  a  quarterly  paper  called  Progress,  which  was  edited 
Mice  Stone  Blackwell,  Ellis  Meredith  and  Laura  Gregg.  A 
preliminary  edition  of  100,000  had  been  sent  out  from  the  head- 
quarters, the  expense  borne  by  Boston  women,  and  later  16,000 
c(  >pies  of  the  October  and  20,000  of  the  January  editions  had  gone 
to  the  14,000  newspapers  of  the  country,  to  members  of  Congress 
and  others.  A  monthly  series  of  Political  Equality  Leaflets  was 
also  commenced  and  a  Course  of  Study  for  Clubs  and  individuals 
was  established  for  which  a  dozen  or  more  books  were  published. 
These  two  valuable  features  were  carried  on  without  any  expense 
to  the  association,  as  they  paid  for  themselves. 

Miss  Gordon  described  the  National  Conference  held  in 
Charleston,  S.  C.,  February  3-4,  at  the  invitation  of  the  board 
of  the  Inter-State  and  West  Indian  Exposition;  told  of  the  con- 
ference in  Baltimore  x  and  said  of  the  one  in  Buffalo :  "The  far- 
reaching  effect  and  impetus  given  to  the  woman's  movement  by 
the  Congress  of  Women  held  in  connection  with  the  Chicago 
Imposition,  determined  the  Business  Committee's  acceptance  of 
an  invitation  to  hold  a  National  Conference  during  the  Pan- 
American  Exposition.  Too  late  did  we  learn  that  the  invitation 
extended  included  no  responsibility  whatever  upon  the  Exposition 
t<  >  further  the  success  of  the  conference.  Buffalo  did  not  represent 
an  organized  center  and  after  several  fruitless  attempts  to  form 
a  local  committee,  the  headquarters  realized  that  every  little  detail 
essential  to  success  must  be  attended  to  by  the  board.  From  all 
reports  of  the  most  discouraging  nature  -were  received  as 

1  The  Charleston  conference  was  held  in  the  Assembly  Room  of  the  Woman's  Huild 
ing,  welcomed  by  Mayor  Smyth,  Mrs.  S.  C.  Simons,  president  of  the  women's  depart  m<  nt. 
s.  Virginia  D.  Young  in  behalf  of  the  State  Press  Assou .it  ion.  \hv  C.ttt  impended 
arid  Inter  Mr.  Blackwell  made  an  address.  Among  the  speakers  here  and  in  German 
Artillery  Hall  was  the  lion.  K.  K.  ilrmphill  (S.  ('.),  always  a  staunch  advocate  of  v. 
suffrage.  An  afternoon  reception  was  given  !>>  tin-  Woman's  Board.  The  News  and 
Couritr  and  other  papers  had  ports. 

The   Baltimore  was    In  Id    a    few   days   later   in    tin-    main    auditorium    of   the 

Central   Y.    M.   C.   A.    Hall,    with    the    Rev.   Anna    Howard    S  img.     It   was  wel- 

comed of  Johns  Hopkins  M<  :  l.  and  tin    national  speakers 

were  Miss   Laura  Clay,   president  of   ti  v    l-.M;i.il    Rights   Association;    Dr.    Cora 

KAIOH.  Judge  J.  (I.   Flrnncr  of  Idaho;  the  Rev.  Olympta  Brown,  Mrs.  Colby,   Mis* 
Gordon  and  Mr.  and  Miss  Blackwell. 


36  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

to  the  absolute  failure  attending  all  conferences  there  but  never- 
theless we  started  a  vigorous  correspondence  and  for  five  preced- 
ing weeks  every  Sunday  paper  in  Buffalo  was  supplied  with  matter 
from  headquarters.  To  make  a  long  story  short,  September  9-10 
witnessed  our  conference  well  attended,  with  the  night  sessions 
crowded  and  success  acknowledged  on  all  sides,  even  though  we 
labored  under  the  disadvantage  of  its  being  held  during  the  season 
of  sorrow  and  distress  in  that  city  while  President  McKinley's 
life  hovered  in  the  valley  of  the  shadow  of  death." 

Miss  Gordon  said  that  during  the  year  Mrs.  Catt  had  made  a 
tour  of  nine  States  and  taken  part  in  forty  meetings.  Referring 
to  the  efforts  made  to  have  a  woman  suffrage  clause  put  into  new 
constitutions  that  were  being  framed  in  several  States  she  said : 
"The  clause  which  lived  twenty-four  hours  in  the  Alabama  Con- 
stitution, granting  to  taxpaying  women  owning  $500  worth  of 
property  the  suffrage  on  questions  of  bonded  indebtedness,  was 
killed  by  a  disease  peculiar  to  the  genus  homo  known  as  chivalry. 
In  the  case  in  point,  the  diagnosis  revealed  that  the  fairest,  purest 
and  brightest  jewels  that  ever  shone  under  the  brilliant  rays  of 
God's  shining  sun  would  be  immeasurably  lowered  by  voting 
upon  questions  relating  to  the  taxation  of  their  own  property. 
Yet,  under  the  vagaries  of  this  disease,  this  same  convention 
conferred  on  husbands  the  right  to  vote  on  their  wives'  property. 
This  is  the  same  character  of  chivalry  which  gives  the  wages  of 
the  brightest,  fairest  jewels  to  the  husband,  which  makes  im- 
possible equal  pay  for  equal  work  and  which  classes  the  jewels 
with  the  idiots,  insane  and  criminals  in  that  and  other  States." 

The  program  was  so  crowded  with  attractions  that  it  left  no 
time  for  the  usual  conferences  on  work  and  campaigns,  so  they 
were  placed  at  9 130  a.m.  As  they  had  been  so  largely  attended 
by  visitors  the  preceding  year  as  to  call  forth  a  rule  from  the 
Board  of  Officers  that  thereafter  delegates  only  should  be  per- 
mitted to  attend  them,  this  was  not  disastrous.  Early  morning 
conferences  therefore  were  held  on  Organization  and  Press  and 
two  others  took  the  form  of  State  presidents'  councils.  The  Plan 
of  Work  recommended  again  by  the  Executive  Committee  and 
adopted  by  the  convention  urged  work  in  Congressional  districts 
for  the  1 6th  Amendment;  an  attempt  to  secure  tax-paying 


THE    NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQO2  37 

suffrage;  more  resolutions  by  national  and  State  conventions; 
a  campaign  to  secure  suffrage  speakers  at  Chautauqua  assemblies 
and  State  and  county  fairs;  prizes  for  essays  on  woman  suf- 
frage in  schools  and  colleges;  circulating  suffrage  libraries  and 
the  general  use  of  a  suffrage  stamp  on  letters. 

Two  novel  evening  programs  were  devoted  to  The  New 
Woman  and  The  New  Man,  the  first  with  the  following  speakers: 
Mrs.  Helen  Adelaide  Shaw  of  Boston;  Mrs.  Elizabeth  M.  Gil- 
mer  of  New  Orleans,  known  far  and  wide  as  "Dorothy  Dix," 
said  to  receive  the  highest  salary  of  any  woman  journalist;  Dr. 
Cora  Smith  Eaton,  a  prominent  physician  and  surgeon  of  Minne- 
apolis; Miss  Gail  Laughlin  (N.  Y.)  who  had  taken  the  highest 
honors  in  the  Law  Class  of  Cornell  University;  the  Rev.  Ida  C. 
TTultin,  a  successful  Unitarian  minister  of  Boston.  Miss  Mar- 
garet Haley  of  Chicago,  who  led  the  great  fight  of  the  Teachers' 
Federation  of  that  city  to  compel  the  big  corporations  to  pay 
their  taxes  in  order  that  the  public  schools  should  not  be  crippled 
for  lack  of  funds,  could  not  be  present  because  of  a  crisis  in 
the  legal  proceedings.  Each  of  the  women  representing  the  four 
professions  of  law,  medicine,  theology  and  journalism,  in  ad- 
dresses scintillating  with  humor,  reviewed  the  early  prejudices 
which  had  been  overcome,  told  of  the  large  number  of  women 
•who  had  entered  the  field  when  the  opportunity  came  but  showed 
that  they  could  never  have  an  even  chance  until  there  was  com- 
plete obliteration  of  sex  prejudice.  Little  idea  of  their  interest 
could  be  obtained  fn.m  fragmentary  paragraphs. 

The  house  was  crowded  to  hear  about  The  New  Man,1  repre- 
sented first  on  the  program  by  Oswald  Garrison  Villard,  grand- 
son of  William  Lloyd  Garrison  and  owner  and  editor  of  the  New 
York  I'^'cniuf/  Post,  who  gave  a  spirited  and  effective  account 
nf  Women  in  the  New  York  Municipal  Campaign.  This  was 

'A  Washington  paper  said:  "There  were  a  good  many  men  in  the  audience  and  they 
<Ii'I  not  look  much  as  they  do  in  the  comic  papers.  The  suffragists'  husbands  in  car 

nsumptive,   cadaverous  tit    mortals,    trailing   around    in   the   wake   of   ram- 

bunctious and  overwhelming  wives;  but  most  of  the  men  who  mixed  themselves  up  with 
this  convention  looked  as  if  they  could  not  very  easily  have  been  dragged  there  if  they 
bad  not  wanted  to  come.  Some  <  re  six  feet  tall  and  broad  in  proportion  and 

none  of  them  looked  as  if  they  had  been  in  the  habit  of  asking  their  wives  for  permission 
k.     They  did  not  net  like  cats  in  a  strange  garret  cither  but  as  if  they  were  having 
the  time  of  their  lives.     No  does  make  up  his  mind  to  come  out  for 

woman  suffrage  he  can  depend  upon  it  he  is  going  to  be  appreciated." 


38  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

the  first  in  which  women  ever  had  taken  a  prominent  part  and 
it  had  attracted  wide  attention,  a  revolt  against  Tammany  cor- 
ruption under  Richard  Croker.  Mr.  Villard  told  of  the  remark- 
able work  done  by  the  Women's  Municipal  League  under  direc- 
tion of  the  Citizen's  Union  for  the  election  of  Seth  Low  as  Mayor 
and  a  reform  ticket.  He  paid  a  sarcastic  tribute  to  the  assistance 
of  the  women  anti-suffragists.  'To  have  been  really  consistent," 
he  said,  "they  should  have  urged  upon  their  more  emancipated 
sisters  that  woman's  sphere  is  the  home  and  any  steps  that  lead 
beyond  it  tend  in  the  long  run  to  the  destruction  both  of  the 
home  and  of  the  eternal  feminine."  He  closed  by  declaring  that 
"the  Titanic  struggle  between  right  and  wrong  in  the  great  cities 
can  not  be  won  without  the  cooperation  of  that  half  of  the  na- 
tion's citizens  in  whose  hearts  are  ever  found  the  truest  ideals 
of  family  and  society,  of  city  life  and  State  life  and  of  national 
existence."  At  its  conclusion  Mrs.  Catt  said:  "And  yet  after 
Mr.  Low  was  elected  Mayor  of  Greater  New  York  a  large  num- 
ber of  the  women  who  had  helped  him  win  the  victory  urged 
him  to  appoint  some  women  on  the  school  board  and  he  refused. 
So  we  must  suppose  that  he  is  willing  to  have  women  pull  the 
chestnuts  out  of  the  fire  for  men  but  is  not  willing  to  give  them 
a  share  of  the  chestnuts." 

A  feature  of  the  evening  was  the  scholarly  address  of  the 
Hon.  William  Dudley  Foulke  (Ind.),  president  of  the  U.  S. 
Civil  Service  Commission.  He  objected  to  being  classed  as  a 
"new  man,"  since  long  ago  he  was  for  several  years  president 
of  the  American  Suffrage  Association.  "Men  would  not  be 
satisfied  with  indirect  influence,"  he  declared  and  continued :  "It 
is  often  said  that  woman  suffrage  is  just  but  that  there  is  no 
need  of  it,  because  women  have  no  interests  separate  from  those 
of  men.  That  argument  was  used  to  me  only  lately  by  an  eminent 
political  economist.  I  said:  'Suppose  a  railroad  runs  through 
a  town  and  a  woman  owns  a  large  property  in  that  town  and 
yet  cannot  vote  on  the  question  of  raising  a  subsidy:  are  her 
interests  necessarily  the  same  as  those  of  every  man  in  the  town?' 
My  friends,  that  case  is  universal.  Suppose  a  widow  is  trying 
to  bring  up  her  son  in  the  principles  of  rporality  and  a  saloon 
is  opened  on  the  corner  opposite  her  home.  I  do  not  speak  as 


THE    NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1902  39 

an  advocate  of  prohibition  but  I  do  say  that  the  interest  of 
the  mother  is  different  from  that  of  the  man  who  sells  liquor^ 
.Or  suppose  she  is  bringing  up  a  daughter ;  she  has  a  sacred  right 
to  protect  that  daughter  from  a  libertine.  Her  interest  is  cer- 
tainly different  from  that  of  the  tempter.  .  .  .  We  do  not 
realize  what  an  immense  waste  there  is  in  denying  woman 
entrance  to  political  life.  She  ought  to  have  free  access  to  any- 
thing she  is  qualified  to  do  and  where  she  is  not  qualified  she  will 
drop  out." 

John  S.  Crosby,  a  prominent  Democratic  leader  of  New 
York,  made  a  thorough  analysis  of  the  functions  of  the  State 
and  the  Government,  showed  the  utter  fallacy  of  constituting 
men  the  governing  and  women  the  governed  class  and  closed  as 
follows :  "Attempt  to  prove  that  woman's  claim  to  the  right  of 
suffrage  is  as  valid  as  any  that  man  can  make  would  be  like  try- 
ing to  demonstrate  the  truth  of  a  self-evident  proposition.  .  .  . 
\Ye  ask  the  ballot  for  woman  not  merely  because  she  has  a 
right  to  it  but  quite  as  much  because  it  is  her  duty  to  exercise 
that  right.  The  irresistible  power  of  that  all-embracing  organ- 
ization, the  State,  holds  you  and  me  and  all  that  are  dear  to  us 
as  its  helpless  and  often  hopeless  subjects.  The  combined  wisdom 
of  all  of  us  would  be  none  too  great  for  its  intelligent  administra- 
tion and  we  demand  for  our  own  sake  and  for  the  sake  of  those 
that  shall  come  after  us  that  the  wisdom  of  woman  shall  be  in- 
cluded; not  only  that  her  delicate,  intuitional  sense  of  justice 
shall  leaven  the  lump  of  public  opinion  but  that  her  deft  hand 
shall  help  to  knead  it  into  the  bread  of  righteous  law.  We  ask 
as  one  of  the  rights  that  government  is  bound  to  secure  that  in 
the  administration  of  its  power  it  shall  make  use  of  the  fullest 
lom  of  the  whole  people;  that  the  entire  popular  brain  and 
il  conscience  shall  take  cognizance  of  and  be  responsible  for 
all  acts  of  government.  Not  until  then  shall  we  see  true  de- 
mocracy; not  until  then  shall  we  indeed  have  a  government  of  the 
people,  by  the  people  and  for  the  people." 

The  next  day  was  one  always  commemorated  by  suffragists — 

the  birthday  of  Susan  B.   Anthony — this  time   the   Sjnd.      The 

•  •uin's  Journal  began  its  account:     "As  Miss  Anthony  sat  at 

breakfast  on  February  1 5,  with  one  of  the  jars  of  delicious  cream 


4O  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

before  her  that  were  sent  her  daily  by  the  president  of  the  Mary- 
land Woman  Suffrage  Association,  she  was  unexpectedly  sur- 
rounded by  the  foreign  delegates  in  a  body.  A  birthday  greeting 
drawn  up  and  signed  by  them  was  read  aloud  by  Mrs.  Florence 
Fenwick  Miller  of  England,  while  the  rest,  grouped  behind  her, 
bent  forward  listening  with  attentive  faces — a  pretty  picture. 
Among  the  gifts  which  she  received  during  the  afternoon  session 
were  a  canoe  full  of  flowers  from  'one  of  the  girls'  with  a  poem ; 
a  handsome  feather  boa  from  Mrs.  Swift  and  Mrs.  Sperry  of 
California;  a  cup  made  from  the  wood  of  the  floor  under  the 
table  on  which  the  Declaration  of  Independence  was  signed,  pre- 
sented in  the  name  of  Mrs.  General  Geddes;  a  bouquet  of  red 
roses  from  Prof.  Theodosia  Ammons  of  Colorado  Agricultural 
College;  potted  plants  from  the  Swedish  and  Norwegian  dele- 
gates ;  over  $500  from  Mrs.  Fanny  Garrison  Villard,  Miss  Emily 
Howland,  Mrs.  Kenyon,  Mrs.  W.  W.  Trimble,  Miss  Nettie  Lovisa 
White,  Mrs.  William  M.  Ivins  and  other  friends;  also  quantities 
of  fruit  and  flowers.  The  address  was  as  follows : 

We,  the  undersigned,  Foreign  Delegates  to  the  first  International 
Woman  Suffrage  Congress,  gladly  take  the  opportunity  of  your 
82nd  birthday  to  express  to  you  our  love  and  reverence,  our  grati- 
tude for  your  lifelong  work  for  women,  and  are  rejoicing  that  you 
have  lived  to  see  such  great  steps  onward  made  by  the  world  at  large 
in  the  direction  in  which  you  led  at  first  under  such  prejudice. 
Praying  that  you  may  enjoy  years  of  health,  cheered  by  every  fresh 
advance,  we  remain,  your  loving  friends, 

Florence  Fenwick  Miller,  England ;  Sof  ja  Levovna  Friedland, 
Russia ;  Carolina  Hplman  Huidobro,  Chili ;  Gudrun  Drewsen,  Nor- 
way ;  Vida  Goldstein,  Australia ;  Emmy  Evald,  Sweden ;  Antonie 
Stolle,  Germany. 

[Later  the  foreign  delegates  gave  Mrs.  Catt  a  handsomely  en- 
graved silver  card  case.] 

The  Washington  Times  said  of  the  occasion : 

The  Rev.  Anna  Howard  Shaw  presented  a  large  basket  of  fruit 
from  some  of  the  principal  suffrage  workers  with  these  touching 
words :  "Miss  Anthony,  you  have  been  more  than  a  leader  to  us  of 
your  own  country,  more  than  a  teacher,  more  than  a  counselor, 
you  have  been  our  beloved  friend.  Take  this  with  our  love  for  you, 
dear,  dear  friend."  This  completed  Miss  Anthony's  conquest  and 
she  almost  broke  down.  There  has  been  very  little  emotionalism  in 


THE    NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF     IQO2  4! 

this  convention  but  for  some  minutes  there  was  ample  proof  all  over 
the  hall  that  being  delegates  to  a  suffrage  convention  had  not  made 
any  woman  forget  how  to  cry.     Mrs.  Catt  finally  came  to  Miss  An- 
thony's rescue  in  a  little  speech  full  of  tender  appreciation:  "The 
greatest  thing  about  Miss  Anthony  to  my  mind  is  her  utter  unselfish- 
and  lack  of  self -consciousness.     As  we  came  up  the  aisle  the 
other  night  and  the  audience  broke  into  a  thunder  of  applause  for 
•••bom  all  love.  Miss  Anthony  looked  about  to  see  what  caused  it 
and  then  asked:  'What  are  they  applauding  for?'     She  credits  all 
attentions  to  herself  as  for  the  cause  and  it  is  dearer  to  her  than  life, 
night  at  an  hour  when  all  respectable  women  suffragists  should 
been  in  bed,  the  treasurer  and  I  put  our  heads  together  and 
decided  that  we  would  ask  all  of  you  to  give  a  present  to  the  associa- 
tion on  Miss  Anthony's  birthday  instead  of  giving  it  to  her.     We 
know  her  well  enough  to  be  sure  this  is  what  she  would  like  best." 

Miss  Mary  Garrett  Hay,  the  champion  money  raiser,  then 
made  the  appeal  to  the  audience,  who  quickly  responded  with 
over  $5,000  and  she  received  an  appreciative  vote  of  thanks  from 
the  convention.  Mrs.  Harriet  Taylor  Upton,  the  treasurer,  re- 
ported the  receipts  of  the  preceding  year  as  $13,581,  with  a 
carefully  itemized  and  audited  statement. 

Among  the  most  interesting  and  valuable  features  of  all  na- 
tional conventions  are  the  reports  of  the  work  in  the  various 
Slates  and  yet  because  of  the  large  number  it  is  impossible  to 
specific  mention  or  quotations.     They  were  varied  on  this 
-inn  by  the  reports  from  foreign  countries — Venezuela,  Chili, 
Japan,   China,   Australia,    New   Zealand,  the   Philippines,   Porto 
.  Canada.  Clreat  Britain,  Norway,  Sweden,  Russia,  Turkey, 
iany,  Italy,  Switzerland,  Belgium  and  France.     These  had 
obtained  at  the  request  of  Mrs.  Catt  from  ambassadors, 
nls  or  persons  appointed  by  them  and  represented  months  of 
r.     Several  evenings  were  largely  devoted  to  addresses  by 
from  other  countries;  one  by  Public  School  Inspector 
lames  L.  Iln-hcs,  Toronto;  the  KinJMi  \Vnman  in  Politics,  Flor- 
Kemvick   Miller;   the  Australian   Woman   in  Politics,  Vida 
Istcin;    Women    in    South     American    Republics,    Carolina 
Huidnbrn;  Women  in  Porto  Rico.  Resident  Commissioner  Fed- 
11 :  Women  in  the  Philippines,  Harriet  Potter  Nourse; 
.   Kmmy  Kvald,  Sweden:     Women  in  Egypt  and  Jeru- 
i    von    KmkeKtein   Mountford ;   Women  in  Turkey, 


42  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

Florence  Fensham,  Dean  of  American  College  for  Girls  in  Con- 
stantinople ;  Women  in  Germany,  Antoine  Stolle. 

When  the  report  for  Porto  Rico  -was  made  Miss  Shaw  supple- 
mented it  with  a  graphic  account  of  a  trip  to  the  West  Indies 
with  Mrs.  Lydia  Avery  Coonley  Ward  of  Chicago,  which  she 
had  just  finished,  telling  of  the  position  of  women,  the  marriage 
laws,  etc.  The  work  of  the  National  Council  of  Women  was 
presented  by  the  Rev.  Anna  Garlin  Spencer  (R.  I.)  ;  the  report 
of  the  affiliated  Friends'  Equal  Rights  Association  by  Mrs. 
Mariana  W.  Chapman  (N.  Y.),  its  president. 

The  Sunday  afternoon  services  in  the  church  were  conducted 
by  the  Rev.  Anna  Garlin  Spencer,  assisted  by  the  Rev.  Olympia 
Brown  and  the  Rev.  Anna  Howard  Shaw.1  Mrs.  Spencer  first 
defined  the  ideal  of  womanly  character  held  by  the  older  poets 
and  philosophers,  quoting  Milton's  line  describing  Adam  and 
Eve:  "He  for  God  only;  she  for  God  in  him,"  and  the  expres- 
sion used  by  the  hard,  old  father  of  Tennyson's  "Princess" : 
"Man  to  command  and  woman  to  obey."  She  then  expressed 
the  modern  ideal  as  that  of  devotion  to  the  same  essentials  but 
different  in  expression.  "Woman  is  not  called  to  a  new  king- 
dom but  to  a  larger  occupancy  of  that  which  has  been  hers  from 
the  beginning.  The  woman  with  the  child  in  her  arms  was  the 
beginning  of  the  family;  the  hearth  fire  and  the  altar  fire  grew 
from  this ;  the  elder  child  teaching  the  younger  was  the  beginning 
of  the  school.  We  are  making  over  all  these  inherited  tradi- 
tions and  inherited  tendencies  and  socializing  them.  .  .  .  The 
ideal  woman  is  no  longer  a  far-away  Madonna  with  her  feet 
on  the  clouds;  she  is  as  divine  but  she  is  human.  What  means 
the  humanizing  of  religion  and  the  passing  of  harsh,  old  creeds 
but  that  a  greater,  more  human,  more  womanly  influence  is  felt 
in  all  the  relations  of  life." 

1  Besides  the  women  ministers  mentioned  in  this  chapter  sessions  were  opened  by  the 
Rev.  Ulysses  G.  B.  Pierce,  the  Rev.  John  Van  Schaick,  Jr.,  the  Rev.  Alexander  Kent 
and  the  Rev.  Donald  C.  McLeod,  all  of  Washington. 

The  excellent  musical  program  was  in  charge  of  Miss  Etta  Maddox  of  Baltimore. 
She  was  a  graduated  lawyer  but  the  courts  of  Maryland  had  refused  her  permission  to 
practice,  as  contrary  to  law.  After  the  convention  she  was  accompanied  to  Baltimore  by 
Miss  Laura  Clay,  Mrs.  J.  Ellen  Foster,  an  attorney  of  Iowa;  Miss  Gail  Laughlin,  a  New 
York  lawyer;  Dr.  Cora  Smith  Eaton  and  Mr.  Blackwell.  The  Judiciary  Committee  of  the 
State  Senate  granted  a  hearing  conducted  by  Miss  Maddox.  By  the  end  of  March  both 
Senate  and  House  had  passed  a  bill  giving  women  the  right  to  practice  law. 


THE    NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1902  43 

Mr.  Blackwell,  chairman  of  the  committee  on  Presidential  suf- 
frage, said  in  his  report:  'This  is  the  open  door  for  woman 
suffrage  in  every  State  in  the  Union.  Any  Legislature  at  any 
inn  by  a  majority  vote  of  both  Houses,  either  separately  or 
in  joint  session,  without  any  change  of  State  constitution,  can 
empower  women  to  help  select  the  presidential  electors  on  the 
same  terms  as  male  citizens.  The  power  is  absolute  and  un- 
qualified. Let  women  in  every  State  petition  their  Legislature 
nable  women  to  take  part  in  this  most  important  form  of 
suffrage  known  to  the  American  people.  It  is  objected  to  our 
demand  for  woman  suffrage  that  women  do  not  want  it  and 
will  not  exercise  it  if  granted.  This  is  now  the  only  method 
of  testing  women's  wish  to  take  part  in  their  government.  If 
by  a  general  exercise  of  the  right  they  show  their  public  spirit, 
the  Legislature  by  submitting  an  amendment  to  the  State  con- 
stitution can  afterwards  extend  suffrage  to  its  citizens  in  State 
and  local  elections.  This  step  will  be  the  most  conservative  way 
<>f  procedure.  The  control  will  remain,  as  now,  in  the  hands  of 
a  Legislature  elected  by  men  alone.  If  it  prove  unsatisfactory 
to  the  men  of  the  State  any  subsequent  Legislature  can  repeal 

aw." 

A  report  of  the  International  Suffrage  Conference,  which  had 
in  progress  during  the  convention,  and  the  forming  of  a 
committee  to  further  permanent  organization,  was  made  by  its 
tary,  Miss  Goldstein,  and  the  convention  voted  that  the  Na- 
tional American  Woman  Suffrage  Association  should  cooperate 
with  this  committee.     The  nominations  for  office  were  made  as 
1  by  secret  ballot  and  as  usual  were  so  nearly  unanimous  thai 
'•crctary  was  instructed  to  cast  the  vote.     The  only  change 
in  the  present  board  was  the  election  of  Mrs.  Mary  J.  Coggeshall, 
for  many  years  prominent  in  the  work  in  Iowa,  as  second  auditor 
in  place  of  Dr.  Eaton,  whose  professional  duties  required  all  her 
time.     Invitations  for  the  next  convention  were  received  from 
Niagara  Falls,  Detroit,  St.  Louis,  Denver,  Baltimore  and  New 
ins.    The  Board  of  Trade,  the  Era  Club  and  the  Progressive 
i  united  in  the  one  from  New  Orleans,  which  was  accepted 

lial  thanks  returned  for  the  others, 
lli  picM-nted  by  Mr.    I'.larku  <•]!,  chairman  of  the 


44  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

committee,  rejoiced  in  the  suffrage  already  gained  and  the  secur- 
ing in  the  past  year  of  laws  in  various  States  giving  equal  guar- 
dianship of  their  children  to  mothers  and  increased  property 
rights  to  wives.  They  called  the  attention  of  the  Civil  Service 
Commission  to  discriminations  made  against  women  and  em- 
phasized the  protest  of  the  preceding  year  against  government 
regulation  of  vice  in  the  Philippines.  Later  at  an  executive  meet- 
ing of  the  board  a  vigorous  set  of  resolutions  was  prepared,  stat- 
ing that  the  reports  of  Governor  William  H.  Taft  and  General 
McArthur  admitted  and  defended  "certified  examinations  of  wo- 
men" in  the  new  possessions  of  the  United  States.  It  showed 
at  length  the  results  of  government  regulation  in  other  countries 
which  had  caused  it  to  be  abandoned  and  declared  that  "such 
things  ought  not  to  be  permitted  under  the  American  flag." 

Mrs.  Colby's  report  on  Industrial  Problems  Relating  to 
Women  cited  as  one  example  of  discrimination:  "An  effort  is 
now  being  made  in  Congress  to  do  away  with  the  annual  sick 
leave  of  employees,  because,  it  is  claimed,  women  take  so  much 
advantage  of  it.  Investigation  shows,  however,  that  the  per  cent. 
of  sick  leave  is  highest  in  the  Inter-State  Commerce  Commission, 
where  not  a  woman  is  employed — twelve  per  cent. — and  only 
seven  per  cent,  in  the  Agricultural  Department,  where  a  very  large 
number  are  employed."  She  gave  numerous  instances  of  unfair- 
ness against  women  on  the  civil  service  lists,  said  that  women 
wage  earners  must  find  a  forum  on  the  suffrage  platform  where 
they  can  plead  their  cause  and  carefully  analyze  the  industrial 
problems  especially  affecting  women.  Mrs.  Klnora  M.  Habcock, 
chairman  of  the  Press  Committee,  gave  a  comprehensive  report 
stating  that  while  50,000  news  stories  and  articles  had  been  sent 
to  the  papers  in  1900  the  number  bad  increased  to  175,000  dur- 
ing the  last  year  and  there  was  reason  to  believe  that  three-fourths 
of  them  had  been  used.  The  largest  city  papers  freely  accepted 
the  articles. 

1  Miss  Anthony,  Mrs.  Catt,  Mrs.  Upton  and  Miss  Blackwell  were  made  a  committee 
to  present  the  matter  to  President  Roosevelt.  Protests  arose  from  all  parts  of  the 
country  and  before  they  had  time  to  call  on  him  he  declared  himself  opposed  to  "regu- 
lated vice."  The  dispatches  of  March  22  announced  that  a  general  order  signed  by 
Secretary  Root  had  gone  from  the  War  Department  to  Manila  that  no  more  "certificates" 
would  be  issued  but  that  soldiers  as  well  as  women  would  be  inspected  and  cases  of 
disease  would  be  sent  to  the  hospital. 


THE    NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IO/)2  45 

Former  U.  S.  Senator  Henry  W.  Blair  of  New  Hampshire 
came  in  for  one  session  and  was  called  to  the  platform  for  a 
speech.  He  was  much  loved  by  the  suffragists,  as  he  had  been 
one  of  the  strongest  champions  of  woman  suffrage  during  his 
many  years  in  the  Senate  and  had  brought  the  Federal  Amend- 
ment to  a  vote  on  Jan.  25,  1887.  (History  of  Woman  Suffrage, 
Volume  IV,  chapter  VI.)  Letters  of  affectionate  greeting  were 
sent  to  the  pioneers  and  veteran  workers,  Mrs.  Stanton,  Isabella 
her  Hooker,  Mary  S.  Anthony,  Jane  H.  Spofford,  Sallie 
Bennett,  Caroline  Hallowell  Miller  and  Abigail  S.  Duniway. 
The  deaths  among  the  older  and  more  prominent  members  dur- 
ing the  year  had  been  many  and  fifty  were  mentioned  in  the  memo- 
rial resolutions. 

The  notable  social  features  of  the  week  were  the  afternoon 

receptions  given  by  Mrs.  Julia  Langdon  Barber  at  her  beautiful 

home,  Belmont,  and  by  Mrs.  John  B.  Henderson  at  Boundary 

le,  the  latter   followed   the  next  day  by   a  dinner   for  the 

•rs  of  the  association  and  the  delegates  from  abroad.     Both 

of  these  well-known  Washington  hostesses  were  early  suffragists 

and  had  often  extended  the  hospitality  of  their  spacious  homes 

to  the  individual  leaders  and  to  the  conventions. 

A  very  interesting  address  was  given  on  the  last  evening  by 

Madame  Fricdland  on  Russian  Women  of  Past  Centuries.     U.  S. 

Thomas  M.  Patterson  of  Colorado  presented  a  vigorous 

and  convincing  endorsement  of  the  practical  working  of  woman 

suffrage  in  that  State  for  the  past  nineteen  years  and  its  benefits 

.omen  and  to  civic  life.     U.  S.  Senator  John  F.  Shafroth  of 

.  always  a  strong  and  loyal  supporter  of  suffrage  for 

on  the  platform.     Dr.  Shaw,  introduced  by  Mrs. 

tlie  Demosthenes  of  the  movement,"  delivered  for  the 

time  her  impressive  speech,  The  Power  of  an  Incentive,  in 

whir  lowed  how  laws,  customs  and  lack  of  opportunity 

ay  the  incentive  for  great  work  from  the  life  of  women. 

I  "mil  they  can  have  the  same  that   inspires  men,  she  said,  they 

•i  rise  to  their  highest  capabilities.     No  adequate  reports 

>f  these  addresses  exist 

C  audience  waited  to  hear  from  Miss   Anthony,  who  was 
1  by  a  writer  present:     "The  picture  that  Miss  An 


46  HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

thony  made  during  the  evening  was  one  which  the  delegates  will 
carry  away  with  them  to  keep.  She  wore  a  black  satin  gown 
with  a  handsome  point  lace  fichu  and  draped  over  her  shoulders 
a  soft,  white  shawl,  while  close  by  was  a  large  jar  of  lavender 
hyacinths.  Her  expressive  face  reflected  every  mood  of  the  eve- 
ning and  it  now  spoke  pride,  satisfaction  and  sorrow.  She  told 
of  the  joy  and  gratification  she  felt  in  the  wonderful  galaxy  of 
women  at  the  convention  and  the  progress  of  her  loved  cause, 
and  when  she  voiced  the  wish  that  she  might  be  with  them  at 
the  next  convention  her  words  were  almost  lost  in  a  whirlwind 
of  applause." 

Mrs.  Catt  in  closing  with  a  brief  address  one  of  the  most  note- 
worthy conventions  on  record,  called  attention  to  what  had  been 
the  key-note  of  her  speech  before  the  House  Judiciary  Committee 
and  said:  "We  have  asked  of  Congress  the  most  reasonable 
thing  a  great  cause  ever  demanded — an  investigation  of  conditions 
in  the  equal  suffrage  States — and  on  its  results  we  rest  our  case." 

Under  the  heading  Impressions  of  a  Non-combatant  a  writer 
in  the  Washington  Times  gave  the  following  opinion : 

If  there  is  one  convention  among  the  many  Washington  has  seen 
which  may  be  called  unique,  it  is  that  of  the  National  Suffrage  Asso- 
ciation. There  is  nothing  like  it  in  the  world.  There  is  onl\ 
Susan  B.  Anthony  and  there  is  practically  only  one  suffrage  fight. 
...  In  the  old  days  the  power  of  an  idea  was  the  only  thing  that 
could  have  waked  up  an  interest  and  held  the  suffragists  together. 
It  took  faith  and  zeal  and  lots  of  other  things  to  be  a  believer  in 
woman  suffrage  then.  Now  it  only  takes  executive  ability  and  vim 
and  a  general  interest  in  public  affairs.  .  .  .  The  problems  discussed 
were  almost  purely  legal  and  economic,  dealing  with  the  suf- 
frage question  proper,  the  wages  of  women  and  their  occupations. 
There  was  very  little  empty  rhetoric  but  a  good  deal  of  fun.  In 
short,  there  are  two  extra  senses  with  which  most  of  the  delegates 
seem  to  be  provided — common  sense  and  a  sense  of  humor — excel- 
lent substitutes  for  emotion  when  it  comes  to  practical  affairs.  If  the 
association  ever  loses  the  idealism  which  is  still  its  backbone  it  will 
be  a  political  machine  of  much  power;  it  seems  likely  to  be  for  the 
present  a  decided  force  in  the  direction  of  civic  reform. 


For  a  quarter  of  a  century  during  the  first  session  of  each  Con- 
gress committees  of  Senate  and  House  had  given  a  hearing  to 
representatives  of  the  National  Suffrage  Association  to  present 


THE    NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1902  47 

arguments  for  the  submission  of  an  amendment  to  the  Federal 
Constitution  which  would  enfranchise  women,  and  at  an  earlier 
date  to  advocate  other  suffrage  measures.  Because  of  the  dis- 
tinguished speakers  from  abroad  the  hearings  at  this  time  -were 
of  unusual  interest.  The  convention  adjourned  for  them  on  the 
morning  of  February  18  and  the  Senate  and  House  Committee 
rooms  were  crowded. 

All  the  members  of  the  Senate  Committee  were  present  — 
Augustus  O.  Bacon  (Ga.)  chairman;  James  H.  Berry  (Ark.); 
George  P.  Wetmore  (R.  I.)  ;  Thomas  R.  Bard  (Calif.)  ;  John  H. 
Mitchell  (Ore.).  Miss  Susan  B.  Anthony,  honorary  president  of 
the  association,  presided  and  said  : 

Mr.  Chairman  and  gentlemen  of  the  committee,  this  is  the  seven- 
teenth Congress  that  has  been  addressed  by  the  women  of  this  na- 
tion, which  means  that  we  have  been  coming  to  Congress  thirty-four 
years.  Once,  in  1887,  the  Senate  brought  the  measure  to  a  dis- 
cussion and  vote  and  defeated  it  by  34  to  16,  with  26  not  wishing 
to  go  on  record.  We  ask  for  a  i6th  Amendment  because  it  is  much 
easier  to  persuade  the  members  of  a  Legislature  to  ratify  this 
amendment  than  it  is  to  get  the  whole  three  million  or  six  million,  as 
the  case  may  be,  of  the  rank  and  file  of  the  men  of  the  State  to  vote 
for  woman  suffrage.  We  think  we  are  of  as  much  importance  as  the 
Filipinos,  Porto  Ricans,  Hawaiians,  Cubans  and  all  of  the  different 
sorts  of  men  that  you  are  carefully  considering.  The  six  hundred 
teachers  sent  over  to  the  Philippines  are  a  thousand  times  better  en- 
titled to  vote  than  are  the  men  who  go  there  to  make  money.  The 
women  of  the  islands  are  quite  as  well  qualified  to  govern  and  have 
charge  of  affairs  as  are  the  men.  I  do  not  propose  to  talk.  I  am 
here  to  introduce  those  who  are  to  address  you. 


Miss  Anthony  then  presented  Miss  Harriet  May  Mills  (N.  Y.), 
who  spoke  from  the  standpoint  of  tax  paying  women,  who  in  the 
•:s  and  villages  alone  of  her  State  paid  taxes  on  over  $5,000,- 
ooo  worth  of  property;  Mrs.  Lucretia  L.  Blankenburg,  president 
of  the  Pennsylvania  Suffrage  Association,  -who  showed  the  con- 
nection between  politics  and  conditions  in  Philadelphia;  the  Rev. 
<  Jlympia  Brown,  president  of  the  Wisconsin  association,  who 
pointed  out  the  need  of  both  the  reason  and  the  intuition  in  the 
country  to  govern  it  wisely.  Mrs.  Mariana  W.  Chapman,  presi- 
dent of  the  New  York  association,  called  for  a  Federal  Amend- 
ment to  enfranchise  women  because  of  the  principles  on  which 
Government  was  founded.  Miss  Gail  Laughlin,  a  graduate 


4  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

of  Wellesley  College  and  Cornell  University  Law  School,  made 
a  strong  argument  on  the  effect  enfranchisement  would  have  on 
woman's  economic  independence  and  greater  efficiency.  Mrs. 
Jennie  A.  Brown,  of  Minneapolis,  told  of  the  unlimited  opportu- 
nities allowed  to  the  women  of  the  great  northwest  which  were 
largely  counteracted  by  their  political  restrictions.  Mrs.  Mary 
Wood  Swift  of  California,  president  of  the  National  Council 
of  Women,  declared  that  the  countless  thousands  of  the  educated, 
developed  women  of  today  were  fully  equal  to  the  responsibilities 
of  citizenship.  Mrs.  Lucy  Hobart  Day,  president  of  the  Maine 
association,  demonstrated  the  inferior  and  unfortunate  position 
of  disfranchised  women.  Miss  Alice  Stone  Blackwell,  editor  of 
the  Woman's  Journal  (Boston),  indicated  how  every  step  of  the 
progress  of  women  had  been  opposed  by  the  same  objections  now 
made  to  woman  suffrage  and  submitted  these  objections  and  the 
answers  to  them  in  a  convincing  statement  which  filled  ten  pages 
of  the  printed  report  of  the  hearing. 

Miss  Anthony  introduced  Mrs.  Gudrun  Drewsen,  one  of  the 
foreign  delegates  to  the  convention,  who  said  in  part:  "Nor- 
wegian women  look  back  to  the  25th  of  May,  1901,  as  a  day  of 
great  victory,  for  on  that  day  a  bill  was  passed  in  our  Parliament 
which  granted  Municipal  suffrage  to  all  women  paying  taxes  on 
a  certain  limited  income,  about  $100  a  year,  or  whose  husbands 
paid  on  such  income.  This  law  has  thoroughly  changed  the 
position  of  the  married  woman  and  from  having  always  been 
a  minor  she  has  suddenly  become  of  age.  It  may  be  of  interest 
to  you  of  the  United  States,  who  can  show  so  many  tax  paying 
women  without  any  right  to  vote,  to  know  that  we  -were  not 
able  to  get  our  Parliament  interested  in  tax  paying  woman  suf- 
frage until  the  bill  included  wives  also.  The  immediate  result 
of  this  law  has  been  the  election  of  several  women  to  impor- 
tant municipal  positions ;  for  instance,  members  of  the  com- 
mon council  in  the  capital;  members  of  the  board  of  aldermen; 
at  one  place  chief  assessor.  Women  may  serve  on  juries  and 
grand  juries  and  have  been  appointed  members  of  special  con- 
gressional commissions.  Several  women  doctors  have  been  ap- 
pointed in  public  institutions,  on  boards  of  health  as  experts  for 
the  Government,  etc.  Matrons  have  been  employed  at  prisons 


THE    NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQO2  49 

where  women  are  and  special  prisons  for  women  in  charge  of  a 
matron  have  been  established.  On  the  whole  we  begin  to  see 
the  glory  of  the  rising  sun  -which  will  give  us  in  a  little  while  the 
bright,  clear  day." 

Miss  Vida  Goldstein,  a  delegate  from  Australia,  began  her 
address :  "I  am  very  proud  that  I  have  come  here  from  a  country 
where  the  woman  suffrage  movement  has  made  such  rapid  strides. 
The  note  was  first  struck  in  America  and  yet  women  today  are 
struggling  here  for  what  we  have  had  in  Australia  for  years, 
and  we  have  proved  all  the  statements  and  arguments  against 
woman  suffrage  to  be  utterly  -without  foundation.  It  seems  in- 
credible to  us  that  the  women  here  have  not  even  the  School  and 
Municipal  suffrage  except  in  a  very  few  States:  We  have  had 
this  for  over  forty  years  and  we  have  never  heard  a  word  against 
it.  It  is  simply  taken  as  a  matter  of  course  that  the  women  should 
They  say  that  as  soon  as  women  get  this  privilege  they  are 
^  to  lose  the  chivalrous  attentions  of  men.  Let  me  assure 
\  ( iu  that  a  woman  has  not  the  slightest  conception  of  what  chivalry 
means  until  she  gets  a  vote.  .  .  ."  Miss  Goldstein  told 
of  woman  suffrage  in  New  Zealand  and  produced  the  highest 
testimony  as  to  its  good  results  in  both  countries. 

In  closing  the  hearing  Dr.  Anna  Howard  Shaw,  national  vice 
dent,  said  in  part: 

<  )ur  association  desires  you  not  only  to  report  the  resolution  for 
this  amendment  favorably  but  to  recommend  the  appointment  of  a 
;iittee  to  investigate  this  subject.     Years  ago  when  our  women 
before  you  we  had  nothing  out  theory  to  give  you,  what  we  be- 
1   would   be  the  good  results  of   woman  suffrage  if   it  were 
The  opponents  had  their  theories  and  they  stated  the  evils 
would  follow.     The  theory  of  one  person  is  as  good 
it  of  another  until  it  has  been  put  to  the  test,  but  after  that  both 
must  lay  aside  all  theory  and  stand  or  fall  upon  facts.    In  four 
unen  have  the  full  suffrage.     For  more  than  thirty  years 
have  been  exercising  it  in  Wyoming  equally  with  men;  in  Colo- 
nine  vears  and  in  I 'tali  and  Malm  !"<>r  -i\  years.     \\'e  do  lie- 
that   from  six  to  thirty  years  is  lonij  enough  time  to  measure 
t     What  we  would   like   better   tban  anything  else  is  that 
nld    ap]>oint    a    committee    of    investigation,    and    that 
a  committee  should    investigate   the   result    of    woman    Buffi 
in  tl .-  if    ha<  al:  •  ranted.    ...    So   sun- 

avorablc    that    \v<  •  fectly   willii 

•   future  on  it.     While  we  do  not  claim  that  only  good  would 


5O  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

come  from  woman  suffrage,  we  do  believe  that  among  all  the  people 
of  a  community  or  of  a  nation  there  are  more  good  men  and  women 
than  there  are  bad  men  and  women,  and  that  when  we  unite  the 
good  men  and  good  women  they  will  be  able  to  carry  measures  for 
the  general  welfare  and  we  will  have  better  laws  and  conditions. 


At  the  hearing'  before  the  House  Judiciary  Committee,  Repre- 
sentative John  J.  Jenkins,  in  the  chair,  expressed  regret  that 
George  W.  Ray  of  New  York,  the  chairman,  was  unavoidably 
absent  and  said :  "He  is  very  much  in  sympathy  with  -what  the 
ladies  desire  to  say  this  morning — much  more  so  than  the  present 
occupant  of  the  chair."  Mrs.  Carrie  Chapman  Catt,  president  of 
the  National  American  Suffrage  Association,  who  had  charge 
of  the  hearing,  said :  "Mr.  Chairman,  we  have  just  been  holding 
an  International  Woman  Suffrage  Conference  in  the  city  of 
Washington,  eight  nations  having  sent  official  delegates  from 
woman  suffrage  organizations,  and  several  others  have  cooperated 
through  correspondence,  and  we  have  invited  representatives  of 
these  nations  to  come  to  you  this  morning  and  present  some 
facts  concerning  the  practical  operation  of  suffrage  in  countries 
other  than  our  own.  Our  first  speaker  will  be  Miss  Vida  Gold- 
stein of  Australia."  Miss  Goldstein  gave  in  substance  the  address 
which  will  be  found  in  the  report  of  the  Senate  hearing,  after 
which  Mrs.  Catt  said:  " Although  I  have  been  a  resident  and 
taxpayer  in  four  different  States  and  able  to  qualify  as  a  voter 
I  have  never  been  permitted  any  suffrage  whatever.  I  now  have 
the  privilege  of  introducing  a  Russian  woman  who  has  been  a 
voter  in  her  country  ever  since  she  was  21."  Madame  Friedland 
said  in  part : 

Mr.  Chairman  and  Gentlemen  of  the  Committee :  In  a  country  like 
Russia,  with  an  absolute  government,  there  is  but  little  suffrage  for 
either  men  or  women  but  the  little  there  is  is  equally  shared  by  both. 
We  do  not,  of  course,  vote  for  Czars;  neither  do  we  vote  for  Gov- 
ernors but  the  municipal  officers  are  elected  by  the  votes  of  the  real- 
estate  owners  regardless  of  sex.  The  woman,  however,  does  not 
vote  in  person  but  transfers  her  vote  to  her  husband,  her  son  or  her 
son-in-law  and  in  case  these  are  unable  to  vote  for  her  she  has  the 
right  to  delegate  her  vote  to  an  outsider.  He  simply  has  the  proxy 
and  votes  as  the  woman  dictates. 

Russia,  whose  political  institutions  are  the  least  liberal  in  Europe, 
has  the  most  liberal  laws  in  regard  to  the  civil  capacity  of  her  women. 


THE    NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQO2  51 

Every  woman,  married  or  single,  if  she  is  of  age,  enjoys  complete 
civil  capacity.  Marriage  does  not  in  any  way  change  the  rights  of 
husband  and  wife  over  the  property  they  possess  or  may  acquire. 
The  husband  has  no  legal  right  whatever  over  the  property  of  his 
wife  and  she  is  by  no  means  under  his  guardianship.  This  may 
account  for  the  fact  that  we  have  less  divorce  than  in  many  other 
countries.  We  have  different  laws  for  the  different  social  classes. 
A  nobleman  will  pay  his  taxes  according  to  the  law  for  the  nobility, 
while  his  wife  may  be  a  commoner  and  have  to  pay  hers  according 
to  the  laws  for  the  commoners,  but  both  are  taxpayers  and  conse- 
quently both  are  voters.  It  is  quite  a  common  thing  to  see  a  woman 
uf  the  people,  a  peasant  woman,  take  her  place  and  often  her  hus- 
band's place,  as  he  has  a  right  to  delegate  his  vote  to  her  at  elections, 
and  she  may  also  take  it  at  county  meetings  and  assemblies  of  every 
kind.  Lately  the  government  of  the  peasantry  have  made  an  effort 
to  deprive  the  women  of  the  right  to  hold  office  but  the  Senate  has 
]  IR  vented  them  on  the  ground  that  if  women  share  the  hard  struggle 
for  existence  with  the  men,  as  they  do  in  our  remote  rural  districts, 
they  must  also  share  the  privileges.  Gentlemen,  I  hope  I  have  your 
sympathy  with  the  ideas  practiced  in  my  country  for  our  women. 

Mrs.  Catt  said  of  her  next  speaker:  "It  is  eminently  proper 
that  a  woman  of  Sweden  should  address  you,  where  women  have 
voted  longer  than  anywhere  else  in  the  world/' 

Mrs.   Emmy   Evald.      I    stand   before   this   legislative  power   of 
America  representing  a  country  where  women  have  voted  since  the 
1 8th  century,  sanctioned  in  1736  by  the  King.     The  men  gave  suf- 
frage to  the  women  without  their  requesting  it,  because  they  be- 
1   that  taxation  without  representation  is  tyranny.     The  tax- 
i's vote  is  irrespective  of  sex.    Women  vote  for  every  office  for 
which  their  brothers  do  and  on  the  same  terms,  except  for  the  first 
chamber  of  the  Riksdag.     They  have  the  Municipal  and  School  suf- 
e,  votes  for  the  provincial  representatives  and  thus  indirectly  for 

'  if  the   I  louse  of  I  ,ords. 

Women  are  admitted  to  the  postal  service  on  equal  salaries  with 
men.     In  the  railway  service,  which  is  controlled  by  the  Government, 
w.meii  have  ever  since   iSho  been  employed  in  the  controlling  office 
and   ticket  department   and   in   the   telegraph  and   telephone  service, 
which   arc  owned    by   the  (  ,o\  eminent .       In    I  S<  ><  j  women   were  sjiven 
Mice   and    in   the   same   year  equal   matrimonial 
!  he  colleges  arid  universities  are  open  to  them  and  they  re- 
men.     All  professions  are  open  except  the 
Women    tea.  ned   equally    with    men.     Tax 

A  omen    have  voted    in   church   matters   since   1736.     Every 
e<l  in  the  Lutheran  <  'hnrch  in  America  but  has  no  vote 
and    '  H-n    blame   the   Americans   hrcatise   the  clergy  educated 

here  imbibed  the  i  it  of  liberty  and  justice. 


52  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

You  can  not  trust  the  ballot  into  the  hands  of  women  teachers  in 
the  public  schools  but  you  give  it  to  men  who  can  not  read  or  write. 
You  can  not  trust  the  ballot  to  women  who  are  controlling  millions 
of  money  and  helping  support  the  country  but  you  give  it  to  loafers 
and  vagabonds  who  know  nothing,  have  nothing  and  represent  noth- 
ing. You  can  not  trust  the  ballot  in  the  hands  of  women  who  are 
the  wives  and  daughters  of  your  heroes  but  you  give  it  to  those  who 
are  willing  to  sell  it  for  a  glass  of  beer  and  you  trust  it  in  the  hands 
of  anarchists.  Oh,  men,  let  justice  speak  and  may  the  public  weal 
demand  that  this  disfranchisement  of  the  noble  American  women 
shall  be  stopped. 

Mrs.  Catt  then  introduced  to  the  committee  Miss  Isabel  Camp- 
bell, daughter  of  former  Governor  Campbell  of  Wyoming,  who 
in  1869  signed  the  bill  which  enfranchised  the  women  of  the 
Territory;  Prof.  Theodosia  Ammons  of  the  Colorado  University 
of  Agriculture  and  Mrs.  Ida  M.  Weaver,  a  resident  of  Idaho. 
Each  gave  a  comprehensive  report  of  the  practical  -working  of 
woman  suffrage  in  her  State;  the  large  proportion  of  women  who 
voted;  their  appointment  on  boards  and 'election  to  offices;  the 
result  in  improved  polling  places,  better  candidates  and  cleaner 
politics;  higher  pay  for  working  women;  the  advantages  to  the 
community;  the  comradeship  between  men  and  women  and  the 
general  satisfaction  of  the  people  with  the  experiment.  Their 
reports  as  a  whole  offered  unimpeachable  testimony  in  favor  of 
the  enfranchisement  of  women. 

Mrs.  Florence  Fenwick  Miller  in  her  address  said: 

I  have  been  asked  to  direct  especially  my  attention  to  the  position 
of  women  in  England.  I  hope  you,  as  members  of  a  republic,  will 
be  ashamed  to  hear  that  the  monarchy  of  England  gives  its  women 
citizens  a  great  many  rights  which  you  deny  to  yours,  that  we  have 
had  those  rights  for  so  many  years  that  nobody  talks  about  them. 
When  I  am  asked  to  give  you  testimony  as  to  the  smooth  working 
of  the  women's  vote  in  all  local  affairs,  I  am  at  a  loss  to  know  what 
to  say,  because  it  runs  along  so  easily  and  naturally,  so  like  breath- 
ing the  air  in  a  thoroughly  healthy  state  of  the  lungs,  that  there  is 
absolutely  nothing  to  be  said.  Men  and  women  vote  on  equal  terms 
and  the  woman's  vote  is  as  much  a  matter  of  course  as  the  man's. 

The  local  government  of  England  is  divided  among  a  number  of 
different  bodies.  We  have  the  school  boards,  established  in  1870, 
which  have  managed  the  elementary  education  of  the  country,  now 
compulsory  and  free.  They  spend  very  large  sums  of  the  taxpayers' 
money  and  for  them  every  woman  who  pays  taxes  has  a  vote.  Any 
woman  whom  the  electors  choose  is  entitled  to  take  a  seat  on  them. 


THE    NATIONAL    AMERICAN'     CONVENTION    OF     ]  •.  53 

There  are  at  present  not  only  hundreds  of  thousands  of  women 
voting  for  the  school  boards  but  there  are  276  women  sitting-  as  rep- 
resentatives upon  those  of  England  alone.  I  myself  have  for  nine 
years  been  a  member  of  the  school  board  of  London,  sitting  for  one 
of  the  great  divisions  called  Hackney,  which  has  60,000  voters.  My 
election  committee  was  composed  of  men  and  women.  Men  worked 
for  me  very  hard  indeed!  .  .  .  The  next  great  local  governing 
bodies  are  the  boards  of  guardians  of  the  poor.  These  bodies  spend 
annually  about  $127,000,000,  which  they  raise  from  the  taxpayers, 
men  and  women.  These  are  huge  organizations.  Many  of  the 
workhouses  contain  over  T.OOO  persons;  besides  which,  outside  relief 
in  money  or  food  or  medical  aid  is  given.  Every  woman  who  is  a 
taxpayer  can  vote  for  a  member  of  these  boards.  Women  are 
eligible  to  sit  on  them  the  same  as  men.  There  are  nearly  1,000 

en  on  the  boards. 

Women  may  vote  for  the  municipalities,  for  the  town  councils.  I 
can  not  offer  you  any  illustration  of  how  the  women's  vote  has  im- 
proved them  for  the  simple  reason  that  when  those  councils  were  in- 
stituted in  1860  the  Parliament  of  a  monarchy  was  sufficiently  large- 
minded  to  perceive  that  women  ought  to  vote  for  them;  that  they 
have  to  pay  their  taxes  and  where  a  woman  stands  at  the  head  of  a 
household  she  is  not  only  equally  entitled  to  representation  in  regard 
to  the  spending  of  her  money  but  also  she  is  as  much  concerned  with 
the  work  that  the  councils  have  to  do  as  any  man.  This  was  so 
obviously  just  that  women  were  given  the  right  to  vote  on  them  and 
have  exercised  that  right  ever  since.  .  .  .  The  women  vote  as  fully 

he  men  do. 

We  have  district,  parish  and  county  councils,  which  have  to  a 
considerable  extent  the  moral  and  the  intellectual  government  of  the 

3  under  them,  licensing  of  places  of  amusement,  public  parks, 
technical  education  for  young  people  over  school  age  and  so  on.  The 
building  of  homes  for  the  poor,  the  oversight  of  lunatic  asylums  and 
matters  of  that  kind,  thev  have  under  their  authority.  These  were 

•lished  in  1884  and  the  women  who  had  voted  so  well  for  many 
for  school  boards  and  town  councils  of  course  were  given  the 
right  to  vote  for  the  new  county  councils. 

Mrs.  Miller  went   fully  into  the  work  of  women  on  borough 

and  county  councils  and  closed  her  valuable  address  by  saying: 

tlenien,  the  work  of  women  in  English  public  life  has  not 

only  been  unattended  with  any  mischief  but  has  been  a  iM'eat  force 

for  service  and  benefit.      Surely  American   men  can   trust   thcir 

UT  men   have    for   the   past    generation   trusted    i: 
their  o-un  as  well  as  our  advant.: 

In  closing  the  hearing  to  which  the  committee  rave  the 
•ition,  Mrs.  Catt  said  in  part  : 


54  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

I  have  a  favor  to  ask  of  this  committee  in  an  official  capacity;  it 
is  something  we  have  never  asked  before.  .  .  .  We  have  brought  to 
you  testimonials  of  the  success  of  woman  suffrage  in  operation 
throughout  the  world  and  I  think  that  if  any  man  among  you  were 
called  to  stand  before  a  committee  and  give  in  five  or  ten  minutes 
some  proof  of  the  favorable  results  of  man  suffrage,  he  would  find 
it  a  very  difficult  thing  to  do.  What  I  now  ask  in  behalf  of  9ur 
association  is  that  this  committee  will  request  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives to  appoint  a  commission  to  investigate  the  results  of 
woman  suffrage  in  operation.  This  has  never  been  done.  .  .  . 

We  ask  you  in  the  interest  of  fairness  to  see  that  this  commission 
is  appointed  to  investigate  woman  suffrage  in  exactly  the  same  spirit 
it  would  use  if  it  were  investigating  man  suffrage  in  Cuba.  We 
ask  you  to  chase  down  to  its  lair  every  single  charge  and  objection 
that  has  been  made  and  if  when  an  honest  commission  has  made  an 
honest  investigation  you  discover  that  woman  suffrage  has  proved 
a  good  thing,  if  you  find  that  it  has  proved  as  beneficial  to  women 
as  man  suffrage  has  proved  to  men,  then  we  shall  expect  that  another 
Judiciary  Committee  will  give  a  favorable  report  and  ask  Congress 
to  submit  a  i6th  Amendment.  And  if  you  discover  that  it  is  not  a 
good  thing,  then  I  promise  you  in  behalf  of  our  association  that  we 
will  turn  our  guns  into  those  States  and  see  that  it  is  made  a  good 
thing;  for  never  so  long  as  there  are  women  who  are  educated, 
women  who  think  for  themselves,  will  they  rest  content  until  they 
have  the  only  weapon  that  governments  can  give  them  for  defending 
liberty  and  pursuit  of  happiness.  We  stand  before  you  as  citizens  of 
the  United  States,  qualified,  intelligent,  taxpaying  women,  who  de- 
mand for  ourselves  the  same  right  to  make  the  Government  under 
which  we  live  that  has  been  given  to  men. 

No  commission  was  appointed,  no  report  was  made  by  Senate 
or  House  Committee  and  there  were  no  definite  results  of  such 
appeals  as  never  had  been  made  by  men  for  the  franchise  in  this 
or  any  other  country. 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE  NATIONAL  AMERICAN  CONVENTION  OF  1903. 

Tn  1903  the  National  American  Suffrage  Association  for  the 
<1  time  took  its  annual  convention  to  a  southern  State  and 
held  it  in  New  Orleans,  March  15-25,  in  Athenaeum  Hall.1  The 
Iranian's  Journal  said:  "To  the  northern  delegates  there  was 
something  almost  magical  in  the  sudden  change  from  snowdrifts 
and  nipping  winds  to  balmy  air  and  a  temperature  like  June.  The 
delicious  climate  of  Louisiana  in  spring  has  not  been  exaggerated 
and  it  seems  wonderful  to  find  roses  in  bloom  in  March,  the 

1  Part  of  Call :  The  association  goes  to  New  Orleans  in  response  to  an  invitation  from 
the  Progressive  Union,  the  Era  Club  of  women  and  many  prominent  individuals.  It  is 
illy  appropriate  that  the  advocates  of  this  important  reform  should  assemble  in 
Louisiana  in  honor  of  the  action  taken  by  this  State  in  1898,  when  its  constitutional  con- 
vention incorporated  a  clause  giving  to  tax-paying  women  a  vote  on  all  questions  of 
taxation  submitted  to  the  electors;  and  in  commemoration  of  the  splendid  use  they  made 
of  this  privilege  at  the  election  held  to  secure  to  New  Orleans  the  completion  of  its 
drainage  and  the  establishment  of  a  sewerage  system  and  free  water  supply.  .  .  . 

er  in  the  fifty  years  of  this  movement   have  its  advocates  had   such  a  victory  to 
as  was  achieved   in   Australia   in  June,    1902,  when  almost  the   first   act  of  Parlia- 
ment of  the  new  Federation  of  States  was  to  confer  the  full  national  suffrage  with  the 
right    to   a  seat   in   the   Parliament   on   all    qualified   women   of   the    entire   commonwealth. 
This    one    act    enfranchised    about    800,000.      These    added    to    those    of    New    Zealand 
and   of   Wyoming,   Colorado,    Utah   and   Idaho,    it  will   be   found   that    1,125,000   English- 
speaking  women  are  at   the  present  time  in   possession   of  the  complete  suffrage   and  all 
those  of  Wyoming  have  been  enfranchised  within  the  past  ten  years.     By  adding 
-c  the  women  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  who  have  all  except  the  Parliamentary 
hose  of  Kansas  with   Municipal,  of   Louisiana,   Montana,   and  New  York  with  the 
<yers'  and  of  over  one-half  of  the  States  with  the  school  ballot,  the  1,125,000  will  be 
multiplied  several  times.  .  .  . 

-.  therefore,  with  courage  and  hope  inspired  by  the  glorious  promise  of  the  new 
crntury  for  greater  material  and  moral  progress  in  all  directions  than  the  world  has 
ever  known,  that  the  advocates  of  this  measure,  which  ultimately  will  affect  the  destinies 
of  the  whole  American  people,  are  called  in  convention  to  review  the  labor  of  the  past 
year,  to  plan  that  of  the  future,  to  strengthen  the  old  comradeship  and  greet  new  workers 
and  friends. 

SUSAN  B.  ANTHONY,  Honorary  President. 
CARRIE  CHAPMAN  CATT,  President. 
ANNA  HOWARD  SHAW,  Vice-President-at-Large. 
KATE  M.  GORDON,  Corresponding  Secretary. 
ALICE  STONE  BLACK  WELL,   Recording  Secretary. 
HARRIET  TAYLOE  UPTON,  Treasurer. 
LAURA  Ci  AY.  ) 

MAMY  J.  COGGESHALL,      * 

55 


56  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

wistaria  vines  in  a  cloud  of  purple  blossom  and  the  grass  an 
emerald  green.  .  .  .  The  delegates  were  enthusiastic  over  the 
quaint  houses  surrounded  by  palms,  bananas  and  great  live  oaks, 
a  pleasing  novelty  to  most  of  them/' 

The  hostess  of  the  convention  was  the  Era  Club,  the  largest 
organization  of  women  in  the  city,  its  title — ERA — cleverly  con- 
cealing Equal  Rights  Association.  It  was  founded  in  1896; 
Miss  Kate  Gordon,  the  present  secretary  of  the  National  Associa- 
tion, was  formerly  its  president  and  her  sister,  Miss  Jean  M. 
Gordon,  now  filled  that  office.  On  the  first  afternoon  the  spacious 
and  beautiful  home  of  Mrs.  Reuben  Bush,  prominent  in  club 
and  civic  -work,  was  opened  for  the  club  to  entertain  the  officers, 
delegates  and  a  large  number  of  invited  guests.  Sunday  evening 
all  were  received  informally  in  the  charming  home  of  Misses  Kate, 
Fanny  and  Jean  Gordon. 

The  excellent  convention  program  was  prepared  by  Miss  Kate 
Gordon.  The  first  evening  session  was  opened  with  prayer  by 
the  Right  Reverend  Davis  Sessums,  Episcopal  Bishop  of  Louis- 
iana, who  said  in  the  course  of  it :  "Prosper,  we  beseech  thee, 
the  deliberations  of  this  association  whose  representatives  are  here 
assembled  and  direct  and  rule  their  judgment  and  actions  in  all 
things  to  the  furtherance  of  truth  and  justice,  so  that  their  work 
may  be  an  abiding  -work  and  contribute  to  the  growth  of  true 
religion  and  civilization,  to  the  happiness  of  homes  and  to  the 
advancement  of  Thy  Kingdom." 

The  Picayune  thus  described  the  occasion:  "In  the  presence 
of  a  magnificent  audience  that  packed  the  Atlien;eum  to  its  utmo.-t 
capacity,  the  thirty-fifth  annual  convention  of  the  National 
American  Woman  Suffrage  Association  was  formally  opened 
last  night,  with  the  president,  Mrs.  Carrie  Chapman  Catt,  in  the 
chair.  Seldom  perhaps  in  its  history  has  the  association  received 
such  a  greeting,  for  the  audience  was  not  only  deeply  interested 
and  sympathetic  but  it  was  representative  of  the  finest  culture 
in  the  city  and  State.  Distinguished  jurists,  physicians  and 
teachers,  staid  men  of  business  and  leaders  in  many  lines  united 
with  women  of  the  highest  social  standing  in  giving  the  con- 
vention a  hearty  and  earnest  welcome.  Many  were  no  doubt 
attracted  by  the  memory  of  the  former  visits  of  Miss  Susan  B. 


THE    NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1903  57 

Anthony  and  Mrs.  Carrie  Chapman  Catt  and  the  remarkable 
personality  of  the  pioneer  suffrage  -workers,  but  whether  they 
came  from  pure  interest  in  these  famous  leaders  or  deep  sympathy 
with  the  cause,  all  were  generous  in  giving  to  both  the  credit  and 
applause  they  justly  deserved.  .  .  . 

Mayor  Paul  Capdeville,  who  was  to  welcome  the  convention, 
was  ill  and  this  was  very  acceptably  done  by  "Tom"  Richardson, 
tary  of  the  Progressive  Union,  an  important  commercial 
body  of  1, 600  members  that  had  joined  in  the  invitation  for  it  to 
conic  to  New  Orleans  and  contributed  the  rent  of  the  Athenaeum. 
TTc  expressed  his  pleasure  at  being  associated  with  the  suffragists 
of  the  city,  "who  had  never  neglected  any  opportunity  to  promote 
its  best  interests,"  and  said :  "No  other  class  of  our  citizens  have 
done  it  so  much  good."  He  was  followed  by  the  Hon.  Edgar  H. 
Farrar,  an  eminent  lawyer,  author  of  the  Drainage  and  Sewerage 
plan,  who  told  of  the  valuable  assistance  of  women  in  the  strenu- 
ous fight  against  the  State  lottery  ten  years  before  and  described 
the  splendid  work  of  the  women  since  the  constitutional  conven- 
tion of  1898  had  given  them  taxpayers'  suffrage.  Miss  Gordon 
read  a  poem  of  welcome  by  Mrs.  Grace  G.  Watts  and  gave  the 
Fra  Club's  welcome  and  then  Dr.  Anna  Howard  Shaw,  who  was 
presiding,  introduced  Miss  Anthony  to  respond.  The  Picayune 

1  in  its  report: 

ted  upon  the  platform  was  Miss  Susan  "R.  Anthony,  the  woman 
who  for  two-score  years  stood  the  brunt  of  ridicule,  sarcasm  and 
•ninof  and  never  once  was  deterred  from  the  course  that  she 
fully  believed  to  be  the  just  and  true  one.     Of  the  sreat  leaders  in 
this  movement  she  alone  remains.   .   .  .  Spanning  a  distance  of  forty 
stood  nt  her  side  Mrs.  Cart,  the  younger  woman  who  has  taken 
1  o  brittle,   and   grouped   around   were  earnest  young  twirls  and 
middle- a  of  ed  women  firrd  with  her  enthusiasm  and  looking  up  to  her 
with  -re  that  was  very  l>eantifnl  and  a  most  rrracions  tribute 

from  youth  to  old  a?e.     When  Miss  loan  Gordon  advanced  to  pre- 
sent her  with  a  creat  cluster  of  Marechal  Neil  roses  and  took  her 
•Ttlv  bv  the  hand  and  in  the  name  of  the  young  women  of 
nnd   of   the  Era   Hub   thanked   her    for  the   battles   she   bad 
*.  the  crono  WPS  most  touching,  representing  as  it  did  the  two 
'»f  the  suffrage  workers,  those  of  half-a-centnrv  a^o  and 
those  of  today. 

There  wns  another  there,  n  woman  who  has  been  very  near  to  the 

M  people,   who  has   never  been   ncfGfr^s<?ivr  in 

her  r  '  but  whose  niiiet  approval,  whose  earnest 


58  HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

sympathy,  whose  expenditure  of  time  and  money  and  whose  high  so- 
cial standing  gave  to  it  a  strength  even  in  those  early  days  that  one 
of  less  ability  and  social  position  and  more  pronounced  opposition 
could  not  have  secured.  Mrs.  Caroline  E.  Merrick,  the  pioneer  suf- 
fragist of  Louisiana  and  the  lifelong  friend  of  Miss  Anthony,  came 
in  for  her  share  of  the  honors  of  the  evening.  With  equal  grace  and 
tenderness  Miss  Gordon  advanced  to  her  and  offered  her  too  the  fra- 
grant expressions  of  more  youthful  workers.  For  a  moment  Miss 
Anthony  and  Mrs.  Merrick  stood  together,  and  the  audience,  rising 
to  its  feet  in  a  great  wave  of  enthusiasm,  waved  handkerchiefs  and 
fans  in  greeting.  Perhaps  that  precious  hour  of  triumph,  away  down 
here  in  this  old  southern  State,  as  she  stands  nearing  the  border  land 
of  another  world,  recompensed  the  great  pioneer  for  much  that  she 
had  borne  when  life  was  young  and  audiences,  as  she  said,  less  sympa- 
thetic. Mrs.  Merrick's  remarks,  also,  touched  a  deep  chord  and 
roused  the  audience  to  a  state  of  earnest  sympathy. 

Miss  Anthony  told  of  her  visit  to  New  Orleans  in  1884  during 
the  Centennial  Exposition,  -when  she  was  the  guest  of  Mrs.  Mer- 
rick, and  spoke  of  Mrs.  Eliza  J.  Nicholson,  owner  and  editor 
of  the  Picayune,  paying  a  tribute  to  her  and  to  the  gifted  writer, 
"Catharine  Cole,"  of  its  editorial  staff,  both  now  passed  from 
earth.  In  Dr.  Shaw's  eloquent  response  to  the  greetings  she  said : 
"Nothing  has  given  me  greater  hope  for  women  and  has  made 
me  prouder  of  women  than  the  splendid  reserve  power  shown 
by  southern  womanhood  for  the  last  twenty-five  years.  When 
your  hearthstones  were  left  desolate  and  your  bravest  and  strong- 
est had  gone  forth  never  to  come  back,  your  women,  who  had 
been  cared  for  as  no  other  women  ever  were  cared  for,  who  were 
uneducated  to  toil,  unacquainted  with  business  requirements, 
averse  to  them  by  instinct  and  tradition — -when  they  had  to  face 
the  world  they  went  out  uncomplaining  and  worked  with  sublime 
heroism.  ...  I  am  glad  to  come  among  you  southern 
women  and  to  say  that  you  have  been  an  inspiration  to  the  women 
of  the  North  and  to  whole  world.  The  daughters  of  those  women 
of  twenty-five  years  ago  are  the  ones  who  have  made  this  splendid 
convention  possible.  Over  our  country  now  there  floats  only 
one  flag  but  that  is  a  flag  for  women  as  well  as  men.  If  there 
are  any  men  who  ought  to  have  faith  in  -women  and  in  their 
power  to  dare  and  do  it  is  southern  men,  who  owe  so  much  to 
southern  women." 

Mrs.  Catt  then  gave  her  president's  address  of  which  an  ex- 


THE    NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQO3  59 

tended  press  notice  said:  "Never  was  there  a  more  masterly 
exposition  of  a  theme,  never  a  more  earnest  or  cogent  argument. 
A  distinguished  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  who  -was  present 
remarked  to  the  writer :  'I  have  heard  many  men  but  not  one 
who  can  compare  with  Mrs.  Catt  in  eloquence  and  logical  power.' 
So  the  entire  audience  felt  and  at  the  close  of  her  magnificent 
discourse  she  was  the  recipient  of  an  ovation  that  came  spontane- 
ously from  their  hearts.  The  scene  presented  in  the  Athenaeum 
\vas  indeed  a  remarkable  one."  The  address  was  not  -written  and 
no  essential  part  of  it  can  be  reproduced  from  fragmentary  news- 
paper reports. 

A  discordant  note  in  the  harmony  was  struck  by  the  Times- 
Democrat,  which,  in  a  long  editorial,  Woman  Suffrage  and  the 
South,  assailed  the  association  because  of  its  attitude  on  the  race 
question.  The  board  of  officers  immediately  prepared  a  signed 
statement  which  said  in  part : 

The  association  as  such  has  no  view  on  this  subject.    Like  every 

other  national  association  it  is  made  up  of  persons  of  all  shades  of 

opinion  on  the  race  question  and  on  all  other  questions  except  those 

relating  to  its  particular  object.    The  northern  and  western  members 

hold  the  views  on  the  race  question  that  are  customary  in  their  sec- 

;  the  southern  members  hold  the  views  that  are  customary  in 

the  South.     The  doctrine  of  State's  rights  is  recognized  in  the  na- 

1   body  and  each  auxiliary  State  association  arranges  its  own 

affairs  in  accordance  with  its  own  ideas  and  in  harmony  with  the 

MIS  of  its  own  section.     Individual  members  in  addresses  made 

outside  of  the  National  Association  are  of  course  free  to  express 

their  ts  of  extraneous  questions  but  they  speak  for 

themselves  as  individuals  and  not  for  the  association.  .  .  . 

The  National  American  Woman  Suffrage  Association  is  seeking 

away  with  the  requirement  of  a  sex  qualification  for  suffrage. 

'  other  qualifications  shall  he  asked  for  it  leaves  to  each  State. 

Ithertl    women   most    active   in    it    have  always   in   their  own 

emphasized  the  fact  that  granting  suffrage  to  women  who  can 

and   write  and   who  pay   taxes   would    insure   white   supremacy 

without  resort  ini:  to  any  methods  of  doubtful  constitutionality.     The 

ion  asks  for  the  ballot  for  educated  and  taxpaying 

•  11  only  and  its  officers  believe  that  in  this  lies  "the  only  perma- 

rahle  solution  of  the  race  question."  .  .  . 

Cations   of    the   northern    and    western    States 

For  the  ballot   for  all  women,  though   Maine  and  several  other 

ve  lately  asked  for  it  with  an  educational  or  t;ix  qualifica- 

To  ad\  'lern  women   to  In-ware  of   lending  "svnpathy 

or  support"  to  the  National  Association  because  its  auxiliary  so- 


60  HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

cieties  in  the  northern  States  hold  the  usual  views  of  northerners  on 
the  color  question  is  as  irrelevant  as  to  advise  them  to  beware  of  the 
National  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union  because  in  the 
northern  and  western  States  it  draws  no  color  line;  or  to  beware  of 
the  General  Federation  of  Women's  Clubs  because  the  State  Federa- 
tions of  the  North  and  West  do  not  draw  it ;  or  to  beware  of  Chris- 
tianity because  the  churches  in  the  North  and  West  do  not  draw 
it.  ... 

The  Times-Democrat  published  this  letter  in  full  and  en- 
deavored by  its  press  reports  afterwards  to  atone  for  its  blunder. 
It  had  been  feared  that  trouble  over  this  question  would  arise 
but  no  other  paper  referred  to  it.  The  Picayuiie,  Item  and  Stairs 
•were  most  generous  with  space  and  complimentary  in  expression 
throughout  the  convention.1 

The  reports  at  the  executive  sessions  were  possibly  of  more 
interest  to  the  delegates  than  the  public  addresses.  Miss  Gordon 
in  her  secretary's  report  spoke  of  the  12,000  or  13,000  letters 
which  had  been  sent  out  since  the  last  convention,  many  of  them 
made  necessary  by  the  International  Conference  of  the  preceding 
year,  and  of  the  ending  of  its  proceedings.  To  the  14,000  news- 
papers on  the  list  to  receive  the  quarterly  Progress  the  names  of 
legislators  in  various  States  had  been  added,  and  to  the  latter 
leaflets  attractively  prepared  by  Miss  Blackwell  also  were  sent. 
She  described  the  new  suffrage  postage  stamp,  a  college  girl  in  cap 
and  gown  holding  a  tablet  inscribed :  "In  Wyoming,  Colorado, 
Utah  and  Idaho  women  vote  on  the  same  terms  as  men,"  to  off- 
set the  prevailing  ignorance  of  this  fact.  Resolutions  endorsing 
woman  suffrage  had  been  secured  from  the  National  Grange,  the 

1  The  colored  women  had  some  excellent  organizations  in  New  Orleans,  the  most  notable 
being  the  Phyllis  Wheatley  Club,  which  in  addition  to  its  literary  and  social  features 
maintained  a  training  school  for  nurses,  a  kindergarten  and  a  night  school.  It  invited 
Miss  Anthony.  Miss  Blackwell  and  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Smith  Miller  to  address  it  and  they 
wore  accompanied  by  "Dorothy  Dix,"  the  well-known  writer,  a  New  Orleans  woman. 
In  the  large  assemblage  were  some  of  the  teachers  from  the  four  colleges  for  colored 
students — Methodist,  Congregational,  Baptist  and  the  State.  "Dorothy  Dix"  said  in  her 
brief  address  that  no  woman  in  the  city  was  more  respected  or  had  more  influence  than 
Mrs.  Sylvanie  Williams,  the  club's  president,  and  gave  several  instances  to  illustrate  it. 
After  the  addresses  Mrs.  Williams  presented  Miss  Anthony  with  a  large  bouquet  tied 
with  yellow  satin  ribbon  and  said:  "Flowers  in  their  beauty  and  sweetness  may  represent 
the  womanhood  of  the  world.  Some  flowers  are  fragile  and  delicate,  some  strong  and 
hardy,  some  are  carefully  guarded  and  cherished,  others  are  roughly  treated  and  trodden 
under  foot.  These  last  are  the  colored  women.  They  have  a  crown  of  thorns  continually 
pressed  upon  their  brow,  yet  they  are  advancing  and  sometimes  you  find  them  further 
on  than  you  would  have  expected.  When  women  like  you,  Miss  Anthony,  come  to  see 
us  and  speak  to  us  it  helps  us  to  believe  in  the  Fatherhood  of  God  and  the  Brotherhood 
of  Man,  and  at  least  for  the  time  being  in  the  sympathy  of  woman." 


THE    NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1903  6l 

American  Federation  of  Labor  and  a  number  of  large  labor 
unions.  For  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  the  National  Educa- 
tion Association,  three-fourths  of  whose  members  are  women,  a 
woman  had  been  invited  to  address  their  annual  convention  and 
the  one  selected  was  the  president  of  the  National  American  Suf- 
frage Association.  Mrs.  Catt  was  cordially  received  by  them  in 
July  at  Minneapolis. 

Four  of  the  five  morning  sessions  were  given  over  completely 
to  Work  Conferences.  The  usual  ones  on  Organization  and 
I  Yess  were  held  with  Miss  Mary  Garrett  Hay  and  Mrs.  Flnora 
Mubcock  respectively  presiding.  The  conference  on  Enrollment 
-a  \-e  way  to  one  on  Literature,  Dr.  Mary  D.  Hussey  presiding, 
and  a  new  one  on  Legislation  was  added.  A  president's  and  a 
delegates'  conference  completed  the  list.  The  Plan  of  Work  again 
presented  by  the  Executive  Committee  emphasized  the  line  of 
action  adopted  in  the  first  year  of  Mrs.  Catt's  presidency  and 
urged  that  the  States  endeavor  to  secure  recommendations  of 
their  Legislatures  asking  the  submission  of  a  i(>th  Amendment ; 
that  special  efforts  be  made  to  secure  the  appointment  of  a  Com- 
ion  to  investigate  the  working  of  full  suffrage  in  States 
where  it  now  exists;  that  correspondence  be  taken  up  vigorously 
with  all  members  of  Congress  giving  them  the  arguments  in  favor 
i  Federal  Amendment  and  of  a  Commission  on  Investiga- 
tion ;  that  the  association  aim  to  double  its  membership  the  coming 
and  that  a  catalogue  of  woman  suffrage  literature  be  pre- 
pared for  libraries. 

<  hily  $3,000  in  pledges  were  called  for  and  $3,200  -were  quickly 
Milj-rribcd.1  The  treasurer,  Mrs.  Harriet  Taylor  Upton,  an- 
nounced receipts  during  the  year  of  $18,310  with  a  balance  of 
in  the  treasury.  "New  York  has  always  been  the 
"iitributor  and  paid  the  largest  auxiliary  fee,"  she  said, 
"and  it  never  lins  any  aid  from  the  national  treasury.  Its  temper 

1  TV  inn  was  made  at  this  convention  to  remove  the  headquarters  on 

May  i   from  New  York  to  Warren,  O.,  the  home  of  the  national  treasurer,   Mrs.   Upton. 

The  I)  charge  of  them   had   borne   heavily   upon    Mrs.   Catt    for  the   past 

vrars  and  it   Rrcw   more   difTn  tilt   as  each   year  she  had  to   spend  more  time   in   field 

Miss   Gordon,    the    corresponding    secretary,    wished    to    remain    in    New    Orleans 

because  of  1  r*§  failing  health  and  it   was  necessary  to  have  a  national  oflu 

charge.     Mrs.   Upton  consent  iK    to   assume   the   responsibility   and   only   on    the 

assurance   of    Miss    Elizabeth    Mauser,   a   capable    <  that    she    would    manage    the 

details  of  tl  i  he  arrangement  was  to  )«•  temporary  hut  it  t.  ntmued  for  six  years. 


62  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

is  always  sweet  and  its  methods  always  business-like  but  to  be  sure 
it  has  always  been  blessed  by  having  one  of  its  citizens  as  national 
president.  This  year,  however,  Massachusetts  has  won  the  place 
at  the  head  of  the  list."  Mrs.  Catt  reported  for  the  Congressional 
Committee  that  Congress  had  entirely  ignored  the  urgent  appeals 
of  last  year  for  a  committee  to  investigate  the  effects  of  woman 
suffrage  in  the  equal  franchise  States.  Mrs.  Sallie  Clay  Bennett 
(Ky.)  made  her  usual  strong  plea  for  an  effort  to  secure  from 
Congress  Federal  suffrage  or  the  right  to  vote  for  members  of 
Senate  and  House  Representatives.  For  many  years  Mrs.  Ben- 
nett, as  chairman  of  the  committee,  had  appealed  to  the  associa- 
tion for  action  but  while  it  considered  that  the  measure  would 
be  perfectly  valid  it  believed  it  to  be  hopeless  of  attainment. 
[History  of  Woman  Suffrage,  Volume  IV,  page  6.]  Mrs.  Elnora 
M.  Babcock  (N.  Y.),  chairman  of  the  Press  Committee,  made  a 
comprehensive  report  of  the  constantly  increasing  favorable  com- 
ment of  the  newspapers.  Mrs.  Boyer,  chairman  for  Pennsyl- 
vania, had  placed  5,700  suffrage  articles  and  the  chairmen  of 
various  other  States  had  a  proportionate  record.  Miss  Blackwell 
gave  as  a  recipe  for  finding  favor  with  editors:  "Make  your 
articles  short ;  make  them  newsy ;  don't  denounce  the  men."  Mrs. 
Priscilla  D.  Hackstaff  (N.  Y.),  chairman  of  the  Enrollment  Com- 
mittee, reported  a  good  start  on  the  nation-wide  enrollment  of 
men  and  women  who  believe  in  woman  suffrage. 

Henry  B.  Blackwell,  chairman  of  the  Presidential  Suffrage 
Committee,  urged  the  southern  women  to  petition  their  Legisla- 
tures, seven  of  which  would  meet  during  the  year,  to  give  women 
the  right  to  vote  for  presidential  electors.  "The  choice  of  Presi- 
dent and  Vice-president  of  the  United  States/'  he  said,  "is  the 
most  important  form  of  suffrage  exercised  by  an  American  citi- 
zen. .  .  .  The  King  of  England  and  the  Emperor  of  Germany 
are  practically  possessed  of  no  greater  political  power  than  our 
President  during  his  official  term,"  and  he  continued : 

Here  then  is  an  open  door  to  equal  suffrage.  Once  let  the  women 
of  any  State  take  their  equal  part  in  this  great  national  election  and 
their  complete  equality  is  assured.  Without  change  of  State  or 
Federal  Constitution,  without  ratification  by  the  individual  voters,  a 
simple  majority  of  both  houses  of  any  Legislature  at  any  time  in  any 


THE    NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1903  63 

State  can  confer  upon  women  citizens  this  magnificent  privilege, 
which  will  carry  with  it  a  certainty  of  speedy  future  concessions  of 
all  minor  rights  and  privileges.  It  is  amazing  that  no  concerted 
effort  has  been  made  until  recently  to  secure  this  right,  so  easily  ob- 
tained and  of  so  much  transcendent  importance.  Especially  is  it 
strange  that  in  States  where  iron-bound  constitutional  restrictions 
forbid  any  exercise  whatever  of  local  or  municipal  woman  suffrage 
and  where  the  social  conditions  make  an  amendment  of  State  con- 
stitution almost  impossible,  suffragists  allow  year  after  year  to  elapse 
without  any  effort  to  get  the  only  practical  thing  possible,  action  by 
the  State  Legislature  conferring  Presidential  suffrage  on  women. 
Suffrage  in  school  or  municipal  elections  cannot  give  us  a  full  and 
fair  test  of  the  value  of  equal  suffrage  or  of  woman's  willingness  to 
participate.  Suffrage  in  State  elections  cannot  be  had  without 
amendment  of  State  constitutions,  always  difficult  and  usually  im- 
possible of  attainment  in  the  face  of  organized  opposition.  Why  not 
then  avail  ourselves  of  this  unique,  this  providential  opportunity? 

Among  other  committees  reporting  was  that  on  Church  work, 
Miss  Laura  De  Merritte  (Me.)  chairman,  and  her  recommenda- 
tions were  adopted  that  the  committee  on  National  Sunday  School 
lessons  be  asked  to  prepare  one  each  year  on  the  rights  and 
duties  of  -women  citizens;  that  ministers  of  all  denominations  be 
urged  to  preach  one  sermon  each  year  on  this  topic;  that  all  wo- 
men's missionary  societies  be  requested  to  make  it  a  part  of  their 
regular  program  at  their  annual  conventions  and  that  a  place 
be  sought  on  the  program  of  national  conventions  of  the  Epworth 
League  and  Christian  Endeavor  Societies  to  present  the  question 
of  woman's  enfranchisement.  The  valuable  report  of  the  Com- 
mittee on  Industrial  Problems  Relating  to  Women  and  Children 
by  the  chairman,  Mrs.  Clara  Bewick  Colby  (D.  C.)  said  :  "Every- 
one- can  recall  instances  of  discrimination  against  women  by  iac- 
J,  lni>iness  firms,  school  boards  and  municipalities,  making 
it  plain  that  women  are  at  a  disadvantage-  as  non-voting  members 
of  the  community.  As  a  recent  fact  in  regard  to  the  I;M\  eminent 
:ild  cite  the  order  by  1  '<  »simaster-<  ieneral  Payne  that  a  woman 
employee  muM  .L^ive  up  her  po-iliun  ii  >hc  m;irr;  The  report 


Nearly  all  the  appointments  in  the  departments  obtained  hst 
•.omen    were    as    ]>riir'  ^tanls    ;it    ;i    small    salary.       \ 

•c<\  by  the  I'ensinn  <  M'lice  in  si  In   i«i'»J 

women  and    stenographers 


64  HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

and  114  men.  The  Civil  Service  Commissioners  are  compelled  by 
law  to  keep  separate  lists  of  men  and  women  who  have  passed  ex- 
aminations and  must  certify  to  the  appointing  officers  from  either 
list  as  specified  by  the  heads  of  the  bureaus,  so  that  it  is  quite  possible 
for  these  to  keep  women  out  and  fill  the  places  with  voters.  Commis- 
sioner W.  D.  Foulke  not  long  ago  called  the  attention  of  the  chiefs 
of  bureaus  to  the  fact  that  by  taking  from  the  men's  list  down  to  the 
lowest  point  of  eligibility,  while  women  who  passed  with  a  rank  of 
90  and  over  were  not  chosen,  the  Government  was  not  getting  the 
skilled  labor  to  which  it  was  entitled. 

The  continued  defeat  of  child  labor  protection  laws  in  some  of 
the  southern  States  and  the  conditions  of  children  working  in  the 
mines  of  Pennsylvania,  as  shown  in  testimony  before  the  Coal  Strike 
Commission,  show  the  need  of  woman's  help  in  shaping  social  eco- 
nomics and  her  powerlessness  without  the  ballot.  .  .  .  How  can  we 
get  hold  of  the  wage-earning  women  in  mass  and  convince  them  that 
from  their  own  selfish  and  personal  standpoint,  if  from  no  other, 
they  should  join  the  ranks  of  those  that  are  working  for  the  ballot? 
Talented  speakers  from  the  ranks  of  wage-earners  have  thrilled  au- 
diences with  their  impetuous  oratory  but  there  has  been  no  general 
rally  of  working  women  to  secure  the  ballot  for  themselves.  .  .  . 

How  can  we  stimulate  in  women  of  wealth  and  opportunity,  whose 
influence  would  be  invaluable  and  whose  support  might  give  the 
movement  the  financial  backing  it  needs,  a  consciousness  of  the  soli- 
darity of  human  interests,  so  they  will  see  that  from  an  impersonal, 
unselfish  standpoint,  if  they  have  no  personal  need,  they  are  under 
the  most  commanding  obligation  to  add  their  strength  to  ours  to 
make  better  conditions  for  working  women?  We  might  despair  of 
reaching  either  the  overworked,  underpaid  and  unresponsive  \\ 
earner,  or  the  indifferent,  irresponsible  and  almost  inaccessible 
woman  of  fortune,  were  it  not  that  all  along  the  social  line  we  are 
linked  by  one  common  possession,  our  womanhood,  which,  when 
awakened,  is  the  Divine  Motherhood  and  it  is  to  this  we  must  appeal. 

Miss  Anthony  presided  at  the  Friday  evening  public  meeting, 
•which  was  opened  with  prayer  by  the  Rev.  Gilbert  Dobbs,  who 
said :  "We  invoke  Thy  divine  blessing,  O  God,  upon  this  as- 
sembly and  we  rejoice  that  Thou  hast  always  opened  the  way 
for  Thy  consecrated  servants — women — to  do  well  from  the  time 
of  Miriam  and  of  Deborah  to  the  present.  While  not  often  has 
the  call  been  to  women  to  don  armor  and  press  on  to  battle,  yet 
it  may  be  that  Thou  hast  reserved  them  for  the  battle  of  ballots, 
in  which  they  can  secure  victory  for  all  moral  good  and  aid  in 
the  overthrow  of  every  organized  vice  and  infamy,  so  that  there 
shall  be  a  higher  type  of  public  morals  and  nobler  methods  of 
government." 


THE   NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1903  65 

Mrs.  Bennett  spoke  in  her  humorous  and  inimitable  way  on 
The  Authority  of  Women  to  Preach  the  Gospel  of  Christ  in 
Public  Places.  Mrs.  Rachel  Foster  Avery  (Penn.)  under  the 
title  What's  in  a  Name?  told  of  the  efforts  that  were  being  made 
by  the  conservative  women  of  Philadelphia  to  reform  municipal 
conditions  through  Civic  Betterment  Clubs,  not  by  the  ballot  in 
the  hands  of  women  but  through  the  men  voters.  "Yet,  after 
all,"  she  said,  "are  not  these  clubs  doing  good  work  for  woman 
suffrage  under  another  name?  For  as  these  earnest  but  con- 
servative women  find  themselves  in  contact  with  life  at  so  many 
new  points  they  are  getting  so  used  to  all  the  things  -which  go 
to  make  up  that  awful  bugaboo,  'politics,'  that  they  will  soon 
begin  to  realize  that  politics  affects  for  good  or  evil  all  the  things 
which  touch  the  daily  lives  of  every  one  of  them.  After  awhile, 
perhaps  sooner  than  most  of  us  think,  they  will  join  the  ranks 
of  the  wiser  women  -who  are  now  suffragists  and  who  know  that 
they  want  the  vote  and  why  they  want  it." 

Miss  Frances  Griffin  (Ala.)  kept  the  audience  in  a  gale  of 
laughter  from  the  first  to  the  last  of  her  speech,  which  began: 
"My  address  is  put  down  on  the  program  as  'A  Song  or  a 
Sermon.'  It  is  going  to  be  neither,  I  have  changed  my  mind. 
Mrs.  Catt's  address  last  night  furnished  argument  enough  to  lie 
three  feet  deep  all  over  Louisiana  for  three  years." 

The  talented  young  lawyer,  Miss  Gail  Laughlin  (Me.),  gave 
ddress  entitled  The  Open  Door,  during  which  she  said: 

!Trage  is  not  the  ultimate  end  but  it  is  the  golden  door  of  oppor- 
tunity. Through  the  open  door  of  suffrage  the  mother  may  follow 
hild  and  still  guard  him  after  he  passes  the  threshold  of  home, 
ami  through  it  she  can  extend  a  helping  hand  to  mothers  whose  chil- 
dren toil  in  the  mills  of  Alabama,  the  factories  of  the  eastern  States 
and  ;  ]>s  of  New  York.  Through  this  door  the  protected 

en  of  the  world  may  go  out  to  hind  up  the  wounds  of  those  who 
fallen  in  the  battle,  of  life.  .  .  .  The  old-fashioned  Chinese  man 
thought  his  v,  not  beautiful  unless  she  had  little  feet  on  which 

•••tild  not   walk.     Some  of   the  voting  Chinese  are  learning  that 
'i-  a  man  to  have  a  wife  who  can  walk  by  his  side, 
u-rly  men  thought   it   desirable  lhat   a  woman's  mind   should  be 
i.c<].     Tin-  modern  man  is  beginning  to  find  that  it  is  more  satis- 
Of  a  wife  n  woman  wlm^e  mind  can  keep  pace  with 
.omanly  and  dignified   for  women  t<>  sit  in  leg- 
halls  than  to  stand  around  the  lobb  .   This  exclusion  of 


66  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

woman  from  the  government  today  is  a  relic  of  the  dark  ages  when 
they  were  regarded  as  appendages  to  men  and  it  was  even  doubted 
if  they  had  a  soul.  Men  and  women  must  rise  or  fall  together  and 
travel  the  pathway  of  life  side  by  side.  We  shall  not  attain  to  the 
heights  of  freedom  unless  we  have  free  mothers  as  well  as  free 
fathers,  free  daughters  as  well  as  free  sons. 

One  of  the  notable  addresses  of  the  convention  was  that  of 
the  eminent  physician,  Dr.  Henry  Dixon  Bruns — a  lifelong  ad- 
vocate of  woman  suffrage — on  Liberty,  Male  and  Female,  a  part 
of  which  was  as  follows : 

I  can  conceive  of  but  one  watchword  for  a  free  people.  It  is 
written  between  the  lines  of  our  own  constitution  and  underlies  the 
institutions  of  every  liberal  government :  ''Equal  rights  and  opportu- 
nities for  all ;  special  privileges  to  none,"  understanding  by  this  that 
the  Government  shall  protect  all  in  the  enjoyment  of  their  natural 
rights — life,  liberty  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness — and  that  all  who 
measure  up  to  a  certain  standard  shall  have  a  voice  in  shaping  the 
policy  and  choosing  the  agents  of  the  government  under  which  they 
live.  I  can  imagine  none  better  than  that  now  accepted  by  a  ma- 
jority, I  believe,  of  the  American  people,  namely,  evidence  of  witelli- 
gence  and  the  possession  of  a  certain  degree  of  education  and  of 
character  evidenced  by  the  acquirement  of  a  modicum  of  property 
and  the  payment  of  a  minimum  tax.  It  was  for  regulation  of  the  full 
suffrage  in  this  manner  that  I  contended  in  our  constitutional  con- 
vention of  1898,  to  wit:  the  admission  to  tlie  franchise  of  all  women 
possessing  these  qualifications.  I  still  believe  that  this  would  have 
afforded  the  best  solution  of  our  peculiar  difficulties  and  have  spared 
us  the  un-American  subterfuge  of  ''mother  tongue"  and  "grand- 
father" clause.  If  a  vote  could  have  been  taken  immediately  after 
the  notable  address  made  by  your  distinguished  president  before  the 
convention,  I  feel  confident  that  women  would  have  been  admitted  to 
the  suffrage  in  this  State.  .  .  . 

Keep  ever  in  your  mind  that  the  professional  politician  is  your  im- 
placable enemy.  To  him  an  election  is  not  a  process  for  ascertaining 
the  will  of  the  majority  but  a  battle  to  be  won  by  any  strategy  whose 
maneuvers  do  not  end  within  the  walls  of  a  penitentiary.  He  knows 
that  yours  would  be  an  uninfluenceable  vote,  that  you  do  not  loaf  on 
street  corners  or  spend  your  time  in  barrooms  and  he  could  not  "get 
at"  you;  therefore  he  will  never  consent  to  your  enfranchisement 
until  compelled  by  the  gathering  force  of  public  opinion;  then,  as 
usual,  he  will  probably  undergo  a  sudden  change  of  heart  and  be 
found  in  the  forefront  of  your  line  of  battle.  ...  Do  not  rely  upon 
wise  and  eloquent  appeals  to  Legislatures  and  conventions.  It  is  in 
the  campaigns  for  the  election  of  the  legislative  bodies  that  you 
should  marshal  your  forces  and  use  to  the  full  the  all-sufficient  influ- 
ence with  which  your  antagonists  credit  you.  Secure  the  election  of 


THE    NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1903  67 

men  who  do  not  give  up  to  party  all  that  was  meant  for  mankind 
and  your  pleas  are  not  so  likely  to  be  heard  in  vain. 

The  nomination  and  election  of  officers,  both  by  secret  ballot, 
were  almost  unanimous  and  no  change  was  made.  A  cordial 
letter  was  received  from  Miss  Clara  Barton.  Fraternal  greetings 
from  the  Baltimore  Yearly  Meeting  of  Friends  (Quakers)  were 
i^iven  by  Mrs.  Mary  Bentley  Thomas  (Md.)  ;  from  the  Supreme 
I  live  of  the  Ladies  of  the  Maccabees,  the  largest  business  organ- 
ization of  women  in  the  world,  by  Mrs.  Emma  S.  Olds,  (O.)  ; 
and  from  the  Central  Socialist  Club  of  Indiana.  The  report  from 
the  Friends'  Equal  Rights  Association,  an  affiliated  society,  was 
made  by  its  president,  Mrs.  Mariana  W.  Chapman  (N.  Y.).  In 
the  report  for  New  York  by  its  president,  Mrs.  Ella  Hawley 
Crosset,  she  called  attention  to  the  completion  of  the  Fourth 
Volume  of  the  History  of  Woman  Suffrage  by  Miss  Anthony 
and  Mrs.  Ida  Husted  Harper.  During  the  convention  word  was 
received  that  the  Territorial  Legislature  of  Arizona  had  given 
full  suffrage  to  -women  but  before  they  had  time  to  rejoice  a 
second  telegram  announced  that  the  Governor  had  vetoed  it! 
The  resolutions  presented  by  Mr.  Blackwell,  chairman  of  the 
o  'inmittee,  and  adopted,  rejoiced  over  the  extension  of  national 
suffrage  to  all  the  women  of  the  newly  federated  Australian 
States;  noted  the  granting  to  Kansas  women  of  the  right  to  vote 
on  issuing  bonds  for  public  improvement  and  of  an  equal  guar- 
dianship law  in  Massachusetts;  protested  against  "the  recent 

n  of  the  Cincinnati  board  of  health  in  introducing  without 

1  warrant  the  European  system  of  sanctioning  the  social  evil 

.  .  .  the   object    of   a    strong  and   growing   opposition   where- 

it    prevails  and    favored  the  settlement    of  all   national   and 

international  controversies  by  arbitration  and  disapproved  of  war 

relic  of  barbarism."     Mrs.  May  Wright  Scwall  (  hid.  ),  p 
dent  of  tlu-   International  Council  of   \\omcn,  who  had  come  to 
Orleans    to   attend    the   executive   meeting    of    the    National 
of   the    Tinted    States,  as  chairman   of  the    International 

mittee  on  1  Vacc  and  Arbitration,  spoke  earnestly  in   EavOf  of 
this  resolution.    Miss  Nettie  I  ovisa  White  (D.  C.)  \\  a-  appointed 

ite  to  represent  the  association  at  the  Council  meeting. 
1  he  Saturday  evening  public  session,  with  Mrs.  Catt  presiding, 


68  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

was  opened  with  prayer  by  the  Rev.  R.  Wilkinson,  in  which  he 
said:  "Almighty  God,  Thou  hast  always  been  pleased  with 
consecration.  We  pray  Thee  to  look  down  upon  these  people 
gathered  here — the  women  whose  lives  have  been  devoted  to  a 
great  cause.  Send  forth  Thy  light  so  that  they  may  achieve  still 
more  for  Thee.  In  this  work,  men  and  women,  animated  with 
a  noble  purpose,  are  combining  their  forces  to  bring  about  the 
reign  of  righteousness  and  -when  that  comes  it  will  take  all  that 
both  can  do  to  eradicate  the  great  evils  which  men  have  already 
wrought.  .  .  .  God  bless  this  organization  and  may  the 
realization  of  its  hopes  be  not  far  off!  God  bless  the  women 
engaged  in  this  work!  God  knows  that  if  this  city  has  in  any 
way  been  lifted  up,  it  has  been  through  the  efforts  of  noble  wo- 
men. God  bless  them!  We  want  to  feel  that  men  and  women 
are  actuated  by  righteousness  and  are  working  together  to  bring 
about  its  social  and  political  regeneration." 

Dr.  Cora  Smith  Eaton  (Minn.)  thus  began  her  address,  West- 
ward Ho:  "The  geologists  tell  us  that  Louisiana  and  her  sister 
State  Mississippi  are  built  up  of  the  particles  of  earth  brought 
down  by  the  great  river  through  the  Mississippi  valley,"  and  after 
a  picturesque  description  she  said:  "Coming  from  the  source 
of  this  river,  travelling  1,500  miles  to  its  mouth,  I  find  myself 
still  on  my  native  soil  and  I  feel  at  home;  so  all  who  have 
joined  me  on  the  way  down  the  valley  claim  kinship  with  you  of 
New  Orleans."  She  then  paid  tribute  to  the  State  and  its  people 
and  closed :  "O,  men  of  the  South,  your  saviour  is  the  southern 
woman!  Put  into  her  hand  the  ballot  of  full  enfranchisement,  like 
that  you  carry  in  your  own  hand  on  election  day.  Her  interests 
are  identical  with  your  own  and  she  will  hold  your  ideals  sacred 
even  more  loyally  than  you  do  yourselves."  Mr.  Blackwell  gave 
one  of  his  customary  logical  and  carefully  reasoned  addresses  on 
Domestic  Imperialism. 

The  Rev.  Marie  Jenney  (Iowa)  discussed  the  question  Why 
Women  do  Not  Vote.  She  compared  them  to  some  wild  ducks 
that  were  born  in  a  farmyard  and  as  they  were  stepping  timidly 
about  the  farmer  said :  "Them  ducks  can  fly,  they  can  fly  miles, 
but  they  don't  know  it."  "One  reason  why  women  do  not  vote," 
she  said,  "is  the  entire  self-effacement  of  many,  and  another  is 


THE    NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1903  69 

the  kindness  of  many  men.  These  are  lovely  traits  but  they  may 
he  misapplied.  Women  sometimes  efface  themselves  to  an  extent 
that  is  bad  for  their  men  as  well  as  themselves,  and  men  out 
of  mistaken  kindness  shield  their  women  from  responsibilities 
that  it  would  be  better  for  them  to  have."  Mrs.  Virginia  D. 
Young  (S.  C),  owner,  manager  and  editor  of  a  weekly  paper 
in  Fairfax,  announced  her  speech  From  the  Most  Conservative 
State,  hut  she  did  not  say,  as  she  might  have  done,  that  she  had 
leavened  the  State  with  woman  suffrage  sentiment.  Her  address 
wa<  bubbling  over  with  the  humor  which  seems  inherent  with 
Southern  women. 

The  Sunday  services  were  held  at  4  o'clock  in  the  Athenaeum, 
which  was  crowded.    The  Rev.  Anna  Howard  Shaw  gave  the  ser- 
mon from  the  text :  "Hold  fast  that  which  thou  hast,  that  no  man 
take  thy  crown."     The  Rev.  Kate  Hughes  and  the  Rev.  Marie 
Jenney  assisted  in  the  services.     That  morning  the  latter  had 
preached  in  the  Unitarian  church  and  Mr.  and  Miss  Blackwell  had 
spoken   in   the   handsome  Temple   Sinai   to   a  cultured   Jewish 
audience  by  invitation  of  Rabbi  Max  Heller.     A  fine  musical 
service  was  arranged  by  Cantor  Julius  Braunfels.    The  next  day 
i hey  received  from  the  Council  of  Jewish  Women  a  large  bouquet 
ride  roses  and  red  carnations.     Miss  Blackwell  spoke  on  A 
iteous  Reform  and  Mr.  Blackwell  on  A  Modern  Deborah.    He 
a  splendid  tribute  to  the  Jewish  race  and  declared  that  "the 
Hebrew  history  as  recorded  in  the  Old  Testament  has  been  the 
principal  source  of  our  nobler  conception  of  woman's  nature  and 
•iv."     lie  spoke  of  the  prophetess  Miriam,  of  the  daughters 
'"lophehad,  described  the  great  work  of  Deborah  and  said: 
'ivine  Providence,  for  the  guidance  of  mankind, 
•( -d  a  married  woman  to  he  the  supreme  judge,  the  supreme 
<-,  the  commander-in-chief  of  the  army ;  to  lead  the  chosen 
le  in  war  and  peace,  to  rescue  the  nation  from  enslavement 
and  to  rule  over  it  in  peace  and  prosperity  for  forty  years,  may 
that  Me  will  raise  up  in  your  race  modern  Deborahs 
with  the  men  of  their  race  in  the  redemption  of 
;  iean  democracy  from  political  corruption  and  misrule?" 
The  interest  did  not  diminish  during  the  eight  evening  sessions. 
In  his  invocation  Monday  night  the  Rev.  Wallace  T.  Palmer  said : 


7O  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

"O  Lord,  we  account  it  a  high  honor  and  privilege  to  take 
part  in  this  grand  work.  .  .  .  May  those  who  are  to 
speak  tonight  speak  for  Thy  glory  and  honor."  l  Dr.  Shaw  pre- 
sided Monday  and  thus  introduced  the  first  speaker :  "Mrs.  Cath- 
arine Waugh  McCulloch  of  Chicago  is  an  attorney  and  the  wife 
of  an  attorney.  The  sign  on  the  door  is  'McCulloch  and  McCul- 
loch.' My  interest  in  the  firm  dates  from  the  time  when  I  per- 
formed the  ceremony  that  united  them  for  life."  Mrs.  McCul- 
loch began  her  address  on  Woman's  Privileges  by  saying:  "One 
of  the  principal  reasons  why  women  do  not  obtain  the  ballot  is 
because  there  is  rooted  in  the  popular  mind  the  notion  that  now 
the  laws  in  all  respects  are  so  favorable  to  women  and  grant  them 
such  great  privileges  that  they  would  gain  nothing  more  by  a 
vote  but  instead  might  lose  these  privileges.  A  careful  investiga- 
tion of  laws  relating  to  women's  property,  earnings,  rights  of 
action,  eligibility  to  paying  positions,  selection  of  family  home, 
guardianship  of  children  and  many  others  where  women's  inter- 
ests are  involved  shows  that  these  so-called  privileges  usually  give 
women  less  than  men  enjoy  in  the  same  States  and  that  the  vote 
in  their  own  hands  is  the  only  assurance  of  equal  privilege." 
After  referring  to  the  laws  in  other  States  Mrs.  McCulloch  made 
a  thorough  analysis  of  those  relating  to  women  in  Louisiana, 
showing  them  to  be  archaic  and  unjust  and  wholly  without  special 
privileges. 

The  address  of  M.  J.  Sanders,  president  of  the  Progressive 
Union,  was  enthusiastically  received  as  representing  the  best 
thought  of  advanced  Southern  men.  He  said  in  beginning:  "I 
believe  my  own  state  of  mind  on  the  woman  suffrage  question 
when  I  attended  your  first  public  meeting  last  Thursday  evening 
represented  fairly  the  average  male  opinion  in  this  city — one  of 
moderate  ignorance  and  considerable  indifference.  Since  listen- 
ing to  the  addresses  here  I  have  had  my  ignorance  largely  dis- 
pelled and  my  indifference  dissipated,  I  hope  forever.  It  has  been 
my  lot  to  attend  meetings  all  over  the  country  but  never  in  my 
life  have  I  heard  such  eloquence,  such  logic  and  such  glorious 
oratory  as  in  this  hall  during  this  convention.  A  cause  that  can 

1  Quotations  are  given  from  each  of  the  opening  prayers  because  each  of  them  endorsed 
woman  suffrage. 


THE    NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1903  71 

bring  forth  such  talent  and  devotion  must  have  in  it  a  great 
truth.  ...  I  have  come  now  to  see  that  the  franchise  is 
not  an  end  but  a  means  to  an  end ;  that  the  object  of  these  women 
is  not  merely  to  escape  injustice  done  to  themselves  but  to  be 
able  to  take  part  in  the  great  -work  of  reform  which  is  calling 
for  the  best  energies  of  the  nation.  I  have  seen  sufficient  of  the 
women  who  are  working  in  this  fight  for  suffrage  to  believe  that 
hand-in-hand  with  earnest  men,  as  co-workers  and  equals,  in  no 
way  subordinate,  they  can  furnish  brains  and  power  to  remove 
a  vast  load  of  the  iniquities  and  inequalities  of  life  and  even 
in  our  generation  lift  this  country  to  a  plane  of  civilization  where- 
in the  masses  shall  have  a  chance  for  happiness  and  freedom." 
In  explaining  the  absence  of  Dr.  Julia  Holmes  Smith  of  Chi- 

.  Dr.  Shaw  said :  "She  is  detained  because  of  illness  of  her 
husband  and  like  a  good  wife  she  puts  him  first  and  the  con- 
vention second."  Mrs.  Charlotte  Perkins  Oilman  (N.  Y.)  spoke 
on  the  Duties  of  Today,  outlining  her  address  by  saying:  "The 
strongest  feeling  of  most  women  is  the  sense  of  duty.  The  reason 
they  do  not  see  the  practicability  and  immediate  need  of  suffrage 
is  because  they  do  not  see  the  duty  of  it.  There  is  a  gradual 
development  of  the  sense  of  duty.  The  first  duty  that  we  rec- 
ognize is  that  of  self-preservation — our  duty  to  ourselves.  Then 
comes  duty  to  our  own,  to  our  family,  to  those  dear  to  us, 

re  which  duty  to  self  must  and  does  go  down  unfailingly. 
These  two  duties  to  one's  self  and  to  one's  family  are  the  founda- 
tion but  they  are  the  beginning  of  life,  not  the  end  of  it.     Next 
<>cial    duty.  ...  In    America    we    rank    high    in    per- 

1  and   family  virtues  but  not  in  public  virtues.     Our  great 

r  the  deep  and  broad  civic  virtues.   .   .  ." 
An  interesting  symposium  took  place  one  afternoon  on  The 

\  of  Women    in    Municipal    Politics,    with    the    following 

Mis.  Marie  Louise  Graham  (La.),  City  Politics  is  but 

a   I'.r«>a«ler   Housekeeping;  Mrs.   Carrie  E.  Kent   (D.   C),  The 

;e — the  Ballot  the  Only  Weapon  for  its  Defence ;  the  Rev. 
Hughes  (111.),  Justice  Dictates,  Kxpediency  Confirms;  Dr. 

ih  M.  Siewers  (O.),  Men's  and  Women's  Votes  the  Only 

C  Basis  of  Reform;  Miss  Laura  I-'.,  (iregg  (Kans.),  The  Step 
Stone  to  a  Ye*  Untried    System    of    Government;    Mrs. 


7*  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

Lucretia  L.  Blankenburg  (Perm.),  Municipal  Corruption  under 
the  Present  System  a  National  Disgrace.  Each  topic  was  treated 
in  a  keen,  incisive  manner.  Miss  Gregg  described  the  practical 
benefit  that  the  women's  municipal  vote  had  been  to  Kansas.  Dr. 
Siewers  gave  a  dramatic  illustration  of  the  need  of  women's  votes 
in  her  own  city  of  Cincinnati,  which  applied  with  equal  force  to 
all  cities.  Mrs.  Blankenburg  emphasized  all  that  had  been  said 
by  an  account  of  conditions  in  Philadelphia,  saying : 

Franchises  worth  millions  of  dollars  are  given  away  to  the  faithful. 
( 'on tracts  arc  let  to  those  who  will  divide  with  high  officials;  they  are 
granted  to  the  highest  "responsive"  and  not  to  the  lowest  "respon- 
sible" bidder.  Merchants  of  vice  are  licensed  and  protected.  The 
police  are  ordered  to  l>e  blind  when  they  should  see  keenest.  Nearly 
every  office  has  its  price.  Even  school  teachers  are  blackmailed  and 
forced  to  pay  for  their  appointment  and  civil  service  fades  before 
political  influence.  The  assessors'  lists  are  padded  by  tens  of  thou- 
sands of  dollars  and  majorities  are  returned  to  keep  the  "machine" 
and  the  party  it  represents  in  power,  regardless  of  the  actual  vote 
cast.  .  .  .  The  cry  of  the  reformer  is,  "We  must  waken  the  better 
element  to  save  our  cities.  We  must  make  honesty  and  morality  the 
supreme  question  in  our  politics."  Who  represents  these  if  not 
women  ?  .  .  .  Let  us  f  qr  the  moment  think  of  a  great  city  where  the 
mothers  have  a  voice  in  the  laws  which  are  designed  to  protect  the 
children  and  the  interests  of  the  home.  Imagine  the  burdens  of  city 
housekeeping  bring  shared  with  the  women  who  by  training  are  expert 
housekeepers.  Picture  a  council  meeting  composed  of  fathers  and 
mothers  discussing  ordinances  to  promote  honesty  and  virtue,  pre- 
vent vice  and  extinguish  corruption.  When  this  time  comes,  we 
shall  have  less  municipal  depravity  and  shall  prove  to  the  world  that 
our  experiment  in  democracy  is  not  a  failure. 

Dr.  Augusta  Stowe-Gullen,  a  prominent  physician  of  Toronto 
and  an  early  suffragist,  who  had  come  as  a  fraternal  delegate 
from  the  Canadian  Association,  spoke  of  the  excellent  results 
of  the  School  and  Municipal  vote  in  the  hands  of  women.  "We 
have  better  officials,"  she  said,  "and  therefore  less  dishonesty  but 
the  greatest  gain  has  been  in  the  educative  and  broadening  effect 
on  women  and  men.  The  polls,  which  used  to  be  even  in  old 
stables,  are  now  in  the  school  houses  and  the  general  tone  of 
elections  has  been  improved."  Later  Dr.  Stowe-Gullen  gave  a 
long  and  thoughtful  address  at  an  evening  session  on  The  Evolu- 
tion of  Government. 

The  Memorial  Service  on  March  21  was  opened  with  prayer 


THE    NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1903  73 

by  the  Rev.  Marie  Jenney  and  the  singing  of  "The  Lord  is  my 
shepherd,"  by  Miss  Gordon.  Mrs.  Catt,  who  presided,  paid 
eloquent  tribute  to  those  who  had  died  during  the  year,  among 
them  Mrs.  Esther  Morris,  to  whom  the  women  of  Wyoming  were 
principally  indebted  for  the  suffrage  in  1869;  t°  the  Hon.  Thomas 

'eed  of  Maine,  one  of  the  most  distinguished  Speakers  of 
the  lower  House  of  Congress  and  always  a  staunch  supporter 
of  \\-oman  suffrage;  to  Madame  Sophie  Levovna  Friedland,  dele- 
gate from  Russia  to  the  International  Woman  Suffrage  Confer- 
ence the  preceding  year,  who  died  soon  after  returning  home ;  to 
Dr.  Hannah  Longshore,  the  first  woman  physician  in  Philadelphia, 
and  told  of  the  bitter  opposition  she  had  to  overcome,  adding: 
"She  gave  to  the  Pennsylvania  Association  its  splendid  president, 
her  daughter,  Mrs.  Blankenburg."  Mrs.  Catt  spoke  also  of  Mrs. 
Cornelia  Collins  Hussey  of  New  Jersey  and  her  boundless  gen- 
erosity, saying:  "Often  and  often  she  sent  a  hundred  dollars 
tn  our  treasury  with  a  note:  'I  have  just  sold  a  piece  of  real 
rotate  and  I  want  to  give  a  part  of  the  proceeds  to  the  suffrage 
cati^e.' '  Miss  Blackwell  added  to  the  tribute:  "A  quiet  woman 
of  Quaker  blood,  never  seeking  office  or  prominence,  she  came 
to  the  relief  of  our  distressed  officers  on  innumerable  occasions. 
She  once  told  me  that  there  were  many  who  could  write  and 
speak  for  equal  suffrage  but  that  the  Lord  seemed  to  have  given 
her  only  one  talent,  that  of  making  money,  and  she  meant  to 
use  it  for  the  cause.  .  .  .  She  was  a  great  believer  in  preaching  the 
1  of  reform  through  the  printed  page  and  she  and  her 

hter.  Dr.  Mary  D.  Hussey,  who  was  like-minded  with  her, 
sent  out  probably  more  equal  suffrage  literature  than  any 

r  two  women  in  the  United  States.    She  placed  the  Woman's 

••'(il  in  a  great  number  of  college  reading-rooms  and  sent  it  far 

and  wifle.     During  the  thirty-three  years  that  the  paper  has  been 

shod — and  published  always  at  a  financial  loss — she  has  been 

>f  its  most  steadfast  and  generous  friends."  * 

"The  palm  of  victory  has  come  this  year  to  Elizabeth  Cady 

iid  Mrs.  Catt,  "but  though  she  has  gone  it  is  still 

to  have  her  friend  and  co-worker,  Susan  B.  Anthony, 

•  Mr*.  Hussey  left  a  bequest  of  $10,000  to  the  National   American  Woman   Suffrage 


74  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

and  I  echo  the  prayer  of  every  heart  that  she  may  be  here  till 
all  women  are  enfranchised."  Miss  Anthony  was  most  affection- 
ately greeted  and  said:  "I  feel  indeed  as  if  a  part  of  my  life  had 
gone.  Mrs.  Stanton  always  said  that  when  the  parting  came 
she  wanted  me  to  go  first,  so  that  she  might  write  my  eulogy.  I 
am  not  a  'word-artist,'  as  she  was,  and  I  can  not  give  hers  in 
fitting  terms."  She  read  from  the  last  volume  of  the  History 
of  Woman  Suffrage  extracts  from  her  great  speeches  and  related 
a  number  of  instances  showing  her  characteristics.  Dr.  Shaw 
then  began  a  eulogy,  which  can  only  be  marred  in  quoting  from 
memory,  by  saying:  "Mrs.  Stanton,  Miss  Anthony  and  Lucy 
Stone  held  up  the  standard  of  truth  and  when  they  were  urged 
to  lower  it  in  order  to  suit  the  ideas  of  the  world  they  answered : 
'We  will  not  lower  our  standard  to  the  level  of  your  -world  ;  bring 
the  world  up  to  the  standard.'  ...  I  shall  always  be  thank- 
ful that  I  lived  in  the  present  age  and  knew  these  women 
who  never  quailed  in  the  face  of  danger.  The  side  of  Mrs.  Stan- 
ton  that  I  like  best  to  think  of  is  her  home  life,  her  family  affec- 
tions and  her  friendships.  I  was  once  a  guest  for  several  days 
in  the  same  house  with  her  and  other  leaders  and  she  was  so 
vivacious,  so  fresh,  so  full  of  joy  of  life  that  it  was  delightful 
to  he  with  her.  She  was  so  witty  that  no  one  wanted  to  leave 
the  room  a  minute  for  fear  of  losing  something  she  might  say. 
I  used  to  love  to  see  her  after  she  took  a  nap;  though  so  advanced 
in  years  she  would  always  awaken  -with  a  look  of  wonder  and 
pleasure  like  a  child  just  gazhig  out  upon  life." 

Tributes  also  were  paid  to  Mrs.  Alice  Freeman  Palmer  of 
Massachusetts;  Mrs.  Thomas  M.  Patterson  of  Colorado;  the  Hon. 
Albert  H.  Horton  of  Kansas;  Mrs.  Addie  M.  Johnson  of  Mis- 
souri; Miss  Anna  C.  Mott  of  Ohio;  the  Hon.  Lester  H.  Hum- 
phrey and  Mrs.  Hannah  L.  Howland  of  New  York;  Dr.  Marie 
Zakrzewska  of  Massachusetts  and  other  workers  in  the  cause. 
Mrs.  Oilman  closed  the  services  by  reading  her  beautiful  memo- 
rial poem,  In  Honor,  -written  for  the  occasion. 

A  unique  feature  of  the  convention  which  lightened  its  serious 
tone  was  Dr.  Shaw's  "question  box,'*  into  which  any  one  might 
drop  a  question  and  at  intervals  she  would  take  them  out  and 

.tppivciations  of  Mrs.   Stanton   ><  e  Appendix. 


THE    NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1903  75 

answer  them  on  the  spur  of  the  moment  to  the  delight  of  her 
audience.  "If  women  voted,"  -was  one  of  them,  "would  they  not 
have  to  sit  on  juries?*'  "Many  women  would  be  glad  of  a  chance 
to  sit  on  anything,"  she  answered  with  a  smile.  "There  are  wo- 
men who  stand  up  and  wash  six  days  in  the  week  at  75  cents  a 
day  who  would  like  to  take  a  vacation  and  sit  on  a  jury  at  $1.50. 
Some  women  would  like  to  sit  on  a  jury  at  the  trial  of  the  sharks 
that  live  by  corrupting  boys  and  girls.  It  would  be  easier  for  a 
woman  to  sit  on  a  jury  and  send  to  the  penitentiary  the  men 
•who  are  trying  to  ruin  her  boy  than  to  be  always  watching  the 
hoy."  Another  question  was:  "Have  not  men  a  better  right 
to  the  suffrage  because  they  have  to  support  the  family?"  She 
answered :  "It  is  fallacy  to  say  that  the  men  support  the  women. 
The  men  by  their  industry  provide  the  raw  material  and  the 
women  by  their  industry  turn  it  into  clothing  and  nourishment. 
When  my  father  sent  home  a  barrel  of  flour  my  mother  did  not 
lead  us  eight  youngsters  up  to  that  barrel  of  raw  flour  at  meal- 
time and  say,  'Children,  here  is  your  dinner.'  When  he  bought 
a  bolt  of  cloth  she  did  not  take  that  bolt  of  cloth  and  wind  it 
around  us  and  say,  'Children,  here  are  the  clothes  your  father 
has  sent  you.'  The  woman  has  always  done  her  full  share  of 
supporting  the  family.  In  the  South  under  the  old  regime  she 
bore  more  than  an  equal  part  of  the  care,  for  the  planter  could 
hire  an  overseer  for  the  plantation  work  but  the  wife  could  not 

one  for  the  work  of  the  house." 

Notwithstanding  the  utmost  care  and  tact  on  the  part  of  those 
who  had  the  convention  in  charge  the  "color  question"  kept  crop- 
out.  Finally  Dr.  Shaw  said :  "Here  is  a  query  that  has  been 
dropped  in  the  box  again  and  again  and  now  I  am  asked  if  I  am 
afraid  to  answer  it:  'Will  not  woman  suffrage  make  the  black 
woman  the  political  equal  of  the  white  woman  and  does  not 
I>olitical  equality  mean  social  equality?'  If  it  does  then  the  men 
by  1  both  white  and  black  women  disfranchised  have 

already  e-tahlMied  social  equality!"    The  question  was  not  asked 
again. 

One  of  the  able  addresses  during  the  convention  was  that  of 
Mala  Hammond  I'.utt.  president  of  the  Mississippi  Suffi 
iation,  entitled,  Restricted  Suffrage  from  a  Southern  Point 


76  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

of  View.  After  referring  to  the  man's  all-mastering  desire  for 
liberty  from  the  early  history  of  the  race  the  speaker  said :  "Did 
•women  not  share  with  men  this  craving  for  freedom,  then  would 
they  justly  be  reckoned  as  unnatural  and  unworthy  members  of 
the  human  family,  but  the  same  red  blood  pulses  in  our  veins  as 
in  yours,  fathers,  sons,  brothers;  we  are  alive  to  the  same  im- 
pulses, our  souls  are  kindled  by  the  same  aspirations  as  are  yours. 
Why  should  this,  our  ambition,  be  held  in  leash  by  the  same  bond 
that  holds  the  ignorant,  the  illiterate,  the  vicious,  the  irresponsible 
in  the  human  economy?  What  does  the  idea  of  government 
imply  ?  The  crystallized  sentiments  of  an  intelligent  people  ?  Then 
do  we  meet  it  with  hut  half  a  truth." 

The  speaker  denounced  with  much  severity  the  I4th  and 
T5th  Amendments  and  said  that  by  the  restrictive  educational 
qualifications  now  so  generally  adopted  in  the  southern  States  the 
spirit  of  the  amendments  had  been  practically  set  at  naught.  "It 
was  born  of  the  instinct  of  self-preservation,"  she  said,  but  she 
deplored  the  political  crimes  it  made  possible  and  continued : 
"There  is  an  undercurrent  of  thought  that  recognizes  in  its  true 
proportions  the  value  of  an  educated  suffrage  to  the  South,  a 
restriction  based  not  upon  color,  race  or  previous  condition  of 
servitude,  not  upon  sex,  not  upon  the  question  of  taxable  prop- 
erty, but  its  sole  requirement  is  the  ability  to  perform  worthily 
the  functions  of  citizenship.  This  is  the  only  honorable  solution 
of  those  questions  that  are  vexing  not  only  the  body  political  but 
the  body  social  of  this  Southern  country." 

Mrs.  Butt's  speech  was  one  of  a  symposium  on  the  question : 
Would  an  educational  qualification  for  all  voters  tend  to  the 
growth  of  civilization  and  facilitate  good  government?  Mrs. 
Hackstaff  discussed  The  Relation  which  Government  Bears  to 
Civilization,  saying:  "The  government  which  will  increase  social 
and  individual  development  most  is  the  best.  Progress  depends 
on  whether  the  government  will  give  the  opportunity  for  such 
development.  The  one  that  serves  the  people  best  is  the  one  that 
strengthens  them  by  letting  them  take  part  in  it."  Mrs.  Eleanor 
C.  Stockman  (Iowa)  spoke  strongly  on  Suffrage  a  Human 
Right,  not  a  Privilege;  Mrs.  Clara  B.  Arthur  (Mich.)  on  A  Dis- 
franchised Class  a  Menace  to  Self  Government ;  Mrs.  Mary  Wood 


THE    NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1903  77 

Swift  (Calif.)  on  Abolishment  of  Illiteracy,  Its  Ultimate  In- 
fluence. After  calling  attention  to  "the  mass  of  ignorant  immi- 
grants who  almost  go  from  the  steerage  to  the  polls" ;  to  the  en- 
franchisement of  the  half-civilized  Indian;  to  that  of  paupers, 
delinquents  and  defectives,  she  said : 

All  this  great  mass  of  ignorance  goes  into  the  electoral  hopper  and 
the  marvel  is  that  no  worse  quality  of  grist  is  turned  out.  It  is  true 
that  the  chief  political  schemers  are  by  no  means  illiterate  but  it  is 
upon  illiteracy  in  the  mass  that  they  must  depend  to  carry  out  their 
plans.  An  ignorant  voter  may  be  an  honest  one  but  unless  he  is 
intelligent  enough  to  study  public  questions  for  himself  he  is  an 
easy  prey  for  the  political  sharper.  It  is  beyond  the  power  of  the 
pen  to  portray  what  a  magnificent  government  would  be  possible 
with  an  educated  electorate.  The  idea  can  be  approximated  only 
when  we  consider  how  much  we  have  been  able  to  accomplish  even 
with  all  the  inefficiency,  vice  and  ignorance  which  are  permitted  to 
express  their  will  at  the  polls. 

It  is  because  we  have  a  noble  ideal  for  the  future  of  our  govern- 
ment that  we  make  our  demand  for  woman  suffrage.  We  point  to 
the  official  statistics  for  proof  that  there  are  more  white  women  in 
the  United  States  than  colored  men  and  women  together ;  that  there 
are  more  American-born  women  than  foreign-born  men  and  women 
combined;  that  women  form  only  one-eleventh  of  the  criminals  in 
the  jails  and  penitentiaries ;  that  they  compose  more  than  two-thirds 
of  the  church  membership,  and  that  the  percentage  of  illiteracy  is 
much  less  among  women  than  among  men.  Therefore  we  urge 
that  this  large  proportion  of  patriotism,  temperance,  morality,  re- 
i  and  intelligence  may  be  allowed  to  impress  itself  upon  the 
government  through  the  medium  of  the  ballot-box. 

Mrs.   Ida  Porter  Boyer  substituted  for  her  own  address  on 
L'niversal  Suffrage  a  Pretence  a  paper  sent  by  Rudolph  Blanken- 
burg,  one  of  Philadelphia's  most  distinguished  citizens,  entitled: 
but  Intelligence,  in  which  he  said : 

it  universal  suffrage — an  arrant  misnomer — lias  fallen  short  of 
veil-meant  original  purpose  is  beyond  dispute.    We  sec  its  bane- 
ful effect  in  municipal,   State  and   national  government     The  un- 
lelcd  political  corruption  in  most  of  our  large  cities,  the  narrow- 
of  pnhlic  men  in  State  and  nation,  whose  horizon  is  bounded 

:nits  of  their  home  districts  or  their  own  sordid   pur] 
regardless  of  public  interests,  find  their  culmination  in  the  highest 
legislative  body  of  our  land.    They  crowd  seats  of  mental  giants 

red  statesmen  of  former  days  with  golden  pigmies  or  political 

men  of  recent  growth  and  ran  he  directly  traced  to  our  de- 

nnchisc  It  permits  the  vote  of  the  intelligent,  law- 


78  HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

abiding,  industrious  and  public-spirited  to  be  overcome  by  that  of 
the  ignorant,  vicious,  purchasable,  lazy  and  indifferent.  The  ranks 
of  the  latter  are  largely  reinforced  by  the  "stay-at-homes,"  who  are 
a  permanent  menace  to  good  government.  .  .  .  Thinking  people 
agree  that  some  qualification  should  be  exacted  from  all  voters.  The 
absurdity  of  the  intelligent,  tax  paying  but  disfranchised  woman 
being  governed  by  the  vote  of  the  illiterate,  shiftless  loafer  or  pauper 
would  be  laughable  were  it  not  so  serious.  An  educational  qualifi- 
cation should  be  a  paramount  requisite.  .  .  . 

Mr.  Blankenburg  gave  statistics  of  the  illiterates  in  the  United 
States  and  said :  "An  educational  qualification,  wisely  considered, 
would  within  a  few  years  entirely  obliterate  the  whole  mass  of 
this  species  of  undesirable  voters.  The  right  of  suffrage  can  not 
and  should  not  be  taken  from  those  who  at  present  legally  enjoy 
it.  All  women  of  legal  age  with  the  proposed  educational  require- 
ments should  be  enfranchised  without  delay  but  laws  should  be 
enacted  demanding  that  all  citizens,  men  and  women  alike,  pre- 
senting themselves  to  cast  their  ballot  after  1910  must  be  able  to 
read  and  write.  If  the  women  suffragists  will  base  their  claim  to 
vote  upon  the  broad  ground  of  good  government  and  not  demai id 
suffrage  for  the  ignorant  woman  because  it  is  exercised  by  the 
ignorant  man,  they  -will  make  ten  friends  where  they  now 
have  one." 

The  audience  had  the  northern  and  the  southern  point  of  view 
on  Educated  Suffrage.  Mrs.  Oilman,  who  spoke  on  whether  it 
would  serve  the  best  interests  of  the  laboring  classes,  was  alone 
in  objecting  to  it.  "Will  exclusion  from  the  suffrage  educate  and 
improve  the  illiterate  masses  more  quickly  than  the  use  of  it?" 
she  asked.  "We  shall  educate  them  sooner  if  we  dread  their 
votes  and  this  is  our  work  in  common."  A  great  deal  of  senti- 
ment -was  developed  in  favor  of  an  educational  requirement  for 
the  suffrage  and  an  informal  rising  vote  showed  only  five  opposed, 
but  most  of  the  officers  were  absent.  This  vote  was  due  largely 
to  the  southern  delegates  and  to  the  arguments  which  had  been 
made  for  its  necessity  in  this  section  of  the  country.  The  policy 
of  the  association  had  always  been  and  continued  to  be  to  ask 
and  work  only  for  the  removal  of  the  sex  qualification. 

One  of  the  most  popular  speakers  was  Mrs.  Elizabeth  M.  Gil- 
mer,  known  far  and  wide  as  "Dorothy  Dix,"  whose  home  was 


THE    NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1903  7Q 

in  New  Orleans.  Her  address,  quaintly  entitled  The  Woman 
with  the  Broom,  filled  more  than  four  columns  of  the  Woman's 
Journal  and  an  adequate  idea  of  its  wise  philosophy  illuminated 
with  the  sparkling  wit  for  which  she  was  renowned  cannot  be 
conveyed  by  quotations.  "A  few  years  ago,"  she  said,  "a  famous 
poet  roused  the  compassion  of  the  world  by  portraying  the  tragedy 
of  hopeless  toil  by  the  Man  with  the  Hoe.  He  might  have  found 
nearer  home  a  better  illustration  of  the  work  that  is  never  done, 
that  has  no  inspiration  to  lighten  it  and  looks  for  no  appreciation 
to  glorify  it,  in  the  Woman  with  a  Broom."  "She  is  understudy 
to  a  perpetual  motion  machine,"  was  one  of  her  epigrams.  She 
referred  to  the  many  successful  business  and  professional  women 
at  the  convention  and  said : 

But  I  am  not  here  to  speak  for  the  wage-earning  woman,  she  can 
speak  for  herself.  My  plea  is  not  for  justice  for  her  but  for  the 
domestic  woman — the  woman  who  is  the  mainstay  of  the  world,  who 
is  back  of  every  great  enterprise  and  who  makes  possible  the  achieve- 
ments of  men — the  woman  behind  the  broom,  who  is  the  hardest- 
worked  and  worst-paid  laborer  on  the  face  of  the  earth.  .  .  . 

Of  the  housekeeper  we  demand  a  universal  genius.  We  don't  ex- 
pect that  our  doctor  shall  be  a  good  lawyer  or  our  lawyer  under- 
stand medicine ;  we  don't  expect  a  preacher  to  know  about  stocks  or 
a  stockbroker  to  have  a  soul ;  but  we  think  the  woman  who  is  at  the 
head  of  a  family  is  a  rank  failure  unless  she  is  a  pretty  good  doctor 
and  trained  nurse  and  dressmaker  and  financier.  She  must  be  able 
to  settle  disputes  among  the  children  with  the  inflexible  impartiality 
Supreme  Justice;  she  must  be  a  Spurgeon  in  expounding  the 
Bible  to  simple  souls  and  leading  them  to  heaven;  she  must  be  a 
greater  surgeon  than  Dr.  Lorenz,  for  she  must  know  how  to  kiss  a 
hurt  and  make  it  well;  she  must  be  a  Russell  Sage  in  petticoats, 
who  can  make  $i  do  the  work  of  $2,  and  when  she  gets  through 
combining  all  of  these  nerve-wrecking  professions  we  don't  think 
that  she  has  done  a  thing  but  enjoy  herself.  It  is  only  when  some- 
thing happens  to  the  housekeeper  we  realize  that  she  is  the  kingpin 
who  holds  the  universe  together. 

very  injustice  is  the  prolific  mother  of  wrongs,"  said  Mrs. 
fiilmer,  "and  the  fact  that  the  woman  with  the  broom  is  neither 
sufficiently  appreciated  nor  decently  paid  brings  its  own  train  of 
i-viK.  It  is  at  the  bottom  of  the  distaste  girls  have  for  domestic 
pursuits  and  the  frantic  mania  of  -women  for  seeking  some  kind 
of  a  'career.'  "  She  thus  concluded: 


80  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

Always,  always  it  is  the  frantic  cry  for  financial  independence,  the 
demand  of  the  worker  for  her  wage ;  the  futile,  bitter  protest  of  the 
woman  with  the  broom  against  the  injustice  of  taking  her  work 
without  pay.  Men  will  say  that  in  supporting  their  wives,  in  fur- 
nishing them  with  houses  and  food  and  clothes,  they  are  giving  the 
women  as  much  money  as  they  could  ever  hope  to  earn  by  any  other 
profession.  I  grant  it;  but  between  the  independent  wage-earner  and 
the  one  who  is  given  his  keep  for  his  services  is  the  difference  be- 
tween the  free-born  and  the  chattel.  .  .  .  The  present  state  of  affairs 
brings  about  a  disastrous  condition  in  the  woman's  world  of  labor, 
so  that  the  woman  wage-earner  must  not  only  compete  with  the  man 
worker  but  with  the  domestic  woman  who  has  her  home  and  clothes 
supplied  her  and  who  does  things  on  the  side  in  order  to  get  a  little 
money  that  she  may  spend  as  she  pleases.  .  .  .  When  men  grow 
just  enough  to  abandon  the  idea  that  keeping  house  and  doing  the 
family  sewing  and  rearing  children  is  a  "snap"  and  not  a  profession; 
when  they  grow  broad  enough  to  realize  that  the  woman  with  the 
broom  is  a  laborer  just  as  much  worthy  of  her  hire  as  a  typewriter, 
we  shall  have  fewer  women  yearning  to  go  out  into  the  world  and 
earn  a  few  dollars  of  spending  money. 

Edwin  Merrick,  the  son  of  a  Chief  Justice  of  Louisiana  and 
Mrs.  Caroline  E.  Merrick,  its  pioneer  suffragist,  began  his  address 
on  A  Political  Anomaly  by  referring  to  the  distinguished  women 
he  had  been  privileged  to  meet  in  his  home.  He  spoke  of  the 
constitution  drawn  up  on  the  Mayflower  to  give  equal  liberty  to 
all  without  the  slightest  conception  of  what  true  liberty  really 
meant,  and  of  the  larger  conception  of  it  which  was  imbedded  in 
the  Declaration  of  Independence  and  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States.  "But,"  he  said,  "while  the  words  were  there, 
slavery  still  existed  and  the  people  of  the  Union  were  slowly  led 
to  see  the  handwriting  on  the  wall  and  slavery  had  to  go.  Had 
the  great  leader  of  his  day,  Abraham  Lincoln,  been  preserved  to 
help  shape  the  destinies  of  this  country,  what  followed  would  no" 
have  happened."  He  then  spoke  of  the  crime  of  enfranchising 
"a  horde  of  ignorant  negro  men  when  at  that  time  there  were 
nearly  4,000,000  intelligent  white  women  keenly  alive  to  the  inter- 
ests of  their  country  to  whom  the  ballot  was  denied."  He 
sketched  the  steady  degeneration  of  national  and  State  politics 
and  exposed  the  conditions  in  Louisiana.  He  showed  how  the 
reforms  that  had  been  accomplished  had  been  largely  aided  by 
women  and  concluded : 


THE    NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1903  8l 

If  we  concede  that  women  have  any  moral  strength,  and  it  has 
been  conceded  from  the  time  whereof  the  memory  of  man  runneth 
not  to  the  contrary,  I  now  ask  the  question:  Is  there  any  one  place 
in  the  universe  where  moral  strength  and  moral  character  are  more 
needed  than  in  modern  politics  under  a  republican  form  of  govern- 
ment? In  some  of  our  western  States  we  have  already  seen  what 
the  women  can  do  and  the  day  will  come  when  they  will  vote  with 
us  just  as  they  read  with  us,  talk  with  us,  ride  with  us  and  consult 
with  us.  The  most  important  object  of  our  Government  is  educa- 
tion. The  most  important  part  of  education  is  the  education  of  the 
young.  The  most  important  factor  in  education  of  the  young  is 
woman's  influence,  and  when  it  comes  to  saying  who  shall  decide 
upon  the  proper  laws  for  the  education  of  children,  the  women  of 
Louisiana  or  the  intelligent  wiseacres  who  have  in  this  State  emascu- 
lated civil  service,  massacred  the  Australian  ballot  and  assaulted  with 
intent  to  kill  each  and  every  measure  which  looks  to  the  improve- 
ment of  the  State,  we  give  our  answer  in  no  uncertain  terms. 

Miss  Mary  N.  Chase,  president  of  the  New  Hampshire  Suf- 
frage Association,  made  an  earnest  plea  for  the  enfranchisement 
of  women,  "the  natural  guardians  and  protectors  of  the  home. 
It  will  strengthen  their  minds  and  broaden  their  intellects  and  ren- 
der them  more  fit  for  its  government,"  she  said,  "and  until  women 
join  -with  men  in  exercising  the  sacred  right  of  the  franchise  we 
cannot  hope  for  the  dawn  of  the  kingdom  of  God  on  the  earth." 
A  letter  was  read  from  Mrs.  Harriot  Stanton  Blatch  iir^in^  that 
for  a  year  the  organization  should  be  used  nationally  and  locally 
to  pursue  and  punish  political  corruption.  "The  women  in  our 
association,"  she  said,  "are  trained  to  political  action;  we  have 
had  long  experience  in  self-control;  defeat  has  taught  us  its 
lessons  of  poise ;  devotion  to  a  great  principle  has  given  us  a  faith 
almost  religious  in  its  optimism."  The  men  were  taking  no  con- 
certed action  to  protect  the  republic  against  this  menace,  she 
thought,  and  the  task  seemed  to  be  left  to  the  women. 

The  formal  address  of  Dr.  Shaw  on  The  Modern  Democratic 

1  made  a  profound  impression  but  no  record  of  it  exists  except 

in  newspaper  clippings.     She  began  by  saying:  "It  is  impossible 

ie  woman  question  without  discussing  also  the  man 

ion.     What  is   fundamental  to  one  is   fundamental  to  the 

argued  by  some  that  on  account  of  the  difference  in 

istics  between  men  and  women  man  who  ought 

to  govern.    They  are  mistaken.     It  is  now  recognized  that  tin 


82  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

and  noblest  men  and  women  are  those  in  whom  the  different  char- 
acteristics of  each  sex  are  most  harmoniously  blended.  The  mod- 
ern democratic  ideal  illustrates  this  fact.  It  is  greatly  different 
from  the  ancient  democratic  ideal,  as  neither  Plato  nor  Aristotle 
nor  Dante  had  a  place  in  their  ideals  for  the  common  people,  but 
when  the  French  Revolution  startled  the  world  -with  the  idea  of 
human  rights,  of  natural  rights  common  to  all,  there  sprang  into 
life  the  conception  of  the  same  ideal  among  the  men  of  our  own 
country."  Dr.  Shaw  traced  the  progress  of  democratic  ideals  in 
this  country  from  the  early  days  of  the  republic  when  property 
and  not  manhood  constituted  the  prerequisite  for  representation. 
She  spoke  in  glowing  terms  of  the  pure  democracy  of  Thomas 
Jefferson,  who  extended  its  privileges  to  the  great  masses  of  the 
people.  "This  ideal  has  been  growing,"  she  said,  "it  will  never 
stop  growing,  developing,  widening  and  changing  and  it  must 
ultimately  extend  to  women  citizens  the  same  rights  in  the  govern- 
ment that  men  have.  This  is  the  2Oth  century  idea  of  democracy." 
The  address  of  Miss  Belle  Kearney,  Mississippi's  famous  ora- 
tor, was  a  leading  feature  of  the  last  evening's  program — The 
South  and  Woman  Suffrage.  It  began  with  a  comprehensive 
review  of  the  part  the  South  had  had  in  the  development  of  the 
nation  from  its  earliest  days.  "During  the  seventy-one  years 
reaching  from  Washington's  administration  to  that  of  Lincoln," 
she  said,  "the  United  States  was  practically  under  the  domination 
of  southern  thought  and  leadership."  She  showed  the  record 
southern  leaders  had  made  in  the  wars;  she  traced  the  progress 
of  slavery,  which  began  alike  in  the  North  and  South  but  proved 
unnecessary  in  the  former,  and  told  of  the  enormous  struggle  for 
white  supremacy  which  had  been  placed  on  the  South  by  the 
enfranchisement  of  the  negro.  "The  present  suffrage  laws  in  the 
southern  States  are  only  temporary  measures  for  protection," 
she  said.  "The  enfranchisement  of  women  will  have  to  be  effected 
and  an  educational  and  property  qualification  for  the  ballot  be 
made  to  apply  without  discrimination  to  both  sexes  and  both 
races."  The  address  closed  as  follows : 

The  enfranchisement  of  women  would  insure  immediate  and  dur- 
able white  supremacy,  honestly  attained,  for  upon  unquestioned  au- 
thority it  is  stated  that  in  every  southern  State  but  one  there  are 


THE    NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1903  83 

more  educated  women  than  all  the  illiterate  voters,  white  and  black, 
native  and  foreign,  combined.  As  you  probably  know,  of  all  the 
women  in  the  South  who  can  read  and  write,  ten  out  of  every  eleven 
are  white.  When  it  comes  to  the  proportion  of  property  between 
the  races,  that  of  the  white  outweighs  that  of  the  black  immeasur- 
ably. The  South  is  slow  to  grasp  the  great  fact  that  the  enfran- 
chisement of  women  would  settle  the  race  question  in  politics.  The 
civilization  of  the  North  is  threatened  by  the  influx  of  foreigners 
with  their  imported  customs;  by  the  greed  of  monopolistic  wealth 
and  the  unrest  among  the  working  classes;  by  the  strength  of  the 
liquor  traffic  and  encroachments  upon  religious  belief.  Some  day 
the  North  will  be  compelled  to  look  to  the  South  for  redemption 
from  those  evils  on  account  of  the  purity  of  its  Anglo-Saxon  blood, 
the  simplicity  of  its  social  and  economic  structure,  the  great  ad- 
vance in  prohibitory  law  and  the  maintenance  of  the  sanctity  of  its 
faith,  which  has  been  kept  inviolate.  Just  as  surely  as  the  North 
will  be  forced  to  turn  to  the  South  for  the  nation's  salvation,  just 
so  surely  will  the  South  be  compelled  to  look  to  its  Anglo-Saxon 
women  as  the  medium  through  which  to  retain  the  supremacy  of  the 
white  race  over  the  African. 

Miss  Kearney's  speech  was  enthusiastically  received  and  at  its 
end  Mrs.  Catt  said  she  had  been  getting  many  letters  from  persons 
ating  to  join  the  association  lest  it  should  admit  clubs  of 
colored  people.     "We  recognize  States'  rights,"  she  said,  "and 
Louisiana  has  the  right  to  regulate  the  membership  of  its  own 
association,  but  it  has  not  the  right  to  regulate  that  of  Massa- 
chusetts or  vice  versa,"  and  she  continued:  "We  are  all  of  us 
apt  to  be  arrogant  on  the  score  of  our  Anglo-Saxon  blood  but  we 
inu-t  remember  that  ages  ago  the  ancestors  of  the  Anglo-Saxons 
regarded  as  so  low  and  embruted  that  the  Romans  refused  to 
them  for  slaves.     The  Anglo-Saxon  is  the  dominant  race 
lint  things  may  change.     The  race  that  will  be  dominant 
through   the  aj^es   will   be   the  one  that   proves   itself  the  most 
iv.   .  .  .  Mi  -icy  is  rijjht  in  saying  that  the  race  prob- 

]>n>l)leni  of  the  -whole  country  and  not  that  of  the  South 
alone.     The  responsibility   lor  it  is  partly  ours  but  if  the  North 
shipped   slaves  to  the  South  and   sold  them,  remember  that  the 
•it  -nine  money  since  then  into  the  South  to  help  undo 
the  wron^  that  it  did  to  you  and  to  them.     Let  us  try  t«> 
thcf  and  to  understand  each  other's  ideas  on  the 
Ivc  it   together." 

Mrs.  Maud  Wood  Park  (Mass.),  who  was  introduced  to  the 


84  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

audience  as  "a  very  unpopular  woman  with  the  anti-suffragists/' 
did  not  prove  to  be  so  with  her  audience,  as  in  her  brief  address 
she  charmed  every  one  with  her  beauty  and  womanliness  and 
convinced  by  her  delicate  wit  and  keen  logic.  The  last  address 
was  made  by  the  Rev.  Ida  C.  Hultin  (Mass.),  an  eloquent  sum- 
ming up  of  the  arguments  for  woman  suffrage,  given  with  a  dig- 
nity of  manner  and  sweetness  of  words  which  thoroughly  elimi- 
nated any  unpleasant  feelings  that  might  have  been  created  and 
diffused  a  spirit  of  forgiveness  and  consecration. 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  program,  Mrs.  Upton  came  forward 
and  in  the  name  of  the  officers  of  the  association  presented  to 
Miss  Kate  Gordon  a  handsome  loving  cup  with  the  injunction  to 
"handle  it  carefully  as  it  is  filled  to  the  brim  with  love" ;  and  to 
Miss  Jean  Gordon  a  large  bouquet  of  roses,  "in  appreciation  of 
the  perfect  arrangements  that  had  been  made  for  the  conven- 
tion." The  I'icaynuc  said:  "The  two  sisters  stood  side  by  side 
on  the  stage,  a  picture  of  feminine  loveliness  and  grace.  They 
tried  to  speak  but  their  hearts  were  too  full  and  Miss  Kate  could 
only  express  in  a  few  words  their  thanks  for  these  tokens  of 
affection  and  esteem." 

All  the  expenses  of  the  convention  had  been  met  by  the  citi- 
zens and  the  collections  had  more  than  paid  the  travelling  ex- 
penses of  the  officers.  Nothing  had  been  left  undone  for  the 
entertainment  of  the  visitors.  The  New  Orleans  Street  Rail- 
way Company  gave  a  trip  of  several  hours  in  special  cars,  taking 
them  to  Audubon  Park  and  Horticultural  Hall,  through  the  hand- 
some residence  sections,  to  the  Esplanade,  City  Park  and  famous 
cemeteries.  They  visited  the  Howard  and  Fisk  libraries,  the 
Southern  Yacht  Club,  the  Exposition  and  the  antiquarian  shops. 
An  unusual  experience  was  the  boat  trip  on  the  Mississippi,  ten- 
dered by  the  Progressive  Union.  On  a  fine  sunshiny  morning  the 
several  hundred  visitors  assembled  in  the  palm  garden  of  the  St. 
Charles  Hotel,  walked  to  the  rooms  of  the  Union  and  from  there 
to  the  steamer  Alice.  They  crossed  to  Algiers,  passed  the  French 
quarter  with  the  Ursuline  Convent,  the  Stuyvesant  Docks,  the 
historic  houses  and  monuments,  and  saw  the  great  Naval  Docks, 
the  large  sugar  plantations  with  their  big  live  oaks  and  mag- 
nolias, the  immense  sugar  and  oil  refineries  and  met  a  fleet  of 


THE   NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1903  85 

huge  ocean  steamers.  Lunch  -was  served  on  board  and  the  occa- 
sion was  most  interesting,  especially  to  the  delegates  from  the 
North. 

Although  this  was  the  longest  suffrage  convention  ever  held 
and  the  sessions  were  crowded,  the  people  wanted  more.  The 
Progressive  Union  arranged  for  meetings  Thursday  night,  to 
be  addressed  by  Mrs.  Catt  on  The  Home  and  the  Municipality, 
and  Friday  night  by  Dr.  Shaw  on  The  Fate  of  Republics.  The 
Athenaeum  Hall,  seating  1,200,  was  overflowing  and  as  many 
were  gathered  on  the  outside.  It  was  a  ten  days  never  to  be  for- 
gotten by  the  visitors  or  the  residents,  and  the  convention  un- 
doubtedly gave  a  decided  impetus  to  favorable  sentiment  for 
woman  suffrage  in  that  section  of  the  South. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE    NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1904. 

The  Thirty-sixth  annual  convention  opened  the  afternoon  of 
I'Vb.  n,  1904,  in  National  Rifles'  Armory  Hall,  Washington, 
D.  C.,  and  closed  the  evening  of  the  I7th.1  There  was  a  good 
attendance  of  delegates  from  thirty  States  and  the  audiences 
were  large  and  appreciative.  Mrs.  Carrie  Chapman  Catt,  the 
president,  was  in  the  chair  at  the  opening  session.  The  dele- 
gates were  welcomed  by  Mrs.  Carrie  E.  Kent  in  behalf  of  the 
District  Equal  Suffrage  Association  and  the  response  was  made 
by  Dr.  Anna  Howard  Shaw,  vice-president-at-large,  who  began 
by  saying:  "If  the  women  here  welcome  us  after  we  have  been 
coming  for  thirty  years  it  must  be  because  we  deserve  it ;  the  men 
•welcome  us  because  in  the  District  they  are  in  the  same  dis- 
franchised condition  as  we  are."  A  cordial  letter  of  greeting  was 
read  from  Samuel  Gompers,  president  of  the  American  Federa- 
tion of  Labor,  whose  headquarters  were  in  Washington. 

Greetings  were  received  from  Mrs.  Florence  Fen  wick  Miller 

1  Part  of  Call:  In  our  own  country  the  advocates  of  our  cause  know  no  discourage- 
ment or  disappointment.  The  seed  planted  by  the  pioneers  of  the  woman's  rights  move- 
ment is  continuously  bearing  fruit  in  the  educational,  industrial  and  social  opportunities 
for  the  women  of  today;  these  in  turn  presage  the  full  harvest — political  enfranchisement. 
Under  the  stimulus  of  an  educated  intelligence  and  awakened  self-respect  women  daily 
grow  more  unwilling  that  their  opinions  in  government,  the  fundamental  source  of 
civilization,  should  continue  to  be  uncounted  with  those  of  the  defective  and  criminal 
classes  of  men. 

In  the  industrial  world  organized  labor  is  recognizing  in  the  underpaid  services  of 
women  an  enemy  to  economic  prosperity  and  is  making  common  cause  with  woman's 
demand  for  the  ballot  with  which  to  protect  her  right  to  life,  liberty  and  pursuit  of 
happiness,  avowed  to  be  inalienably  hers  by  the  Declaration  of  Independence.  Time, 
agitation,  education  and  organization  cannot  fail  to  ripen  these  many  influences  into  a 
general  belief  in  true  democratic  government  of  the  people,  without  distinctions  in 
regard  to  sex. 

SUSAN  B.  ANTHONY,  Honorary  President. 

CARRIE  CHAPMAN  CATT,  President. 

ANNA  HOWARD  SHAW,  Vice-President. 

KATE  M.  GORDON,  Corresponding  Secretary. 

ALICE  STONE  BLACKWELL,   Recording   Secretary. 

HARRIET  TAYLOR  UPTON,  Treasurer. 

LAURA  CLAY,  )   .     ... 

MARY  J.  COGGESHALL,     \  Aud'tors' 

86 


THE    NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1904  87 

of  London,  whose  letter  commenced :  "Beloved  Friends :  As  presi- 
dent of  the  British  National  Committee  of  the  International 
Woman  Suffrage  Committee,  I  write  to  send  you  greetings  from 
English,  Scotch,  Irish  and  Welsh  fellow-workers  in  the  woman's 
cause.     It  seems  but  a  short  time  since  the  convention  of  1902, 
which  I  attended  as  the  delegate  appointed  by  the  British  United 
XVomen's  Suffrage  Societies  and  also  of  the  Scottish  National 
Society.    The  admiration  and  affection  that  the  ability,  the  earn- 
oss  and  sincerity,  the  sisterliness  and  the  sweetness  of  temper 
and  manners  of  the  American  suffragists  then  aroused  in  me,  are 
unabated  at  this  moment. "     She  told  of  the  progress  that  had 
been  made  by  the  various  societies  toward  uniting  in  an  Inter- 
national Woman  Suffrage  Alliance,  gave  a  glowing  forecast  of 
the  ultimate  triumph  of  their  common  cause  and  ended :  "With 
admiring  and  abiding  love  for  America's  grand  women,  the  suf- 
frage leaders."     The  convention  sent  an  official  answer.     Mrs. 
Mary   Bentley  Thomas    (Md.)    read  an  interesting  paper,   Our 
Four  Friends,  compiled  from  the  answers  by  the  Governors  of 
Wyoming!   Colorado,  Utah  and  Idaho  to  a  letter  from   Miss 
Anthony  asking  for  a  summary  of  the  results  of  woman  suffrage 
after  a  trial  of  from  eight  to  thirty-five  years.    A  Declaration  of 
Principles,  which  had  been  prepared  by  Mrs.  Catt,  Dr.   Shaw, 
Alice  Stone  Blackwell  and  Mrs.  Ida  Husted  Harper,  was 
by  Mrs.  Harper  and  adopted  by  the  convention  as  express- 
he  sentiment  of  the  association.      [See  Appendix,  chapter 
IV.  |     Mrs.  Rachel  Foster  Avery  (Penn.)  and  Dr.  Shaw  were 
inted  delegates  to  the  International  Suffrage  Conference  at 
n  in  June  in  addition  to  the  International  Suffrage  Committee 
from  the  United  States,  Miss  Anthony,  Mrs.  Catt,  Mrs.  Lucretia 

'.nkrnburg  (Penn.),  with  three  others  yet  to  be  selected. 

In  her  report  as  corresponding  secretary  Miss  Kate  M.  Gordon 

i  told  of  the  interest  which  the  convention  of  the  preceding 

in   New  Orleans  had   a  \vak<-ned   in  the  South  and  of  the 

Mtion  of  a  month  of  Dr.  Shaw's  valuable  time  which 

tour.     This  included  the  State  Agri- 

tC  Normal  and  State  Industrial  Colleges  of  Louisiana 

ippi,  Alabama,  Georgia  and 
•  e.     'AVhilc  it  might  he  said  of  her  addresses,  'She  came, 


88  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

she  spoke,  she  conquered,'  "  declared  Miss  Gordon,  "it  was  clearly 
shown  that  the  South  was  not  ready  for  organization."  Miss 
Gordon  said  of  attending  the  National  Conference  of  Charities 
and  Corrections  as  a  State  delegate  appointed  by  the  Governor 
of  Louisiana:  "I  found  that  resolutions  of  endorsement  were 
contrary  to  the  policy  of  the  conference,  yet,  except  in  our  own 
organization,  I  have  never  met  such  a  unanimity  of  opinion  upon 
the  justice  of  woman  suffrage  as  well  as  upon  the  expediency  of 
the  woman's  vote  to  secure  intelligent  and  preventive  legislation 
as  a  remedy  for  the  many  evils  they  were  seeking  to  combat." 

The  program  for  the  first  evening  included  short  addresses  by 
the  general  officers  and  in  opening  the  meeting  Mrs.  Catt  said : 
"You  will  all  be  disappointed  not  to  have  the  promised  addresses 
from  Miss  Anthony  and  Mrs.  Upton.  It  has  been  suggested 
that  I  might  say  that  Miss  Anthony  has  been  unavoidably  de- 
tained but  I  can't  see  why  I  should  not  tell  the  truth.  Miss 
Anthony  is  out  in  society  tonight.  She  was  invited  by  President 
and  Mrs.  Roosevelt  to  the  Army  and  Navy  reception  at  the  White 
House  and  Mrs.  Upton  is  with  her.1  Our  vice-president-at-large 
will  speak  to  you  on  What  Cheer?" 

Dr.  Shaw  said  that  once  when  she  was  travelling  about  the 
prairies  of  Iowa  she  met  a  woman  who  was  always  referring  to 
her  home  town  "What  Cheer,"  and  when  she  was  asked  to  give  a 
title  to  her  address  she  could  think  of  nothing  better.  She  con- 
tinued :  "There  are  no  problems  so  difficult  to  understand  as 
those  of  our  own  time,  because  of  the  lack  of  perspective.  The 
arrogant  and  insistent  and  noisy  things  press  to  the  front  and 
the  silent  and  eternal  fall  into  the  rear.  But  as  time  passes  it  is  as 
when  we  climb  a  mountain — we  gradually  rise  to  where  we  can 
see  over  the  foothills  and  everything  appears  in  its  proper  place 
and  proportion.  Out  of  the  present,  its  arrogant  militarism,  its 
sordid  commercialism  and  worship  of  gold,  is  there  anything  to 
give  us  cheer  and  hope  for  tomorrow  ?  There  never  was  greater 

»A  ticket  was  sent  with  the  invitation  which  took  her  carriage  to  the  private  entrance 
and  enabled  her  to  avoid  the  crowd.  She  was  constantly  surrounded  by  distinguished 
people  and  Miss  Alice  Roosevelt  left  a  party  of  friends,  saying,  "I  must  speak  to  Miss 
Anthony,  she  is  my  father's  special  guest."  The  next  day  she  told  the  convention  in 
her  inimitable  way  that  when  she  was  presented  to  Mr.  Roosevelt  she  said:  "Now,  Mr. 
President,  we  don't  intend  to  trouble  you  during  the  campaign  but  after  you  are  elected, 
then  look  out  for  us!" 


THE    NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1 904  89 

reason  for  hope  for  humanity.  Underlying  all  the  tumult  and 
disorder  of  our  time  is  one  grand,  golden  thought,  that  of  the 
human  brotherhood  of  the  world.  There  never  was  a  democracy 
comparable  to  ours,  faulty  as  it  is  and  hopeless  as  it  appears  to 
some.  Though  the  ideal  does  not  seem  to  impress  itself  upon 
the  world,  yet  in  the  silence  it  is  there.  .  .  .  Today  is  the  best 
this  world  has  ever  seen.  Tomorrow  will  be  still  better/' 

Miss  Gordon  spoke  on  A  Sustaining  Faith,  showing  that  from 

labor,  from  all  forms  of  social  service  and  from  countless  sources 

converging  the  demand  for  the  reform  which  the  suffrage 

cl  at  ion  was  seeking.     Miss  Blackwell  (Mass.)  talked  briefly 

Uvays  but  clearly  and  convincingly  on  The  New  Woman. 

Miss  Laura  Clay  (Ky.)   began  her  address  on  Dimes:  "As  an 

auditor  I  have  been  going  over  our  treasurer's  books.     Usually 

such  books  are  mere  debits  and  credits  but  in  ours  those  stiff 

s   of   figures   tell   many  beautiful   things — the   sacrifices   of 

the  poor  and  the  generosity  of  the  rich — but  best  of  all  are  the 

'dimes'  because  they  are  the  dues  paid  to  the  association.     They 

bear  the  figure  of  Liberty  and  they  stand   for  it.  ...  These 

dimes  are  inspiring,   for  they  represent  our  membership  when 

we  gather  here  from  the  four  corners  of  the  nation.    Therefore 

I  rejoice  over  these  thousands  and  thousands,  each  with  a  human 

heart  behind  it." 

"Xo  woman  has  a  record  of  greater  faithfulness  in  this  cause," 

Mr<.   Catt  said  in   introducing  Mrs.   Mary  J.   Coggeshall,  who 

.n  her  remarks  on  Precedents  by  saying:  "I  come  from  Iowa 

re   things  are  very  different   from   those   in   this   beautiful 

capital.     We  do  not  see  Senators  and  Representatives  on  every 

!  but  we  have  lent  to  \Yashington,  Secretary  of  Agriculture 

Wilson.  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  Shaw,  Speaker  of  the  House 

•11  and  also  Mrs.  Catt  to  lead  the  suffrage  clans." 

The  evening  closed  with  Mrs.  Catt's  presidential  address,  the 

full  report  of  which  filled  eleven  columns  of  the  Woman  a  Journal. 

the  vital  necessity  of  an  educational  qualification 

of  the  ballot  in  a  country  which  opens  its  gates  to 

immigration  from  the  whole  world.     Little  idea  of  its  logic  and 

virility  can  be  conveyed  by  detached  quotations.      Referring  to 

the  T  for  enfranchising  women   she  said:   "Despite  the 

TOU   T 


90  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

fact  that  education  even  yet  is  not  so  generally  advocated  for 
girls  as  for  boys  among  our  foreign  and  ignorant  classes  of 
society,  the  census  of  1900  reveals  that  between  the  ages  of  ten 
and  twenty-one,  representing  school  years,  there  are  117,362 
more  illiterate  males  than  females.  If  men  and  women  had  been 
entitled  to  the  franchise  upon  equal  terms  in  1900,  the  political 
parties,  which  always  make  their  appeals  to  the  young  man  just 
turned  twenty-one  to  cast  his  first  vote  for  'the  party  of  right 
and  progress,'  would  of  necessity  have  made  the  same  appeal  to 
young  women,  but  they  would  have  appealed  to  20,000  fewer  illit- 
erates among  the  women  than  the  men  of  from  twenty-one  to 
twenty- four.  If  the  same  conditions  continue  for  the  next  twenty 
years — that  is,  if  there  is  no  restriction  in  the  suffrage  for  men 
and  women  still  remain  disfranchised,  and  if  the  proportionate 
increase  of  women  over  men  in  the  output  of  our  public  schools 
continues,  we  shall  witness  the  curious  spectacle  of  the  illiterate 
sex  governing  the  literate  sex." 

Mrs.  Catt  did  not,  however,  attribute  all  the  evils  of  universal 
suffrage  to  the  ignorant  vote  but  said :  "It  may  be  that  an  investi- 
gation would  reveal  the  fact  that  a  very  important  source  of  dif- 
ficulty is  to  be  found  in  the  failure  of  intelligent  men  to  exercise 
their  citizenship.     If  this  proves  true  it  may  be  found  necessary 
to  turn  a  leaf  backward  in  our  history  and  adopt  the  plan  in 
vogue  in  some  of  the  New  England  colonies  which  made  voting 
compulsory,  and  it  may  be  found  feasible  to  demand  of  every 
voter  who  absents  himself  on  election  day  an  excuse   for  his 
absence,  and  when  he  has  absented  himself  "without  good  excuse 
for  a  definite  number  of  elections,  he  may  be  made  to  suffer  the 
punishment  of  disfranchisement.  .  .  ."     She  called  attention  to 
the  record  that  at  the  last  presidential  election  more  than  7,000,000 
men  over  twenty-one  years  of  age  did  not  vote  and  asked :  "What 
is  to  be  done  about  it?    Are  qualified  women  citizens  to  wait  in 
patience  until  influences  now  unseen  shall  sweep  away  the  diffi- 
culties and  restore  the  lost  enthusiasm  for  democracy?    Or  shall 
they  attempt  to  determine  causes,  apply  remedies  and  clear  the 
way   for   their  own   enfranchisement?     That   is   our   problem. 
For  myself,  I  will  say  I  prefer  not  to  wait.     I  prefer  to  do  my 
part,  small  as  it  must  be,  in  the  great  task  of  the  removal  of  the 


THE    NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1 904  QT 

obstructions  which  clog  the  wheels  of  the  onward  movement  of 
popular  government." 

The  convention  was  especially  fortunate  in  having  among  its 
speakers  a  charming  and  gifted  young  woman,  Mrs.  A.  Watson 
Lister  of  Melbourne,  Australia,  a  country  -whose  first  national 
Parliament  had  two  years  before  conferred  on  women  full  suf- 
frage and  eligibility  to  all  offices.  She  showed  a  remarkable 
knowledge  of  laws  and  conditions  affecting  women  and  was 
thoroughly  informed  on  every  phase  of  the  suffrage  movement. 
The  second  evening  she  spoke  on  Woman's  Vote  in  Australia  to 
an  audience  that  was  not  -willing  to  have  her  stop,  saying  in  part : 

Australia  does  lead  the  world  in  democratic  government,  a  gov- 
ernment by  the  whole  people,  women  as  well  as  men,  but  we  realize 
the  great  debt  that  we  owe  to  your  brave  pioneer  women.  We  are 
reaping  the  harvest  which  they  planted.  To  us  the  names  of  Susan 
B.  Anthony,  Lucy  Stone  and  Elizabeth  Cady  Stanton  are  household 
words.  It  seems  strange  to  me  to  be  asked  to  come  here  to  tell  you 
anything  about  suffrage,  for  with  us  the  American  woman  has  been 
supposed  to  know  and  have  everything. 

Australia  is  as  large  as  the  United  States  and  women  have  na- 
tional and  municipal  suffrage  and  in  four  of  our  six  States  they 
have  State  suffrage — South  and  West  Australia,  New  South  Wales 
and  Tasmania.    In  Victoria  and  Queensland  they  do  not  yet  possess 
it.    When  the  six  States  became  federated  it  was  provided  that  fed- 
eral suffrage  throughout  Australia  should  be  on  the  same  basis  as 
State   suffrage  where  it   was   the   most  liberal.      South   and   West 
ralia  had  it  in  full,  so  the  women  obtained  it  throughout  Aus- 
tralia in  national  elections.    There  was  so  little  opposition  or  discus- 
it  was  regarded  so  completely  as  an  accepted  fact  and  foregone 
lusinn.  that  most  women  did  not  even  know  the  measure  had 
•  ot  an  experiment,  as  our  men  had  seen  its  working 
in  South  and   West    Australia   for  years  and  also  in   New   Zealand, 
which  is  the  nmst  detimeratie  and  best  governed  country  in  the  world. 
In  Australia  women  are  eligible  to  all  offices,  even  that  of  Prime 
Minister.    At  the  last  elections  five  stood  for  Parliament.     Miss  Vida 
was   a   candidate   in   Victoria.      Although    both   our    large 
snored    her   meetings   she   got   51,000  votes,   while   the 
man  high-  bout  100,000.    Not  one  of  the  live  women  came  out 

at  the  bottom  of  the  poll.    .   .   . 

After  we  had  worked  for  years  with  members  of  Parliament  for 
rma  without  avail  because  we  had  no  I  i  can  not 

'ine  the  difference  the  vote  make<.      When  we  held  meeti- 

public   T  that,  women   wanted,   we  med   to   have   lo 

ut   into  the  highways  and  hedges  and  compel  the  memb< 

me  iu  ;  now  the  difficulty  is  to  keep   them  out.     I 


Q2  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

have  seen  seven  Senators  at  one  small  meeting.  A  prominent  man 
who,  by  an  oversight,  was  not  invited  to  the  one  held  to  welcome 
Miss  Goldstein  on  her  return  from  the  United  States  was  decidedly 
offended.  Chivalry  has  not  been  destroyed  but  increased.  On  the 
platform  at  one  of  our  meetings  the  secretary  happened  to  drop  her 
pencil  and  I  saw  the  Premier  and  several  members  of  Parliament 
scrambling  to  pick  it  up.  A  woman  is  never  allowed  to  stand  in  a 
street  car  in  Australia.  .  .  . 

A  good  deal  of  light  was  shed  on  the  inside  history  of  the 
organized  anti-suffrage  movement,  which  if  turned  on  in  other 
countries  would  disclose  a  similar  situation.  "Our  Anti-Suffrage 
Association,"  she  said,  "died  three  months  after  it  was  born.  It 
was  formed  by  two  of  our  leading  manufacturers,  who  hid  behind 
their  daughters.  They  had  plenty  of  money,  took  a  large  office  on 
a  main  street,  employed  several  paid  secretaries  and  spent  more 
in  three  months  than  -we  had  done  in  all  our  years  of  work.  They 
paid  little  boys  and  girls  to  circulate  their  petition  and  got  many 
signatures  under  false  pretences.  .  .  .  Much  was  made  of  their 
petition  though  it  was  not  half  as  large  as  ours.  The  daughters 
of  these  manufacturers  drove  up  in  their  carriages  to  their 
fathers'  factories  at  the  lunch  hour  and  made  the  working  girls 
sign  their  petition." 

A  scholarly  review  of  Morley's  Life  of  Gladstone  was  given 
by  Mrs.  Harriot  Stanton  Blatch  (Eng.).  Mrs.  Charlotte  Perkins 
<  lilman  turned  A  New  Light  on  the  Woman  Question,  saying: 

My  subject  is  a  scientific  theory  as  to  the  origin  and  relation  of 
the  eternal  duo.  It  was  started  by  our  greatest  living  sociologist, 
Lester  Ward — the  explanation  of  the  order  in  which  the  sexes  were 
developed.  What  is  it  that  this  suffrage  movement  has  had  to  meet, 
as  it  has  plowed  along  up  hill  for  fifty  years,  with  its  tremendous 
battery  of  arguments  which  it  discharges  into  thin  air?  What  it 
has  to  overcome  is  not  an  argument  but  a  feeling,  which  rests  at 
bottom  on  the  idea  expressed  in  the  "rib  story."  As  a  parable  this 
fairly  represents  the  old  belief  that  man  was  created  first,  that  he 
was  the  race,  was  "it,"  and  that  woman  was  created,  as  modern 
jokers  put  it,  for  "Adams  Express  Company."  The  poet  expressed 
the  same  idea  when  he  called  woman  "God's  last,  best  gift  to  man." 
.  .  .  Ward  gives  the  biological  facts.  In  the  evolution  of  species  the 
earliest  periods  were  the  longest.  During  ages  of  the  world's  history, 
while  animal  life  was  slowly  evolving,  the  female  was  the  larger, 
stronger  and  more  representative  creature;  the  male  was  small,  often 
a  parasite,  told  off  for  the  sole  purpose  of  reproduction.  By  natural 
selection,  the  female  choosing  always  the  best  male,  the  male  was 


THE    NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQO4  93 

gradually  developed  until  he  became  bigger  and  stronger  than  the 
female.  For  a  time  natural  selection  continued  to  work,  the  males 
competing  for  the  favor  of  the  female.  Then  the  male  reduced  the 
female  to  subjection.  It  occurred  to  him  that  it  was  easier  to  fight 
one  little  female  once  and  subjugate  her  than  to  fight  a  lot  of  big 
males  over  and  over. 

The  feminine  ideal  with  many  is  the  bee-hive — lots  of  honey,  lots 
of  young  ones  and  nothing  else.  It  was  necessary  that  the  male 
should  become  dominant  for  a  time  if  the  race  was  to  progress. 
Xo\v  women  are  ceasing  to  be  subjugated  and  we  are  approaching  a 
of  equal  rights.  It  was  through  a  free  motherhood  and  the 
female's  constant  selection  of  the  best  mate  that  she  brought  into 
the  world  power  and  brain  enough  to  enable  man  to  do  what  he  has 
done.  That  free  motherhood,  reinstated,  choosing  always  the  best 
and  refusing  anything  less,  will  bring  us  a  higher  humanity  than  we 
have  yet  known. 

The  usual  Work  Conferences  -were  held  and  the   Executive 

Committee  presented  the  Plan  of  Work  which  was  adopted.     In 

addition  to  the  usual  recommendations  it  urged  that  a  Memorial 

Organization  Fund  be  established  to  perpetuate  the  memory  of 

I>i<  meers  and  that  a  legal  adviser  for  the  association  be  appointed 

from  its  women  lawyer  members.     The  morning  meetings  as 

always  were  given  up  to  business  and  reports  of  officers,  chairmen 

of  committees  and   field  workers  and  the   afternoons  to  State 

rts.     The  latter,  made  for  the  most  part  by  the  presidents, 

showed  faithful  -work  going  on  in  every  State  and  progress  in 

many.     Miss  Helen   Kimber   reported   that  the   Legislature  of 

as  had  added  to  the  School  franchise,  which  the  women  had 

1  ever  since  the  State  came  into  the  Union,  the  rijjlit  to 

on  all  public  expenditure  of  money  for  issuing  of  bonds. 

rworks,  sewerage,  libraries,  etc.     Miss  Elizabeth  J.  Hatiser, 

secretary,  told  of  the  removal  of  the  national  headquarters 

Xew  York,  where  they  had  first  been  established,  to  War- 

\\liere  they  occupied  two  large  rooms  on  the  lower  floor 

;i   old    vine-covered    family   residence   in   the  heart   of   town. 

i  here    ^.(X*)  pieees  of  literature  had  been  sent  out  and  here 

n   printed   J.ooo  each  of    Lucy   Stone  and  Mrs.   Staiitoii 

birthday    souvenirs,    a    booklet    to    he    used    on    Miss    AnthouC- 

birthday:    m.ono   MI:  :amps.   Christmas  blotters   etc,   and 

ritteii.      The   M,l.M-ription    li^t    of    /  V/'//r<*.s\9   had 

rom    950    to   4,OOO  and    a    weekly   headquai: 


94  HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

letter  had  been  sent  to  the  Woman's  Journal.  Resolutions  for 
woman  suffrage  had  been  obtained  in  international,  national  and 
a  large  number  of  State  conventions. 

Mrs.  Harriet  Taylor  Upton,  the  treasurer,  reported  the  receipts, 
$21,117,  tne  largest  in  the  history  of  the  association.  It  con- 
tributed $3,255  to  the  New  Hampshire  campaign.  Neither  Mrs. 
Upton  nor  any  of  the  national  officers  received  a  salary  (except 
the  secretary,  who  had  a  nominal  one),  and  in  referring  to  the 
immense  amount  of  unpaid  work  done  by  them  and  by  women  in 
the  different  States,  she  said:  "People  outside  of  the  association 
often  ask  why  it  is  that  women  can  be  found  who  are  willing 
to  give  their  time  to  a  work  without  recompense.  We  can  not 
answer  such  inquiries  and  yet  we  ourselves  know  that,  through 
this  devotion  to  a  just  and  holy  cause,  we  rise  to  a  higher  plane, 
we  see  with  larger  eyes,  we  feel  the  presence  of  the  real  self  of 
our  fellow-worker.  We  can  no  more  explain  why  this  is  so 
than  we  can  analyze  'mother  love,'  or  the  love  of  a  daughter  for 
a  father  but  we  know  it.  It  is  for  this  reason  your  treasurer 
rejoices  over  the  day  she  was  so  placed,  either  by  design  or  chance, 
and  so  blessed  with  perfect  health  that  she  was  able  to  serve 
in  the  cause  of  woman's  political  freedom."  Mrs.  Upton  referred 
to  Mrs.  Cornelia  C.  Hussey's  bequest  of  $10,000  and  that  of  Mrs. 
Henrietta  M.  Banker,  from  which  the  association  realized  $3,000. 

Detailed  and  valuable  reports  were  made  by  the  chairman  of 
committees  on  Presidential  Suffrage,  Federal  Suffrage,  Congres- 
sional Work,  Civil  Rights,  Church  Work,  Enrollment  and  others. 
Mrs.  Catt  reported  for  the  Committee  on  Literature.  Mrs.  Catt 
with  Mrs.  Blankenburg  (Penn.),  Mrs.  Lucy  Hobart  Day  (Me.) 
and  Mrs.  Minola  Graham  Sexton  (N.  J.),  presidents  of  their 
State  associations,  presided  over  Work  Conferences.  Mrs.  Ida 
Porter  Boyer,  in  her  report  on  Libraries  and  Bibliography, 
brought  to  light  the  lax  manner  in  which  many  State  libraries  are 
conducted.  In  that  of  New  Jersey  no  catalogue  had  been  printed 
for  fifty  years.  In  Montana  the  collection  of  books  was  thirty- 
five  years  old  and  had  never  been  catalogued  or  classified.  Va- 
rious librarians  reported  no  works  on  woman  suffrage  and 
women  from  those  States  rose  in  the  audience  and  said  that  they 
had  themselves  presented  the  History  of  Woman  Suffrage— 


THE    NATIONAL  AMERICAN    CONVENTION   OF    IQO4  Q5 

four  large  volumes.  Mrs.  Elnora  M.  Babcock  (N.  Y.),  chair- 
man of  the  Press  Committee,  reported  93,600  general  articles  sent 
out;  3,665  special  articles,  much  plate  matter,  many  personal 
sketches,  photographs,  etc.,  and  a  number  of  new  papers  added 
to  her  list. 

Mrs.  Maud  Nathan  read  the  report  of  Mrs.  Florence  Kelley, 
chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Industrial  Problems  Affecting 
Women  and  Children.  As  executive  secretary  of  the  National 
Consumers'  League  Mrs.  Kelley  was  well  qualified  to  speak  and 
she  gave  an  account  of  the  labor  laws  in  the  southern  States  af- 
fecting girls  between  16  and  21,  who  are  neither  children  nor 
women,  which  was  heartbreaking.  Pennsylvania  was  equally 
guilty  but  most  of  the  northern  States  had  improved  their  laws, 
Illinois  leading;  in  none,  however,  were  they  wholly  adequate. 
She  urged  the  appointment  of  more  women  factory  inspectors, 
who  were  now  employed  in  only  eight  States,  and  scored  "the 
default  of  the  prosperous  women  of  the  country,"  saying:  "It  may 
be  said  that  -women  are  not  morally  responsible  for  this  unfor- 
tunate state  of  affairs,  since  they  do  not  make  the  laws,  but  the 
facts  do  not  altogether  justify  this  excuse.  The  child-labor 
legislation  which  has  been  achieved  through  the  efforts  of  women 
during  the  past  ten  years  shows  that  women  can  do  very  much 
even  without  the  ballot  in  the  way  of  securing  legislation  on 
behalf  of  women  and  children,  and  it  remains  true  that  -women 
buy  the  product  of  the  work  of  women  and  children  far  more 
than  do  men.  ...  It  is  my  hope  that  this  great  and  influential 
national  suffrage  organization  may  so  influence  public  opinion 
that  a  series  of  beneficent  results  will  soon  become  visible." 

An  Kvening  with  the  Philanthropists  was  one  of  the  most  en- 
joyable during  the  week.  The  Rev.  Anna  Garlin  Spencer,  of 
whnin  Felix  Adler,  head  of  the  Kthical  Culture  Society  of  New 
York,  was  <|ii«»tcd  as  saying:  "She  is  the  only  woman  with  whom 
•:ld  share  my  platform."  was  the-  first  speaker.  In  omsider- 
UOna  in  Philanthropic  Work  for  Women,  she 
harity  is  old  but  new  and  it  is  the  uniting 

o  that  makes  modern  philanthropy  and  that  is  what  opens 
<  'harity  i>  >npj)osed  to  come  by  nature 
l>ut  the  1  ;e  of  hn\v  to  deal  with  its  problems  does  not. 


96  HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

| 

Society  is  divided  into  three  groups.  First,  the  reformers — a 
group  never  too  large,  often  seemingly  too  small — who  make  the 
way  for  those  that  come  after.  They  are  often  like  the  artist 
whose  daughter,  being  asked  if  her  father  had  been  successful, 
answered  that  he  was  'successful  after  he  was  dead.'  Then  comes 
the  great  group,  the  'middle-of-the-road'  people,  who  walk  along, 
slowly  developing,  supporting  the  churches  and  schools,  holding 
today's  standards  and  ideals — the  people  who  live  in  today  and 
who  make  up  the  fabric  of  the  world.  They  are  sometimes  irri- 
tating but  they  hold  what  has  been  gained  and  they  gradually 
grow.  Then  there  is  a  group  behind,  -what  the  French  call  the 
'unfinished'  infants — the  defectives,  the  moral  and  physical  im- 
beciles, the  backward  and  incompetent.  We  must  study  how  to 
reduce  this  social  burden  in  an  intelligent  way.  This  has  started 
a  new  class  of  vocations  as  sacred  as  the  ministry  was  of  old." 

A  very  convincing  address  was  given  by  Dr.  Samuel  J.  Bar- 
rows (Mass.),  secretary  of  the  National  Prison  Reform  Associa- 
tion, on  Women  and  Prison  Reform.  In  referring  to  the  progress 
of  prison  reform  he  said :  "In  this  array  of  apostles  and  prophets 
and  expositors  of  the  new  penology  we  find  men  and  women  stand- 
ing side  by  side."  He  described  the  work  in  this  reform  by  emi- 
nent women  in  Europe  and  the  United  States  and  concluded :  "In 
the  field  of  penology  woman  needs  the  ballot  as  she  needs  it  in 
other  fields,  not  as  an  end  but  as  a  means,  as  an  instrument  through 
which  she  can  express  her  conviction,  her  conscience,  intelligence, 
sympathy  and  love.  Questions  in  philanthropy  are  more  and 
more  forcing  themselves  to  the  front  in  legislation.  Women  are 
obliged  to  journey  to  the  Legislature  at  every  session  to  instruct 
members  and  committees  at  legislative  hearings.  Some  of  these 
days  the  public  will  think  it  absurd  that  women  who  are  capable 
of  instructing  men  how  to  vote  should  not  be  allowed  to  vote 
themselves.  If  police  and  prison  records  mean  anything  they 
mean  that,  considered  as  law-abiding  citizens,  women  are  ten  times 
as  good  as  men.  Why  debar  the  better  and  enfranchise  the 
worse?  In  the  field  of  commercial  and  political  competition, 
•woman  may  demand  the  ballot  as  a  right  but  in  the  field  of  phil- 
anthropy and  reform  she  needs  it  for  the  fulfillment  of  her  duties." 

Mrs.  Nathan,  president  of  the  New  York  Consumers'  League, 


THE    NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1 904  97 

considered  the  Wage  Earner  and  the  Ballot,  her  handsome  pres- 
ence, fine  humor  and  long  experience  rendering  her  an  unusually 
attractive  speaker.  "The  opponents  of  our  cause,"  she  said, 
"whether  they  be  of  the  fair  sex  or  the  unfair  sex,  seem  to  think 
that  we  regard  the  extension  of  the  suffrage  to  women  as  a  pana- 
cea for  all  evils  in  this  world  and  the  next.  No  honest  suffragist 
has  ever  taken  that  ground.  I  can  not  endorse  any  such  general 
or  sweeping  statement  but  I  feel  that  my  experience  in  investigat- 
ing the  condition  of  women  wage-earners  -warrants  the  assertion 
that  some  of  the  evils  from  which  they  suffer  would  not  exist  if 
the  women  had  the  right  to  place  their  votes  in  the  ballot-box." 
She  compared  the  industrial  and  educational  situation  where 
women  voted  with  that  of  States  where  they  did  not  and  showed 
how  women  were  excluded  from  official  positions  because  dis- 
franchised, giving  conclusive  instances  of  the  discrimination  in 
her  own  State.  "I  feel  that  not  only  on  account  of  the  women 

(•-earners  should  women  be  accorded  the  ballot,"  she  said, 
"hut  also  because  they  are  very  largely  the  spenders  of  all  family 
incomes  and  as  such  they  have  the  right  to  the  assurance  that 
they  buy  is  free  from  adulteration  and  has  been  produced 
tinder  clean,  wholesome  and  humane  conditions.  For  this  right 
the  Consumers'  League  persistently  contends  but  it  can  be  only 
partially  successful,  in  my  opinion,  so  long  as  it  depends  entirely 
upon  moral  suasion,  while  manufacturers  and  merchants  have 

\otin^r   power   to    hold    in   terror   over    its    administration." 
Mrs.  Lucia  Ames  Mead,  president  of  the  Massachusetts  State 

rage  Association  and  a  leader  in  the  movement  for  peace  and 
arbitration,  was  on  the  program  to  talk  of  Woman's  Work  for 
Peace.  "I  am  not  going  to  speak  of  any  philanthropy,"  she  he^an. 
"but  of  something  much  more-  far-reaching  and  radical,  which 
will  make  tlm-r  fourths  of  our  philanthropy  needless."  She  then 

le  an  impa-ioncd  plea  for  a  world  or^ani/ation  of  the  forces 

would  conduce  I  <-nt;itive  -overnment  was  the 

:d,  and  the  establishment  of  a  World  ('oiirl    was 
the  next.      The  achievement  of  an    International   Advisory   ('on 

\  simultaneous  effort  mn-1  be  made," 
•1  »il  ration   treaties   with   every   nation 
that    caiiiiMj    he   M-ttled   by  diplo 


98  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

macy  to  the  Hague  Court.  Questions  of  'honor'  must  not  be 
excluded.  Carnegie  well  said  in  his  plea  for  this  plan,  'No  word 
has  been  so  dishonored  as  the  word  honor.'  Such  treaties  and  the 
use  of  the  economic  boycott  upon  European  enemies  would  be 
vastly  more  efficient  than  battleships  to  keep  the  peace.  .  .  .  We 
need  to  convert  the  church.  There  are  many  of  our  Christian 
ministers  who  believe  they  are  living  under  the  dispensation  of 
Joshua  and  not  of  Jesus." 

At  the  conclusion  of  Mrs.  Mead's  address  Mrs.  Catt  said: 
"Sometimes  the  cause  of  peace  and  arbitration  seems  to  me  the 
greatest  of  all.  To  help  working  women  was  the  motive  that 
determined  me  to  devote  my  life  to  obtaining  woman  suffrage. 
How  hard  it  is  that  women  must  spend  so  many  years  just  to 
get  the  means  with  which  to  effect  reforms!  But  we  who  believe 
that  behind  them  all  is  the  ballot  are  chained  to  the  work  for  that 
until  it  is  gained." 

Religious  services  were  conducted  Sunday  afternoon  by  the 
Rev.  Mary  A.  Safford  of  Des  Moines,  assisted  by  Dr.  Shaw  and 
the  Rev.  Marie  Jenney  Howe.  The  subject  of  the  sermon  was 
The  Goal  of  Life  and  the  text:  'The  Spirit  itself  beareth  witness 
•with  our  spirit  that  we  are  the  children  of  God,  and,  if  children, 
than  heirs — heirs  of  God  and  joint  heirs  with  Christ."  "In  the 
preaching  of  the  Gospel  of  all  nations,"  she  said,  "it  has  been 
recognized  that  in  Christ  there  is  neither  Jew  nor  Gentile;  while 
in  breaking  the  fetters  of  millions  of  slaves  it  also  has  been  recog- 
nized that  in  Him  there  is  neither  bond  nor  free.  The  world  still 
awaits  the  time  when  it  will  be  proclaimed  that  in  Him  there  is 
neither  male  nor  female."  1 

Monday,  February  15,  w  s  Anthony's  84th  birthday 

and  it  -was  a  coincidence  that  on  the  morning  of  that  day  the  con- 
vention should  be  opened  with  prayer  by  the  Rev.  Edward  Everett 

1  Clergymen  who  opened  the  various  meetings  with  prayer  were  Dr.  Edward  Everett 
Hale,  chaplain  of  the  U.  S.  Senate;  the  Rev.  J.  L.  Coudon,  chaplain  of  the  House  of 
Representatives;  the  Reverends  A.  D.  Mayo,  D.D.;  S.  M.  Newman,  D.D.,  of  the  First 
Congregational  Church;  U.  G.  B.  Pierce,  All  Souls  Unitarian  Church;  John  Van  Schiack, 
Jr.,  Universalist  Church;  Alexander  Kent,  People's  Church;  the  women  ministers  at  the 
convention,  Anna  Howard  Shaw,  Anna  Garlin  Spencer,  Mary  A.  Safford,  Marie  Jenney 
Howe,  and  laywomen  Laura  Clay,  Lucy  Hobart  Day,  Mrs.  Clinton  Smith,  president 
District  W.  C.  T.  U.  The  congregational  singing  was  arranged  and  led  by  Miss  Etta  V. 
Maddox  of  Baltimore  and  the  evening  musical  programs  were  in  charge  of  Herndon 
Morsell  and  his  pupils. 


THE    NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQO4  QQ 

Hale,  chaplain  of  the  Senate,  a  life-long  opponent  of  woman  suf- 
frage. When  he  was  invited  to  come  he  asked  definite  assurance 
that  it  would  not  be  interpreted  that  he  had  changed  his  opinion.1 
The  air  of  the  hall  was  fragrant  with  the  flowers  that  had  been 
sent  in  honor  of  the  birthday,  and,  as  the  usual  tribute  of  the 
convention,  it  made  its  pledges  of  money  for  the  expenses  of 
the  coming  year.  Mrs.  Upton  asked  for  $4,000  and  nearly 
$5,000  were  quickly  subscribed.2 

The  preceding  day  Mrs.  John  B.  Henderson  had  given  a  12 
o'clock  birthday  breakfast  for  Miss  Anthony  at  her  handsome 
home,  Boundary  Castle,  attended  by  the  national  officers  and  a 
number  of  invited  guests.  In  the  evening  a  social  reunion  for 
the  officers,  delegates  and  speakers  was  held  in  the  banquet  room 
of  the  Shoreham  Hotel,  which  was  the  convention  headquarters. 
On  the  afternoon  of  the  birthday  President  and  Mrs.  Roosevelt 
received  the  members  of  the  convention  with  much  cordiality. 
From  the  White  House  they  went  to  a  reception  given  by  Miss 
(  lara  Barton  in  her  interesting  home  at  Glen  Echo,  near  Washing- 
ton. The  nearly  five  hundred  visitors  received  a  warm  welcome 
and  enjoyed  wandering  through  the  unique  house  built  of  lumber 
after  the  Johnstown  flood,  unplastered  and  the  walls  draped 
with  the  flags  of  many  nations  that  had  been  presented  to  her 
by  their  rulers.  At  urgent  request  Miss  Barton  brought  forth 
the  laces,  jewels,  medals  and  decorations  given  to  her  by  the  dig- 
nitaries and  crowned  heads  of  Europe  for  her  distinguished  serv- 

1  The    Washington    Post    of    that    date    contained    an    amusing    little    incident.      Miss 

Anthony   came   into   the   morning  session   while   Mrs.   Upton   was  raising   the  money   and 

the  audience  rose  to  their  feet  waving  their  handkerchiefs.     She  was  about   to  sit  down 

front  seat  when  Mrs.    I'pton   insisted  she  should  come  to  the  platform.     "Must  I 

do  that?"  »he  said  sotto  vocc.     "1   have  on  my  travelling  dress."     "How  we  do  put  on 

aim  as  we  grow  older,"   said    Mrs.    Upton   jokingly,   assisting    lu-r   to  the   platform.     The 

'•  continuing  Miss  Anthony  smiled,  reached  out  her  hand  with  a  deprecating  gesture 

and  said:  "There  now,  girls,  that's  enough." 

M,-J  said:     "Mrs.  Upton  is  one  of  the  most  popular  women   in   tin- 
suffrage  movement  and  her  energy  in  a   mar  n'    history.     If  financial   sup- 
•    ohtaitx  .1                         s,   societies  «r   individuals  tlit-rc   is  no  one  more   capable 
of  extracting  generous  subscriptions.   .   .   ."     The  Star  said:   "Mrs.    Upton   has  served  as 
my   years.     She    is  energetic,    rralou*.    t;utful.    possesses  a   remarkable   insight 
an  nature  and  is  grr.it                           She  is  presid<  Ohio  Suffrage  Associa- 
nd  member   «>f   the   Warren   board   of   •                       Before   she   became   so  engrossed 
in  suffrage  she  did  a  great  deal  of  literary  v.                                           .1  B.  Taylor,  sue. 

'1    in    Congress   and    she    was   with    him    during    his   thirteen    years    in    office.      Mist 
Anthony  always  relied  on  linn  fur  advice  and 


IOO  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

ices  in  behalf  of  the  Red  Cross,  such  a  collection,  it  was  said, 
as  no  other  woman  possessed. 

The  convention  was  largely  in  the  nature  of  a  Colorado  jubilee, 
as  its  women  ten  years  before  had  cast  their  first  vote,  having 
been  enfranchised  in  the  autumn  of  1893.  The  program  for  two 
evenings  -was  given  up  to  men  and  women  from  that  State  under 
the  heading,  Colorado  Speaks  for  Itself,  and  it  was  most  appropri- 
ate that  Miss  Anthony  should  preside.  In  presenting  her  Mrs.  Catt 
said :  "This  is  Miss  Anthony's  84th  birthday.  We  might  have 
had  a  program  filled  with  tributes  to  her  and  no  doubt  you  would 
all  have  enjoyed  them  but  instead  we  have  what  she  will  like  better, 
a  program  to  show,  not  that  woman  suffrage  -would  be  a  good 
thing  but  that  it  has  been  a  good  thing.  When  Miss  Anthony  was 
born  no  woman  in  America  could  vote;  no  woman  in  modern 
times  had  been  a  lawyer.  Tonight  our  ushers  are  seven  women 
graduates  of  the  Washington  Law  School,  in  the  cap  and  gown 
which  used  to  be  forbidden  to  women.  But  there  is  something 
else  going  on  tonight  that  is  a  more  noteworthy  celebration  of 
her  birthday.  A  measure  to  grant  suffrage  to  women  is  pending 
in  Denmark  with  the  backing  of  the  government  and  the  women 
of  that  country  have  arranged  a  great  demonstration  in  favor  of 
the  bill  and  have  fixed  the  date  for  today  because  it  is  the  birth- 
day of  Susan  B.  Anthony.  Opponents  of  woman  suffrage  pay 
almost  their  whole  attention  to  Colorado,  so  we  have  asked  Colo- 
rado to  come  and  talk  for  itself  and  it  has  responded  magnificently. 
All  the  speakers  pay  their  own  expenses  and  have  come  this  long 
way  for  the  pleasure  of  saying  a  word  for  woman  suffrage." 

The  Washington  Post  commented,  "Miss  Anthony  received  an 
ovation  and  it  was  delightful  to  see  the  pride  with  which  she  intro- 
duced the  speakers — a  former  Governor,  a  woman  State  Super- 
intendent of  Public  Instruction,  chairmen  of  women's  political 
committees  and  clubs,  a  woman  county  superintendent."  Mrs. 
Katharine  Cook,  president  of  the  Jane  Jefferson  Club,  a  Demo- 
cratic organization  of  over  a  thousand  women,  spoke  on  The 
Ideals  We  Cherish  and  strongly  emphasized  that  politics  did  not 
impair  true  womanliness  or  lower  high  ideals.  "A  nation  can  be 
no  more  free  or  pure  or  beautiful  than  the  homes  of  which  it  is 
composed,"  she  said.  "Our  country  is  but  a  greater  home  and  no 


THE    NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQO4          IOI 

mother  whose  love  for  her  fireside  is  more  than  an  instinct  or  a 
sentiment  can  fail  to  see  that  the  welfare  of  her  home  and  family 
is  vitally  connected  with  an  unstained  ballot  and  an  honest  govern- 
ment. We  women  who  believe  in  the  right  of  suffrage  and  exer- 
t  with  the  utmost  wisdom  with  which  we  are  gifted,  use  it 
for  the  preservation  and  defense  and  love  of  our  homes  .  .  .  and 
it  is  this  spirit  which  is  needed  at  the  polls." 

An  entirely  different  but  equally  effective  note  was  struck  by 
Mrs.  Kllis  Meredith,  a  prominent  journalist  of  Denver,  who  said 
during  her  address  on  Colorado  Women  and  Legislation : 

I  f  I  regarded  the  ballot  merely  as  a  right  or  a  privilege  or  an  end ; 
a  divine,  far-off  event  toward  which  the  whole  creation  moves  and 
which,  once  attained,  obviates  its  ever  having  to  move  afterward,  I 
should  say  it  does  not  make  a  bit  of  difference  what  we  have  done 
with  it.  If  it  is  a  right,  who  can  question  it?  If  it  is  a  privilege,  it 
vond  question.  If  it  is  an  end,  it  is  achieved.  But  I  do  not 
-<\  it  as  any  of  these.  To  my  mind  the  ballot  is  simply  one  of 
our  many  modern  labor-saving  inventions.  It  is  the  easiest  way. 
...  In  the  ten  years  that  women  have  been  voting  in  Colorado,  I 
believe  they  have  done  at  least  five  times  as  much  as  all  the  rest  of 
the  non-voting  women  in  the  United  States  together,  and  I  base  this 
modest  claim  upon  the  record  of  our  statute  books  as  compared  with 
those  of  other  States.  Women  stand  relatively  for  the  same  thing 
everywhere  and  their  first  care  is  naturally  and  inevitably  for  the 
child.  Whatever  we  have  done,  other  women  wish  to  do.  In  many 
s  they  have  tried  and  failed.  The  difference  is  they  are  using 
stone-age  methods  while  we  have  those  of  the  2Oth  century." 

Xo  one  who  knows  anything  about  our  laws  will  attempt  to  deny 

that  women  have  revolutionized  the  attitude  of  our  State  toward  the 

child.     Two-thirds  of   their  work  has  been  for  the  children.  .  .  . 

The^e  l,-i\\-  mean  that  in  Colorado  there  are  no  children  under   14 

<>ut  of  school;  we  have  no  child  beggars  nor  street  musicians  and  no 

vending  anything.     We  have  the  best  child  labor  law  in  the 

world.     We  have  the  strictest  laws  for  the  prevention  of  the  abuse. 

1.  menial  or  physical  of  children,  of  any  country,  and  the  best 

•red.  not  merely  in  our  cities  but  throughout  the  entire  State. 

'iave  the  strongest  compulsory  school  law  and  the  most  enlight- 

law   concerning   delinquent   children   of   any.    save   where   onr 

1.   .   .   .  What  we  have  done  has  not  been   for 

but  for  the  very  least  of  these.     It  lins  been  not  for  our 

fading  today  but   for  the  dawning  tomorrow.     We  have  gone  to  our 

»h  new  ideas  and  have  set  a  little  child  in  the  mi-1 
and  they  have  not  been  unmindful  of  the  heavenly  vision. 

Mrs.  Mary  C.  C.  P.rrulforrl  of  Denver,  president  of  the  S 
Cation   of    Women's    Clubs    and    county    superintendent   of 


IO2  HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

schools,  began  her  address,  A  Message  to  Garcia,  by  referring  to 
the  noted  pamphlet  of  that  title  by  Elbert  Hubbard,  "which,"  she 
said,  "was  translated  into  fourteen  languages  and  called  out  a 
response  from  the  hearts  of  the  civilized  world,  because  it  set 
forth  the  duty  and  necessity  of  doing  a  thing  yourself  if  you  want 
it  well  done,"  and  she  made  the  applicaation :  "The  women  of 
Colorado  have  learned  by  experience  the  advantage  of  a  direct 
vote  over  direct  influence."  She  then  told  in  a  graphic  manner 
the  vast  amount  of  good  work  the  Federation  of  Clubs  had  been 
able  to  do  through  the  power  of  the  ballot  and  said:  "During 
the  last  Legislature  a  department  of  the  federation  had  to  sit  one 
day  each  week  to  confer  -with  the  many  members  who  wanted  its 
endorsement  for  their  bills.  Clubwomen  in  non-suffrage  States 
do  not  have  this  experience.  It  is  because  we  can  carry  the  mes- 
sage to  Garcia  ourselves."  "Mrs.  Catt  helped  to  win  our  moun- 
tain republic  for  suffrage,"  Mrs.  Bradford  said  in  conclusion, 
"and  we  women  of  Colorado  pledge  ourselves  to  Susan  B.  An- 
thony to  work  until  death  to  help  get  it  in  other  States." 

Mrs.  Isabella  Churchill  of  Greeley  spoke  from  the  standpoint  of 
the  women  outside  the  cities.  "To  the  -women  in  the  small  towns 
and  country  districts,"  she  said,  "it  is  a  privilege  and  a  pleasure 
to  go  to  the  polls  on  election  day  with  the  men  of  their  family  and 
vote  for  the  candidates  and  measures  they  have  had  time  to  con- 
sider with  care.  In  such  places  the  question  next  day  is  not,  'Did 
the  election  go  Democratic  or  Republican  ?'  but  'Was  it  license  or 
no  license?'  or  else  concerning  some  candidate  or  issue  that  they 
believe  of  importance  to  their  community."  Mrs.  Helen  Bel  ford, 
chairman  of  the  Women's  State  Democratic  Committee,  devoted 
her  address  largely  to  the  development  of  the  young  women 
through  the  use  of  the  ballot  and  the  study  of  political  questions. 
Mrs.  Ina  Thompson,  chairman  of  the  Republican  Women's  State 
Committee,  gave  a  very  interesting  account  of  the  way  campaigns 
are  conducted  by  women. 

Mrs.  Helen  Loring  Grenfell,  as  State  Superintendent  of  Edu- 
cation, spoke  with  high  authority  and  by  her  dignified  and  beau- 
tiful presence  no  less  than  by  her  ability  made  a  deep  impression 
on  all  who  heard  her.  She  pointed  out  that  Colorado  came  into 
the  Union  in  1876  with  School  suffrage  for  women  and  through 


THE    NATIONAL    AMERICAN     CONVENTION    OF    IQO4  IO3 

this  they  had  always  been  able  to  keep  the  schools  on  a  non- 
partisan  basis.  She  showed  that  it  paid  more  per  capita  for  pub- 
lic schools  than  any  other  State,  leaving1  even  New  York  and 
Massachusetts  behind;  described  its  advanced  position  from 
kindergartens  to  training  schools  and  colleges,  with  especial  care 
in  guarding  the  welfare  of  children,  and  continued: 

In  the  East  we  hear  of  "the  question  of  coeducation."    It  is  not  a 
question  west  of  the  Mississippi  River,  it  never  has  been,  it  never 
will  be.    The  eastern  arrangement  seems  to  us  merely  a  curious  sur- 
vival of  antiquated  ideas,  a  kind  of  sex-consciousness  which  we  have 
sight  of  in  our  care  for  the  human  being.  .  .  .  The  place  of 
Superintendent  has  always  been  held  by  a  woman  since  women 
•ne  eligible.     The  first  superintendent  elected  was  a  Republican, 
the  second  a  Democrat,  each  holding  the  place  for  one  term;  the 
third,  who  is  now  serving  her  third  term,  was  nominated  as  a  Silver 
ihlican  but  has  really  been  elected  and  twice  re-elected  without 
rd  to  politics — an  example  of  the  independence  of  the  vote  where 
school  affairs  are  concerned.    There  are  59  counties  in  Colorado  and 
33  of  them,  including  most  of  those  with  the  largest  population,  have 

icn  county  superintendents.  .  .  . 

I  have  found  Colorado  women  much  like  their  sisters  elsewhere 

that  they  have  a  broader  view  of  public  affairs  and  they  take 

naturally  a  more  active  interest  in  the  world's  work.     They  have 

learned  to  think  and  to  say  what  they  think  simply  and  freely  in 

gatherings  where  men  and  women  meet  to  discuss  the  vital  concerns 

of  life.    They  have  not  forgotten  that  they  are  women  but  they  have 

come  to  know  that  they  are  also  human  beings,  and,  like  Terence, 

they  find  nothing  that  concerns  humanity  foreign  to  them.     Surely 

had  \ve  not  been  faithful  in  the  smaller  things,  we  should  not  have 

had  these  large  opportunities  given  to  us.  ...  I  can  not  help  think - 

•!iat  my  sisters  elsewhere  have  lost  something  rare  and  precious 

their  lives  through  the  lack  of  that  complete  citizenship  which 

been  bestowed  upon  the  women  of  Colorado,  and  I  hope  the  day 

IK-  near  when  those  sisters  may  be  made  man's  equal  under  the 

they  have  always  been  under  the  law  of  God. 

The  I  Ion.  Isaac  N.  Stevens,  a  pronounced  suffragist,  who  had 

the  topic  After  Ten  Years,  -was  detained  elsewhere.     The  Hon. 

Alva  Adams,  who  had  twice  been  Governor  of  the  State,  in  his 

•id  comprehensive  speeches  before  the  convention  and  the 

Judiciary  Committee  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  ans\\ 

the  misrepresentations  in   regard  to  woman  suffrage 

ido  which    for  years  Irtid  been   persistently  made  by  the 

anti-suffragists,  and  he  also  answered  conclusively  the  many  ob- 


IO4  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

jections  that  had  been  conjured  up.     In  the  convention  he  dis- 
cussed it  From  the  Colorado  Point  of  View,  beginning  as  follows : 

Colorado  does  not  go  into  mourning  when  a  girl  is  born.  Equal 
suffrage  has  not  taken  Colorado  out  of  the  Union.  She  stands  an 
example  of  what  a  sovereign  State  should  be — a  model  to  those  self- 
righteous  States  that  preach  equal  rights  in  press,  pulpit  and  forum 
and  deny  it  in  the  law.  The  statue  of  Justice  that  crowns  her  city 
hall,  court  house  and  Capitol  is  not  a  lie.  For  the  Capitol  in  Wash- 
ington and  in  41  States  of  the  Union  the  figure  of  St.  Paul  would 
be  more  fitting  than  that  of  the  Goddess  of  Liberty.  Unfettered  by 
tradition  and  prejudice  Colorado  has  dared  to  do  right.  She  has 
given  to  woman  what  Solomon  gave  to  Sheba — "whatsoever  she 
asked" — and  has  no  regrets  and  no  desire  to  recall  the  gift.  After 
ten  years  of  experience,  equal  suffrage  needs  neither  apology  nor 
defense.  No  harm  has  come  to  either  woman,  man  or  the  State. 
Justice  never  harmed  any  one.  If  Colorado  women  were  not  angels 
before,  the  ballot  has  brought  no  wings.  Suffrage  has  not  elevated 
them,  it  has  simply  placed  them  where  they  belonged  but  it  has  raised 
the  men  who  have  dared  to  be  just.  Woman  has  not  yet  conquered 
iniquity  nor  has  it  conquered  her.  Suffrage  is  not  a  revolution,  it  is 
but  a  step  and  not  the  end  of  the  journey.  .  .  . 

If  women  have  not  overthrown  the  entrenched  political  machines 
the  failure  is  due  to  the  so-called  respectable  Christian  men.  The 
women  are  ready  but  the  men  are  chained  to  partisanship.  .  .  .  No 
single  disaster,  no  backward  step  in  politics  or  family  morals  can  be 
charged  to  woman  suffrage.  It  has  added  nothing  to  the  business 
of  the  divorce  court,  no  family  has  been  disrupted,  no  children  neg- 
lected ;  but  the  prayers  of  hundreds  of  homeless  children  and  orphans 
have  invoked  a  benediction  upon  the  voting  women  for  the  home  and 
education  that  their  influence  has  induced  the  State  to  provide.  Suf- 
frage has  sent  no  girl  astray  but  it  has  gathered  many  wanderers  and 
turned  their  feet  into  paths  of  safety  and  built  for  them  a  model 
State  home.  Through  the  age  of  consent  law  many  a  seducer  has 
ended  his  career  in  jail.  The  most  efficient  members  of  the  State 
Board  of  Charities  and  Correction  are  women  and  this  is  true  of 
other  boards.  Their  influence  has  sent  rays  of  light  and  hope  into 
darkened  cells  and  established  reforms  in  asylums  and  prisons. 

In  answer  to  the  continued  charges  that  the  people  of  the  State 
would  like  to  repeal  the  law  he  said :  "I  have  too  high  a  regard, 
too  sincere  a  faith  in  Colorado  manhood  to  believe  that  any  of  the 
men  who  voluntarily  conferred  the  ballot  upon  their  wives,  sisters 
and  mothers  would  now  repeal  that  just  act.  Common  sense  re- 
futes the  statement  regarding  women  themselves.  Not  75  per 
cent.,  not  10  per  cent.,  not  i  per- cent,  would  today  vote  to  re- 
linquish that  which  belongs  to  them.  It  is  not  an  American 


THE    NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1904          10$ 

trait  to  give  up  rights.  ...  I  challenge  any  one  to  find  100  intel- 
ligent women  in  Colorado  who  will  voluntarily  request  that  the 
word  'male'  be  restored  in  the  constitution  and  statutes  of  the 
State.  Many  women  may  not  go  to  the  polls  but  the  man  who 
would  try  to  take  away  their  right  to  do  so  -would  need  a  bomb- 
proof conning  tower.  There  will  be  no  repeal,  it  stands  for  all 
time.  There  never  will  be  less  than  four  woman  suffrage  States — 
there  should  be  forty-five.  .  .  .  Since  1876  school  affairs  have 
practically  been  in  the  hands  of  women.  They  have  voted  at 
school  elections,  held  the  office  of  superintendent  in  a  majority  of 
the  counties  and  taught  most  of  the  schools.  In  these  twenty- 
eight  years  neither  politics  nor  scandals  have  impaired  our  public 
school  system  and  in  efficiency  we  challenge  comparison  with  any 
Slate  in  the  Union.  What  the  women  have  done  for  our  schools 
can  do  for  our  civic  government.  They  have  introduced 
ience  into  educational  affairs  and  they  will  do  the  same  in 
city  and  State.  That  is  the  fear  of  those  who  make  politics  a 
profession.  .  .  ." 

Henry  B.  Blackwell  was  introduced  and  spoke  briefly  of  hav- 
ing gone  to  Colorado  in  1876  to  assist  in  getting  full  suffrage  for 
women  into  the  constitution  for  statehood,  but  it  was  left  for 
•  iters  to  decide.    Mrs.  Catt  closed  the  meeting  with  references 
to  the  successful  campaign  of  1893,  seventeen  years  later. 

A  resolution  presented  by  Mrs.  Mead  -was  adopted  urging  Con- 
to  take  the  initial  steps  toward  inviting  the  governments  of 
the  world  to  establish  an  International  Advisory  Congress,  and 
impressing  upon  equal  suffragists  that  they  should  create  local 
public  sentiment  in  favor  of  arbitration  treaties  between  the 
Unit-  and  all  countries  with  which  it  has  diplomatic  rela- 

On  motion  of  Mrs.  Grenfell  the  convention  endorsed  the 
I  nil  before  Congress  for  a  national  board  of  child  and  animal 
i.     It  rejoiced  in  the  voting  of  850,000  women  in  Aus- 
tralia and   in  the   fact  that   woman   suffrage  existed  throughout 
'x»  square  miles  of  United  States  territory  and  eight  Sena- 
ind  nine  R<  a  were  sent  to  Congress  by  votes  of 

men  and  women.     Mrs.  Mary  Church  Terrell   (D.  C),  a 
ted  woman,  showing  little  trace  of  negro  Moo,  1.  said: 
"A  resolution  asks  you  to  stand  up  for  children  and  animal-;  I 


YOU    V 


106  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN     SUFFRAGE 

want  you  to  stand  up  not  only  for  children  and  animals  but  also 
for  negroes.  You  will  never  get  suffrage  until  the  sense  of  justice 
has  been  so  developed  in  men  that  they  will  give  fair  play  to  the 
colored  race.  Much  has  been  said  about  the  purchasability  of 
the  negro  vote.  They  never  sold  their  votes  till  they  found  that 
it  made  no  difference  how  they  cast  them.  Then,  being  poor  and 
ignorant  and  human,  they  began  to  sell  them,  but  soon  after  the 
Civil  War  I  knew  many  efforts  to  tempt  them  to  do  so  which  -were 
not  successful.  My  sisters  of  the  dominant  race,  stand  up  not 
only  for  the  oppressed  sex  but  also  for  the  oppressed  race!" 

Resolutions  of  regret  were  adopted  for  the  death  of  many  pio- 
neer suffragists  during  the  year,  among  them  Sarah  Knox  Good- 
rich of  California;  Sarah  Burger  Stearns  of  Minnesota;  Judge 
J.  W.  Kingman  of  Iowa ;  Ellen  Sully  Fray  of  Ohio ;  Eliza  Sproat 
Turner  and  Samuel  Pennock  of  Pennsylvania ;  Henrietta  L.  T. 
Wolcott,  Lavina  A.  Hatch,  Alice  Gordon  Gulick,  Richard  P.  Hal- 
lowell  and  the  Hon.  Henry  S.  Washburn  of  Massachusetts.  Tele- 
grams of  remembrance  were  sent  to  the  veteran  workers,  Mrs. 
Martha  S.  Root  of  Michigan  and  Mrs.  Caroline  E.  Merrick  of 
Louisiana,  and  a  letter  to  Mrs.  Ellen  Powell  Thompson  of  the 
District.  Mrs.  Kate  Trimble  Woolsey  of  Kentucky,  author  of 
Republics  vs.  Women,  was  introduced  to  the  convention  and 
showed  how  republics  disfranchised  half  of  their  citizens. 

The  Declaration  of  Principles,  prepared  by  Mrs.  Catt,  Dr.  Shaw, 
Miss  Blackwell  and  Mrs.  Harper  remained  a  permanent  platform 
of  the  association. 

Dr.  Shaw  made  the  delegates  smile  at  one  morning  session  after 
they  had  sung  "America"  by  moving  that  hereafter  the  line,  "Our 
Father's  God  to  Thee,"  should  be  printed  on  their  program,  "Our 
Father,  God,  to  Thee."  She  said  the  preachers  and  poets  had  a 
habit  of  talking  so  exclusively  about  "the  God  of  our  fathers" 
that  there  was  danger  of  forgetting  that  our  mothers  had  any 
God!  Mrs.  Mary  Wood  Swift  (Calif.),  its  president,  brought 
the  greetings  of  the  National  Council  of  Women.  The  report 
from  the  Friends  Equal  Rights  Association,  an  affiliated  society, 
was  made  by  Mrs.  Anne  W.  Janney  (Md).  Fraternal  greetings 
were  given  by  Mrs.  Olive  Pond  Amies  for  the  Pennsylvania 


THE    NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1 904          IO7 

\Y.  C.  T.  U. ;  by  Mrs.  Arabella  Carter  (Penn.)  for  the  Universal 
Peace  Union,  and  by  Mrs.  Emma  S.  Olds  (O.)  for  the  Ladies  of 
the  Maccabees  of  the  World.  Mrs.  Catt  -warmly  complimented 
this  last  organization  for  its  fine  business  principles  and  the  high 
character  of  its  leaders.  The  association  appointed  as  its  legal 
adviser  Mrs.  Catharine  \Yaugh  McCulloch,  a  prominent  lawyer  of 
Chicago,  for  years  the  superintendent  of  legislative  work  for  the 
Illinois  Suffrage  Association  and  part  of  the  time  its  president. 
It  is  needless  to  say  that  it  was  not  a  salaried  position.  One  morn- 
ing Mrs.  Catt  called  the  "pioneers"  to  the  platform  and  presented 
them  to  the  convention,  among  them  Miss  Mary  S.  Anthony,  who 
had  attended  the  first  Woman's  Rights  Convention  in  1848,  of 
whom  her  sister  always  said :  "She  has  looked  after  the  home  and 
made  it  possible  for  me  to  do  my  work." 

Miss  Emily  Rowland  of  Sherwood,  N.  Y.,  one  of  the  early 
Abolitionists,  said  in  her  few  words  of  reminiscence :  "I  remem- 
ber Lucy  Stone  holding  a  series  of  meetings  through  New  York 
State  in  my  youth.  My  uncle  came  home  and  reported  that  a 
young  woman  was  lecturing  and  putting  up  her  own  posters; 
that  she  was  very  bright  and  he  was  not  sure  but  that  she  -was 
right  and  what  she  advocated  would  have  to  come.  As  I  think 
of  those  three  great  leaders,  Lucy  Stone,  Elizabeth  Cady  Stanton 
and  Susan  B.  Anthony,  I  know  what  heroism  is.  ...  We  women 
did  not  fully  realize  at  first  that  militarism  was  our  greatest  foe. 
\Ve  are  always  told  that  women  must  not  vote  because  they  can 
not  fight.  I  believe  they  could — I  see  many  women  who  have 
more  fight  in  them  than  many  men.  .  .  .  Our  cause  came  straight 
from  the  anti-slavery  cause.  All  its  early  advocates  were  aKo 
advocates  of  freeing  the  despised  race  in  bondage.  Let  us  not 
<  t  them  now.  Neither  a  nation  nor  an  individual  can  be 
free  till  all  are  free." 

It  had  been  known  for  some  months  that  Mrs.  Catt  would  not 

re-election  to  the  presidency.    Eor  the  past  nine  years  she 

•i  her  entire  time  to  work  for  woman  suffrage.  shaking 

in  m  attending  conventions,  sen-ing  as  chairman  of 

niittee  on   Organization    for  five  years  and  as  president 

Muring  this   time  she  had   had   charge  of  the 

l«juarters  and  under  the  combined  strain    found  her 


IO8  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

health  breaking.  The  first  measure  of  relief  -was  the  removal  of 
the  national  headquarters  to  Warren,  Ohio,  in  May,  1904,  where 
Mrs.  Upton  took  it  in  charge,  but  this  was  not  sufficient  and  she 
announced  her  determination  to  retire  from  the  presidency,  much 
to  the  regret  of  the  association.  The  delegates  naturally  turned 
to  Dr.  Shaw  and  urged  the  presidency  upon  her  but  she  was  most 
reluctant  to  accept.  It  was  an  unsalaried  position;  she  was 
entirely  dependent  on  her  lectures  and  she  felt  that  in  the  field 
she  could  best  serve  the  cause  but  she  finally  yielded  to  Miss 
Anthony's  earnest  entreaties.  She  was  almost  unanimously 
elected  and  Mrs.  Catt  consented  to  remain  in  official  position  as 
vice-president-at-large.  The  convention  adopted  the  following 
resolution  :  "We  tender  to  our  retiring  president  our  hearty  thanks 
for  her  years  of  faithful  and  efficient  labor  in  behalf  of  our  cause 
and  for  her  self-sacrificing  devotion  to  its  interests.  We  con- 
gratulate ourselves  that  we  shall  continue  to  have  her  wise  coun- 
sel and  cooperation  and  we  express  our  earnest  hope  for  her 
health  and  prosperity."  No  other  change  was  made  except  that 
Mrs.  Coggeshall  retired  as  second  auditor  and  Dr.  Cora  Smith 
Eaton  again  became  a  member  of  the  board. 

The  Evening  Star  had  this  description :  "As  the  afternoon  ses- 
sion was  about  closing  Mrs.  Carrie  Chapman  Catt,  retiring  na- 
tional president,  who  has  endeared  herself  to  all  by  her  gracious 
courtesy,  her  firm  yet  gentle  sway,  presented  to  the  convention  its 
choice  for  her  successor.  Miss  Shaw  was  not  as  clear-eyed  as  usual 
when  she  faced  the  cheering  audience  and  her  voice  trembled  and 
choked  a  little  as  she  declared  she  had  accepted  the  office  only  to 
give  Mrs.  Catt  a  rest.  As  the  convention  continued  to  applaud  she 
said,  trying  to  smile :  'Don't  do  that  or  I  shall  surely  cry !'  The 
Rev.  Anna  Howard  Shaw  is  probably  the  first  woman  distin- 
guished by  having  taken  both  theological  and  medical  degrees.  She 
won  her  way  into  and  through  college  by  teaching  and  paid  for  her 
theological  training  by  preaching  on  Sundays.  .  .  .  After  filling 
one  parish  for  seven  years  she  found  her  widest  opportunities  in 
the  broad  parish  of  the  lecture  field  and  is  one  of  the  ablest 
speakers  on  the  public  platform." 

Detroit  sent  an  invitation  for  the  next  convention  and  Mrs. 
Richard  Williams  of  Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  presented  one  from  that  city 


fill:    NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1904          IOQ 

with  a  guarantee  from  the  State  Suffrage  Association  of  $1,000 
toward  the  expenses.  While  these  were  appreciated  the  invitation 
from  Portland,  Ore.,  was  the  choice.  It  was  presented  by  Dr. 
Annice  Jeffreys  for  the  association  and  by  the  Hon.  Jefferson 
Myers  in  behalf  of  the  Lewis  and  Clark  Exposition  to  be  held  in 

5,  which  the  convention  gave  a  hearty  endorsement. 
The  last  evening  found  the  large  armory  filled  to  the  doors. 
Mrs.  Evelyn  H.  Belden  (la.)  made  a  delightful  address  on  The 
Main  Line,  which  thoroughly  disproved  the  assertion  that  women 
have  no  sense  of  humor,  as  the  audience  testified  by  frequent 
laughter  and  applause.  Mrs.  L.  Annis  Pound  (Mich.)  discussed 
the  Problem  of  the  Individual.  "A  woman's  value  to  society,"  she 
said,  "will  increase  in  direct  ratio  as  her  value  as  an  individual 
increases.  Woman  as  the  potential  mother  of  the  race  owes  it 
to  posterity  to  develop  the  noblest,  strongest  type  of  individual- 
ism. She  must  be  first  a  human  being,  a  personality,  a  member 
of  society."  Mrs.  J.  Ellen  Foster,  president  of  the  National 
Women's  Republican  Association,  who  had  made  political  speeches 
from  ocean  to  ocean,  told  in  a  most  entertaining  manner  of 
( 'ampaigning  in  Eree  States  and  paid  a  glowing  tribute  to  the 

:icial  effects  of  woman  suffrage  in  the  States  where  it  existed. 

Towards  the  end  of  the  evening  Mrs.  Catt  presented  Miss 

Anthony  and  as  she  came  forward  she  brought  Miss  Barton  with 

md  the  audience  rose  in  heartfelt  recognition  of  the  two  great 
lead-  "It  seemed  unable  quite  fully  to  express  its  pleasure," 
said  the  Evening  Star,  "and  applauded  again  and  again,  as  Miss 

on  bowed  and  Miss  Anthony  looked  smilingly  and  benignly 
nut  over  the  enthusiastic  crowds."  She  expressed  in  words  of 
affection  and  esteem  her  pleasure  in  appearing  on  that  platform 
one  who  had  stood  by  her  from  the  beginning  of  her  work 
and  Mi->  I'.artnn  responded  in  the  same  strain,  giving  then  as 
always  her  adherence  to  Miss  Anthony  and  the  cause  of  woman 

suffrage. 

national  suffrage  convention  never  seemed  to  be  properly 

Dr.  Shaw  m.  h  at  the  close  and  for  this  one 

t,  Woman  without  a  Country,  and  with  her 

Me<s  eloquence  described  the  j>osition  of  women  under  the 

.inent   in   which   they   had   no  voice.     Mrs.  Catt 


HO  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

spoke  the  president's  inspiring  farewell  words  and  the  conven- 
tion adjourned  to  meet  next  time  in  the  far  northwest. 


The  usual  hearings  were  granted  by  the  Senate  and  House 
Committees  on  February  16  at  10:30  a.m.  Miss  Anthony  pre- 
sided at  the  Senate  hearing  and  the  speakers  in  the  Marble  Room 
were  Mrs.  Watson  Lister,  Australia;  Mrs.  Harriot  Stanton 
Blatch,  England;  Dr.  Anna  Howard  Shaw  and  Mrs.  Ida  Porter 
Boyer,  Pennsylvania;  Miss  Laura  A.  Gregg,  Nebraska;  Miss  Har- 
riet May  Mills,  Miss  Emily  Howland,  Mrs.  Maud  Nathan,  Mrs. 
Charlotte  Perkins  Gilman  and  Mrs.  Ida  Husted  Harper,  New 
York.  In  introducing  Mrs.  Gilman  Miss  Anthony  said  quaintly : 
'This  is  one  of  the  Beecher  tribe,"  referring  to  her  relationship, 
and  she  said  of  Dr.  Shaw,  the  last  speaker,  "She  will  wind  us  up!" 
In  telling  of  the  first  congressional  hearing  on  woman  suffrage 
ever  granted — in  1869 — she  said:  "Of  all  those  who  spoke  here 
then  I  am  the  only  one  living  today  and  I  shall  not  be  able  to  come 
much  longer."  Her  words  were  prophetic,  as  this  was  the  last 
hearing  she  ever  attended. 

Each  speaker  considered  the  question  from  a  different  stand- 
point :  Miss  Mills  showed  that  the  high  schools  everywhere  were 
graduating  more  girls  than  boys  and  women  were  increasing  in 
the  colleges  at  a  higher  ratio  than  men  and  said:  "If  only  you 
would  fix  an  educational  qualification  for  the  franchise  we  might 
hope  to  attain  it."  Mrs.  Swift  described  the  great  campaign  that 
had  been  made  by  California  women  for  the  suffrage  in  1896  and 
yet  they  could  not  now  even  vote  for  school  officers  and  she  told 
of  the  unjust  laws  for  women.  Mrs.  Boyer  spoke  for  the  millions 
of  women  wage-earners  and  declared  that  the  present  form  of 
government  was  a  sex-aristocracy.  Mrs.  Gilman  said  that  to 
have  intelligent  men  there  must  be  educated  mothers  and  that 
America  could  be  made  greater  but  not  out  of  little  people.  Mrs. 
Harper  reviewed  the  Senate  hearings  of  the  past,  the  favorable 
and  unfavorable  reports  and  the  many  times  when  no  reports 
were  made  and  said :  "We  represent  no  vested  interests,  no  con- 
stituency :  we  cannot  help  or  harm  you  politically ;  we  can  only 
appeal  to  you  in  the  name  of  abstract  justice." 


THE    NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1 904          III 

Mrs.  Blatch,  American  by  birth,  told  of  the  feelings  of  women 
arriving  in  this  country  by  steamer  and  seeing  the  men  land 
from  the  steerage  -who  would  soon  have  the  right  of  suffrage 
which  was  denied  to  women  born  in  the  United  States.  Mrs. 
Watson  Lister  was  introduced  as  representing  over  800,000 
women  voters  in  Australia  and  said  in  part :  "It  seems  very  odd 
to  me  to  come  to  America  to  speak  on  self-government.  In 
Australia  woman  suffrage  is  not  an  experiment  but  a  long 
experience  and  one  effect  has  been  to  disprove  all  the  things  that 
were  said  against  it."  Dr.  Shaw  spoke  of  the  hardships  women 
had  endured  to  make  this  country  what  it  is  and  of  the  injustice 
of  denying  them  any  voice  in  its  government. 

Miss  Anthony  closed  by  saying  that  she  had  appealed  to  com- 
mittees of  seventeen  Congresses  and  she  urged  that  this  one 
would  make  a  favorable  report.  Senator  Mitchell  of  Oregon 
responded :  "I  introduced  this  resolution  for  woman  suffrage. 
I  am  earnestly  in  favor  of  it — have  been  for  many  years — and 
if  I  live  you  will  get  a  report.  I  have  been  more  instructed  and 
interested  by  the  magnificent  speeches  I  have  heard  today  than 
by  any  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  during  the  twenty-one 
years  I  have  attended  it."  Others  expressed  themselves  in  the 
same  strain.  Senator  Mitchell's  own  personal  affairs,  however, 
soon  became  much  involved  and  no  report  was  made. 


Mrs.  Catt  conducted  the  hearing  before  the  Judiciary  Com- 
mittee of  the  House.  Its  chairman,  Representative  John  J.  Jen- 
kins of  Wisconsin,  who  was  presiding,  made  no  secret  of  his 
hostility  to  woman  suffrage  but  some  members  of  the  committee 
were  favorable.  Colorado  had  been  the  storm  center  of  attack 
and  defense  for  many  years  while  Denver  was  the  only  city  of 
considerable  size  -where  women  could  vote.  In  opening  the  hear- 
Irs.  Catt  said:  "Mr.  Chairman  and  Gentlemen  of  the  Com- 
mittee: Last  year  when  we  appeared  before  the  committee  to 
speak  in  behalf  of  the  bill  asking  the  submission  of  the  i6th 
Amendment  we  called  attention  to  the  fact  that  Congress  had 
appointed  a  great  many  commissions  for  investigation  of  the  con- 
1  political  and  otherwise,  of  various  classes  of  people,  ami 


112  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

inasmuch  as  we  have  come  here  year  after  year  claiming  that 
woman  suffrage  had  wrought  none  of  the  ills  which  its  enemies 
said  it  would  and  that  it  had  brought  many  benefits,  we  asked 
that  Congress,  through  a  commission,  should  investigate  it  in  the 
western  States.  You  are  aware  that  no  such  commission  re- 
sulted from  our  petition.  When  Mahomet  commanded  the  moun- 
tain to  come  to  him  and  the  mountain  did  not  come  he  said: 
Then  Mahomet  will  go  to  the  mountain.'  We  have  therefore 
this  year  brought  Colorado  to  you  and  the  speakers  who  will  ad- 
dress you  this  morning  are  all  from  that  State." 

The  speeches  largely  followed  the  lines  of  those  given  before 
the  convention.  Mrs.  Katherine  Cook  showed  the  relation  be- 
tween the  women's  vote  and  the  home  and  family  welfare. 
Mrs.  Ellis  Meredith,  introduced  as  on  the  editorial  staff  of  the 
Rocky  Mountain  News  of  Denver,  gave  a  summary  of  the  ex- 
cellent legislation  that  had  been  effected  since  women  began 
voting  in  1894  and  said :  "I  have  read  a  compilation  of  the  laws 
in  regard  to  the  protection  of  children  in  every  State  and  I  know 
that  in  no  other  have  they  such  ample  protection  and  in  no  other 
are  the  laws  so  well  enforced.  This  is  partly  due  to  the  fact 
that  our  Humane  Society  is  a  State  institution  and  has  the  free 
voluntary  services  of  six  hundred  men  and  women  acting  as 
agents  over  this  big  State  of  104,000  square  miles."  Answering 
questions  she  said:  "In  my  district,  one  of  the  best,  571  women 
registered  and  570  voted.  There  are  as  many  men  as  women 
in  the  district  but  only  235  voted.  Men  form  55  per  cent,  of 
our  population  and  women  45.  Women  cast  over  43  per  cent, 
of  the  total  vote." 

Mrs.  Mary  C.  C.  Bradford,  president  of  the  State  Federation 
of  Women's  Clubs,  extended  the  account  of  the  remarkable  work 
it  had  accomplished  as  described  to  the  convention,  a  success, 
she  said,  due  to  the  fact  that  it  represented  a  large  body  of  well- 
informed  voters.  She  ridiculed  the  danger  at  the  polling  places. 
"Who  are  the  evil  creatures  we  are  supposed  to  meet  there  on 
election  day?  We  vote  in  the  precinct  in  which  we  live  and  we 
meet  our  husbands,  our  brothers,  our  sons.  ...  In  Colorado 
the  environment  in  which  the  supreme  right  of  citizenship  is 


THE    NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQO4 

performed  has  been  improved  to  harmonize  with  the  improved 
character  of  the  constituency." 

Mrs.  Helen  Loring  Grenfell  was  introduced  by  Mrs.  Catt  as 
"the  State  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction  now  serving 
her  third  term,  the  only  successful  candidate  on  her  ticket  at  the 
last  election/'  She  began  by  saying:  "Gentlemen,  this  is  a 

peculiar  position  for  a  Colorado  woman.  It  seems  just  as 
strange  to  me  as  it  would  be  to  my  husband  to  be  coming  here 
before  a  body  of  women  and  saying:  'We  men  ask  from  you 
equal  rights  under  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States.'  ' 
After  showing  the  interest  felt  in  elections  by  women  she  said: 
"I  have  been  an  office-holder,  which  has  involved  running  for 
c,  and  I  think  it  is  right  for  me  to  tell  you  a  little  of  my 
experiences.  My  campaigns  have  taken  me  through  almost  every 
county  in  Colorado,  the  farming  counties,  the  roughest  mining 
communities,  and  let  me  say  to  you  that  if  there  could  be  any 
more  chivalry  in  the  States  where  you  think  it  would  be  un- 
chivalrous  to  let  your  women  vote,  I  would  like  to  see  it.  I  have 
met  with  the  greatest  courtesy  from  men  all  over  the  State.  I 
been  treated  just  as  kindly,  just  as  politely  by  the  men 
when  I  appeared  as  a  political  candidate  as  by  the  men  with  whom 
I  am  associated  in  my  school  work,  in  my  home  and  society  life. 
\Ve  have  come  to  the  time  when  we  must  feel  that  the  word 
chivalry  belongs  to  the  past.  It  is  connected  with  a  period  when 

an's  position  before  the  law  and  in  her  home  was  far  from 
a  desirable  one;  and  so  I  believe  you  will  not  misunderstand  me 

i  I  say  that  if  you  will  give  us  justice  we  feel  that  it  will  mean 
a  great  deal  more  than  chivalry  ever  did." 

There  had  just  been  an  exposition  of  fraud  at  the  recent  Con- 
;1  election  where  Representative  John  F.  Sha froth  had 
been  re-elected  and  he  at  once  resigned  the  office  in  order  to  dis- 
claim all  connection  with  it.     Nearly  every  speaker  was  interrog- 

about  it  by  nicinl>ers  of  the  committee.     Mrs.  Grenfell  an- 
;<1  all  of  them  :   "The  frauds  upon  which  this  election 

Iccidcd  were  committed  in  the  city  of  Denver  alone  and  in  the 

:  precinct  in  the  city.     We  will  admit  that  they  were  com- 

i  rca-on  for  rin^r  that  woman  suffrage  is 

a  mistake?     1  have-  heard  report-  iioin  the  cities  of  Philadelphia 


114  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

and  New  York  by  which,  if  I  should  judge  male  suffrage,  I 
should  say  it  was  an  utter  failure  in  the  States  of  Pennsylvania 
and  New  York.  We  have  tens  of  thousands  of  women  voters 
in  Colorado.  We  have  indictments  out  against  many  dishonest 
voters  and  with  the  utmost  searching  they  have  found  one  woman 
who  is  charged  with  'repeating'  in  the  election.  Our  State  peni- 
tentiary has  five  women  prisoners  today  and  600  men.  That 
surely  cannot  be  used  as  an  argument  for  woman  suffrage 
having  injured  the  women,  whatever  it  may  have  done  to  the 
men."  ' 

The  committee  were  particularly  interested  in  the  speech  of 
former  Governor  Alva  Adams,  which  gave  much  information 
on  the  voting  of  women  and  called  out  many  questions  from  the 
committee.  Representative  Littlefield  of  Maine  inquired  :  "What 
do  you  say,  Governor,  about  Miss  McCracken's  article  in  the 
Outlook?"  and  he  answered:  "I  call  it  infamous,  to  use  the 
proper  term.  It  -was  an  absolute  falsehood.  It  was  based  upon 
no  facts,  because  no  decent  women  in  Colorado  would  make  the 
statements  that  she  quotes.  She  may  have  found  one  woman 
who  would  say  that  they  were  using  philanthropy  and  charity 
for  political  purposes  but  to  admit  that  the  women  of  the  State 
would  do  a  thing  of  that  kind — -would  so  debase  themselves — 
would  be  an  impeachment  of  the  decency  and  honesty  of  woman- 
kind everywhere.  I  am  not  prepared  to  make  that  admission 
and  the  citizens  of  Colorado  cannot  make  it.  There  are  100,000 

1  There  was  a  large  amount  of  unimpeachable  testimony  that  the  women  had  no  part 
in  these  election  frauds.  Mr.  Shafroth  himself  said:  "The  frauds  were  committed  in  a 
bad  part  of  Denver  where  few  women  live.  To  represent  them  as  characteristic  of 
women's  election  methods  in  Colorado  is  an  outrage."  A  prominent  Denver  lawyer,  who 
was  then  in  Washington,  was  interviewed  on  the  subject  and  said:  "That  'Exhibit  64' 
(relating  to  the  alleged  frauds  by  women)  was  not  competent  evidence  and  would  have 
been  thrown  out  by  any  court.  The  woman  who  accused  herself  and  other  women  of 
cheating  did  not  stay  to  be  cross-examined;  she  simply  made  her  affidavit  and  'skipped 
out.'  Everything  tends  to  the  belief  that  she  was  in  the  employ  of  the  opposite  party." 

The  president  of  the  League  for  Honest  Elections  in  Denver,  when  stating  that  about 
thirty  arrests  had  been  made  in  connection  with  the  frauds,  said:  "Of  those  arrested 
and  bound  over,  only  one  is  a  woman.  We  believe  that  she  is  the  least  guilty  of  all  and 
whatever  connection  she  had  with  the  election  in  her  precinct  was  as  the  passive  instru- 
ment of  the  men  in  charge  of  the  fraudulent  work  at  that  place.  Of  the  persons  for 
whom  warrants  have  been  issued  but  not  yet  served,  only  one  is  a  woman.  She  was  a 
clerk  in  one  of  the  lower  precincts  and  we  understand  has  left  the  city.  I  may  say,  as  a 
result  of  my  own  experience  in  connection  with  this  League,  I  find  that  women  have 
practically  nothing  to  do  with  fraudulent  work." 


THE    NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1 904 

honest  women  in  the  State  who  are  voters  and  there  are  not  100 
who  will  subscribe  to  the  sentiments  she  gave  voice  to."  l 

Mrs.  Catt  closed  the  hearing  with  an  earnest  appeal  for  action, 
saving  in  part : 

\Yhen  the  constitution  of  Colorado  was  first  made  in  1876  a  pro- 
vision was  placed  in  it  that  at  any  time  the  Legislature  might  en: 
franchise  the  women  by  a  referendum  of  a  law  to  the  voters.  That 
was  clone  in  1893  and  it  was  passed  by  6,000  majority.  Last  year  an 
amendment  to  the  constitution  was  submitted  to  the  electors,  now 
both  men  and  women,  concerning  the  qualifications  for  the  vote  and 
in  it  there  was  included,  of  course,  the  recognition  of  the  enfranchise- 
ment of  women  quite  as  much  as  that  of  men,  so  that  it  was  vir- 
tually a  woman  suffrage  amendment.  It  received  a  majority  of 
35,000,  showing  certainly  that  after  ten  years  of  experience  the 
le  were  willing  to  put  woman  suffrage  in  the  constitution,  where 
it  became  an  integral  part  of  it  and  permanent. 

\Yhen  the  American  constitution  was  formulated  it  was  the  first 
of  its  kind  and  this  was  the  first  republic  of  its  kind.     Man  suffrage 
was  an  experiment  and  it  was  considered  universally  a  very  doubtful 
one.    We  find  overwhelming  evidence  that  the  thinkers  of  the  world 
feared  that  if  this  republic  should  fail  to  live  it  would  come  to  its 
end  through  the  instability  of  the  minds  of  men  and  that  revolu- 
tionary thought  would  arise  to  overturn  the  Government.    We  find 
it  in  George  Washington  and   Benjamin  Franklin  and  all  of  our 
men  as  well  as  those  who  were  watching  the  experiment  here 
.xiously  from  across  the  sea.     What  was  the  result?     The  re- 
sult was  they  made  a  constitution  just  as  ironclad  as  they  could,  so 
>  prevent  its  amendment.     They  made  it  as  difficult   for  the 
fundamental  law  of  the  nation  to  be  changed  as  they  knew  how  to 
.  .  Those  of  us  who  wish  to  enter  the  political  life,  who  be- 
that  we  have  quite  as  good  a  right  to  express  ourselves  there  as 
any  man — what  is  our  position?    Within  the  last  century  there  has 
•nsinn  after  extension  of  the  suffrage,  and  every  one  has  put 
for  women    further  off.   .    .    . 

Do  you  not  see  that  while  in  this  country  there  are  millions  of 
people  who  believe  in  the  enfranchisement  of  women,  while  there  is 
•iment  for  it  than  in  any  other,  yet  we  are  restricted  by  this 
wall  of  constitutional  limitations  which  was  set  at  a  time  when 
:"orm  of  government   was  totally  untried?      Because  of 
this  \Ve  find  ourselves  distanced   by  monarchies  and  the  women  en- 
franchised in  other  lands  are  coming  to  us  to  express  their  pity  and 
.   So  I  ask  that  you  will  this  time  make  a  report  to  the 

1  A  Miss  Elizabeth  McCracken  had  been  tent  to  Colorado  by  the  Outlook  to  prepare  an 

on    woman    suffrage,    which    it    published.     The    statements   in    it    wore    universally 

repudiated   by  the  press  and  the   people   of  that   State.     Mrs.   Grenfell  said   of  it  at  this 

convention:  "It  is  as  absurd  to  r- f.iti    h- 1    ;i-^rrti<>ns  .-i*  t"  IT  ply  to  Baron  Munrhausen  or 

t    that    Alice's   Adventures    in    Wonderland    never    happened.     Such   conditions   as 

she  describes  do  not  exist  in  Colorado." 


Il6  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

House  of  Representatives  and  if  you  do  not  believe  that  we  are 
right,  for  Heaven's  sake  make  an  adverse  report.  Anything  will  be 
more  satisfactory  than  the  indifference  with  which  we  have  been 
treated  for  many  years.  Do  at  least  recognize  that  we  have  a  cause, 
that  there  are  women  here  whose  hearts  are  aching  because  they 
see  great  movements  to  which  they  desire  to  give  their  help  and  yet 
they  are  chained  down  to  work  for  the  power  that  is  not  yet  within 
their  hands.  ...  If  you,  Mr.  Chairman,  feel  that  you  can  not  offer 
a  favorable  report  because  the  majority  of  the  committee  is  not 
favorable,  then  I  beg  of  you,  in  behalf  of  the  women  of  the  United 
States,  to  show  where  you  stand  and  to  give  an  adverse  report. 

The  Senate  Committee  presented  the  National  Association 
with  10,000  and  the  House  Committee  with  15,000  copies  of 
these  hearings,  which  they  could  use  as  a  part  of  their  propa- 
ganda literature.  There  was  not,  however,  enough  political  in- 
ilucnce  back  of  the  appeals  for  the  submission  of  the  Federal 
Amendment  for  woman  suffrage  to  compel  the  committees  to 
make  reports  which  would  brini;  the  subject  before  Congress. 


CHAPTER  V. 

NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1905. 

t'ntil  igo5  the  national  suffrage  conventions  had  never  been 
held  further  west  than  Des  Moines,  la.  (1897),  but  this  year 
the  innovation  was  made  of  going  to  the  Pacific  Coast  for  the 
Thirty-seventh  annual  meeting,  June  28-July  5,1  at  the  invitation 
of  the  managers  of  the  Lewis  and  Clark  Exposition  held  in 
Portland,  Ore.  Tt  was  a  delightful  experience  from  the  be- 
ginning, as  the  delegates  from  the  East  and  Middle  West  met 
in  Chicago  and  had  three  special  cars  from  there.  The  Chicago 
Woman's  Club  gave  a  large  reception  in  the  afternoon  of  June 
23  for  Miss  Anthony,  the  officers  and  delegates.  They  took 
the  train  that  night;  Mrs.  Carrie  Chapman  Catt  joined  them  in 
Fo\\a  and  others  along  the  way,  as  it  sped  westward.  The  news- 

1  Part  of  Call:  A  government  of  men  and  women — not  by  women  alone,  not  by  men 
alone,  but  a  government  of  men  and  women  by  men  and  women  for  men  and  women — 
this  is  the  aim  and  ideal  of  our  association. 

One  hundred  years  ago  Oregon  was  an  untrodden  wilderness.  The  transformation  of 
that  primeval  territory  into  prosperous  communities  enjoying  the  highest  degree  of  civil- 
ization could  not  have  been  accomplished  without  the  work  of  women.  No  restriction 
should  be  placed  upon  energies  and  abilities  so  potent  for  good.  The  extension  of  the 
right  of  suffrage  would  remove  a  handicap  from  the  efforts  of  women  and  give  them  an 
opportunity  to  work  for  the  welfare  of  the  State.  We  do  not  claim  that  woman's  voice 
in  the  government  would  at  once  sound  the  death  knell  to  all  social  and  political  evils 
but  we  do  brlii-ve  that  a  government  representing  the  interests  and  beliefs  of  women 
and  men  would  prove  itself,  and  is  proving  itself  where  it  now  exists,  to  be  a  better 

icnt  than  one  which  represents  the  interests  and  beliefs  of  men  alone. 
The  movement   for  the  enfranchisement  of  women   is  based  upon   the   unchanging  and 
•igeablc    principles   of    human    liberty,    in    accordance    with    which    successive    classes 
of  men   have  won  the  right  of  self-government.     On  such  a  foundation  ultimate  victory 
i»  assured  and  in  truth  is  conceded  even  by  those  who  oppose.     The  day  is  ever  drawing 
nearer  when  the  nation  will  apply  to  women  the  principles  which  are  the  very  foundation 
existence;  when  on  every  election  day  there  will  be  re-affirmed  the  immortal  truths 
of  our  Declaration  of  American   Independence.     Then   will   this  indeed  be  a  just  govern- 
ment, "deriving  its  powers  from  the  consent  of  the  governed." 

SUSAN  B.  ANTHONY,  Honorary  President. 
ANNA  HOWARD  SHAW,  President. 
CABBIE  CHAPMAN  CATT,  Vice-President. 
KATF  v,  Corresponding  Secretary. 

ALICI  STONE   U  Recording   Secretary. 

RIBT  TAYIX»  UPTON,  Treasurer. 

/  . 
CO.A  SMITH  EATON., 

117 


Il8  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

papers  had  given  it  -wide  publicity  and  they  were  greeted  by 
suffragists  at  many  places.  The  Political  Equality  Club  of  Boone, 
la.,  brought  large  bouquets  for  Miss  Anthony,  Dr.  Shaw  and 
Mrs.  Catt,  who  made  brief  speeches  from  the  rear  platform. 
The  colored  porter  listened  attentively  and  said :  "Well,  that 
settles  me ;  I  am  for  woman  suffrage,"  and  afterwards  diligently 
circulated  copies  of  the  Woman's  Journal  on  the  train.  Another 
ovation  awaited  them  at  Council  Bluffs.  The  train  waited  half 
an  hour  at  Omaha  and  the  women  of  the  Political  Equality  Club, 
the  W.  C.  T.  U.  and  the  Woman's  Club  united  in  a  demonstra- 
tion. A  platform  had  been  improvised  and  their  presidents  ex- 
pressed a  welcome  to  which  responses  were  made  by  Miss  An- 
thony, Mrs.  Catt,  Dr.  Shaw,  the  Rev.  Antoinette  Brown  Black- 
well,  Miss  Laura  Clay  and  Mr.  and  Miss  Blackwell,  editors  of 
the  Woman's  Journal,  while  reporters  were  busy  getting  inter- 
views. They  returned  to  the  train  laden  -with  flowers,  which 
they  distributed,  sending  buttonhole  bouquets  to  the  engineer, 
fireman  and  all  the  crew. 

The  train  was  delayed  two  hours  at  Cheyenne  and  former  U.  S. 
Senator  Joseph  M.  Carey  and  his  wife,  staunch  suffragists  and 
old  friends  of  Miss  Anthony,  took  her  for  a  drive  while  the 
officers  and  delegates  walked  about  the  pleasant  little  city  and 
went  to  see  the  handsome  State  House.  Miss  Blackwell  wrote 
of  the  occasion:  "Everything  in  Wyoming  was  surrounded  by 
a  sort  of  halo.  The  sky  seemed  of  a  more  vivid  blue,  the  grass 
of  a  brighter  emerald  than  in  the  States  where  women  do  not 
enjoy  equal  rights.  The  leaves  of  the  many  cottonwood  trees 
twinkled  pleasantly  in  the  clear  sunlight,  the  air  was  fresh  and 
bracing  and  the  snow  mountains  looked  down  upon  the  city  like 
a  visible  realization  of  ideals."  The  presence  of  the  visitors  soon 
became  known  and  an  impromptu  reception  was  held  in  the  large 
waiting  room  of  the  station,  which  was  beautified  by  potted  ferns 
and  palms. 

Sunday  services  were  held  on  the  train  and  during  the  week 
days  business  meetings  in  the  stateroom  of  Miss  Anthony  and 
Dr.  Shaw.  As  the  journey  neared  the  end  the  porter  confided 
to  Lucy  E.  Anthony,  the  railroad  secretary,  who  arranged  the 
trip:  "I  ain't  never  travelled  with  such  a  bunch  of  women  be- 


NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF     IQO5  I IQ 

fore — they  don't  fuss  with  me  and  they  don't  scrap  with  each 
other!"  Monday  morning  they  entered  the  magnificent  scenery 
along  the  Columbia  River  and  at  The  Dalles  were  met  by  Mrs. 
Duniway  and  a  party  of  friends.  By  noon  they  had  reached 
the  City  of  Roses  and  were  comfortably  settled  in  the  Portland 
I  lotel  and  the  hospitable  homes  of  the  city. 

The  convention,  held  in  the  First  Congregational  Church,  was 
planned  for  a  very  full  program  of  ten  days  instead  of  the  usual 
week.  Notwithstanding  the  Exposition  was  in  progress  and 
conventions  were  a  matter  of  daily  occurrence,  none  of  the  na- 
tional suffrage  conventions  ever  had  fuller  or  more  satisfactory 
reports.  Journal,  Telegram  and  Oregonian  vied  with  each  other 
and  the  Associated  Press  sent  out  whatever  was  requested  of  it. 
The  Oreyonian  said  of  the  first  executive  session:  "Room  618 
in  the  Portland  Hotel  -was  the  scene  of  a  notable  gathering  yes- 

ly  afternoon.  Lawyers,  doctors,  ministers  of  the  gospel, 
lecturers  of  renown  and  expert  auditors  were  in  close  confer- 
ence, mapping  out  a  plan  of  campaign  by  which  they  will  fight 
for  their  rights  in  this  land  of  the  free  and  home  of  the  brave. 
That  they  have  not  had  the  rights  accorded  by  the  Declaration 
of  Independence  to  all  American  citizens  they  attribute  to  the 
fact  that  they  are  women  and  it  is  to  convince  unseeing  mankind 
that  women  -who  are  intelligent  enough  to  obey  laws  are  capable 
of  helping  frame  them,  that  the  most  profound  and  representa- 

\vomen  of  the  country  are  gathered  here  in  the  interests  of 
crjual  suffrage."  Miss  Blackwell  presented  this  interesting  pic- 
ture- in  her  letter  to  the  Woman's  Journal. 

The  convention  has  opened  magnificently,  with  glorious  sunshine, 
audiences,  full  and  friendly  press  reports  and  the  suffragists  of 
outdoing  themselves  in  cordial  hospitality.     The 
iful  city  of  Portland  is  so  full  of  flowers  at  this  season  that  the 
whole  city  might  he  thought  to  have  decorated  in  honor  of  the  com- 
•>f  the  national  convention.     As  the  yellow-ribboned  delegates 
•rets  they  constantly  niter  exclamations  of  delight 
'•normous  roses,  the  curtains  of  dark  blue  clematis  draping 
the  luxuriant  masses  of  ivy  and  the  majestic  trees  ris- 
velvet  lawns  and  casting  their  shade  up«m  the  many 
>ome  residei.  Hospitable   (  )regnnians    send    in   presents 

<!  officers  of  huge  red  and  yellow  apples  and  baskets  of  mam- 
nest  ling  in  their  green  \( 


I2O  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

The  large  gray  stone  church  has  its  auditorium  hung  with  Ameri- 
can flags  and  bunting  of  the  suffrage  color;  portraits  of  Lucy  Stone 
and  Susan  B.  Anthony  stand  back  of  the  pulpit  and  along  its  front 
runs  the  word  "progress"  in  large  letters  made  of  flowers.  ...  A 
splendid  bouquet  of  white  lilies  has  just  been  sent  to  the  convention 
as  a  greeting  from  the  Oregon  State  Federation  of  Women's  Clubs 
and  another  of  rich  red  roses  from  the  Portland  Woman's  Club,  and 
the  platform  is  imbedded  in  carnations  from  local  florists.  All  sorts 
of  organizations  seem  to  vie  with  each  other  in  welcoming  their 
happy  guests. 

The  convention  was  opened  with  prayer  by  the  Rev.  Flwin 
L.  House,  pastor  of  the  church.  The  president,  Dr.  Anna  How- 
ard Shaw,  was  in  the  chair  and  greetings  were  given  from  the 
Oregon  Suffrage  Association  by  its  president,  Mrs.  Henry 
\Vuldo  Coe;  the  National  Council  of  Women  by  the  president, 
Mrs.  Mary  Wood  Swift  (Calif.),  who  called  attention  to  the 
fact  that  it  was  organized  by  suffragists;  the  National  Woman's 
Christian  Temperance  Union  by  Mrs.  Lucia  Faxon  Additon ; 
the  National  (I range  by  Mrs.  Clara  TI.  Waldo,  who  said:  ''The 
basic  principle  of  the  drange  is  equal  rights  for  men  and  women 
and  it  practices  what  it  preaches,  all  the  offices  being  open  to 
women."  (ireetings  from  the  National  Federation  of  Labor 
•were  offered  by  Mrs.  F.  Ross;  the  Ladies  of  the  Maccabees  by 
Mrs.  Nellie  H.  Lambson ;  the  Federation  of  Women's  Clubs  by 
Mrs.  Sarah  A.  Fvans;  the  Forestry  Association  by  Mrs.  Arthur 
II.  P.reyman  ;  the  Women's  Henry  George  League  by  Dr.  Mary 
H.  Thompson,  the  pioneer  -woman  physician  of  Oregon.  The 
National  Conference  of  Charities  and  Corrections,  then  in 
sion  in  Portland,  sent  greetings  by  Mrs.  Lillie  R.  Trumbtill,  who 
said:  "If  woman  suffrage  means  anything  it  means  the  protec- 
tion of  children,  therefore  we  march  under  the  same  banner." 

Mrs.  Abigail  Scott  Duniway,  the  pioneer  suffragist  of  the 
northwest,  presented  to  Dr.  Shaw  a  gavel  from  the  Oregon  His- 
torical Society  with  a  letter  from  its  secretary,  Dr.  George  II. 
Himes,  describing  the  six  kinds  of  wood  out  of  which  it  was 
made,  each  of  important  historical  value.  It  was  accepted  with 
thanks  and  used  by  her  to  preside  over  the  convention.  A 
Centennial  Ode,  composed  by  Mrs.  Duniway,  was  finely  read  by 
Mrs.  Sylvia  W.  McGuire.  The  response  to  all  these  greetings 
•was  made  by  Miss  Anthony,  of  whom  the  Orcgonian  said :  "The 


NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1905  121 

appearance  of  Susan  B.  Anthony  was  the  signal  for  a  wild  ova- 
tion. The  large  audience  rose  to  its  feet  and  cheered  the  pioneer 
who  has  done  so  much  for  the  cause  of  equal  suffrage  and  who 
ill  the  life  of  a  great  work.  At  the  close  of  the  session  men' 
and  women  rushed  forward,  eager  to  clasp  her  hand  and  pay 
homage  to  her.  There  are  many  famous  delegates  present  at 
tli is  convention,  -women  whose  names  are  known  in  every  civilized 
nation  on  the  globe,  but  none  shines  with  the  luster  which  sur- 
rounds Miss  Anthony."  She  began  by  recalling  her  visit  in  1871, 
when  Mrs.  Duniway  and  she  made  a  speaking  tour  of  six  weeks 
in  the  State;  the  long  stage  rides  over  the  corduroy  roads,  the 
prejudice  encountered  but  personal  friendliness  and  large  audi- 
ences everywhere,  and  continued : 

I  am  delighted  to  see  and  hear  in  this  church  today  the  women 

representatives  of   so  many  organizations  and   it  is  in  a  measure 

compensation  for  the  half-century  of  toil  which  it  has  been  my  duty 

and  privilege  to  give  to  this  our  common  cause.     The  sessions  of 

this  convention  will  be  treated  by  the  press  of  America  exactly  as 

Mild  treat  any  national  gathering  which  was  representative  in 

character  and  had  an  object  worthy  of  serious  attention.    The  time 

of  universal  scorn   for  woman  suffrage  has  passed  and  today  we 

kroner  and  courageous  champions  among  that  sex  the  members 

1n"ch  fifty  years  ago  regarded  our  proposals  as  part  of  an  icono- 

ch<;m  which  threatened  the  very  foundation  of  the  social  fabric.  .  .  . 

Elizabeth  Cady  Stanton  and  T  made  our  first  fight  for  recognition  of 

the  right  of  women  to  speak  in  public  and  have  organizations  among 

themselves.    You  who  are  younger  cannot  realize  the  intensity  of  the 

opposition  we  encountered.     To  maintain  our  position  we  were  com- 

1  to  attack  and  defy  the  deep-sen trd  and  ingrained  prejudices 

into  the  very  natures  of  men,  and  to  some  of  them  we  were 

11v  committing  a  sin  against  God  and  violating  His  laws.    Grad- 

inlly.  however,  the  opposition  has  weakened  until  todav  we  meet  far 

ostility  to  entnl  suffrage  itself  than  then  was  manifested  toward 

giving  women  the  right  of  speaking  in  public  and  organizing   for 

mutual  advantage. 

The  opening  exercise   closed   with   an   address  by  the  Rev. 

Thomas  T,.  Eliot,  a  Tnitarian  minister,  who  with  his  wife  had 

-fv]  Mi<=s   Anthonv  during  that  visit  of   1871.     He  said 

•Bother's   great-annt,    Al'  bm*.  had  probably  uttered 

declaration  for  woman  suffrage  on   American  soil,  and 

•••irm  tribute  to  Mr<=.  Duniwnv's  long  and  earnest  labors 


122  HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

for  this  cause  as  he  had  seen  them  during  his  thirty-seven  years 
in  Oregon. 

At  the  insistence  of  Dr.  Shaw  Miss  Anthony  presided  at  the 
first  evening  session.  It  was  said  that  she  had  wielded  the  gavel 
at  more  conventions  than  any  other  woman  and  she  had  presided 
over  national  suffrage  conventions  for  nearly  forty  years,  but 
this  proved  to  be  the  last  at  which  she  filled  that  honored  position. 
A  press  report  said :  "Her  voice  is  more  vigorous  than  that  of 
many  a  woman  half  her  age  and  she  speaks  with  fluency  and 
ease."  The  Oregonian  thus  described  her  appearance  on  this 
occasion:  "A  rare  picture  she  made  in  the  high-backed  oaken 
chair,  her  snowy  hair  puffed  over  her  ears  in  old-time  fashion 
and  the  collar  of  rose  point  lace,  which  seems  to  belong  to  dig- 
nified old  age,  forming  a  frame  for  her  gentle  but  determined 
face.  When  she  rose  to  call  the  meeting  to  order  she  was  deluged 
with  many  beautiful  floral  tributes  and  drolly  peering  over  the 
heap  of  flowers  she  said:  "Well,  this  is  rather  different  from 
the  receptions  I  used  to  get  fifty  years  ago.  They  threw  things 
at  me  then — but  they  were  not  roses — and  there  were  not  epithets 
enough  in  Webster's  Unabridged  to  fit  my  case.  I  am  thankful 
for  this  change  of  spirit  which  has  come  over  the  American 
people." 

Governor  George  E.  Chamberlain  gave  the  welcome  of  the 
State,  declaring  himself  unequivocally  and  emphatically  in  favor 
of  woman  suffrage  and  expressing  the  hope  that  Oregon  was 
now  ready  to  grant  it.  T.  C.  Devlin  extended  the  welcome  of 
the  city  as  proxy  for  the  Mayor,  who  addressed  the  convention 
later.  The  Hon.  Jefferson  Myers,  president  of  the  State  Com- 
mission for  the  Exposition,  paid  eloquent  tribute  to  Miss  Anthony 
and  her  co-workers  and  said : 

I  hope  that  you  may  yet  live  to  see  many  victories  for  the  princi- 
ples which  you  have  so  nobly  advocated  in  behalf  of  the  women  of 
our  land.  These  principles  are  not  new  to  the  American  people. 
There  are  many  differences  of  opinion,  but,  after  all  the  argument 
for  and  against,  it  hardly  seems  possible  that  any  one  who  is  entitled 
to  the  privilege  which  you  request  can  afford  to  deny  that  privilege 
to  his  mother.  There  is  no  question  but  that  the  women  of  our  land 
bear  today  as  great,  if  not  greater,  burdens  in  the  affairs  of  a  good 
and  honorable  government  than  our  men.  The  raising  of  the  chil- 
dren, their  education  and  protection  from  the  vices  of  the 


NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF     1905  13.} 

world,  are  cares  that  mothers  have  which  no  man's  responsibility 
equals.  .  .  . 

You  are  today  among  a  citizenship  on  this  coast  that  is  very  fair, 
broad-minded  and  ready  to  assist  your  cause  whenever  convinced 
that  it  will  be  an  advantage  and  a  betterment  to  our  present  govern- 
ment. If  it  is  fairly  placed  before  the  voters  of  this  commonwealth 
with  a  reasonable  argument  in  its  favor,  there  is  no  doubt  in  my 
mind  of  its  success.  We  are  the  only  State  that  has  adopted  the 
broad  principle  of  government  which  permits  the  citizens  of  the 
commonwealth  to  prepare  and  vote  its  own  legislation,  by  its  own 
people,  without  aid  or  consent  of  any  other  power.  I  refer  to  the 
Initiative  and  Referendum.  ...  I  sometimes  doubt  whether  this 
great  western  country  would  ever  have  had  the  Stars  and  Stripes 
without  the  influence  of  the  American  mother.  Therefore  my  sym- 
pathies are  with  you  in  your  cause  and  all  others  supported  by  the 
mothers  of  our  government  for  the  liberties  of  themselves  and 
families. 

Mrs.  Duniway  spoke  on  The  Pioneers  of  the  Northwest  as 
one  of  them,  introduced  by  Miss  Anthony  as  "the  woman  with 
whom  I  went  gipsying  thirty-four  years  ago,"  and  the  audience 
grew  enthusiastic  at  the  sight  of  these  two  brave  veterans,  the 
one  85  and  the  other  71.     The  press  commented:     "Mrs.  Duni- 
way's  talk  will  be  remembered  as  one  of  the  best  of  the  session. 
She  said  she  had  been  electrified  by  the  Governor's  speech  and 
her  own   fairly  scintillated  with  the  result  of  the  shock.     Her 
anecdotes  were  capital  and  her  reminiscences  of  the  cabbage  and 
•i-ei^  days  convulsed  the  audience."     Mrs.  Catt,  vice-presi- 
at-large,  responded  to  the  greetings  and  expressed  the  pleas- 
oi   the   delegates  at   being  in   "this  most  beautiful   city   of 
the    t 'nited    States   and    of    the    world."      She   sjxikc    in    highest 
tin-  free,  independent  spirit  of  the  West,  quoting  the 
id:      "Out    here   \ve  don't   ask  who  your  grandfather 
rybody  -land-  on  his  mvn  hypothmuse!" 
Shaw  e«l    with    the    responsibility    of    her 

CC  that    for   the  first   time  she  wrote  her  president's  ad 
1   it    was  published  in  twelve  columns  of   the   Iranian's 
.\    Portland  paper  thus  prepared  the  audience:     "The 
t  of  the  evening -will  be  the  address  of  the  president,  the  I\ev. 
Anna  Howard  Shaw.    She  is  easily  the  best  and  foremost  woman 
orld  and  in  her  appearance   Portland  will  enjoy 
a  rare   treat.      Her   eloquence  is  seldom   equalled   and   she  is  a 


124  HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

woman  of  deep  learning,  a  cogent  reasoner  and  a  brilliant  thinker. 
.  .  .  She  has  wonderful  magnetism  and  a  rare  voice  of 
round,  rich  tones  and  great  carrying  capacity.  An  unusual  com- 
bination of  dignity  and  wit  is  hers  and  many  brilliant  remarks 
intersperse  the  numbers  on  the  program,  keeping  the  audience 
in  fine  humor  and  constant  interest."  After  a  glowing  word- 
picture  of  the  natural  beauty  of  Portland  and  Oregon  Dr.  Shaw 
turned  her  attention  to  Sacajawea,  the  young  Indian  woman 
who  guided  Lewis  and  Clark  through  thousands  of  miles  of 
trackless  wilderness  on  their  expedition  to  the  great  northwest. 

Others  will  speak  of  that  brave  band  of  immortals  whose  achieve- 
ments your  great  Exposition  commemorates,  while  we  pay  our  tribute 
of  honor  and  gratitude  to  the  modest,  unselfish,  enduring  little  Sho- 
shone  squaw,  who  uncomplainingly  trailed,  canoed,  climbed,  slaved 
and  starved  with  the  men  of  the  party,  enduring  all  that  they  endured, 
with  the  addition  of  a  helpless  baby  on  her  back.  At  a  time  in  the 
weary  march  when  the  hearts  of  the  leaders  had  well  nigh  fainted 
within  them,  when  success  or  failure  hung  a  mere  chance  in  the 
balance,  this  woman  came  to  their  deliverance  and  pointed  out  to  the 
captain  the  great  Pass  which  led  from  the  forks  of  the  Three  Rivers 
over  the  mountains.  Then  silently  strapping  her  papoose  upon  her 
back  she  led  the  way,  interpreting  and  making  friendly  overtures  to 
powerful  tribes  of  Indians,  who  but  for  her  might  at  any  moment 
have  annihilated  that  brave  band  of  intrepid  souls.  .  .  .  The  Pass 
through  which  she  led  the  expedition  has  long  borne  the  name  of  a 
French  explorer  who  had  not  seen  it  until  many  years  after  Saca- 
jawea had  been  gathered  to  her  rest,  but  tardy  acknowledgements 
of  this  heroine's  services  have  at  last  been  partially  made.  The  U.  S. 
Geological  Survey  has  recently  named  one  of  the  finest  peaks  in  the 
Bridge  range  in  Montana  "Sacajawea  Peak."  .  .  . 

Forerunner  of  civilization,  great  leader  of  men,  patient  and  moth- 
erly woman,  we  bow  our  hearts  to  do  you  honor !  Your  tribe  is  fast 
disappearing  from  the  land  of  your  fathers.  May  we,  the  daughters 
of  an  alien  race  who  slew  your  people  and  usurped  your  country, 
learn  the  lessons  of  calm  endurance,  of  patient  persistence  and  un- 
faltering courage  exemplified  in  your  life,  in  our  efforts  to  lead  men 
through  the  Pass  of  justice,  which  goes  over  the  mountains  of  preju- 
dice and  conservatism  to  the  broad  land  of  the  perfect  freedom  of  a 
true  republic ;  one  in  which  men  and  women  together  shall  in  perfect 
equality  solve  the  problems  of  a  nation  that  knows  no  caste,  no  race, 
no  sex  in  opportunity,  in  responsibility  or  in  justice !  May  "the 
eternal  womanly"  ever  lead  us  on!  ... 

Referring  to  the  convention  and  the  delegates  Dr.  Shaw  said  : 

What  does  our  coming  mean  to  us,  who  gather  in  this  37th  annual 
convention  where  sits  the  woman  whose  chair  has  never  been  vacant 


NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1 905  125 

in  all  these  years  of  hope  deferred;  whose  heart  has  continually 
glowed  with  perennial  youth ;  whose  soul  has  burned  with  a  vivid 
flame  of  love  and  freedom;  whose  brain  has  been  the  inspirer  of 
herculean  service ;  whose  industry  has  never  flagged ;  whose  quench- 
less hope  for  humanity  has  carried  us  from  victory  to  victory  ?  May 
her  spirit  of  devotion  to  freedom  ever  lead  us  on ! 

It  means  fifty-seven  years  nearer  to  victory  than  when  the  first 
invincible  band  of  pioneers  of  universal  freedom  met  in  that  little 
church  in  Seneca  Falls,  N.  Y.,  in  1848.  It  means  that  in  this  body 
are  women  from  four  States  of  our  Union  already  crowned  with 
full  citizenship;  that  delegates  from  more  than  two-score  States 
have  crossed  the  borderland  of  freedom,  and  that  representatives 
from  nearly  every  State  and  Territory  are  banded  together  in  an 
unfaltering  purpose  to  become  politically  free.  It  also  means  that 
more  has  been  accomplished  for  the  betterment  of  the  condition  of 
women,  for  their  physical,  economic,  intellectual  and  religious  eman- 
cipation, by  these  fifty-seven  years  of  evolutionary  progress,  than  by 
all  the  revolutions  the  world  has  known ;  and  it  means  that  in  every 
civilized  nation  of  the  earth,  more  and  more  the  most  patriotic,  the 
most  law-abiding,  the  most  intelligent  and  the  most  industrious  people 
are  coming  to  see  the  justice  of  our  claim,  that  in  a  representative 
government  "the  people  who  bear  the  burdens  and  responsibilities 
should  share  its  privileges  also — not  excepting  women."  .  .  . 

The  recent  attacks  of  Cardinal  Gibbons  and  former  President 
(  k-veland,  -who  had  protested  against  women  taking  part  in  the 
Government  lest  it  interfere  with  the  home,  she  answered  with 
analysis,  saying  in  part : 

The  great  fear  that  the  participation  of  women  in  public  affairs 

will  impair  the  quality  and  character  of  home  service  is  irrational 

and  contrary  to  the  tests  of  experience.    Does  an  intelligent  interest 

in  the  education  of  a  child  render  a  woman  less  a  mother?     Does 

the  housekeeping  instinct  of  woman,  manifested  in  a,  desire  for  clean 

streets,  pure  water  and  unadulterated  food,  destroy  her  efficiency  as 

a  home-maker?    Does  a  desire  for  an  environment  of  moral  and  civic 

purity  show  neglect  of  the  highest  good  of  the  family?     It  is  the 

du  and  women  must  weep"  theory  of  life  which  makes 

that  the  larger  service  of  women  will  impair  the  high  ideal 

of  home.     The  newer  ideal  that  men  must  cease  fighting  and  thus 

ve  one  prolific  cause  for  women's  weeping,  and  that  they  shall 

her  build  up  a  more  perfect  home  and  a  more  ideal  government. 

nitely  more  sane  and  drsiraliic.      Participation  in  the  1;ir-er  and 

will    iiKTeaM-   in  lead   of   dcrrcaM1   the 

efficiency  of  government  and  tend  to  develop  that  self-control,  that 
lament   which   are   wanting  in   much  of   the   home 
training  of  today. 


126  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

A  comprehensive  review  was  made  of  the  great  events  in  the 
world's  history  during  the  past  year  and  the  work  of  the  Na- 
tional American  Suffrage  Association  was  described.  "What- 
ever others  may  say  or  do,"  she  declared,  "our  association  must 
not  accept  any  compromises.  We  must  guard  against  the  re- 
actionary spirit  which  marks  the  present  time  and  stand  un- 
falteringly for  the  principle  of  perfect  equality  of  rights  and 
opportunities  for  all.  .  .  .  Never  was  there  a  time  when 
heroic  service  was  more  needed — not  the  spectacular  heroism 
marching  with  flying  banners  and  weapons  of  destruction  but 
the  quiet,  earnest  heroism  of  men  and  women  standing  stead- 
fastly by  that  which  seems  right  and  rigidly  adhering  in  daily 
intercourse  to  that  sterling  honesty  of  purpose  which  ennobles 
character  and  develops  the  best  in  a  nation's  life."  This  in- 
spiring address,  all  of  which  was  on  the  same  high  level  as  the 
portions  quoted,  thus  concluded: 

We  are  told  that  to  assume  that  women  will  help  purify  political 
life  and  develop  a  more  ideal  government  but  proves  us  to  be  dream- 
ers of  dreams.  Yes,  we  are  in  a  goodly  company  of  dreamers,  of 
Confucius,  of  Buddha,  of  Jesus,  of  the  English  Commons  fighting 
for  the  Magna  Charta,  of  the  Pilgrims,  of  the  American  Revolu- 
tionists, of  the  Anti-slavery  men  and  women.  The  seers  and  leaders 
of  all  times  have  been  dreamers.  Every  step  of  progress  the  world 
has  made  is  the  crystallization  of  a  dream  into  reality.  To  look  for- 
ward to  a  time  when  men  shall  be  just,  when  "fair  play  and  a  square 
deal  for  all"  will  include  women,  when  our  republic  shall  in  truth 
become  what  its  dreamers  have  hoped  it  would  be,  a  government 
"of  the  people,  by  the  people  and  for  the  people," — this  is  a  dream 
but  it  is  a  dream  which  we  are  helping  to  make  real,  and  the  result 
will  come  not  alone  because  a  vision  has  been  revealed  but  by  follow- 
ing it  steadfastly  to  its  fruition.  The  idealists  dream  and  the  dream 
is  told,  and  the  practical  men  listen  and  ponder  and  bring  back  the 
truth  and  apply  it  to  human  life,  and  progress  and  growth  and  higher 
human  ideals  come  into  being  and  so  the  world  moves  ever  on. 

During  the  several  business  sessions  the  following  action 
was  taken :  It  was  directed  that  a  letter  be  sent  to  the  President- 
elect, Theodore  Roosevelt,  asking  him  to  recommend  the  sub- 
mission of  a  1 6th  Amendment  in  his  message  to  Congress;  that 
as  many  organizations  of  women  as  possible  be  secured  to  unite 
in  urging  him  to  do  so,  following  the  methods  employed  by  the 
Protest  Committee  (a  committee  appointed  to  wait  upon  him  to 


NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1905  I2/ 

present  this  request) ;  that  the  Banker,  Starr,  Underwood  and 
Green  bequests  amounting  to  $3,801  be  appropriated  for  cam- 
paign work  in  Oregon  and  the  Territories.  Miss  Clay  announced 
that  Miss  Laura  Bruce  had  bequeathed  $5,000  to  her  in  trust 
for  the  National  American  Woman  Suffrage  Association. 

The  work  conferences  established  by  Mrs.  Catt  during  her 
administration  were  held  with  the  following  among  the  ques- 
tions discussed:  Must  we  supplement  our  present  form  of 
organization  to  achieve  our  "argument  of  numbers"?  How  can 
we  best  spread  our  ideas  in  other  organizations?  The  field  in 
1904  and  1905.  Our  request  in  1904  for  a  plank  in  the  national 
platforms.  These  conferences,  which  had  been  a  feature  of  the 
conventions  for  eight  years,  were  dropped  after  this  one  but 
many  of  the  practical  subjects  formerly  discussed  in  such  con- 
ferences were  placed  on  the  regular  program.  Mrs.  Catharine 
\Yaugh  McCulloch  presided  at  the  conference  on  How  can  we 
nationalize  our  request  for  a  i6th  Amendment?  At  its  con- 
clusion it  was  voted  to  refer  to  the  Business  Committee 
the  idea  of  asking  the  suffragists  of  the  four  free  States 
to  instruct  their  Senators  and  Representatives  in  Congress  to 
move  for  the  submission  of  a  i6th  Amendment.  It  was  her 
thought  that  all  the  State  suffrage  associations  should  send  peti- 
tions to  their  respective  Congressmen  asking  for  a  i6th  Amend- 
ment to  the  National  Constitution  enfranchising  women;  that 
earnest  efforts  should  be  made  to  have  other  organizations  take 
similar  action  and  every  means  employed  to  bring  the  question 
before  them. 

The  reports  of  the  standing  and  special  committees  and  those 
>rious  State  presidents,  which  occupied  the  morning 
and  afternoon  sessions,  were  excellent  and  valuable  as  usual. 
Kate  M.  <  iordon  (La.)  in  her  corresponding  secretary's 
report  called  attention  to  the  conspicuous  triumph  for  woman 
when  the  great  International  Council  of  Women,  whose 
•ited  practically  the  whole  civilized  world,  at  its 
•:iitf  in  P.crlin  the  preceding  year  unanimously  endorsed  wo- 
man MiMrai;e  and  ;ipi>oinied  a  siandini;  committee  on  ('ili/ciiship 
and  K<|ual  I  .'.  ith  Dr.  Shaw  U  iK  chairman.  S;ic  read 

•MID  the  (io\crnors  o!  the  four  e<|iial  suffrage  Sf 


128  HISTORY   OF   WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

regretting  their  inability  to  be  present  for  Woman's  Day  at  the 
Exposition  and  giving  the  strongest  possible  endorsement  of  the 
practical  working  of  woman  suffrage. 

The  report  of  Miss  Elizabeth  J.  Hauser,  headquarters  secre- 
tary, of  the  first  year's  work  in  its  new  home  at  Warren,  O., 
was  most  interesting.  The  letters  sent  out  numbered  14,000 
and  included  three  during  the  year  to  the  president  of  every 
local  club,  giving  information,  plans  of  work  and  encourage- 
ment. The  bureau  had  over  1,200  individual  correspondents. 
Nearly  44,000  copies  of  Progress  went  to  newspapers,  public 
men,  delegates  to  the  political  conventions  and  subscribers. 
About  65,000  pieces  of  literature  exclusive  of  Progress  were  dis- 
tributed, going  to  every  State  and  Territory,  to  Canada,  England, 
Holland  and  Australia.  In  addition  thousands  of  booklets,  politi- 
cal equality  leaflets  and  souvenirs  of  various  kinds  were  sent 
forth  as  propaganda.  The  report  of  Mrs.  Catt,  chairman  of 
the  Committee  on  Literature,  showed  that  it  had  provided  62,000 
of  these  pieces  and  had  printed  about  100,000  during  the  year. 
Miss  Anthony  had  presented  to  the  association  ten  sets  of  the 
History  of  Woman  Suffrage  and  eighty  copies  of  the  new  Volume 
IV  to  be  sold,  Miss  Hauser  said.  Headquarters  were  main- 
tained at  the  Louisiana  Purchase  Exposition  in  St.  Louis.  The 
work  inaugurated  by  Miss  Anthony  of  securing  resolutions  for 
woman  suffrage  from  conventions  of  various  kinds  was  suc- 
cessfully continued.  Fraternal  delegates  were  sent  to  national 
conventions  and  the  U.  S.  National  Council  of  Women  had 
created  a  Committee  on  Political  Equality.  Nineteen  State  or- 
ganizations adopted  resolutions  endorsing  woman  suffrage; 
fraternal  delegates  from  suffrage  associations  were  sent  to 
eighteen  other  State  gatherings  and  the  question  was  given  a 
hearing  at  six  Territorial  conventions;  greetings  were  sent  to 
three,  literature  distributed  in  four  and  woman  suffrage  day 
observed  in  three  State  gatherings.  Add  to  these  the  283  societies 
(not  suffrage)  which  reported  adopting  resolutions  on  the  State- 
hood Protest  and  there  is  positive  knowledge  that  the  question 
was  before  and  received  favorable  action  from  339  societies  in 
1904.  A  full  report  was  given  of  the  effort  to  obtain  woman 


NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1905 

suffrage  planks  in  the  platforms  of  the  political  parties,  dele- 
gates from  the  association  being  sent  to  all.  [See  Chapter  XXIII. ] 
An  outstanding  feature  of  the  year's  achievements  was  what 
was  known  as  the  Statehood  Protest.  At  the  beginning  of  the 
58th  Congress  a  bill  passed  the  Lower  House  providing  for 
the  admission  to  Statehood  of  Oklahoma,  Indian,  Arizona  and 
Xew  Mexico  Territories  under  the  names  of  Oklahoma  and 
Arizona.  It  contained  a  clause  saying  that  "the  right  of  suf- 
frage should  never  be  abridged  except  on  account  of  illiteracy, 
minority,  sex,  conviction  of  felony  or  mental  condition."  The 
association's  legal  adviser,  Mrs.  Catharine  Waugh  McCulloch  of 
Chicago,  was  consulted  by  Mrs.  Upton  and  Miss  Hauser  the 
preceding  June  as  to  how  the  word  "sex"  could  be  eliminated. 
She  took  the  matter  under  consideration  and  laid  her  plan  before 
the  Business  Committee  in  September.  It  called  for  a  nation- 
wide protest  from  women's  organizations  and  individuals.  The 
committee  approved  but  did  not  feel  able  to  make  a  sufficient  ap- 
propriation. The  report  continued: 

When  the  result  was  communicated  to  Mrs.  McCulloch  by  letter 
she  answered  post-haste:  "We  dare  not  let  this  work  go  undone.  I 
will  raise  the  money  for  it  myself."  The  headquarters  undertook  to 
do  the  work.  We  appealed  to  the  president  or  the  corresponding  sec- 
retary for  directories  of  associations  and  as  fast  as  names  were  se- 
cured copies  of  the  circular  letter  of  the  Woman's  Protest  Committee, 
written  by  Miss  Blackwell,  were  sent  out.  This  letter  was  signed 
by  twenty-six  women,  among  them  presidents  of  the  following  na- 
tional organizations :  Council  of  Women,  Council  of  Jewish  Women, 

nan     Suffrage    Association,     Teachers'     Federation,     Catholic 

Women's  League,  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union,  Ladies  of 

the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic,  Lutheran  Women's  League,  Con- 

of  Mothers,  etc.,  and  34,000  were  sent  out  with  28,000  leaflets, 

"Why  Women  Should  Protest."     Perhaps  no  more  spontaneous  re- 

se  was  ever  given  to  anything  than  to  this  letter.    All  sorts  of 

ties,  not  of  women  only  but  of  men  and  of  men  and  women. 

sted.     More  than  400  reported  their  action  to  headquarters. 

number  of  individuals  wlm  reported  that  they  had  written  to 

Albert  J.  Ige  (Ind.),  chairman  of  the  Committee  on 

Territories,  and  to  their  own  Senators  was  so  great  that  we  could 

>cep  a  record.    Newspapers  the  country  over  commented  on  the 
matter,   hundreds  of  clippings  on  the  subject  sometimes  being  re- 

:  in  one  mail. 

What  was  the  result?  Under  date  of  Dec.  16,  1904,  Senator 
Beveridge  notified  headquarters  that  the  Senate  Committee  had 


I3O  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

unanimously  voted  to  strike  out  the  objectionable  word  "in  accord- 
ance with  your  very  reasonable  request/'  It  was  a  great  victory  and 
more  than  paid  for  the  labor.  Mrs.  McCulloch  was  as  good  as  her 
word  and  raised  the  money  to  defray  all  the  expenses,  giving  $100 
herself  and  securing  from  her  friend  and  ours,  Mrs.  Elmina  Springer 
of  Chicago,  $500;  Mrs.  Mary  Wood  Swift  of  California,  president 
of  the  National  Council  of  Women,  contributed  $50 ;  our  own  presi- 
dent, Miss  Shaw,  gave  $25  and  there  were  some  small  contributions. 
The  work  was  most  economically  done,  the  printing  and  envelopes 
costing  $i  1 8,  the  postage  over  $300  and  a  balance  was  left.1 

The  report  of  Mrs.  Harriet  Taylor  Upton,  national  treasurer, 
showed  receipts  for  the  year  to  be  $14,662,  including  bequests 
of  $4,237  from  Mrs.  Henrietta  L.  Banker  of  New  York  and 
$500  from  Mrs.  Armilla  J.  Starr  of  Michigan  ;  $2,000  from  Mrs. 
Charlotte  A.  Cleveland  of  New  York  and  $100  each  from  Mrs. 
Jonas  Green  of  Virginia  and  Mrs.  Helen  J.  Underwood  of 
California.  The  disbursements  were  $12,437.  Miss  Hauser 
asked  for  the  money  for  the  next  year's  work  and  $4,614  were 
quickly  subscribed.  A  large  number  of  $50  life  memberships 
were  taken.  One  hundred  one-dollar  pledges  were  made  in 
memory  of  Sacajawea.  Mrs.  Catt  guaranteed  that  Mrs.  Upton 
and  herself  would  raise  $3,000  for  the  Oregon  campaign. 

Henry  B.  Blackwell,  chairman  of  the  Presidential  Suffrage 
Committee,  gave  the  welcome  information  that  the  U.  S.  Supreme 
Court  through  Chief  Justice  Fuller  had  rendered  a  decision  that 
"the  power  of  every  State  Legislature  in  the  appointment  of 
presidential  electors  is  plenary,  exclusive  and  final."  The  re- 
port of  Mrs.  Ida  Porter  Boyer,  chairman  of  the  Libraries  Com- 
mittee, -was  read  by  Mrs.  Blankenburg  and  showed  that  thus 
far  a  bibliography  of  823  books,  pamphlets,  etc.,  on  woman  suf- 
frage had  been  compiled.  One  book  bore  the  date  of  if)-?/.  An- 
other had  the  title  "No  Female  Suffrage;  Theology,  Logic, 
Anatomy,  Physiology  and  Philology  United  to  Establish  the 
Truism  that  Woman  is  No  Human  Being."  Mrs.  Blankenburg 
went  as  fraternal  delegate  to  the  convention  of  the  National 
Libraries  Association  meeting  in  Portland  at  this  time  and  gave 

1  If  this  request  was  so  "reasonable"  why  was  the  word  "sex"  included  in  the  first 
place?  Although  it  was  omitted  from  the  Act  of  Congress  which  admitted  these  Terri- 
tories to  Statehood  under  the  names  of  Arizona,  New  Mexico  and  Oklahoma,  each  one 
adopted  a  constitution  whose  suffrage  clause  absolutely  barred  women  and  those  con- 
stitutions were  approved  by  Congress.  (See  their  special  chapters.) 


NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1905  1 3 1 

part  of  this  report,  which  was  received  with  much  interest  and 
cooperation  was  promised. 

The  report  of  Mrs.  Elnora  M.  Babcock,  chairman  of  the 
Press  Committee,  was  as  complete  and  valuable  as  usual.  It 
said  that  80,000  general  suffrage  articles  had  been  sent  out  and 
6,000  papers  supplied  by  the  chairman  and  committee  since  the 
convention.  Each  paper  in  Portland  had  been  furnished 
with  personal  sketches  of  every  officer  and  speaker  connected 
•with  the  convention  and  copies  of  all  the  reports  and  speeches 
that  could  be  obtained,  as  was  customary  wherever  a  conven- 
tion was  held.  In  referring  to  special  articles  she  said  that 
5,000  copies  from  members  of  the  association  and  residents  of 
Colorado  had  been  sent  out  in  answer  to  the  charges  that  woman 
suffrage  was  responsible  for  the  recent  election  frauds  in  that 
State,  which  seemed  to  be  made  by  every  opponent  who  could 
•wield  a  pen.  Answers  were  widely  distributed  to  the  report  of 
the  Mosely  Educational  Commission  sent  here  from  Great 
Britain,  and  the  Male  Teachers'  Association  of  New  York,  to 
the  effect  that  women  should  not  be  employed  to  teach  boys 
over  ten  years  of  age  and  that  teaching  was  interfering  with 
the  marriage  of  many  women  and  keeping  them  from  their 
proper  place  in  the  world.  The  article  of  former  President 
( i  rover  Cleveland  in  the  Ladies'  Home  Journal  denouncing  wo- 
men's clubs  and  particularly  suffrage  clubs  had  been  almost  uni- 
ally  commented  on  by  the  press  and  required  extensive  at- 
tention. A  reply  to  Cardinal  Gibbons's  address  to  the  women 
graduates  of  Trinity  College,  Washington,  by  Mrs.  Ida  Husted 
Ilar]R-r  \\as  sent  to  eighty  metropolitan  papers  and  hundreds  of 
shorter  ones  were  scattered  broadcast.  The  excellent  work  of 
the  \  State  press  chairman  was  described. 

One  afternoon  was  devoted  to  a  conference  on  How  Can  We 
Utilize  the  Press?  Mrs.  Harper  presided  and  nearly  twenty 
took  part.  One  of  the  Portland  papers  commented: 
"I  i  the  great  political  organs  of  the  United  States  knew  how  -well 
women  have  the  tricks  of  the  trade  at  their  fingers'  ends 
they  would  employ  special  detectives  to  watch  for  suffrage  litera- 
ture in  di-guise."  Mr.  Lathrop,  editor  of  the  Portland  Journal, 
\  newspaper  man  in  his  official  capacity  is  not  an  edn 


132  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

cator  but  a  seller  of  news.  One  who  would  treat  a  suffrage 
convention  as  a  negligible  quantity  would  lose  his  job.  The 
question  is  not  how  you  can  get  matter  about  women  into  the 
papers  but  how  you  can  keep  it  out."  Mrs.  Florence  Kelley 
added :  "We  all  know  to  our  sorrow  that  -women  cannot  keep 
out  of  the  papers  but  the  question  is  how  to  get  our  subject  in 
them  in  a  way  to  promote  it.  I  can  recommend  the  following 
method :  Write  something  in  editorial  style  just  about  as  you 
want  it  to  appear  and  send  it  to  the  editor  with  a  deprecatory 
note  to  the  effect  that  it  is  only  raw  material  but  perhaps  it 
could  be  whipped  into  an  editorial  by  his  able  pen.  The  chances 
are  that  the  first  time  he  is  hard  up  for  one  he  will  use  it — proba- 
bly beheaded  or  with  the  end  off  or  the  middle  amputated  to  show 
that  the  editor  is  editing,  but  it  will  be  published." 

Miss  Anthony  was  asked  for  reminiscences  of  her  famous 
paper,  the  Revolution,  published  in  New  York  in  1868-70.  Mrs. 
Duniway  gave  an  interesting  account  of  her  paper,  the  New 
Northwest,  begun  in  1871  in  Portland  and  continued  for  a  num- 
ber of  years  with  the  help  of  her  five  young  sons.  She  expressed 
her  love  for  the  Woman's  Journal,  "the  dear,  reliable,  old  paper 
started  by  Lucy  Stone  and  kept  going  by  the  heroic  efforts  of 
her  husband  and  daughter,"  and  many  joined  in  this  expression. 
Mrs.  Clara  Bewick  Colby  (D.  C),  editor  of  the  Woman's 
Tribune,  told  of  the  press  conference  at  the  International  Coun- 
cil of  Women.  Mrs.  Julia  B.  Nelson  (Minn.)  and  Miss  Amanda 
Way  (Ind.)  were  among  the  veteran  writers  who  spoke.  Miss 
Blackwell  gave  experienced  advice  and  a  number  of  younger 
women  made  brief  but  clever  suggestions. 

An  interesting  part  of  the  convention  was  Woman's  Day 
at  the  Exposition  on  June  30  and  this  day  had  been  chosen  for 
the  dedication  of  the  statue  of  Sacajawea,  the  Indian  woman 
who  led  the  Lewis  and  Clark  Expedition  thousands  of  miles 
through  the  wilderness  unknown  to  white  men.  It  was  thus 
described :  "The  statue,  a  beautiful  creation  in  bronze,  was  the 
work  of  Miss  Alice  Cooper  of  Denver,  a  pupil  of  Lorado  Taft, 
the  figure  full  of  buoyancy  and  animation,  a  shapely  arm  sug- 
gestive of  strength  pointing  to  the  distant  sea,  the  face  radiant, 
the  head  thrown  back,  the  eyes  full  of  daring."  The  exercises 


NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQO5  133 

were  in  charge  of  the  Order  of  Red  Men  and  the  Women's 
Sacajawea  Association,  Mrs.  Eva  Emery  Dye,  president,  and 
on  the  platform  facing  the  statue  prominent  members  of  the 
convention  sat  with  President  Goode,  of  the  Exposition,  Mayor 
Lane  and  other  dignitaries.  Miss  Anthony  and  Mrs.  Duniway 
spoke  during  the  unveiling  and  presentation  ceremonies  and  Dr. 
Shaw  pronounced  the  benediction.  [See  Oregon  chapter.] 

The  afternoon  session  of  the  convention  was  held  in  Festival 
1  lall  on  the  grounds  and  greetings  were  offered  for  organizations, 
including  the  Young  Woman's  Christian  Association  by  Mrs.  L. 
1  .  Rockwell  and  Women's  Medical  Association  by  Dr.  Esther 
C.  Pohl.  Dr.  Sarah  A.  Kendall  of  Washington  responded. 
The  Los  Angeles  Suffrage  Club  sent  a  greeting  and  Mrs. 
[  lelen  Secor  Tonjes  brought  one  from  the  New  York  City  Equal 
Suffrage  League.  Mrs.  Charlotte  Perkins  Gilman  gave  an  origi- 
nal poem.  Mrs.  Mabel  Craft  Deering,  a  graduate  of  California 
State  University  and  the  Hastings  Law  School  of  San  Francisco, 

an  able  paper  on  Coeducation.  Its  sentiments  were  strongly 
endorsed  by  Professor  William  S.  Giltner,  president  of  Eminence 
College,  Kentucky,  one  of  the  earliest  women's  colleges,  from  its 
beginning  in  1858  to  its  close  in  1894.  Miss  Alice  Stone  Black- 
well,  under  the  title,  Sowing  the  Seed,  gave  an  interesting  ac- 
count of  the  early  trials  of  her  mother  and  two  aunts,  the  pio- 
neer doctors,  Elizabeth  and  Emily  Blackwell.  The  Rev.  An- 
toinette Brown  Blackwell,  an  aunt  by  marriage,  the  pioneer  wo- 
man minister,  who  was  on  the  platform,  said :  "Ever  since  I 
made  my  first  suffrage  speech  in  1848  I  have  believed  that  the 
cause  of  woman  suffrage  was  the  cause  of  religion  and  vice 
~a."  Mrs.  Maud  Wood  Park  read  the  eloquent  address  of 
Mrs.  Lucia  Ames  Mead  on  The  Organization  of  the  World. 

I,    May   . \rkwright  Hutton    (Idaho),   who   spoke   for  the 

1  suffrage  States,  gave  this  unique  reminiscence  of  her  early 

in   Ohio  when    William   McKinley,   a  young  lawyer,   after 
in  the  town  hall,  was  a  guest  of  her  grandfather.     She 

MI  part  :  "Mr.  McKinley  carried  the  lantern,  leading  me  by 
the  hand,  while  I  led  grandfather,  we  little  dreaming  that  the 
kindly  young  man  guiding  a  child  and  an  old.  blind  man 

•igh  the  wintry  night  would  some  day  guide  the  destiny  of 


134  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

the  nation.  On  reaching  home,  I  brought  cider,  apples  and 
doughnuts  from  the  cellar  that  we  might  have  what  grandfather 
called  a  'schold  check'  before  going  to  bed.  The  fire  roared  in 
the  wide  chimney  place;  grandfather  sat  in  his  armchair,  Mr. 
McKinley  opposite  and  I  on  a  low  stool  between  them.  They 
talked  of  the  late  war,  reconstruction  and  woman's  rights.  Then 
it  was  that  I  learned  that  women  were  denied  rights  enjoyed  by 
men.  Mr.  McKinley  deplored  the  fact  and  contended  that  -wo- 
man was  the  intellectual  equal  of  man  and  should  be  his  political 
equal.  Patting  my  head  he  said:  'I  believe  when  this  lassie 
grows  up  she  will  be  a  voter.' ' 

At  the  close  of  the  session  a  reception  for  Miss  Anthony  and 
the  officers,  speakers  and  delegates  was  given  in  the  Oregon 
building  by  its  hostess,  Dr.  Annice  Jeffreys  (Mrs.  Jefferson) 
Myers,  assisted  by  Mrs.  Coe,  the  State  president.  The  big  recep- 
tion hall  and  the  parlors  were  filled  with  visitors  from  all  parts 
of  the  country.  The  Oregonian  said:  "When  Miss  Anthony, 
the  honored  guest,  reached  the  Oregon  building  the  band  played 
Auld  Lang  Syne  and  the  crowds  became  so  dense  that  it  was 
with  difficulty  Dr.  Myers  could  escort  her  to  the  parlors.  Here 
she  stood  in  line  for  more  than  an  hour,  women  and  men  press- 
ing around  her  wanting  just  a  word  and  they  got  it!  She  de- 
clared that  it  did  not  make  her  nearly  so  tired  as  she  used  to  feel 
when  nobody  wanted  to  take  her  hand."  In  a  letter  to  the  Wo- 
man's Journal  Miss  Blackwell  said :  "Both  in  the  convention 
and  at  all  the  social  functions  Miss  Anthony  has  been  the  central 
figure,  the  object  of  general  admiration  and  affection.  It  is  the 
strongest  possible  contrast  to  the  unpopularity  and  persecution 
of  her  early  days.  All  these  attentions  were  most  gratifying  to 
the  members  of  the  convention,  who  appreciated  her  courage  and 
devotion  in  making  this  long  journey  at  the  age  of  85,  and  after- 
wards they  were  remembered  with  especial  pleasure  because  it 
was  the  last  in  which  she  was  able  to  take  an  active  part." 

The  social  courtesies  during  the  convention  were  unbounded. 
The  Woman's  Club  gave  a  large  evening  reception  in  the  rooms 
of  the  Commercial  Club  and  Mrs.  Arthur  H.  Breyman,  its 
president,  opened  her  handsome  residence  for  an  afternoon  tea. 
Mrs.  Coe  gave  a  dinner  party  of  about  thirty,  her  lovely  home 


NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1905  135 

decorated  in  yellow  flowers,  the  suffrage  color.  Mrs.  Hutton 
had  a  handsome  dinner  of  thirty  covers  at  the  Portland  Hotel 
and  the  Ode  which  she  had  written  and  dedicated  to  the  con- 
vention was  sung  by  Mrs.  Alice  Mason  Barnett  of  San  Fran- 
cisco here  and  at  the  convention.  Private  dinners  and  teas  were 
of  daily  occurrence  and  the  drives  around  this  beautiful  city  and 
its  environs  were  a  never  failing  delight. 

At  one  evening  session  C.  E.  S.  Wood  (Ore.)  spoke  on  The 
Injustice  of  Majority  Rule  in  a  cynical  strain,  believing  that 
woman  suffrage  was  right  but  fearing  it  would  not  do  as  much 
1  as  its  advocates  hoped  for.  Now  suffrage  meant  "little 
stuffed  men  going  to  a  little  stuffed  ballot  box"  and  he  was  afraid 
"women  would  take  their  place  on  the  chess  board  to  be  moved 
in  the  game  by  some  power  they  did  not  see."  After  he  had 
finished  Dr.  Shaw  observed :  "I  would  rather  be  a  little  stuffed 
woman  having  my  own  say  than  to  be  ruled  by  a  little  stuffed 
man  without  my  consent,  and  the  only  way  we  will  cease  to  have 
little  stuffed  men  is  for  them  to  be  born  of  free  mothers." 

Dr.  Harriet  B.  Jones  of  Wheeling,  W.  Va.,  told  of  the  un- 
successful campaign  to  have  Municipal  suffrage  for  women  in- 
cluded in  its  new  charter.  "The  anti-suffrage  women  of  New 
York  and  Massachusetts,"  she  said,  "flooded  the  newspapers  with 
literature  and  the  heaviest  opposing  vote  came  from  the  lowest 
and  most  ignorant  sections  of  the  city."  In  answer  to  the  re- 
quest of  the  Wheeling  women  the  National  Association  had  sent 
Miss  Hauser  to  take  charge  of  the  campaign  and  appropriated 
funds  for  it.  A  telegram  to  Dr.  Shaw  from  Samuel  Gompers, 
president  of  the  American  Federation  of  Labor,  was  read, 
sayii  "Kindly  convey  fraternal  greetings  to  the  officers 

and  delegates  of  your  convention  and  the  earnest  expression  of 
our  hope  for  the  enfranchisement  and  disenthrallment  of  wo- 
men." A  telegram  of  greeting  was  received  from  Mrs.  Fred- 
crick  Schoff,  president  of  the  National  Congress  of  Mothers. 
c  from  the  National  SulTni  >  iation  of  Denmark. 

Mrs.  Harper  gave  an  address  under  the  subject  Facing  the 

lowing  the   satire  of   the*  disfranchiscinent  of  one- 

thc  citizens  in  a  (iovcrnment  boasting  of  being  founded  on 

individual  representation.     In  closing  she  said:     "Eastward  the 


136  HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

star  of  woman's  empire  takes  its  way.  She  does  not  look  for 
the  star  in  the  East  but  for  the  star  in  the  West.  Her  sun  of 
political  freedom  rose  not  in  the  East  but  in  the  West.  It  is 
to  the  strong,  courageous  and  progressive  men  of  the  western 
States  that  the  women  of  this  whole  country  are  looking  for 
deliverance  from  the  bondage  of  disfranchisement.  It  is  these 
men  who  must  start  this  movement  and  give  it  such  momentum 
that  it  will  roll  irresistibly  on  to  the  very  shores  of  the  Atlantic 
Ocean.  Today  the  eyes  of  the  whole  country  are  on  this  beauti- 
ful and  progressive  State.  This  magnificent  Exposition  has 
been  a  revelation  of  its  splendid  powers.  It  is  an  anomaly,  a 
contradiction,  a  reproach  indeed  that  in  the  midst  of  these  won- 
derful achievements  one-half  of  its  citizens  should  be  in  absolute 
political  subjection,  without  voice  or  share  in  affairs  of  State. 
Are  you  not  ready  now  to  wipe  out  that  paltry  2,000  majority 
which  five  years  ago  voted  to  continue  this  unjust  condition? 
Would  it  not  add  the  crowning  glory  to  this  greatest  period  in 
your  history  if  the  free  men  of  Oregon  should  decree  that  this 
shall  be,  henceforth  and  forever,  the  land  also  of  free  women?" 
The  Rev.  J.  Burgette  Short  expressed  regret  that  his  church, 
the  Methodist  Episcopal,  had  refused  to  ordain  Dr.  Shaw  and 
said  it  was  much  poorer  in  consequence.  "You  represent  the 
brains  of  the  world,"  he  said  to  the  delegates,  "and  you  have  my 
hearty  interest  and  support  in  your  work." 

A  noteworthy  address  was  made  by  the  Hon.  W.  S.  U'Ren, 
known  as  "the  father  of  the  Initiative  and  Referendum,"  which 
was  then  in  its  early  stages  but  had  been  adopted  by  Oregon  and 
some  other  States.  The  convention  was  much  impressed  by  this 
innovation,  as  the  suffragists  had  long  struggled  against  the 
refusal  of  Legislatures  to  submit  their  question  to  the  voters, 
and  Mrs.  Catt  offered  a  resolution  that  "the  convention  affirms 
its  belief  in  the  Initiative  and  Referendum  as  a  needed  reform 
and  a  potent  factor  in  the  progress  of  true  democracy."  It  was 
enthusiastically  received  and  later  adopted  by  the  convention, 
contrary  to  the  habit*  of  the  association  to  consider  only  subjects 
relating  directly  to  women  and  children.1 

1  In  later  years  woman  suffrage  amendments  were  submitted  to  the  voters  through  the 
Initiative  and  Referendum  after  the  Legislature  had  refused  to  do  it  and  were  carried 


NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1 905  137 

Under  the  pen  name  of  Lucas  Malet,  Mrs.  Mary  St.  Leger 
Harrison,  a  daughter  of  Charles  Kingsley  who  was  a  strong 
believer  in  woman  suffrage,  had  published  an  article  in  the  Lon- 
don Fortnightly  Review  attacking  it  and  quoting  President 
Roosevelt  as  an  opponent.  A  long  resolution  giving  his  favor- 
able record  for  the  past  twenty-five  years  on  questions  relating 
t«>  \vomen  was  presented  and  adopted,  against  the  judgment  of 
many  delegates.  A  committee  was  appointed  to  ask  him  for  a 
more  definite  expression  on  woman  suffrage.2 

Telegrams  of  greeting  were  sent  to  veterans  in  the  cause — 
Mrs.  I  .aura  de  Force  Gordon,  Mrs.  Caroline  M.  Severance,  Mrs. 
F.llen  Clark  Sargent  of  California;  Mrs.  Caroline  E.  Merrick  of 
Louisiana;  Mrs.  Julia  Ward  Howe,  Col.  T.  W.  Higginson,  Mrs. 
Judith  W.  Smith  of  Massachusetts;  Mrs.  Armenia  S.  White  of 
Xew  Hampshire;  Miss  Laura  Moore  of  Vermont;  Mrs.  Mar- 
garet W.  Campbell  of  Iowa. 

The  Committee  on  Legislation  for  Civil  Rights,  Mrs.  Blanken- 
burg,  chairman,  reported  that  among  measures  the  suffragists 
had  worked  for,  the  child  labor  laws  had  been  strengthened  in 
Xew  York,  Pennsylvania  and  California;  the  "age  of  consent" 
had  been  raised  in  Illinois  and  Oregon;  laws  had  been  passed 
in  several  States  requiring  that  women  should  be  appointed  to 
public  boards  and  women  physicians  to  public  institutions,  Cali- 

in  Oregon  and  Arizona  and  defeated  in  Nebraska  and  Missouri.  Still  later  by  tbis  method 
the  ratification  of  the  Federal  Suffrape  Amendment  in  Ohio  by  the  Legislature  was  sent  to 
the  voters  after  they  had  defeated  the  ratification  of  the  Prohibition  Amendment  This 
was  attempted  in  several  other  States  and  both  prohibitionists  and  suffragists  were  In 
Rreat  distress,  which  was  relieved  by  a  decision  of  the  U.  S.  Supreme  Court  that  this 
action  was  unconstitutional.  They  learned,  however,  that  the  Initiative  and  Referendum 
has  its  harmful  as  well  as  its  beneficial  side. 

'  Miss  Anthony  and  Mrs.  Upton  went  to  Washington  in  November,  where  Mrs.  Harper 
joined  them,  and  on  the  ijth  President  Roosevelt  received  them  cordially  and  granted 
them  a  long  interview.  Miss  Anthony  was  the  principal  spokesman  and  made  these 
requests:  i.  To  mention  woman  suffrage  in  his  speeches  when  practicable.  2.  To  put 

•  need  women  on  boards  and  commissions  relating  to  such  matters  as  they  would  be 
competent  to  pass  upon.  3.  To  recommend  to  Congress  a  special  committee  to  investigate 
the  practical  working  of  woman  suffrage  where  it  exists.  4.  To  see  that  Congress  should 

'criminate  against  the  women  of  the  Philippines  as  it  had  done  against  those  of 
Hawaii.  5.  To  say  something  that  would  help  the  approaching  suffrage  campaign  in 
Oregon.  6.  To  speak  to  the  national  suffrage  convention  in  Baltimore  in  February,  M 

1  to  the  Mothers'  Congress.  7.  To  recommend  to  Congress  a  Federal  Suffrage 
Amfndment  before  he  left  the  presidency. 

These  requests  were   given   to   him    in   typewritten    form   but  President    Roosevelt   did 
not  comply  with  one  of  them  and  did  not  communicate   further  with  the  committee  who 
rallrd  upon  him.     For  full  account  of  this  occurrence  see  Life  and  Work  of  Susan   B. 
Anthony,  page   1375. 
VOL.  v 


138  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

forma  leading.  In  Massachusetts  a  petition  that  women  might 
take  part  in  nominating  candidates  for  the  school  board,  for 
which  they  were  allowed  to  vote,  signed  by  100,000  women,  was 
refused  by  the  Legislature.  School  suffrage  was  granted  to 
women  in  the  first  class  cities  of  Oklahoma. 

Mrs.  Mead,  chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Peace  and  Arbitra- 
tion seems  to  outshine  the  preceding  one  but  last  night's  was  the 
one  in  Portland ;  of  the  series  of  articles  published  in  preparation 
for  the  International  Peace  Congress  in  Boston  in  1904  and  the 
work  she  had  done  in  connection  -with  it;  of  the  many  lectures 
given  to  universities  and  clubs  and  of  the  arrangements  to  have 
the  public  schools  observe  the  anniversary  of  the  first  Hague 
Conference. 

The  Oregonmn  said :  "Each  program  given  by  the  conven- 
tion seems  to  outshine  the  preceding  one  but  last  night's  was  the 
best  thus  far."  The  speakers  were  Mrs.  Ella  S.  Stewart,  former 
president  of  the  Illinois  Suffrage  Association;  the  Rev.  An- 
toinette Brown  Blackwell  (N.  J.);  Mrs.  Mary  J.  Coggeshall 
(la.);  Miss  Gail  Laughlin  (N.  Y.)  ;  Judge  Stephen  A.  Lowell, 
one  of  Oregon's  leading  jurists.  Judge  Lowell  reviewed  the 
political  situation,  the  evils  that  had  crept  into  the  Government 
and  the  remedies  that  had  been  tried  and  failed  and  he  summed 
up  his  conclusion  by  saying:  "The  reforms  of  the  last  century 
have  come  from  women.  Man  has  few  to  his  credit  because  he 
could  not  measure  them  by  the  only  standard  he  had  mastered, 
that  of  the  dollar.  Witness  the  movement  for  female  education 
led  by  Mary  Lyon,  the  birth  of  the  Red  Cross  in  the  work  of 
Florence  Nightingale,  the  institution  of  modern  prison  methods 
under  the  inspiration  of  Elizabeth  Fry  and  the  campaigns  for 
temperance  and  social  purity  under  the  leadership  of  Frances 
Willard.  The  electorate  needs  the  inspiring  influence  of  women 
at  the  ballot  box  and  the  full  mission  of  this  republic  to  the  world 
will  never  be  met  until  she  is  admitted  there.  Not  color  or  creed 
or  sex  but  patriotic  honesty  must  be  the  test  of  citizenship  if  the 
republic  lives." 

Mrs.  Stewart  took  up  the  objections  made  by  many  of  the 
clergy  to  woman  suffrage  and  applied  these  to  the  ministers 


NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1905  139 

themselves.  "They  should  not  vote,"  she  said  with  fine  sarcasm, 
"because  like  women  they  are  exempt  from  jury  duty.  They 
seldom  go  to  war — some  of  them  are  too  old,  others  too  delicate, 
some  too  near-sighted,  some  too  far-sighted.  Ministers  as  a 
rule  are  not  heavy  tax-payers.  Many  of  them  do  not  want  to 
vote  and  do  not  use  the  vote  they  have.  A  preacher  has  not  time 
to  vote.  It  might  lead  him  to  neglect  his  pastoral  duties.  Politi- 
cal feeling  often  runs  high  and  if  he  voted  it  might  make  quar- 
rels in  the  church.  The  minister  has  a  potent  indirect  influence. 
He  would  be  contaminated  by  the  corruption  of  politics.  He 
is  represented  by  his  male  relations;  they  are  not  as  good  and 
pure  as  he  is  and  are  probably  immune  from  contamination 
by  politics." 

Mrs.  Catt,  who  presided,  in  presenting  the  Rev.  Mrs.  Black- 
well,  one  of  the  first  to  make  the  fight  for  the  right  of  women 
to  speak  in  public,  said :  "The  combination  of  her  sweet  per- 
sonality and  her  invincible  soul  has  won  friends  for  woman 
suffrage  wherever  she  has  gone."  Her  address  on  Suffrage  and 
Education  showed  the  evolution  in  woman's  work.  "My  grand- 
mother taught  me  to  spin,"  she  said,  "but  the  men  have  relieved 
womankind  from  that  task  and  as  they  have  taken  so  many 
industrial  burdens  off  of  our  hands  it  is  our  duty  to  relieve  them 
of  some  of  their  burdens  of  State."  Introducing  Mrs.  Coggeshall 
of  Iowa  Mrs.  Catt  said:  "When  I  get  discouraged  I  think  of 
her  and  for  many  a  year  she  has  been  one  of  my  strongest  in- 
spirations." A  Portland  paper  commented:  "Her  snow-white 
hair  and  demure  face  give  no  indication  of  the  brilliant  repartee 
and  sharp  argument  of  which  she  is  capable."  In  her  Word  from 
the  Middle  West  she  said :  "Its  women  are  determined  to  have 
the  ballot  if  they  have  to  bear  and  raise  the  sons  to  give  it  to 
them.  This  scheme  is  in  active  operation.  I  myself  have  raised 
three — eighteen  feet  for  woman  suffrage — and  others  have  done 
better.  No  bugle  can  ever  sound  retreat  for  the  women  of  the 
Middle  West."  The  Oregonian  said  of  Miss  Laughlin's  address: 

Her  arguments  are  the  straight,  convincing  kind  that  leave  nothing 

•he  other  fellow  to  say.    She  comes  to  Oregon  a  lawyer  of  New 

York  who  is  proudly  boasted  of,  and  justly,  by  her  fellow  workers  as 

the  woman  who  carried  of!  the  oratorical  honors  of  Cornell  and  won 


140  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

for  that  institution  the  championship  in  intercollegiate  debating  con- 
tests. ...  In  asking  for  a  "Square  Deal"  Miss  Laughlin  said: 

"  'A  square  deal  for  every  man.'  These  words  of  President 
Roosevelt  were  more  discussed  during  our  last  presidential  cam- 
paign than  was  any  party  platform  plank.  The  growing  prominence 
of  the  doctrine  of  a  square  deal  is  of  vital  significance  to  us  who 
stand  for  equal  suffrage,  as  we  ask  only  for  this.  It  has  been  in- 
voked chiefly  against  'trusts/  We  invoke  the  doctrine  of  a  square 
deal  against  the  greatest  'trust'  in  the  world — the  political  trust— 
which  is  the  most  absolute  monopoly  because  entrenched  in  law  itself 
and  because  it  is  a  monopoly  of  the  greatest  thing  in  the  world,  of 
liberty  itself.  The  exclusion  of  women  from  participation  in  gov- 
ernmental affairs  means  the  going  to  waste  of  a  vast  force,  which,  if 
utilized,  would  be  a  great  power  in  the  advance  of  civilization.  .  .  . 
But  there  depends  on  the  success  of  the  equal  suffrage  movement 
something  more  valuable  even  than  national  prosperity  and  that  is 
the  preservation  of  human  liberty.  Now,  as  in  1860,  'the  nation 
cannot  remain  half  slave  and  half  free,'  and  either  women  must  be 
made  free  or  men  will  lose  the  liberty  which  they  enjoy." 

Sunday  services  were  conducted  at  4 130  in  the  First  Congre- 
gational church  by  the  Rev.  Eleanor  Gordon,  pastor  of  the  First 
Unitarian  church  of  Des  Moines,  la.,  assisted  by  Dr.  Shaw  and 
the  Rev.  Eliza  Tupper  Wilkes  of  Los  Angeles,  with  a  special 
musical  program.  Miss  Gordon  had  filled  the  Unitarian  pulpit 
in  the  morning,  giving  an  eloquent  sermon  on  Revelations  of 
God.  Mrs.  Charlotte  Perkins  Gilman  had  preached  in  the  Con- 
gregational church  in  the  morning  and  the  Rev.  Mrs.  Blackwell 
in  the  evening.  Miss  Laura  Clay  gave  a  Bible  reading  and 
exposition  in  the  Taylor  Street  Methodist  Episcopal  church  in 
the  evening.  The  Rev.  J.  Whitcomb  Brougher,  pastor  of  the 
White  Temple,  the  large  Baptist  church,  invited  Miss  Anthony 
to  occupy  its  pulpit  and  expound  "any  doctrine  she  had  at 
heart."  The  Oregonian  said :  "She  took  him  at  his  word  and 
got  in  some  of  the  best  words  for  suffrage  that  have  been  put 
before  the  Portland  public.  There  was  such  enthusiasm  over 
the  venerable  founder  and  leader  of  the  suffrage  movement  that 
when  she  appeared  on  the  rostrum  the  applause  was  as  vigorous 
as  though  it  had  not  been  Sunday  and  the  place  a  church.  There 
was  not  room  in  the  big  Temple  for  another  person  to  squeeze 
past  the  doors."  The  papers  quoted  liberally  from  the  sermons 
of  all  and  the  Portland  Journal  said :  "Each  preached  to  a  con- 
gregation that  taxed  the  capacity  of  the  church.  .  .  .  The 


NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1905  14! 

welcome  accorded  the  women  by  the  Portland  pastors  was  sharply 
in  contrast  with  the  hostility  shown  by  the  clergy  -when  equal 
suffrage  conventions  began  in  the  middle  of  the  last  century.1 

The  Monday  evening  session  was  opened  by  Willis  Duniway, 
who  gave  a  glowing  appreciation  of  the  work  of  the  National 
American  Suffrage  Association  and  said  in  the  course  of  a  strong 
speech  that  he  wanted  to  see  -woman  suffrage  because  it  was  right 
and  because  he  wanted  the  brave  pioneer  women  who  had  worked 
for  it  so  long  to  get  it  before  they  passed  away.  "I  want  my 
mother  to  vote,"  he  declared  amid  applause.2  "The  basis  of  safe 
and  sane  government  is  justice,  which  has  its  roots  in  constitu- 
tional liberty  and  means  equal  rights  and  opportunities.  .  .  . 
I  claim  no  right  or  privilege  for  myself  that  I  would  not  give 
to  my  mother,  wife  and  sister  and  to  every  law-abiding  citizen.'* 
When  he  had  finished  his  mother  rose  and  said  dryly:  "That, 
dear  women  from  the  north,  east,  south  and  west,  is  one  of  Mrs. 
Duniway 's  poor,  neglected  children!" 

Miss  Mary  N.  Chase,  president  of  the  New  Hampshire  Asso- 
ciation, spoke  convincingly  on  The  Vital  Question,  taking  as  the 
keynote:  "A  republic  based  on  equal  rights  for  all  is  not  the 
dream  of  a  fanatic  but  the  only  sane  form  of  government."  I.  N. 
chner,  who  had  just  been  elected  to  the  school  board  largely 
by  the  votes  of  women,  assured  the  convention  of  his  approval 
and  support  of  the  measures  it  advocated  and  said  he  hoped  to 
see  the  women  enjoying  the  full  right  of  suffrage  in  Oregon  in 
the  very  near  future. 

Mrs.  Florence  Kelley,  executive  secretary  of  the  National  Con- 
sumers' League,  spoke  with  deeper  understanding  than  would  be 
:l)lc  for  any  other  woman  of  The  Young  Bread-winner's 
1.  "We  have  in  this  country,"  she  said,  "2,000,000  children 
r  the  age  of  sixteen  who  are  earning  their  bread.  They 
vary  in  age  from  six  and  seven  in  the  cotton  mills  of  Georgia, 
,  nine  and  ten  in  the  coal-breakers  of  Pennsylvania  and 

1  Different  sessions  were  opened  with  prayer  by  Rabbi  Stephen  S.  Wise,  Father  Hl.uk 
and  the  Reverends  El  win  L.  House.  H.  M.  Harden,  E.  S.  Muckley,  J.  Burgette  Short, 
J.  Whitcomb  Brougher,  E.  Nelson  Allen,  Edgar  P.  Hill,  W.  S.  Gilbert,  A.  A.  Morrison, 
T.  L.  Eliot,  Asa  Sleeth,  J.  F.  Ghormley,  George  Creswell  Cresscy,  representing  various 
denominations.  Nearly  all  of  them  pledged  their  support  to  the  suffrage  movement.  The 
fine  musical  programs  throughout  the  convention  \\cn-  in  charge  of  Mrs.  M.  A.  Dalton. 

'Oregon  gave  suffrage  to  women  in  1912  and  Mrs.  Duniway  received  full  recognition. 
See  Oregon  chaj 


142  HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

fourteen,  fifteen  and  sixteen  in  more  enlightened  States.  .  .  . 
In  some  of  the  States  children  from  six  to  thirteen  may  legally 
be  compelled  to  work  the  whole  night  of  twelve  hours,"  and  she 
described  the  heart-breaking  conditions  under  which  they  toil. 
She  urged  the  need  of  woman's  votes  to  destroy  the  great  evil 
of  child  labor  and  said:  "We  can  enlist  the  workingmen  on 
behalf  of  our  enfranchisement  just  in  proportion  as  we  strive 
with  them  to  free  the  children." 

In  introducing  Mr.  Blackwell,  Dr.  Cora  Smith  Eaton,  who 
was  presiding,  said:  "As  we  came  across  the  continent  what 
impressed  me  most  was  the  mountains.  First  came  the  foot- 
hills, then  the  high  mountains  and  then  the  grand,  snow  clad 
peaks.  Some  of  us  are  like  the  foothills,  just  raised  a  little  above 
the  women  who  have  all  the  rights  they  want ;  then  come  those 
on  a  higher  level  of  public  spirit  and  service,  who  are  like  the 
mountains;  and  then  the  pioneers  rising  above  all  like  the  snow 
covered  peaks."  Taking  the  ground  that  "the  perpetuity  of 
republican  institutions  depends  on  the  speedy  extension  of  the 
suffrage  to  women,"  Mr.  Blackwell  said  in  his  sound,  logical 
address:  "How  can  we  reach  the  common  sense  of  the  plain 
people,  without  whose  approval  success  is  impossible?  .  .  . 
A  purely  masculine  government  does  not  fully  represent  the 
people,  the  feminine  qualities  are  lacking.  It  is  a  maxim  among 
political  thinkers  that  'every  class  that  votes  makes  itself  felt 
in  the  government.'  Women  as  a  class  differ  more  widely  from 
men  than  any  one  class  of  men  differs  from  another.  To  give 
the  ballot  to  merchants  and  lawyers  and  deny  it  to  farmers  would 
be  class  legislation,  which  is  always  unwise  and  unjust,  but  there 
is  no  class  legislation  so  complete  as  an  aristocracy  of  sex.  Men 
have  qualities  in  which  they  are  superior  to  women ;  women  have 
qualities  in  which  they  are  superior  to  men,  both  are  needed. 
Women  are  less  belligerent  than  men,  more  peaceable,  temperate, 
chaste,  economical  and  law-abiding,  with  a  higher  standard  of 
morals  and  a  deeper  sense  of  religious  obligation,  and  these  are 
the  very  qualities  we  need  to  add  to  the  aggressive  and  impulsive 
qualities  of  men." 

The  Journal  in  commenting  on  this  address  said:  "A  vener- 
able and  historical  figure  is  that  of  Henry  B.  Blackwell,  who  in 


NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1905  143 

company  with  his  daughter,  Alice  Stone  Blackwell,  is  in  at- 
tendance upon  the  national  suffrage  convention.  This  snowy- 
haired,  white-bearded  patriarch  embodies  in  his  voice,  his  pres- 
ence, his  interest  in  every  passing  event,  in  his  appreciation  of 
every  beauty  of  earth  and  sky,  in  the  shifting  panorama  of 
nature,  the  loyal  spirit  of  freedom,  the  true  spirit  of  manhood 
that  has  dominated  his  passing  years."  * 

A  valuable  report  on  Industrial  Problems  Relating  to  Women 
and  Children  was  made  by  Mrs.  Kelley,  chairman  of  the  com- 
mittee, 'which  she  began  by  saying  that  during  1905  eleven  States 
had  improved  their  Child  Labor  Laws  or  adopted  new  ones  and 
in  every  State  suffragists  had  helped  secure  these  laws.  She 
said  that  wherever  woman  suffrage  was  voted  on  its  weakness 
proved  to  be  among  the  -wage-earners  of  the  cities  and  she  urged 
that  the  association  submit  to  the  labor  organizations  its  bill  in 
behalf  of  wage-earning  women  and  children  with  a  view  to  close 
cooperation.  To  the  workingmen  woman  suffrage  meant  chiefly 
"prohibition"  and  an  effort  should  be  made  to  convince  them 
that  it  includes  assistance  in  their  own  legislative  measures. 
Mrs.  Kate  S.  Hilliard  (Utah)  answered  the  question,  Will  the 
Ballot  Solve  the  Industrial  Problem?  Wallace  Nash  spoke  on 
the  work  of  the  Christian  Cooperative  Federation.  The  leading 
address  of  the  afternoon  was  made  by  Rabbi  Emil  G.  Hirsch  of 
Chicago  on  The  Educational  Problem.  "It  is  a  strange  anomaly 
in  American  public  life,"  he  said,  "that  we  have  given  our  schools 
largely  into  the  hands  of  women  who  must  teach  history  and 
patriotism  but  are  not  considered  competent  to  vote.  I  plead  for 
the  same  education  for  boys  and  girls  and  I  urge  you  to  take 
a  deep  interest  in  the  public  schools."  He  gave  testimony  to 
the  excellent  legislative  work  women  had  done  along  many  lines 
and  declared  that  "-women  pay  taxes  and  do  public  service  and 
hold  up  before  men  the  standard  of  righteousness  and  they  ought 
to  have  a  vote,"  and  closed  by  saying:  "We  need  appeals  to 

1  Mr.  Blackwell,  then  80  years  old,  used  to  rise  early  in  the  morning  and  take  • 
trolley  ride  of  thirty  or  forty  miles  in  various  directions  to  enjoy  the  beauties  of  nature. 
"Feeling  unwilling  to  return  cant  without  bathing  in  the  Pacific/'  he  said  in  one  of  his 
letter*,  "and  wishing  to  visit  Astoria,  the  ancient  American  fur-post  so  charmingly  immor- 
talized by  Washington  Irving,  I  left  Portland  after  the  convention  closed  and  had  a 
beautiful  voyage  of  nine  hours  down  the  river  to  where  it  meets  the  ocean.  .  .  .  After 
an  early  morning  plunge  into  the  big  waves  we  chartered  an  auto  and  sped  over  the 
hard  sands  to  the  fir-crowned  cliffs." 


144  HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

the  heart  and  conscience  in  our  schools  -and  a  revival  of  con- 
science. We  need  a  standard  of  character  and  conscience  and 
women  can  bring  it  into  the  schools  much  better  than  men  can. 
The  woman,  because  she  is  a  woman,  is  less  easily  corrupted  than 
the  man  who  has  forgotten  that  he  had  a  mother.  If  we  must 
disfranchise  somebody,  it  would  better  be  many  of  the  men  than 
the  women/' 

At  one  meeting  Judge  Roger  S.  Greene,  who  was  Chief  Justice 
of  the  Territory  of  Washington  when  the  majority  of  the 
Supreme  Court  gave  a  decision  which  took  away  the  suffrage 
from  women  and  who  loyally  tried  to  preserve  it  for  them,  was 
invited  to  the  platform  and  received  an  ovation.  At  another 
time  Judge  William  Galloway,  a  veteran  suffragist,  was  called 
before  the  convention,  and  after  referring  to  his  journey  to 
Oregon  by  ox-team  in  1852  told  of  his  conversion  by  Mrs.  Duni- 
way  when  he  was  a  member  of  the  Legislature  at  the  age  of  21. 
National  conventions  were  of  daily  occurrence  during  the  Ex- 
position and  a  number  of  them  called  for  addresses  by  Mrs.  Catt, 
Dr.  Shaw  and  other  suffrage  speakers.  At  the  evening  session 
preceding  the  last  Miss  Mary  S.  Anthony,  78  years  old,  read  in 
a  clear,  strong  voice  the  Declaration  of  Sentiments  adopted  at 
the  famous  first  Woman's  Rights  Convention  in  1848,  which  she 
had  signed.  The  rest  of  the  evening  of  July  4  was  given  to 
what  the  Woman's  Journal  spoke  of  as  "Mrs.  Catt's  noble  ad- 
dress," The  New  Time,  beginning: 

This  is  a  glorious  Fourth  of  July.  In  a  hundred  years  the  United 
States  has  grown  into  a  mighty  nation.  This  last  has  been  a  century 
of  wonderful  material  development,  but  we  celebrate  not  for  this. 
July  4  commemorates  the  birth  of  a  great  idea.  All  over  the  world, 
wherever  there  is  a  band  of  revolutionists  or  of  evolutionists,  today 
they  celebrate  our  Fourth.  The  idea  existed  in  the  world  before 
but  it  was  never  expressed  in  clear,  succinct,  intelligible  language 
until  the  American  republic  came  into  being.  .  .  .  Taxation  without 
representation  is  tyranny,  it  always  was  tyranny,  it  always  will  be 
tyranny,  and  it  makes  no  difference  whether  it  be  the  taxation  of 
black  or  white,  rich  or  poor,  high  or  low,  man  or  woman.  .  .  .  The 
United  States  has  lost  its  place  as  the  leading  exponent  of  democracy. 
Australia  and  New  Zealand  have  out-Americanized  America.  Let  us 
not  forget  that  progress  does  not  cease  with  the  2Oth  century.  We 
say  our  institutions  are  liberal  and  just.  They  may  be  liberal  but 
they  are  not  just  for  they  are  not  derived  from  the  consent  of  the 


NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1905  145 

governed.  What  is  your  own  mental  attitude  toward  progress?  If 
you  should  meet  a  new  idea  in  the  dark,  would  you  shy  ?  Robespierre 
said  that  the  only  way  to  regenerate  a  nation  was  over  a  heap  of 
dead  bodies  but  in  a  republic  the  way  to  do  it  is  over  a  heap  of  pure, 
white  ballots. 

"Mrs.  Catt  was  awarded  the  Chautauqua  salute  when  she  ap- 
peared on  the  platform,"  said  the  Oregonian,  "and  it  was  some 
minutes  before  the  former  president  of  the  association  could 
proceed.  She  spoke  eloquently  and  at  considerable  length  and 
in  this  assemblage  of  remarkably  bright  women  it  was  plain  to 
be  seen  that  she  was  a  star  of  the  first  magnitude."  It  was 
hard  for  the  convention  to  accede  to  Mrs.  Catt's  determination 
to  retire  from  even  the  vice-presidency  of  the  association  be- 
cause of  her  continued  ill  health  but  they  yielded  because  this 
was  so  evident.  Mrs.  Florence  Kelley  was  the  choice  for  this 
office  and  in  accepting  she  said:  "I  was  born  into  this  cause. 
My  great-aunt,  Sarah  Pugh  of  Philadelphia,  attended  the  meet- 
ing in  London  which  led  to  the  first  suffrage  convention  in 
1848.  My  father,  William  D.  Kelley,  spoke  at  the  early  Wash- 
ington conventions  for  years."  Dr.  Eaton  was  again  obliged  to 
give  up  the  office  of  second  auditor  on  account  of  her  profes- 
sional duties  and  Dr.  Annice  Jeffreys  Myers,  who  had  so  suc- 
cessfully planned  and  managed  the  convention,  was  almost 
unanimously  elected.  No  other  change  was  made  in  the  board. 

Among  the  excellent  resolutions  presented  by  the  chairman 
of  the  committee,  Mr.  Blackwell,  were  the  following: 

Whereas,  the  children  of  today  are  the  republic  of  the  future; 
and  whereas  two  million  children  today   are  bread-winners;   and 
whereas  the  suffrage  movement  is  deeply  interested  in  the  welfare 
of  these  children  and  suffragists  are  actively  engaged  in  securing 
ction  for  them ;  and  whereas  working-men  voters  are  also  vitally 
stcd  in  protection  for  the  young  bread-winners;  therefore, 
>olved,  That  it  is  desirable  that  our  bills  for  civil  rights  and 
political  rights,  together  with  the  bills  for  effective  compulsory  edu- 
:i  and  the  proposal  for  prohibiting  night  work  and  establishing 
the  eight-hour  day  for  minors  under  eighteen  years  of  age,  be  sub- 
mitted to  the  organizations  of  labor  and  their  cooperation  secured. 
The  frightful  slaughter  in  the  Far  East  shows  the  imperative  i: 
of  enlisting  in  government  the  mother  element  now  lacking;  there- 
fore we  ask  women  to  use  their  utmost  efforts  to  secure  the  creation 
of  courts  of  international  arbitral  inn  which  will  make  future  warfare 
forever  afterwards  unnecessary. 


146  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

We  protest  against  all  attempts  to  deal  with  the  social  evil  by  ap- 
plying to  women  of  bad  life  any  such  penalties,  restrictions  or  com- 
pulsory medical  measures  as  are  not  applied  equally  to  men  of  bad 
life;  and  we  protest  especially  against  any  municipal  action  giving 
vice  legal  sanction  and  a  practical  license.  .  .  .  We  recommend  one 
moral  standard  for  men  and  women. 

The  list  of  Memorial  Resolutions  was  long  and  included  many 
prominent  advocates  of  woman  suffrage.  Among  those  of  Cali- 
fornia were  Mrs.  Leland  Stanford,  Judge  E.  V.  Spencer  and 
the  veteran  workers,  Mrs.  E.  O.  Smith  and  Sarah  Burger 
Stearns,  the  latter  formerly  of  Minnesota;  Jas.  P.  McKinney  and 
Jas.  B.  Callanan  of  Iowa;  Helen  Coffin  Beedy  of  Maine.  Twenty- 
two  names  were  recorded  from  Massachusetts,  among  them  the 
Hon.  George  S.  Boutwell,  President  Elmer  H.  Capen,  of  Tufts 
College;  the  Hon.  William  Claflin,  the  Rev.  George  C.  Lorimer, 
Mrs.  Ednah  D.  Cheney;  Mrs.  Martha  E.  Root,  a  Michigan 
pioneer;  Grace  Espey  Patton  Cowles,  Commissioner  of  Indian 
Affairs,  Montana.  The  Rev.  Augusta  Chapin,  D.D.,  Dr.  Phoebe 
J.  B.  Waite,  Bishop  Huntington,  James  W.  Clarke,  Dr.  Cor- 
delia A.  Greene,  were  among  the  ten  from  New  York;  Mayor 
Samuel  M.  Jones,  among  seven  from  Ohio.  Eive  pioneers  of 
Pennsylvania  had  passed  away,  John  K.  Wildman,  Richard  P. 
White,  Mrs.  Mary  E.  Haggart,  Miss  Matilda  Hindman,  Miss 
Anna  Hallowell.  Cyrus  W.  Wyman  of  Vermont  and  Orra  Lang- 
horne  of  Virginia  were  other  deceased  pioneers;  also  Mrs. 
Rebecca  Moore  and  Mrs.  Margaret  Preston  Tanner,  who  were 
among  the  earliest  workers  in  Great  Britain. 

Special  resolutions  were  adopted  for  Mrs.  Mary  A.  Liver- 
more  and  U.  S.  Senator  George  F.  Hoar  of  Massachusetts ;  Col. 
Daniel  R.  Anthony  of  Kansas;  Mrs.  Louisa  Southworth  of 
Ohio.  The  eloquent  resolutions  prepared  by  Mr.  Blackwell  ended : 
"Never  before  in  a  single  year  have  we  had  to  record  the  loss  of 
so  many  faithful  suffragists.  Let  the  pioneers  who  still  survive 
close  up  their  ranks  and  rejoice  in  the  accession  of  so  many 
young  and  vigorous  advocates,  who  will  carry  on  the  work  to  a 
glorious  consummation/'  The  California  delegation  presented 
the  following  resolution,  which  was  enthusiastically  adopted: 
"Resolved,  That  we  remember  with  the  deepest  gratitude  the 
one  man  who  has  stood  steadfast  at  the  helm,  notwithstanding 


NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1905  147 

constant  ridicule  and  belittlement  on  the  part  of  the  press  during 
the  early  years  of  the  work,  unselfishly  and  unceasingly  devoting 
his  life  to  the  self-imposed  task  year  after  year,  never  faltering, 
never  seeking  office  or  honors  but  always  a  worker;  one  who 
has  grown  gray  in  the  service — Henry  B.  Blackwell." 

Invitations  were  received  to  hold  the  next  convention  in  Wash- 
ington, Chicago  and  Baltimore.  The  by-law  requiring  that  every 
alternate  convention  must  be  held  in  Washington  during  the 
first  session  of  Congress  was  amended  to  read  "may  be  held." 
The  Woman's  Journal  said:  "Miss  Anthony  favored  the  change 
and  Mr.  Blackwell  opposed  it — an  amusing  fact  to  those  who 
remember  how  strongly  he  used  to  advocate  a  movable  annual 
convention  and  Miss  Anthony  a  stationary  one  in  Washington. 
Kviilently  neither  of  them  is  so  fossilized  as  to  be  unable  to  see 
new  light."  The  invitation  of  the  Maryland  Woman  Suffrage 
Association  was  accepted. 

The  dominant  interest  of  the  convention  had  been  in  a  pro- 
spective campaign  for  a  woman  suffrage  amendment  to  the  con- 
stitution of  Oregon.  The  Legislature  had  refused  to  submit  it 
but  under  the  Initiative  and  Referendum  law  this  could  be  done 
by  petition.  Public  sentiment  throughout  the  State  seemed  to 
indicate  that  it  was  now  ready  to  enfranchise  women  and  officials 
from  the  Governor  down  believed  an  amendment  could  be  car- 
ried. All  the  officers  of  the  State  Suffrage  Association  had  joined 
in  the  invitation  to  the  National  Association  to  hold  its  conven- 
tion of  1905  in  Portland  and  inaugurate  the  campaign  and  to 
t  it  in  every  possible  way.  After  the  report  of  the  State 
vice-president,  Dr.  Annice  Jeffreys  Myers,  had  been  read  to  the 
convention  of  1904  a  resolution  had  been  moved  by  Mrs.  Catt, 
seconded  by  Miss  Anthony  and  unanimously  adopted,  that  the 
association  accept  this  invitation  and  a  pledge  of  $3,000  had  been 
made.  Throughout  tin-  piv-cnt  convention  the  speeches  of  public 
ils  and  the  pledges  made  on  every  hand  encouraged  the  mem- 
bers to  feel  that  the  association  should  give  all  possible  help  in 
y  and  workers.1 

The  public  was  much   impressed  at  the  last  session   by  the 
appearance  on  the  platform  of  four  prominmt  politicians  of  the 

1  For  results  the  following  year  see  Oregon  chsptcr. 


HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

State  representing  the  different  parties  and  this  was  generally 
regarded  as  the  opening  of  the  campaign  for  woman  suffrage. 
They  were  introduced  by  State  Senator  Henry  Waldo  Coe,  M.D., 
who  spoke  in  highest  praise  of  homes  and  housekeepers  as  he 
had  seen  them  in  his  practice  and  said :  "The  woman  who  takes 
an  interest  in  the  affairs  of  her  country  has  the  highest  interest 
in  her  home,  and  the  suffrage  will  not  lessen  her  fitness  as  wife 
and  mother."  He  introduced  Mayor  Harry  Lane  as  the  Demo- 
crat who  carried  a  Republican  city  and  who  was  the  best  mayor 
Portland  ever  had.  Mr.  Lane  declared  that  women  were  as 
much  entitled  to  the  suffrage  as  men  and  that  the  enfranchise- 
ment of  women  would  tend  to  purify  politics.  Dr.  Andrew  C. 
Smith,  a  Republican,  was  introduced  as  "the  man  who  presented 
the  names  of  thirteen  women  physicians  to  the  State  Medical 
Association  and  got  them  admitted."  The  press  report  said: 
"The  prospective  women  voters  were  informed  that  they  saw 
before  them  the  next  Governor  of  Oregon."  Dr.  Smith  declared 
that  he  had  been  for  woman  suffrage  twenty-five  years  and  that 
"the  United  States  was  guilty  of  a  national  sin  in  not  giving 
women  equal  rights."  Thomas  Burns,  State  Secretary  of  the 
Socialist  party,  asserted  that  it  was  the  only  one  which  had  a 
plank  for  woman  suffrage  in  its  platform  and  the  Socialists  had 
fought  for  it  all  over  the  world.  "Men  have  made  a  failure  of 
government,"  he  said,  "now  let  the  women  try  it."  O.  M.  Jami- 
son, of  the  Citizens'  movement,  said:  "We  have  found  women 
the  strongest  factor  in  our  work  for  reform  and  I  think  99  per 
cent,  of  us  are  for  woman  suffrage."  B.  Lee  Paget,  who  spoke 
for  the  Prohibitionists,  declared  himself  an  old  convert  to  woman 
suffrage  and  said:  "I  think  intelligent  women  far  better  fitted 
to  vote  on  public  measures  than  the  majority  of  men  who  take 
part  in  campaigns  and  are  wholly  ignorant  of  the  issues." 

L.  F.  Wilbur  of  Vermont  told  of  its  improved  laws  for  women 
and  advancing  public  sentiment  for  woman  suffrage  and  paid 
a  glowing  tribute  to  the  early  work  in  that  State  of  Lucy  Stone, 
Mr.  Blackwell  and  Julia  Ward  Howe.  Mrs.  Maud  Wood  Park, 
president  of  the  Massachusetts  College  Women's  Suffrage  League, 
gave  a  scholarly  address  on  The  Civic  Responsibility  of  Women, 
which  she  began  by  saying  that  the  first  "new  woman"  was  from 


NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1905  149 

Boston — Anne  Hutchinson.  Dr.  Marie  D.  Equi,  candidate  for 
inspector  of  markets,  spoke  briefly  on  the  need  of  market  in- 
spection for  which  women  were  especially  fitted.  Mrs.  Charlotte 
Perkins  Oilman  (N.  Y.)  in  discussing  Woman's  World  said  in 
part :  "Ex-President  Cleveland,  after  warning1  women  against 
the  clubs  which  are  leading  them  straight  to  the  abyss  of  suffrage, 
told  us  that  'the  hand  that  rocks  the  cradle  is  the  hand  that  rules 
the  world/  ...  Is  it  true?  The  Indian  woman  rocks  the 
cradle;  does  she  rule  the  world?  The  Chinese  woman — the 
woman  of  the  harem — do  they  rule  it?  An  amiable  old  gentle- 
man in  opening  a  suffrage  debate  said:  'My  wife  rules  me  and 
if  a  woman  can  rule  a  man,  why  should  she  care  to  rule  the 
country  ?'  He  seemed  to  think  he  was  equal  to  the  whole  United 
States!  Women  have  been  taught  that  the  home  was  their 
sphere  and  men  have  claimed  everything  else  for  themselves.  The 
fact  that  women  in  the  home  have  shut  themselves  away  from 
the  thought  and  life  of  the  world  has  done  much  to  retard 
progress.  We  fill  the  world  with  the  children  of  2Oth  century 
A.  D.  fathers  and  2Oth  century  B.  C.  mothers." 

Miss  Blackwell  lightened  the  proceedings  with  some  of  her 
clever  anecdotes  with  a  suffrage  moral,  and  Mrs.  Oilman  with 
several  of  her  brilliant  poems.  Mrs.  Catt  gave  a  concise  review 
of  the  International  Woman  Suffrage  Alliance,  formed  at  Berlin 
in  1904,  and  told  of  the  progress  of  woman  suffrage  in  other 
countries.  Greetings  to  all  of  them  were  sent  by  the  convention. 
Dr.  Shaw  gave  an  impressive  peroration  to  this  interesting  session 
by  pointing  out  the  responsibility  resting  on  the  men  and  women 
of  Oregon  to  carry  to  success  the  campaign  which  they  had  now 
bccrnn,  and  Miss  Anthony  closed  the  convention  with  a  fervent 
appeal  to  all  to  work  for  victory. 

The  delegates  and  visitors  greatly  enjoyed  the  Exposition, 
which  had  such  a  setting  as  none  ever  had  before,  looking  out 
on  the  rlnz/lin"-  bermty  of  the  snowclrv!  pr.-iks  of  Mt.  Hood 
and  the  Olympic  Range,  and  now  they  had  to  select  from  the 
many  opportunities  for  travel  nnd  light-seeing.  The  Rev.  Mrs. 
Blackwell,  Emily  Howland,  Mrs.  Cartwright  of  Portland  and 
others  from  seventy  to  eighty  years  of  age,  took  a  steamer  for 
Alaska.  Mr.  and  Miss  Blackwell  and  others  went  to  Seattle, 


I5O  HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

Vancouver  and  home  through  the  magnificent  scenery  of  the 
Canadian  Pacific  Railroad.  Mrs.  Catt  and  another  party  returned 
east  by  way  of  the  Yellowstone  Park.  Dr.  Cora  Smith  Eaton 
with  a  few  daring  spirits  went  for  a  climb  of  Mt.  Hood.  Miss 
Anthony  with  a  group  of  friends  started  southward,  stopping  at 
Chico,  California,  for  her  to  dedicate  a  park  of  2,000  acres, 
which  Mrs.  Annie  K.  Bidwell  had  presented  to  the  village.  They 
went  on  to  San  Francisco  where  they  were  joined  by  Dr.  Shaw, 
who  had  remained  in  Portland  for  the  Medical  Convention  and 
spoken  at  several  places  en  route.  Here  they  were  beautifully 
entertained  in  the  homes  of  the  suffrage  leaders,  Mrs.  Mary  Wood 
Swift,  Mrs.  Ellen  Clark  Sargent,  Mrs.  Mary  S.  Sperry,  Mrs. 
Emma  Shafter  Howard  and  others,  and  mass  meetings  crowded 
to  the  doors  were  held  in  San  Francisco  and  Oakland.  From 
here  they  went  to  Los  Angeles  for  other  meetings,  except  Dr. 
Shaw,  who  started  eastward  for  her  round  of  Chautauqua  en- 
gagements. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1906. 

The  Thirty-eighth  annual  convention  held  in  Baltimore  Feb. 
7-13,  1906,  was  notable  in  several  respects.  It  had  gone  into  the 
very  heart  of  conservatism  and  a  larger  number  of  eminent  men 
and  women  took  part  in  its  proceedings  than  had  ever  before 
been  represented  on  a  single  program.1  There  were  university 
presidents  and  professors,  men  and  women;  office  holders,  men 
and  women;  representatives  of  other  large  movements,  men  and 
women,  and  more  distinguished  women  than  had  ever  before 
nbled  in  one  convention.  It  was  especially  memorable  be- 
cause of  the  presence  on  the  platform  together  for  the  first  and 
only  time  of  the  three  great  pioneers,  Susan  B.  Anthony,  Clara 
P>arton  and  Julia  Ward  Howe,  and  never  to  be  forgotten  by- 
suffragists  as  the  last  ever  attended  by  Miss  Anthony.  Here 
was  sung  the  Battle  Hymn  of  the  Republic  in  the  presence  of 

1  Part  of  Call :  Never  have  we  had  so  much  cause  to  issue  a  thanksgiving  proclamation. 
Never  has  it  been  so  easy  to  love  our  enemies,  for  they  have  combined  to  fight  for  us 
in  their  courses. 

The  inevitable  logic  of  events  is  with  us.  All  over  the  world  intelligent  women  are 
interested  in  securing  better  protection  for  their  homes  and  their  children.  .  .  .  They 
are  called  upon  to  take  part  in  civic  affairs,  and  social  and  economic  conditions  force 
tli.-m  into  the  world's  broad  field  of  battle  where  there  is  no  place  for  non-combatants. 
The  time  has  gone  by  for  subterfuge  and  indirection.  .  .  .  The  American  Republic  settles 
its  questions  in  the  light  of  day  at  the  ballot  box.  No  one,  man  or  woman,  has  ever 
fluence  by  the  possession  of  power.  We  do  not  ask  the  ballot  simply  as  a  right, 
though  if  it  be  a  right  it  cannot  be  rightfully  denied  us;  we  do  not  ask  it  as  a  privilege, 
though  if  it  be  a  privilege  it  must  be  ours  unless  we  admit %  the  existence  of  a  privileged 
class.  We  demand  it  because  it  is  a  duty  and  one  which  no  good  citizen  has  a  right 
to  shirk. 

If  you  are  indifferent  come  and  be  convinced.  What  we  ask  is  not  revolutionary 
hut  is  the  reasonable  and  just  demand  of  every  being  living  under  a  democratic  form 
of  government.  If  you  are  opposed,  come  and  let  us  reason  together,  consider  our  points 
of  agreement  and  waive  for  a  moment  those  of  difference.  .  .  .  Let  us  have  the  truth 
for  authority  and  we  shall  not  need  authority  for  truth.  .  .  . 

SUSAN  R.  ANTHONY,  Honorary  President. 

ANNA  HOWARD  SHAW,  President. 

FLORENCE  KELLEY,   Vice-President-at-Large. 

KATE  M.  GORDON,  Corresponding  Secretary. 

ALICE  STONE  BLACKWELL,   Recording  Secretary. 

HARRIET  TAYLOB  UFTON,  Treasurer. 

LAURA  CLAY,  J 

ANNICE  JEFFREYS  MvEM,J 

151 


152  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

the  woman  who  wrote  it,  Mrs.  Howe;  and  the  Star  Spangled 
Banner  in  the  home  of  its  author,  Francis  Scott  Key. 

The  meetings  were  held  in  the  beautifully  decorated  Lyric 
Theater  with  appreciative  and  enthusiastic  audiences.  The  ar- 
rangements had  been  made  by  the  Maryland  Suffrage  Association 
and  its  president,  Mrs.  Emma  Maddox  Funck.  Ministers  of 
nearly  all  denominations  asked  blessings  on  the  various  sessions 
and  the  best  musical  talent  in  the  city  gave  its  services.  The 
papers  were  most  generous  with  space  and  fair  and  friendly 
in  their  reports.  Through  the  influence  and  efforts  of  Dr.  M. 
Carey  Thomas,  president  of  Bryn  Mawr  College,  the  remarkable 
representation  of  Women's  Colleges  was  secured.  Baltimore's 
most  prominent  woman,  Miss  Mary  E.  Garrett,  was  largely 
responsible  for  the  social  prestige  which  is  especially  necessary 
to  success  in  a  southern  city.  It  was  a  convention  long  to  be 
remembered  by  those  who  were  so  fortunate  as  to  be  a  part 
of  it. 

The  convention  opened  on  the  afternoon  of  February  7  with 
Dr.  Anna  Howard  Shaw,  president  of  the  association,  in  the 
chair  and  was  welcomed  by  Mrs.  Funck,  who  said  in  a  graceful 
speech :  "You  have  come  to  the  conservative  South.  Conserva- 
tive— what  a  sweet-sounding  word,  what  an  ark  for  the  timid 
soul!  So  you  must  expect  to  find  a  good  many  folks  who 
mean  well  but  who  have  not  discarded  their  silver  buckles  and 
ruffles,  but  nothing  will  more  clearly  indicate  the  development  of 
our  people  from  provincialism  and  bigotry  than  their  generosity 
of  spirit  and  kindly  intent  towards  the  gathering  of  our  clans 
in  this  convention.  Most  people  have  come  to  realize  that  to  be 
a  great  nation  we  must  have  that  catholicity  of  spirit  which  em- 
braces all  ologies  and  all  isms.  .  .  .  From  the  suffrage  pioneers 
we  have  learned  the  lessons  of  fair  play  and  equal  rights." 

Fraternal  greetings  were  offered  by  Mrs.  Albert  L.  Sioussat, 
president  of  the  State  Federation  of  Women's  Gubs;  Mrs.  Hattie 
Hull  Troupe,  president  of  the  Women's  Twentieth  Century  Club 
of  Baltimore;  Mrs.  Rosa  H.  Goldenberg,  president  of  the  Mary- 
land section  Jewish  Council  of  Women,  and  Mrs.  Mary  R.  Has- 
lup,  president  of  the  Baltimore  Woman's  Christian  Temperance 
Union.  As  the  vice-president  of  the  association,  Dr.  Annice 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1906 

Jeffreys  Myers  of  Oregon,  who  was  to  respond,  had  been  delayed 
en  route.  Dr.  Shaw  took  her  place,  saying  in  answer  to  certain 
of  the  greetings :  "In  all  my  experience  I  have  observed  that  those 
people  are  most  likely  to  have  their  prayers  answered  who  do 
everything  they  can  to  help  God  answer  them ;  so  while  we  may 
try  by  prayer  to  bring  about  the  highest  good  not  only  in  the 
State  but  in  education  and  philanthropy,  we  hope  to  add  to  our 
prayers  the  citizen's  power  of  the  ballot.  .  .  .  We  have  never 
had  a  more  generous  welcome  or  a  warmer  hospitality  offered  to 
us  and  we  thank  you  with  all  our  heart.  Whatever  may  happen 
while  we  are  here,  nothing  can  take  away  from  us  the  beauty  of 
the  sunshine  and  the  kindliness  of  your  welcome." 

The  first  evening  session  was  opened  with  prayer  by  the  Rev. 
John  B.  Van  Meter,  dean  of  the  Woman's  College,  Baltimore, 
and  music  by  a  chorus  of  two  hundred  voices  under  the  direction 
of  William  R.  Hall.  Governor  Edwin  Warfield  made  an  elo- 
quent address  in  which  he  said :  "A  man  who  would  not  extend 
a  welcome  to  such  a  body  of  women  would  not  be  worthy  the 
name  of  Maryland,  which  we  consider  a  synonym  of  hospitality. 
Our  doors  are  always  wide  open  to  friends  and  strangers,  es- 
pecially strangers.  We  are  delighted  to  have  you  here.  While 
T  may  not  agree  with  all  your  teachings,  I  recognize  one  fact, 
that  there  never  has  been  assembled  in  Baltimore  a  convention 
composed  of  women  who  have  been  more  useful  in  this  country 
and  who  have  done  more  for  the  uplift  of  humanity.  It  was 
proper  for  you  to  come  to  Maryland,  a  State  that  was  named  for 
•man.  whose  capital  was  named  for  a  woman  and  whose 
motto  is  'Manly  deeds  and  womanly  words.'  '  He  paid  glowing 
compliments  to  the  splendid  public  service  of  Maryland  women 
and  said  he  would  not  have  been  elected  Governor  but  for  their 
kindly  influence.  He  declared  that  he  had  been  almost  persuaded 
bv  the  charming  words  of  Mrs.  Howe  and  said  his  wife  was  a 
"convert"  and  he  "had  been  voting  as  a  proxy  for  some  time." 
Tie  believed  "the  final  solution  of  the  question  would  be  a  refer- 
endum to  the  women  themselves." 

Dr.  Shaw  could  not  resist  saving  when  she  rose  to  introduce 
the  next  speaker:  "So  many  have  told  us.  as  the  Governor  has, 
ahoir  ,tcrs,  that  we  think  it  is  time  they  should  bf 


154  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

relieved  of  that  role  and  have  an  opportunity  to  do  their  own 
voting  while  we  women  attend  to  ours."  Mayor  Timanus  was 
indisposed  and  the  welcome  for  the  city  was  given  by  the  Hon. 
William  F.  Stone,  Collector  of  the  Port.  He  vied  with  the 
Governor  in  the  warmth  of  his  greeting  and  his  splendid  tributes 
to  women  and  acknowledged  his  indebtedness  for  "all  that  he 
was  or  expected  to  be  to  his  sainted  mother  and  beloved  wife," 
but,  like  the  Governor,  he  could  not  give  his  full  sanction  to 
woman  suffrage.  When  he  had  finished  Dr.  Shaw  said  with  her 
winning  smile  and  melodious  voice:  "We  have  the  testimony  of 
Governor  Warfield  and  of  Collector  Stone  that  the  best  each  has 
been  able  to  accomplish  has  been  due  to  the  influence  of  good 
women.  Now  if  a  good  woman  can  develop  the  best  in  an  indi- 
vidual man,  may  not  all  the  good  women  together  develop  the 
best  in  a  whole  State?  I  am  glad  of  this  strong  point  in  favor 
of  enfranchising  women." 

Miss  Anthony  was  to  have  presided  at  this  meeting  and  in 
referring  to  her  absence  on  account  of  illness  Dr.  Shaw  said : 
"I  am  not  taking  Miss  Anthony's  place  this  evening — there  is 
only  one  Susan  B.  Anthony,  but  it  is  also  true  that  there  is  only 
one  Clara  Barton  and  but  one  Julia  Ward  Howe  and  these  grand 
women  we  have  with  us."  Miss  Barton,  -who,  in  her  soft  plum- 
colored  satin  with  fichu  of  white  lace,  her  dark  hair  parted 
smoothly  over  her  forehead,  did  not  seem  over  sixty  although  she 
was  eighty- four,  was  enthusiastically  received  and  said  in  part: 
"What  greater  honor  and  what  greater  embarrassment  than  to 
be  asked  to  take  ever  so  small  a  step  on  a  platform  that  Susan  B. 
Anthony  had  expected  to  tread.  As  I  stand  here  tonight  my 
thoughts  go  back  to  the  time  when  Elizabeth  Cady  Stanton  and 
Miss  Anthony  were  pioneers  struggling  for  this  righteous  cause. 
I  think  the  greatest  reforms,  the  greatest  progress  ever  made 
for  any  reforms  in  our  country  have  been  along  the  lines  on  which 
they  worked.  Miss  Anthony's  has  been  a  long  life.  She  has  trod 
the  thorny  way,  has  walked  through  briars  with  bleeding  feet, 
but  it  is  through  a  sweet  and  lovely  way  now  and  the  hearts  of 
the  whole  country  are  with  her.  A  few  days  ago  some  one  said 
to  me  that  every  woman  should  stand  with  bared  head  before 
Susan  B.  Anthony.  'Yes,'  I  answered,  'and  every  man  as  well.' 


NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    igo6 

I  would  not  retract  these  words.  I  believe  that  man  has  benefited 
by  her  work  as  much  as  woman.  For  ages  he  has  been  trying 
to  carry  the  burden  of  life's  responsibilities  alone  and  when  he 
has  the  efficient  help  of  woman  he  will  be  grateful.  Just  now  it 
is  new  and  strange  and  men  cannot  comprehend  what  it  would 
mean  but  the  change  is  not  far  away.  The  nation  is  soon  to  have 
woman  suffrage  and  it  will  be  a  glad  and  proud  day  when  it 
comes." 

Mrs.  Howe  in  the  dignity  of  her  eighty-seven  years  made  a 
lovely  picture  in  a  gown  of  mauve  satin  with  a  creamy  lace  scarf 
draped  about  her  head  and  shoulders.  She  was  escorted  to  the 
front  of  the  platform  by  the  Governor  and  said  in  her  brief  re- 
sponse :  "Madam  president  and  you  dear  suffrage  friends,  and  the 
rest  of  you  who  are  going  to  become  suffrage  friends  before  we 
leave  this  city,  I  give  you  thanks  for  this  friendly  greeting.  I  am 
MTV,  very  glad  to  meet  you  all.  I  am  not  going  to  preach  a 
sermon  but  I  have  a  text  from  the  New  Testament,  a  question 
that  the  Lord  asked  when  the  crowd  came  to  see  him,  'What  came 
ye  out  to  see?  A  reed  shaken  with  the  wind?'  No,  it  was  a 
prophet  that  they  came  to  see  and  hear.  When  you  come  to 
these  suffrage  meetings  you  do  not  come  to  see  reeds  shaken  by 
the  wind.  We  do  not  any  of  us  claim  to  be  prophets  but  you  do 
come  to  hear  a  prophecy,  a  very  glad  prophecy  which  some  of  us 
have  believed  in  and  followed  for  years,  and  all  the  -way  of  that 
following  has  been  joyous  and  bright  though  it  has  not  been 
popular.  I  remember  many  years  ago  going  with  Mrs.  Liver- 
more  and  Lucy  Stone  to  a  meeting  in  New  England  and  the 
report  was  sent  out  that  'three  old  crows  were  coming  to  disturb 
the  town  with  their  croakings.'  I  can  never  forget  that  evening. 
When  Mary  Livermore  looked  the  audience  over  in  her  calm  and 
dignified  manner  they  quieted  down  as  if  by  magic.  When  rea- 
Mr  measures  are  proposed  in  a  reasonable  way  there  are 
always  some  people  who  will  respond  and  be  convinced.  We  have 
no  desire  to  put  out  of  sight  the  difficulties  of  government.  When 
it  woman  suffrage  people  l.c-in  to  remember  how 
ctorv  manhood  suffrage  is  but  I  should  like  to  see  what 
men  would  do  if  tlirre  was  an  attcmp  it  away.  We  mi;;lit 

much  improve  it  by  bringing  to  it  the  feminine  mind,  which  in 


156  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

a  way  complements  the  masculine.  I  frankly  believe  that  -we  have 
half  the  intelligence  and  good  sense  of  humanity  and  that  it  is 
quite  time  we  should  express  not  only  our  sentiments  but  our 
determined  will  to  set  our  faces  toward  justice  and  right  and 
to  follow  these  through  the  thorny  wilderness  if  necessary- 
follow  them  straight,  not  to  the  'bitter  end,'  for  it  will  not  be 
bitter  but  very  sweet  and  I  hope  it  will  come  before  my  end 
comes." 

For  the  second  time  Dr.  Shaw  had  written  her  president's 
address  but  although  it  was  a  statesmanlike  document  the  audience 
missed  the  spontaneity,  the  sparkle  of  wit,  the  flashes  of  elo- 
quence that  distinguished  her  oratory  above  that  of  all  others, 
and  there  was  a  general  demand  that  hereafter  she  should  give 
them  the  spoken  instead  of  the  written  word.  She  complied  and 
while  it  was  a  gain  to  the  audiences  of  her  day  and  generation  it 
was  a  great  loss  to  posterity.  Even  extended  quotations  can 
give  little  idea  of  this  address  which  filled  over  ten  columns  of 
the  Woman's  Journal. 

For  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  our  association  we  meet  to 
protest  against  the  disenfranchisement  of  women  in  a  State  in  which 
the  first  public  demand  for  a  part  in  the  conduct  of  our  government 
was  made  by  a  woman.  It  was  in  an  impassioned  appeal  to  your 
Assembly,  that  in  1647  Mistress  Margaret  Brent  demanded  "a  part 
and  voyce"  as  representative  of  the  estate  of  her  kinsman,  Lord  Bal- 
timore, whose  name  your  city  bears.  Here  Mary  Catherine  Goddard 
published  Baltimore's  only  newspaper  through  all  the  severe  struggle 
of  the  Revolutionary  War,  and  it  is  stated  upon  good  authority  that 
when  Congress,  then  in  session  in  Baltimore,  sent  out  the  official 
Declaration  of  Independence,  with  the  names  of  the  signers  attached, 
it  was  published  by  official  order  in  Miss  Goddard's  paper;  that  her 
name  was  on  the  sheet  which  was  officially  circulated  throughout  the 
country;  but,  although  a  memorial  sheet  was  afterwards  placed  in 
the  Court  House,  Miss  Goddard's  name  was  not  left  on  it.  This 
omission  is  but  one  of  many  evidences  that  in  the  compilation  of  the 
world's  historic  events  it  has  been  customary  to  overlook  the  part 
performed  by  women. 

Dr.  Shaw  took  up  the  section  on  Labor  in  President  Roose- 
velt's recent  message  to  Congress  in  which  he  recommended  a 
thorough  investigation  of  the  condition  of  women  in  industry, 
saying:  "There  is  an  almost  complete  dearth  of  data  on  which 
to  base  any  trustworthy  conclusions/'  and  then  drawing  this  one : 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1906 

"The  introduction  of  women  into  industry  is  working  change 
and  disturbance  in  the  domestic  and  social  life  of  the  nation; 
the  decrease  in  marriage  and  especially  in  the  birth-rate  have 
been  coincident  with  it."  Dr.  Shaw's  comment  was  in  part : 

This  is  unquestionably  true  but  it  is  also  true  that  this  has  been 
coincident  with  the  wider  discovery  of  gold  and  the  application  of 
steam  and  electricity  to  mechanics  .  .  .  and  to  draw  sweeping  and 
universal  conclusions  in  regard  to  a  matter  upon  which  there  is 
an  "almost  complete  dearth  of  data"  is  never  wise.  Is  it  true  that 
there  is  a  lower  birth-rate  among  working  women  than  among  those 
of  the  wealthy  class?  Are  not  the  effects  of  over- work  and  long 
hours  in  the  household  as  great  as  are  those  of  the  factory  or  the 
office?  Js  the  birth-rate  less  among  women  who  are  engaged  in  the 
occupations  unknown  to  women  of  the  past?  Or  is  the  decline  alike 
marked  among  those  who  are  pursuing  the  ancient  occupations  but 
under  different  conditions?  .  .  .  If  conditions  surrounding  their  em- 
ployment are  such  as  to  make  it  a  "social  question  of  the  first  im- 
portance" it  is  unfortunate  the  President  had  not  seen  that  women 
should  constitute  at  least  a  part  of  any  commission  authorized  to 
investigate  it. 

One  can  not  but  wish  that  with  his  expressed  desire  for  "fair 
play"  and  his  policy  of  "a  square  deal"  it  had  occurred  to  the  Presi- 
dent that,  if  five  million  American  women  are  employed  in  gainful 
occupations,  every  principle  of  justice  would  demand  that  they  should 
be  enfranchised  to  enable  them  to  secure  legislation  for  their  own 
protection.  In  all  governments  a  subject  class  is  always  at  a  disad- 
vantage and  at  the  mercy  of  the  ruling  class.  It  matters  not  whether 
its  name  l>e  Empire,  Kingdom  or  Republic,  whether  the  rulers  are 
one  or  many ;  and  in  a  democracy  there  is  no  way  known  for  any 
class  to  protect  its  interests  or  to  be  secure  in  its  most  sacred  rights 
except  through  the  power  of  the  ballot.  .  .  . 

There  had  been  about  this  time  in  high  places  an  outburst  of 
attacks  on  woman  suffrage  and  predictions  as  to  its  dangerous 
possibilities.  Dr.  Shaw  referred  to  their  authors  as  Oracles  and 
-aid  :  "The  (jrcat  difficulty  is  that  -when  one  Oracle  claiming  to  be 
divinely  inspired  has  laid  down  a  specific  line  of  conduct  which 
if  implicitly  followed  would  lead  to  the  proper  development  of 
unman,  the  happiness  of  man,  the  ^ood  of  the  family  and  the 
well  being  of  the  Male,  another  Oracle  also  divinely  enlightened 
•  •lit  a  diiTen-nt  path  by  which  these  ends  may  be  secured,  and 
then  another  and  another  until  poor  women  if  they  should  try  to 
follow  thcM-  M-lf -appointed  divine  revealers  would  not  only  have 


158  HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

to  be  hydra-headed  to  see  these  devious  paths  but  hydra-footed  to 
walk  in  them."     Referring  to  Cardinal  Gibbons,  she  said : 

The  Oracle  of  Baltimore  tells  us  that  the  education  and  culture  of 
women  are  good  up  to  a  certain  point,  no  further,  but  he  sagely  fails 
to  define  the  point,  simply  declaring  that  "too  much  education  of  the 
head  is  apt  to  cool  the  heart ;  the  cultivation  of  the  soul  is  too  much 
neglected  in  the  higher  education;  the  head  and  the  heart  and  the 
body  should  all  be  educated  together;  then  they  develop  equally." 
There  certainly  can  be  no  disagreement  among  us  as  to  the  latter 
statement  but  why  is  it  more  applicable  to  women  than  to  men  ?  The 
Oracle  does  not  leave  us  in  doubt  as  to  his  view,  for  in  response  to 
the  question,  "What  do  you  think  of  the  societies  and  club  organiza- 
tions which  attract  women  so  largely  just  now?"  he  replies:  "A  so- 
ciety like  the  Daughters  of  the  American  Revolution  I  heartily  ap- 
prove of,  for  it  tends  to  foster  patriotism  and  keep  it  alive,  but  other 
clubs  of  all  kinds  for  women  I  strictly  disapprove  of." 

The  Oracle  of  Princeton,  ex-President  Cleveland,  who  has  gained 
the  most  notoriety  for  his  heavy  diatribes  against  women's  clubs,  also 
admits  that  there  are  a  few  societies  which  it  might  be  well  for  women 
to  encourage  and  keep  alive — religious  organizations  and  those  which 
administer  to  the  needs  of  the  heathen  in  a  foreign  land.  The  Oracle 
of  Brooklyn,  Dr.  Lyman  Abbott,  adds  a  few  more  to  the  list  and 
includes  philanthropic,  reform  and  social  clubs.  Would  it  be  un- 
womanly to  ask  why  there  should  have  been  such  wide  divergence 
in  the  Divine  Illumination  which  each  Oracle  received? 

Dr.  Shaw  quoted  from  Mr.  Roosevelt:  "The  President  of  the 
United  States  does  not  absent  himself  from  the  country  during 
the  term  of  his  presidency,  it  is  his  domain.  So  should  it  be 
with  woman ;  she  is  queen  of  her  empire  and  that  empire  is  the 
home,"  and  after  reminding  him  that  the  President's  term  lasts 
but  four  or  eight  years  she  asked:  "What  do  men  mean  by 
saying  that  women  should  remain  contentedly  in  their  homes? 
They  do  not  intend  us  to  understand  that  we  are  never  to  leave 
them,  for  they  are  frequently  calling  us  forth  when  conditions 
become  so  intolerable  that  even  men  can  no  longer  endure  them. 
Then  they  call  upon  women  to  come  out  from  the  seclusion  and 
protection  of  their  homes  and  aid  them  to  'save  the  city  and 
the  State.' '  She  pointed  out  the  difference  between  the  time 
when  the  home  was  "a  protective  and  industrial  center"  and  now 
when  "the  results  of  electricity  and  steam  have  scattered  the 
households,"  but  in  picturing  the  advance  that  women  had  made 
in  their  own  domain  she  said:  "There  never  was  a  time  when 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1 906 


159 


there  was  as  large  a  number  of  good  housekeepers  and  home- 
makers  ;  when  there  was  as  much  intelligence  shown  in  the  sci- 
entific preparation  of  food ;  such  knowledge  of  household  sanita- 
tion; such  reverence  for  individual  life;  such  painstaking  study  of 
the  needs  and  rights  of  childhood;  when  there  was  so  much 
thought  given  to  the  development  of  the  finer  and  more  perma- 
nent qualities  of  character;  when  such  good  comradeship  existed 
between  children  and  their  parents;  when  marriage  had  so  deep 
a  spiritual  and  human  meaning  as  at  the  present  time.  The  home 
ideal  of  today  is  the  best  the  world  has  yet  known  and  it  will  con- 
tinue to  develop  as  larger  freedom  and  broader  culture  come  to 
all  who  share  in  its  life.  .  .  ." 

The  manner  in  which  politics  enters  the  modern  home  was 
pointed  out  and  the  contempt  which  was  shown  for  the  political 
opinions  of  women  and  then  in  a  rousing  appeal  to  women  the 
speaker  said :  "A  few  days  since  I  was  asked  by  a  compiler  of 
other  people's  thoughts  to  express  for  him  my  opinion  of  the 
greatest  need  of  American  women  and  I  replied,  'self-respect.' 
.  .  .  The  assumption  that  woman  have  neither  discernment  nor 
judgment  and  that  any  man  is  superior  in  all  the  qualities  that 
make  for  strength,  stability  and  sanity  to  any  woman,  simply  be- 
cause he  is  a  man  and  she  is  a  woman,  is  still  altogether  too  com- 
mon. The  time  has  come  when  women  must  question  themselves 
to  learn  how  far  they  are  personally  responsible  for  this  almost 
universal  disrespect  and  then  set  about  changing  it." 

Dr.  Shaw  told  of  the  organization  of  the  College  Women's 
Equal  Suffrage  League  and  asked:  "Who  can  compute  the  loss 
lined  by  our  country  every  year  by  the  addition  of  unre- 
stricted, ignorant  and  often  criminal  male  voters  and  the  ex- 
ion  of  the  vast  number  of  college  and  high-school  gradu- 
ates through  the  disfranchisement  of  women?  If  the  stability 
•  government  depends  upon  the  morality  and  intelligence  of 
•ting  citizens,  how  long  can  the  foundations  of  ours  remain 
\ve  continue  to  enfranchise  ignorance  and  vice  and  dis- 
franchise intelligence  and  virtue?"  The  action  of  Legislatures  in 

',  as  "playing  shuttlecock  and  battledore 

with  the  amendment,  passing  it  in  one  House  to  defeat  n  in  an- 
other, in  a  hypocritical  desire  to  appear  favorable  and  inspire 


l6o  HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

us  with  hope  in  order  to  retain  the  small  amount  of  influence  they 
think  we  possess,  and  yet  compelling  us  to  begin  the  work  all 
over  again."  After  reviewing  the  long  struggle  of  American 
women  for  political  freedom  she  ended  with  an  impassioned  pero- 
ration of  which  only  a  portion  can  be  quoted : 

No  class  of  men  in  any  nation  have  ever  been  compelled  to  wage 
such  an  arduous  and  difficult  struggle  for  their  political  freedom. 
Through  the  influence  of  the  Democratic  party,  without  an  effort  on 
their  own  behalf,  white  working  men  were  enfranchised ;  and  by  an 
Act  of  Congress  under  Republican  leadership  the  newly  emancipated 
men  slaves  were  protected  in  their  right  of  suffrage.  The  same  Act 
placed  in  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  for  the  first  time  the 
word  "male,"  which  robbed  women  of  the  protection  guaranteed  to 
every  other  class  of  citizens  in  the  most  sacred  right  of  citizenship 
— the  right  to  a  voice  in  the  Government. 

Such  is  the  boasted  chivalry  of  the  Land  of  Freedom,  which  has. 
left  its  women  to  strive  against  tradition,  prejudice,  conservatism, 
self-interest,  political  power  and  in  addition  all  the  forces  of  corrup- 
tion combined,  to  secure  the  privilege  which  was  conferred  upon  vast 
numbers  of  men  who  never  even  demanded  it  and  many  of  whom 
knew  nothing  of  its  significance  after  it  was  granted.  I  claim,  and 
fear  no  contradiction,  that  the  women  of  this  land  are  better  quali- 
fied to  exercise  the  suffrage  with  intelligence,  honesty  and  patriotism 
than  were  any  other  class  of  citizens  in  the  world  at  the  time  when 
it  was  conferred  upon  them. 

Must  women,  unaided,  continue  the  struggle  for  forty  years  longer 
until  they  have  rounded  out  a  century,  assailing  the  bulwarks  of  pro- 
hibitive constitutions  in  the  forty-one  States  yet  to  be  won  ?  Or  will 
not  some  brave,  consistent  and  freedom-loving  President,  recogniz- 
ing the  duty  the  Government  owes  to  the  disfranchised  millions  of 
patriotic  women,  recommend  to  Congress  to  submit  an  amendment 
to  the  Federal  Constitution  forbidding  disfranchisement  on  account 
of  sex  ?  And  will  not  the  time  speedily  come  when  Congress,  recog- 
nizing the  great  injustice  which  was  inflicted  upon  the  women  of  the 
land  when  by  enfranchising  a  race  of  slave  men  they  riveted  the 
fetters  of  disfranchisement  upon  educated  and  patriotic  women,  re- 
deem the  nation  from  this  stigma?  It  was  the  most  ungrateful  and 
unjust  act  ever  perpetrated  by  a  republic  upon  a  class  of  citizens  who 
had  worked  and  sacrificed  and  suffered  as  did  the  women  of  this 
nation  in  the  struggle  of  the  Civil  War  only  to  be  rewarded  at  its 
close  by  such  unspeakable  degradation  as  to  be  reduced  to  the  plane 
of  subjects  to  enfranchised  slaves.  .  .  . 

I  stand  here  tonight  to  say  that  we  have  never  known  defeat;  we 
have  never  been  vanquished.  We  have  not  always  reached  the  goal 
toward  which  we  have  striven,  but  in  the  hour  of  our  greatest  disap- 
pointment we  could  always  point  to  our  battlefield  and  say:  "There 
we  fought  our  good  fight,  there  we  defended  the  principles  for  which 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQO6  l6l 

our  ancestors  and  yours  laid  down  their  lives;  there  is  our  battle- 
field for  justice,  equality  and  freedom.    Where  is  yours?" 

While  the  eminent  speakers  attracted  the  largest  audiences  that 
ever  had  attended  the  conventions  of  the  association,  according 
to  the  opinions  of  the  older  suffragists,  the  delegates  themselves 
were  equally  interested  in  the  morning  meetings  devoted  to  the 
reports  and  other  business.  The  corresponding  secretary,  Miss 

•  M.  Gordon,  a  keen  student  of  politics  and  organization,  in 
speaking  of  factors  in  success,  said:  "There  is  great  necessity  for 
a  personal  acquaintance  between  the  leaders  in  our  suffrage  work 
in  the  States  and  the  prominent  politicians  in  the  States;  the 
personal  acquaintance  also  of  the  editors  and  managers  of  our 
i;rt -at  public-opinion-forming  newspapers ;  a  pleasant  working  re- 
lation  in  women's  clubs  and  all  movements  for  better  social  con- 
ditions in  our  respective  communities;  a  more  intimate  acquaint- 
ance with  the  educational  influences,  the  teachers  in  our  public 
schools  and  the  college  life  of  our  communities." 

Miss  Gordon  made  a  special  plea  for  cooperation  in  the  efforts 
for  Child  Labor  legislation  and  she  ended  by  saying:  "But  means 
and  methods  for  the  future  of  our  work  pale  into  insignificance  in 
the  need  of  the  hour,  which  is  Oregon.  Funds  for  this  cam- 
paign must  be  a  matter  of  conscience  with  every  believer.  In 
proportion  to  the  gratitude  you  feel  for  the  comfortable  position 
which  women  occupy  today,  measure  your  contribution;  no  sacri- 

can  be  too  great  at  this  crucial  moment  in  our  onward  his- 
tory."    Throughout  the  convention  the  work  in  Oregon,  where 
an  amendment  to  the  State  constitution  would  be  voted  on  in 
Xovemher,  was  the  uppermost  thought.     The  treasurer  made  a 
•.I  appeal  for  funds;  the  chairman  of  the  Press  Committee 
tnld  of  it;  it  was  discussed  and  planned  for  in  the  business  meet- 
and   different    speakers   referred    in    hopeful    words    to   its 

An  amendment  to  the  constitution  abolishing  proxies  empow- 
the    full   vote  to  which   the   State   was   entitled  and 
idini;  that  delegates  present  should  cast  only  their  own  vote 
spirited  di-rn-sjon,  with  Mrs.  ('alt  and  eastern  deK 
and   Dr.   Shaw  and  western  dr1 
t    vote  Of  68   to    I  I.      Xo  change  «>!~  «, Hirer-   WZS  made  at 


1 62  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

this  convention.  Reports  of  Committees  on  Libraries,  Literature, 
Enrollment,  Presidential  Suffrage,  etc.,  were  presented  by  their 
chairmen.  A  lively  discussion  on  the  use  of  the  union  label  on 
literature,  stationery,  etc.,  resulted  in  an  almost  unanimous  de- 
cision to  retain  it.  Very  interesting  reports  of  work  in  the 
States  were  made  by  their  respective  presidents.  Invitations  for 
the  next  convention  were  received  from  the  Chamber  of  Com- 
merce of  Wheeling,  W.  Va.,  the  Chamber  of  Commerce,  Bar 
Association  and  Suffrage  Club  of  Oklahoma  City  and  the  Com- 
mission for  celebrating  the  founding  of  Jamestown,  Va. 

Miss  Antoinette  Knowles  (Cal.),  chairman  of  the  Committee 
on  Church  Work,  said  that  by  standing  for  temperance  many 
churches  could  be  obtained  for  meetings  that  would  not  be 
opened  for  those  purely  on  suffrage.  She  gave  a  list  of  orthodox 
churches  which  had  been  thus  secured ;  told  of  successful  addresses 
she  had  made  on  the  relation  between  woman  suffrage  and  tem- 
perance and  urged  the  appointment  of  a  church  committee  in 
every  State.  The  report  of  Miss  Elizabeth  J.  Hauser,  head- 
quarter's  secretary,  told  of  the  usual  large  amount  of  work,  which 
included  the  distribution  of  62,000  copies  of  the  quarterly  pub- 
lication, Progress;  106,753  pieces  of  literature  and  many  thou- 
sands of  suffrage  stamps,  picture  postals  and  souvenirs.  Speakers 
and  fraternal  delegates  had  been  sent  to  a  large  number  of 
national  conventions  throughout  the  country  and  cordially  re- 
ceived. Many  of  these  had  adopted  resolutions  for  woman  suf- 
frage including  the  American  Federation  of  Labor,  National  As- 
sociation of  Letter  Carriers,  National  Grange,  National  Council 
of  Jewish  Women,  Supreme  Commandery  Knights  of  Temper- 
ance, National  Associations  of  Universalists  and  of  Spiritualists. 
The  State  conventions  of  various  kinds  that  had  endorsed  it  were 
almost  without  number  and  excellent  work  had  been  done  at 
county  fairs,  granges,  farmers'  institutes,  summer  assemblies  and 
educational  and  religious  societies.  It  was  voted  to  make  Prog- 
ress the  official  organ  of  the  association  and  issue  it  monthly. 
The  national  headquarters  in  Warren,  O.,  had  been  removed  to 
a  spacious  room  on  the  ground  floor  of  the  county  court  house, 
formerly  used  for  a  public  library. 

The  chairman  of  the  Press  Committee,  Mrs.  Elnora  M.  Bab- 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1906  163 

cock,  made  her  last  report,  as  the  press  work  was  henceforth  to 
be  done  at  the  national  headquarters  with  its  excellent  staff  and 
facilities.  For  twelve  years  Mrs.  Babcock  had  carried  on  this 
work,  which  in  her  capable  hands  had  reached  an  immense  volume 
and  become  a  leading  feature  of  the  National  Association.  She  re- 
ported that  over  5,000  papers  -were  now  using  the  material  sent  out 
from  the  press  bureau  and  that  it  was  very  difficult  to  respond  to 
all  the  calls  for  it.  In  answer  to  the  second  broadside  of  former 
President  Cleveland  in  the  Ladies'  Home  Journal,  which  refused 
to  publish  anything  from  anybody  on  the  other  side,  2,000  copies 
of  articles  by  different  persons  and  1,000  of  the  excellent  refuta- 
tion by  Representative  John  F.  Shafroth  of  Colorado  had  been 
distributed.  The  report  stated  that  Mrs.  Ida  Porter  Boyer,  the 
efficient  chairman  of  Pennsylvania,  had  been  sent  by  the  National 
>ciation  to  supervise  the  press  work  of  the  Oregon  campaign. 
It  urged  that  grateful  recognition  should  be  shown  to  papers  that 
favor  woman  suffrage  saying :  "Editors  are  called  upon  for  help 
and  are  not  thanked  for  the  kindness  and  good  they  do  nearly 
as  much  as  they  should  be."  The  convention  gave  Mrs.  Babcock 
a  rising  vote  of  thanks  for  her  long  and  faithful  work. 

The  Executive  Committee  recommended  in  its  Plan  of  Work 
that  the  States  work  for  a  uniform  resolution  in  favor  of  a  Six- 
teenth Amendment ;  that  they  endeavor  to  secure  Initiative  and 
Referendum  laws;  that  in  each  Legislature  measures  be  intro- 
duced for  full  suffrage  or  for  some  form  of  suffrage ;  that  efforts 
be  continued  to  obtain  equalization  of  property  and  intestate  laws, 
also  co-guardianship  of  children ;  that  the  working  forces  of  the 
association  be  concentrated  where  there  are  State  campaigns  for 
suffrage;  that  each  club  organize  one  new  one  and  each  individual 
member  secure  one  more;  that  all  present  lines  of  work  be  con- 
tinued and  extended ;  that  there  be  a  more  systematic  and  liberal 
•  ibution  of  literature;  that  hearings  be  obtained  before  all 
kinds  of  organizations.  It  was  voted  that  "the  Board  of  Officers 
consider  the  propriety  of  recommending  all  the  States  to  make 
a  concerted  effort  to  secure  Presidential  suffrage  for  women  in 
the  election  of  1908."  But  one  work  conference  was  held,  that 
on  Press,  Miss  Ilauscr  pa-siding.  One  of  the  most  important 
of  the  week  wa  president-,  at  which 


164  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

each  told  of  the  most  effective  work  within  the  year,  and  the  dis- 
cussion which  followed  gave  much  practical  and  helpful  infor- 
mation. 

At  the  second  afternoon  session  Dr.  Shaw  read  a  number  of 
letters  from  Governors  of  the  equal  suffrage  and  other  States 
answering  favorably  an  appeal  from  the  California  Suffrage 
Association  that  they  would  appoint  one  or  more  women  to  the 
national  commission  soon  to  meet  to  consider  uniform  marriage 
and  divorce  laws.  She  had  emphasized  this  necessity  in  her  presi- 
dent's address.  The  report  of  Mrs.  Florence  Kelley,  chairman 
of  the  Committee  on  Industrial  Problems  Affecting  Women  and 
Children,  was  heard  with  deep  interest  and  feeling.  As  execu- 
tive secretary  of  the  National  Consumers'  League  for  many  years 
and  a  close  student  of  labor  conditions,  she  spoke  with  accurate 
knowledge  when  she  told  of  the  employment  of  children.  A 
Baltimore  woman  in  her  welcome  to  the  convention  had  said 
that  Maryland  women  were  satisfied  with  what  they  could  secure 
by  petition  without  the  ballot,  and  Mrs.  Kelley,  referring  with 
fine  sarcasm  to  the  "sadly  modest  results  of  their  petitions,"  said: 

Last  night  while  we  slept  after  our  evening  meeting  there  were  in 
Maryland  many  hundred  boys,  only  nominally  fourteen  years  old, 
working  all  night  in  the  glass-works;  and  here  in  Baltimore  the 
smallest  messenger  boys  I  have  ever  seen  in  any  city  were  perfectly 
free  to  work  all  night.  No  law  was  broken  in  either  case,  for  the 
women  of  Maryland  have  not  yet  by  their  right  of  petition  brought 
to  the  children  of  the  State  protection  from  working  all  night.  Here 
in  this  city  children  must  go  to  school  until  they  are  nominally  twelve 
years  old  but  outside  of  Baltimore  and  three  other  counties  there  is 
no  limit  whatever  to  the  work  of  any  child.  Moreover,  here  in  Balti- 
more where  the  law  nominally  applies  children  are  free  to  work  at 
any  age  if  they  have  a  dependent  relative  or  if  they  are  liable  to  be- 
come dependent  themselves ! 

It  is  five  years  since  the  first  delegation  of  women  went  to  Atlanta 
to  ask  for  legislation  on  behalf  of  the  working  children  of  Georgia, 
carrying  petitions  with  them,  and  they  have  gone  in  vain  every  year 
since.  Each  year  the  number  of  women  joining  in  the  protest  has 
been  greater  and,  alas,  the  number  of  little  girls  under  ten  years  old, 
who  work  in  Georgia  cotton  mills  all  night,  has  also  been  greater. 
The  number  of  working  children  grows  faster  than  the  number  of 
petitioning  women.  ...  In  New  York,  where  women  can  vote  on 
school  questions  in  the  country  only,  not  in  the  city,  children  five, 
six,  seven  and  eight  years  old,  who  ought  to  be  in  the  kindergarten 


NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    TO.o6 

and  public  schools,  are  working  in  cellars  and  garrets,  under  the 
sweating  system,  sewing  on  buttons  and  making  artificial  flowers.  So 
many  such  children  are  not  in  the  schools  that  no  city  administra- 
tion in  the  last  ten  years  has  dared  to  make  a  school  census;  and  we 
are  striving  in  vain.  Call  the  philanthropic  bodies),  to  induce  the 
present  Tammany  administration  just  to  count  the  children  of  school 
age  but  they  dare  not  reveal  the  extent  to  which  they  are  failing  to 
provide  for  them.  .  .  . 

We  Americans  do  not  rank  among  the  enlightened  nations  when 
we  are  graded  according  to  our  care  of  our  children.  We  have,  ac- 
cording to  the  last  census,  580,000  who  cannot  read  or  write,  between 
the  ages  of  ten  and  fourteen  years,  not  immigrant  but  native-born 
children,  and  570.000  of  them  are  in  States  where  the  women  do  not 
even  use  their  rierht  of  petition.  We  do  not  rank  with  England,  Ger- 
many, France,  Switzerland,  Holland  or  the  Scandinavian  countries 
when  we  are  measured  by  our  care  of  our  children,  we  rank  with 
"Russia.  The  same  thing  is  true  of  our  children  at  work.  We  have 
two  millions  of  them  earning  their  living  under  the  age  of  sixteen 
years.  Legislation  of  the  States  south  of  Maryland  for  the  children 
is  like  the  legislation  of  England  in  1844.  •  •  •  Surely  it  behooves  us 
to  do  something  at  once  or  what  sort  of  citizens  shall  we  have  ? 

Miss  Gertrude  Barnum,  secretary  of  the  Women's  National 
Trade  Union  Tongue,  followed  with  an  earnest  address  on 
Women  as  Wage  Earners.  She  began  by  saying  that  although 
this  would  be  called  a  representative  audience,  wage-earning 
women  were  not  present.  "A  speaker  should  have  been  chosen 
from  their  ranks,"  she  said.  "We  have  been  preaching  to  them, 
teaching  them,  'rescuing'  them,  doing  almost  everything  for  them 
nt  knowing  them  and  working  with  them  for  the  good  of  our 
common  country.  These  women  of  the  trade  unions,  who  have 
already  learned  to  think  and  vote  in  them,  would  be  a  grcnt  addi- 
tion, a  great  strength  to  this  movement.  The  working  women 
much  more  need  of  the  ballot  than  we  of  the  so-called 
leisure  class.  We  suffer  from  the  insult  of  its  refusal :  we  arc 
denied  the  privilege  of  performing  our  obligations  nnrl  we  have 
as  results  tilings  which  wo  smart  under.  The  working  women 
have  not  only  these  insults  and  privation*  but  they  have  al<o  the 
knowledge  that  they  are  being  destroyed,  literally  destroyed,  bnflv 
and  soul,  by  conditions  which  they  cannot  touch  by  law. 
Mi-s  P.arnum  rli^cu^od  "strikes,"  the  "closed  shop,"  conditions 
under  which  factory  women  work,  the  domestic  problem,  the 


1 66  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

trade  unions,  and  said :  "I  hope  that  this  body,  which  represents 
women  from  all  over  the  country,  will  take  this  matter  back  to 
their  respective  States  and  cities  and  try  to  make  the  acquaintance 
of  this  great  half  of  our  population,  the  working  people.  You 
must  bring  them  to  your  conferences  and  conventions  and  let 
them  speak  on  your  platform.  They  will  speak  much  better  for 
themselves  than  you  can  get  any  one  to  speak  for  them.  ..." 

An  animated  discussion  took  place,  many  of  the  delegates  ask- 
ing sympathetic  questions.  Mrs.  Ella  S.  Stewart  (111.)  followed 
with  a  delightfully  caustic  address  on  Some  Fallacies ;  Our  Privi- 
leges. The  reporters  were  so  carried  away  by  her  "sweetness  and 
beauty"  that  they  almost  forgot  to  make  notes  of  her  speech, 
of  which  one  of  them  said:  "She  picked  up  Grover  Cleveland, 
Lyman  Abbott  and  other  anti-suffragists  from  the  time  of  Sam- 
uel Johnson  and  figuratively  spun  them  around  her  finger,  to  the 
joy  of  the  audience."  In  paying  her  tribute  to  chivalry  she  said : 
"Of  what  benefit  was  the  chivalry  of  the  knights  toward  their 
ladies  of  high  degree  to  the  thousands  of  peasant  women  and 
wives  of  serfs  hitched  up  with  animals  and  working  in  the  fields  ? 
Of  no  more  value  now  is  the  protection  given  to  the  wives  and 
daughters  of  the  rich  by  men  who  are  grinding  down  and  taking 
advantage  of  those  of  the  poor.  In  Chicago  women  have  no  vote 
except  once  in  four  years  for  a  trustee  of  the  State  university, 
yet  every  day  if  we  try  to  take  a  street  car  we  are  overrun  and 
trampled  down  by  men  who  get  on  the  cars  before  they  stop, 
and  when  we  finally  limp  in  we  see  them  comfortably  seated 
reading  the  papers  while  we  dangle  from  the  straps.  We  are 
crowded  in  stores  and  smoked  in  restaurants;  in  fact  the  only 
place  of  late  where  I  was  not  crowded  was  at  the  polls  when  I 
went  to  cast  my  vote!" 

Mrs.  Mary  E.  Craigie  (N.  Y.)  closed  the  session  with  a  serious, 
impressive  address  on  Our  Real  Opposition ;  Ignorance  and  Vice, 
the  Silent  Foe.  She  pointed  out  the  "indirect  alliance  between 
the  anti-suffragists  and  the  vicious  elements,  opponents  of  all 
reform,  fearful  that  if  women  vote  good  will  prevail  over  evil." 
"The  chief  foes  of  woman  suffrage,"  she  said,  "are  the  saloon 
keepers,  scum  of  society,  barred  from  fraternal  organizations, 
social  clubs  and  even  from  some  of  the  insurance  societies." 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQO6  167 

The  Biography  of  Miss  Anthony  contains  this  paragraph.1 

When  Miss  Anthony  had  visited  President  M.  Carey  Thomas,  of 
Bryn  Mawr  College,  and  Miss  Mary  E.  Garrett  the  last  November 
she  had  talked  of  the  approaching  convention,  expressed  some  anxi- 
is  to  its  reception  in  so  conservative  a  city  and  urged  them  to 
do  what  they  could  to  make  it  creditable  to  the  National  Association 
and  to  Baltimore.  They  showed  much  interest,  asked  in  what  way 
they  could  be  of  most  assistance  and  talked  over  various  plans.  Both 
belonged  to  old  and  prominent  families  in  that  city,  Miss  Garrett 
had  the  prestige  of  great  wealth  also,  and  Dr.  Thomas  of  her  posi- 
tion as  president  of  one  of  the  most  eminent  of  Women's  Colleges. 
Miss  Anthony  was  desirous  of  having  the  program  in  some  way 
illustrate  distinctly  the  new  type  of  womanhood — the  College  Woman 
— and  eventually  Dr.  Thomas  took  entire  charge  of  one  evening 
devoted  to  this  purpose,  which  will  ever  be  memorable  in  the  history 
of  these  conventions.  A  day  or  two  after  Miss  Anthony's  visit  she 
received  a  letter  from  Miss  Garrett  saying:  "I  have  decided — really 
I  did  so  while  we  were  talking  about  the  convention  at  luncheon  yes- 
terday— that  I  must  open  my  house  in  Baltimore  for  that  week  in 
order  to  have  the  great  pleasure  of  entertaining  you  and  Miss  Shaw 
under  my  own  roof  and  to  do  whatever  I  can  to  help  you  make  the 
meeting  a  success." 

At  a  good-bye  reception  given  for  Miss  Anthony  in  Rochester 
the  evening  before  she  left  home  for  Baltimore  she  took  cold  and 
immediately  after  reaching  Miss  Garrett's  she  became  very  ill 
and  was  under  the  care  of  physicians  and  trained  nurses.  On  the 
second  night,  however,  the  College  Evening  for  which  elaborate 
preparations  had  been  made,  she  summoned  the  will  power  for 
which  she  had  always  been  noted,  rose  from  her  bed,  put  on  a 
beautiful  gown  and  went  to  the  convention  hall.  Quoting  again 
from  the  Biography:  "When  she  appeared  on  the  stage  and  the 
great  audience  realized  that  she  actually  was  with  them  their 
enthusiasm  was  unbounded.  She  was  so  white  and  frail  as  to 
seem  almost  spiritual  but  on  her  sweet  face  was  an  expression 
of  ineffable  happiness;  and  it  was  indeed  one  of  the  happiest  mo- 
ments of  her  life  for  it  typified  the  intellectual  triumph  of  her 

The  Baltimore  American  thus  began  its  account:  "With  the 
great  pioneer  suffrage  worker,  Susan  B.  Anthony,  on  the  plat- 
form, surrounded  by  women  noted  in  the  college  world  for  their 
brilliant  attainm<  \\c11  as  those  famed  for  social  work  and 

fe  and  Work  of  Susan  B.  Anthony,  by  Ida  Husted  Harper,  Volume  III,  page  ij8j. 


l68  HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

in  other  professions,  and  with  a  large  audience,  the  session  of  the 
woman  suffrage  convention  opened  last  evening  in  the  Lyric 
Theater.  If  the  veteran  suffragist  thought  of  more  than  the 
pleasure  of  the  event  it  must  have  been  the  contrast  of  this  occa- 
sion with  the  times  past,  when,  unhonored  and  unsung,  she  fought 
what  must  have  often  seemed  a  losing  fight  for  principles  for 
which  the  presence  of  these  women  proclaimed  victory.  ...  It 
had  been  announced  as  'College  evening'  but  it  might  just  as 
well  have  been  called  'Susan  B.  Anthony  evening/  for,  while  the 
addresses  dealt  with  various  phases  of  the  woman  question,  all 
evolved  into  one  strong  tribute  to  Miss  Anthony/' 
The  following  remarkable  program  was  carried  out: 

COLLEGE  EVENING 
February  8,  1906 

Presiding  Officer 
Ira  Remsen,  Ph.D.,  LL.D.,  President  of  Johns  Hopkins  University. 

Ushers 
Students  of  the  Woman's  College  of  Baltimore  in  Academic  Dress. 

Addresses 

Mary  E.  Woolley,  A.M.,  Litt.D.,  L.H.D.,  President  of  Mount  Hoi- 
yoke  College. 

Lucy  M.  Salmon,  A.M.,  Professor  of  History,  Vassar  College. 

Mary  A.  Jordan,  A.M.,  Professor  of  English.  Smith  College. 

Mary  W.  Calkins,  A.M.,  Professor  of  Philosophy  and  Psychology, 
Wellcsley  College. 

Eva  Perry  Moore,  A.B.,  Trustee  Vassar  College;  President  of  the 
Association  of  Collegiate  Alumna?  (over  three  thousand  college 
women) . 

Maud  Wood  Park,  A.B.  (Radcliffe  College},  President  of  the  Bos- 
ton Branch  of  the  Equal  Suffrage  League  in  Women's  Colleges 
and  Founder  of  the  League. 

M.  Carey  Thomas,  Ph.D.,  LL.D.,  President  of  Bryn  Maivr  College. 

A  tribute  of  gratitude  from  representatives  of  Women's  Colleges. 

What  has  been  accomplished  for  the  higher  education  of  women  by 
Susan  B.  Anthony  and  other  woman  suffragists. 

The  statement  is  sometimes  questioned  that  all  of  the  advan- 
tages which  women  enjoy  today  had  their  inception  in  the  efforts 
of  the  pioneers  suffragists.  The  addresses  made  on  this  occasion 


NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1906  169 

by  some  of  the  most  distinguished  -women  educators  of  the 
country  certainly  should  sustain  this  claim  so  far  as  the  higher 
education  is  concerned.  It  seems  a  sacrilege  to  use  only  brief 
quotations  from  these  important  contributions  to  the  literature 
<>f  the  movement  for  woman  suffrage. 


-XT  \YOOLLF.Y:  Tt  will  not  be  possible  in  the  limited  time 
given  to  the  representatives  of  colleges  for  women  to  do  more  than 
•est  what  has  been  accomplished   for  the  higher  education   of 
women  by  Miss  Anthony  and  other  suffragists,  but  it  is  a  pleasure 
to  have  this  opportunity  to  add  our  tribute  of  appreciation.  .  .  . 

At  a  meeting  called  in  1851  at  Seneca  Falls,  N.  Y.,  to  consider 
founding  a  People's  College.  Miss  Anthony.  Lucy  Stone  and  Mrs. 
Elizabeth  Cady  Stanton  were  determined  that  the  constitution  and 
by-laws  should  be  framed  so  as  to  admit  women  on  the  same  terms 
••n  and  finally  carried  their  point.  The  college,  however,  before 
it  was  fairly  started  was  merged  in  Cornell  University.  Five  years 
later  Miss  Anthony's  lecture  on  "Co-education"  brought  that  subject 
most  forcibly  to  the  attention  of  the  public.  ...  It  was  no  part  of 
Miss  Anthony's  plan  to  have  work  given  to  women  for  which  they 
were  not  fitted  but  rather  that  they  should  be  prepared  to  do  well 
whatever  they  attempted.  There  were  not  to  be  two  standards  of 
efficiency,  one  for  the  man  and  another  for  the  woman.  "Think  your 
best  thoughts,  speak  your  best  words,  do  your  best  work,  looking 
to  your  own  conscience  for  approval,"  was  her  charge  to  women 
forty  years  ago.  .  .  .  The  higher  education  of  women  should  be 
added  to  the  list  of  causes  for  which  she  and  other  women  struggled. 
She  has  lived  to  see  the  work  of  her  hands  established  in  the  gain- 
in?  of  educational  and  social  rights  for  women  which  might  well  be 
called  revolutionary,  so  momentous  have  been  the  changes.  .  .  . 

It  seems  almost  inexplicable  that  changes  surely  as  radical  as 
giving  to  women  the  opportunity  to  vote  should  be  accepted  today  as 
perfectly  natural  while  the  political  right  is  still  viewed  somewhat 
The  time  will  come  when  som^  of  us  will  look  back 
upon  the  arguments  against  the  granting  of  the  suffrage  to  women 
with  as  much  incredulity  as  that  with  which  we  now  read  those 
against  their  education.  Then  shall  it  be  said  of  the  woman,  who 
with  ir<-nt1encss  and  strength,  courage  and  patience,  has  been  un- 
swerving in  hrr  allegiance  to  the  aim  which  she  had  set  before  her, 
her  of  the  fruit  of  her  bands  and  let  her  own  works  praise  her 
in  the  prr 

PROFF?  -ION:  The  personal  experience  will  perhaps  be  par- 

1  if  it  is  '  --illative  of  the  possibly  changing  atti- 

wnmen    toward    tli  '.      The    natural 

in    the   development    seem   to   have   been,    opposition,    due   to 

:<rtion.  due  to  conscientious  disapproval;  indifference. 

'•occupation  in  other  lines  of  work;  acceptance,  due  to  ap- 

TOU  T 


I7O  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

preciation  of  what  the  work  for  equal  suffrage  has  accomplished.  It 
has  been  a  work  positive  rather  than  negative,  active  rather  than 
destructive,  and  thus  it  is  coming  to  appeal  to  the  judgment  and 
reason  of  college  women.  They  are  coming  to  realize  that  they  have 
been  taught  by  these  pioneers,  both  by  precept  and  example,  to  look 
at  the  essential  things  of  life  and  to  ignore  the  unessential  and  for 
this  they  are  grateful.  .  .  . 

The  college  woman  is  beginning  to  wonder  whether  it  is  worth 
while  to  reckon  the  mint,  anise  and  cummin  while  the  weightier  mat- 
ters of  the  law  are  forgotten.  For  a  larger  outlook  on  life  we  are 
all  indebted  to  Miss  Anthony,  to  Mrs.  Howe  and  to  their  colleagues. 
We  are  indebted  to  them  in  large  measure  for  the  educational  oppor- 
tunities of  today.  We  are  indebted  to  them  for  the  theory,  and  in 
some  places  for  the  reality,  of  equal  pay  for  men  and  women  when 
the  work  performed  is  the  same.  We  are  indebted  to  them  for 
making  it  possible  for  us  to  spend  our  lives  in  fruitful  work  rather 
than  in  idle  tears.  We  are  indebted  to  these  pioneer  women  for  the 
substitution  of  a  positive  creed  for  inertia  and  indifference.  From 
them  we  also  inherit  the  weighty  responsibility  of  passing  on  to 
others,  in  degree  if  not  in  kind,  all  that  we  have  received  from  them. 

Professor  Jordan,  after  considering  the  woman's  college,  said : 
"The  suffragists  lent  us  Maria  Mitchell  and  they  felt  severely  the 
loss  they  sustained  in  her  increasing  absorption  in  the  class  room 
and  in  the  requirements  of  modern  scientific  work.  \Yhen  we  had 
taken  Maria  Mitchell  they  turned  to  us  in  friendship,  Mrs.  Liver- 
more,  Mrs.  Julia  Ward  Howe,  Miss  Anthony,  Miss  Elizabeth 
Peabody,  Mrs.  Cady  Stanton,  Lucy  Stone,  Mrs.  Antoinette  Brown 
Blackwell,  Lois  Anna  Green,  Mary  Dame — and  never  failed  to 
stir  our  minds  with  their  urgent  appeals  for  our  thoughtful  con- 
sideration of  the  causes  they  presented  and  the  interest  they  took 
for  granted.  The  last  was  their  strong  point.  They  simply 
implicated  us  in  whatever  was  good  and  true.  Their  enthusiasm 
was  infectious  and  we  'caught'  it — to  our  own  lasting  spiritual 
benefit.  ...  I  do  not  believe  that  I  was  over- fanciful  when  I 
used  to  feel  that  Lucy  Stone  and  you,  Miss  Anthony,  looked  at  us 
as  if  you  would  say,  'Make  the  best  of  your  freedom  for  we  have 
bought  it  with  a  great  price.'  ' 

PROFESSOR  CALKINS:  I  wish  to  indicate  this  evening  the  definite 
form  in  which  I  think  the  gratitude  of  all  college  women  might  be 
expressed  to  Miss  Anthony  and  to  the  other  leaders  of  the  equal  suf- 
frage movement  for  their  service  to  the  cause  of  women's  education. 
In  other  words,  I  wish  to  ask  what  have  these  veteran  equal  suffrage 
leaders  a  right  to  expect  from  university  and  college  students,  and 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQO6 

in  particular  from  the  students  and  graduates  of  our  women's  col- 
leges ?  .  .  .  Equal  suffragists,  if  I  may  serve  as  interpreter,  demand 
just  this,  that  women  trained  to  scientific  method  shall  make  equal 
suffrage  an  object  of  scientific  analysis  and  logic  and  ask  of  college 
women  that  they  cease  being  ignorant  or  indifferent  on  the  question ; 
that  they  adopt,  if  not  an  attitude  of  active  leadership  or  of  loyal 
support,  at  least  a  position  of  reasoned  opposition  or  of  intelligent 
hesitation  between  opposing  arguments.  To  ask  less  than  this  really 
is  an  insult  to  a  thinking  person,  man  or  woman.  .  .  .  The  student 
trained  to  reach  decisions  in  the  light  of  logic  and  of  history  will  be 
disposed  to  recognize  that,  in  a  democratic  country  governed  as  this 
is  by  the  suffrage  of  its  citizens  and  given  over  as  this  is  to  the 
principle  and  practice  of  educating  women,  a  distinction  based  on 
difference  of  sex  is  artificial  and  illogical,  and  thus  suspicious.  .  .  . 
For  myself,  I  believe  that  the  probabilities  favor  woman  suffrage. 

MRS.  MOORE:  The  women  of  today  may  well  feel  that  it  is  Miss 
Anthony  who  has  made  life  possible  to  them;  she  has  trodden  the 
rough  paths  and  by  unwearied  devotion  has  opened  to  them  the  pro- 
fessions and  higher  applied  industries.  Through  her  life's  work 
they  enjoy  a  hundred  privileges  denied  them  fifty  years  ago;  from 
her  devotion  has  grown  a  new  order;  her  hand  has  helped  to  open 
every  line  of  business  to  women.  She  has  spoken  at  times  to  thou- 
sands of  girls  on  the  public  duties  of  women.  .  .  .  Her  life  story 
must  epitomize  the  victorious  struggle  of  women  for  larger  intel- 
lectual freedom  in  the  last  century.  .  .  .  The  world  does  move. 
Those  who  are  aware  of  the  great  and  beneficent  changes  made  in 
the  laws  relating  to  the  rights  of  property,  in  the  civil  and  industrial 
laws  pertaining  to  women  and  children,  may  estimate  the  good  ac- 
complished by  these  pioneers. 

MRS.  PARK  :  I  suppose  it  is  true  that  all  through  history  individual 
women  have  been  able,  sometimes  by  cajolery,  sometimes  by  personal 
charm,  sometimes  by  force  of  character,  to  get  for  themselves  privi- 
leges far  greater  than  any  that  the  most  radical  advocates  of  woman's 
rights  have  yet  demanded.    But  in  the  case  of  Miss  Anthony  and  the 
other  early  suffragists  all  that  force  of  character  was  turned  not  to 
individual  ends,  not  to  getting  large  things  for  themselves,  but  to 
getting  little  gains,  step  by  step,  for  the  great  mass  of  other  women ; 
not  for  the  service  of  themselves  but  for  the  service  of  the  sex  and 
so  of  the  whole  human  race.  .  .  .  The  object  of  the  College  Women's 
•tie  is  to  bring  the  question  of  equal  suffrage  to  college  women, 
1p  them  realize  their  debt  to  the  women  who  have  worked  so 
hard  for  them  and  to  make  them  understand  that  one  of  the  ways  to 
hat  debt  is  to  fight  the  battle  in  the  quarter  of  the  field  in  which 
till  unwon ;  in  short,  to  make  them  feel  the  obligation  of  oppor- 
tunity. 

F.SIDENT  THOMAS:  In  the  year  1003  there  were  in  the  United 

.nnirn  study  ing  in  women's  colleges  and  24,863  women 
ing  in  coeducational  colleges.     If  the  annual  rate  of  increase 


172  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

has  continued  the  same,  as  it  undoubtedly  has,  during  the  past  three 
years,  there  are  in  college  at  the  present  time  38,268  women  students. 
Although  there  are  in  the  United  States  nearly  i  ,800,000  less  women 
than  men,  women  already  constitute  considerably  over  one-third  of 
the  entire  student  body  and  are  steadily  gaining  on  men.  This 
means  that  in  another  generation  or  two  one-half  of  all  the  people 
who  have  been  to  college  in  the  United  States  will  be  women;  and, 
just  as  surely  as  the  seasons  of  the  year  succeed  one  another  or  the 
law  of  gravitation  works,  just  so  surely  will  this  great  body  of 
educated  women  wish  to  use  their  trained  intelligence  in  making  the 
towns,  cities  and  States  of  their  country  better  places  for  themselves 
and  their  children  to  live  in ;  just  so  surely  will  the  men  with  whom 
they  have  worked  side  by  side  in  college  classes  claim  and  receive 
their  aid  in  political  as  well  as  home  life.  The  logic  of  events  does 
not  lie.  It  is  unthinkable  that  women  who  have  learned  to  act  for 
t IK nn solves  in  college  and  have  become  awakened  there  to  civic  duties 
should  not  care  for  the  ballot  to  enforce  their  wishes. 

The  same  is  true  of  every  woman's  club  and  every  individual 
woman  who  tries  to  obtain  laws  to  save  little  children  from  working 
cruel  hours  in  cotton  mills  or  to  open  summer  gardens  for  homeless 
little  waifs  on  the  streets  of  a  great  city.  These  women,  too,  are 
being  irresistibly  driven  to  desire  equal  suffrage  for  the  sake  of  the 
wrongs  they  try  to  right.  ...  It  seems  to  me  in  the  highest  degree 
ungenerous  for  women  like  these  in  this  audience,  who  are  cared 
for  and  protected  in  every  way,  not  to  desire  equal  suffrage  for  the 
sake  of  other  less  fortunate  women,  and  it  is  not  only  ungenerous 
but  short-sighted  of  such  women  not  to  desire  it  for  their  own  sakes. 
There  is  nothing  dearer  to  women  than  the  respect  and  reverence  of 
their  children  and  of  the  men  they  love.  Yet  every  son  who  has 
grown  up  reverencing  his  mother's  opinion  must  realize,  when  he 
reaches  the  age  of  twenty-one,  with  a  shock  from  which  he  can  never 
wholly  recover,  that  in  the  most  important  civic  and  national  affairs 
her  opinion  is  not  considered  equal  to  his  own.  .  .  . 

I  confidently  believe  that  equal  suffrage  is  coming  far  more  swiftly 
than  most  of  us  suspect.  Educated,  public-spirited  women  will  soon 
refuse  to  be  subjected  to  such  humiliating  conditions.  Educated  men 
will  recoil  in  their  turn  from  the  sheer  unreason  of  the  position  that 
the  opinions  and  wishes  of  their  wives  and  mothers  are  to  be  con- 
sulted upon  every  other  question  except  the  laws  and  government 
under  which  they  and  their  husbands  and  children  must  live  and  die. 
Equal  suffrage  thus  seems  to  me  to  be  an  inevitable  and  logical  con- 
sequence of  the  higher  education  of  women.  And  the  higher  educa- 
tion of  women  is,  if  possible,  a  still  more  inevitable  result  of  the  agi- 
tation of  the  early  woman  suffragists.  .  .  . 

We  who  are  guiding  this  educational  movement  today  owe  the 
profoundest  debt  of  gratitude  to  those  early  pioneers — Elizabeth 
Cady  Stanton,  Lucy  Stone,  Julia  Ward  Howe  and,  above  and  beyond 
all,  to  Susan  B.  Anthony.  'Other  women  reformers,  like  other  men 
reformers,  have  given  part  of  their  time  and  energy.  She  has  given 


PIONEERS  OF  WOMAN  SUFFRAGE. 
ELIZABETH  CADY  STANTON. 
Born.  1815. 

SUSAN  B.  ANTHONY. 

Born,   1820. 
LUCRETIA  MOTT. 
Born.   1793. 


LUCY  STONE. 
Born.   1818. 


MILLICENT  CARRETT  FAWCETT 
Born,   1846. 


NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQO6  173 

to  the  cause  of  women  every  year,  every  month,  every  day,  every 
hour  and  every  moment  of  her  whole  life  and  every  dollar  she  could 
beg  or  earn,  and  she  has  earned  thousands  and  begged  thousands 
more. 

Turning  to  the  honored  guest  of  the  evening  Dr.  Thomas  said : 

To  most  women  it  is  given  to  have  returned  to  them  in  double 
measure  the  love  of  the  children  they  have  nurtured.  To  you,  Miss 
Anthony,  belongs  by  right,  as  to  no  other  woman  in  the  world's 
history,  the  love  and  gratitude  of  all  women  in  every  country  of 
the  globe.  We,  your  daughters  in  the  spirit,  rise  up  today  and  call 
YOU  blessed. 

In  those  far-off  days  when  our  mothers'  mothers  sat  contented 
in  the  darkness,  you,  our  champion,  sprang  forth  to  battle  for  us, 
equipped  and  shining,  inspired  by  a  prophetic  vision  of  the  future 
like  that  of  the  apostles  and  martyrs,  and  the  heat  of  your  battle 
has  lasted  more  than  fifty  years.  Two  generations  of  men  lie  be- 
tween the  time  when,  in  the  early  fifties,  you  and  Mrs.  Stanton  sat 
together  in  New  York  State,  writing  over  the  cradles  of  her  babies 
those  trumpet  calls  to  freedom  that  began  and  carried  forward  the 
emancipation  of  women — and  the  day  eighteen  months  ago  when  that 
great  audience  in  Berlin  rose  to  do  you  honor,  thousands  of  women 
from  every  country  in  the  civilized  world,  silent,  with  full  eyes  and 
lumps  in  their  throats,  because  of  what  they  owed  to  you.  Of  such 
as  you  were  the  lines  of  the  poet  Yeats  written : 

"They  shall  be  remembered  forever, 
They  shall  be  alive  forever, 
They  shall  be  speaking  forever, 
The  people  shall  hear  them  forever." 

Miss  Anthony  was  profoundly  moved.     This  wonderful  scene 
the  magnificent  audience  in  one  of  the  oldest  and  most  conserva- 
tive of  cities;  this  group  of  the  most  distinguished  women  educa- 
tors; the  president  of  one  of  the  leading  universities  of  the  world 
in  the  chair ;  the  large  number  of  college  women  in  the  audience, 
independent,  equipped  for  life's  highest  work — represented 
the  culmination  of  what  she  had  striven  for  during  half  a  century. 
i  Ui  ]>hy  gives  this  account:  "After  the  applause  had  ended 

there  was  a  moment  of  intense  silence  and  then,  as  Miss  Anthony 
came  forward,  the  entire  audience  rose  and  greeted  her  with  wav- 
ing handkerchiefs,  \\hil  :  oiled  down  the  cheeks  of  many 
who  lelt  that  she  would  never  be  present  at  another  convention 
'I  f  any  proof  were  needed  oi  thr  progress  of  the  cause  for  which 
1  have  worked,'  she  said,  in  .  «-n  tones,  distinctly  heard  by 


174  HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

all,  'it  is  here  tonight.  The  presence  on  the  stage  of  these  college 
women,  and  in  the  audience  of  all  those  college  girls  who  will  some 
day  be  the  nation's  greatest  strength,  will  tell  their  own  story  to 
the  world.  They  give  the  highest  joy  and  encouragement  to  me. 
I  am  not  going  to  make  a  long  speech  but  only  to  say  thank  you 
and  good  night/  It  was  all  she  had  the  strength  to  say  but  she 
never  would  publicly  confess  it." 

Interesting  State  reports,  conferences  and  addresses  filled  the 
mornings,  afternoons  and  evenings  of  this  unparalleled  week. 
The  Initiative  and  Referendum  was  presented  by  an  acknowledged 
authority,  George  H.  Shibley  of  Washington,  director  of  the 
department  of  representative  government  in  the  bureau  of  eco- 
nomic research.  He  congratulated  the  association  on  having  en- 
dorsed the  new  experiment  that  would  rapidly  further  the  woman 
suffrage  cause,  in  which  he  had  long  believed.  The  system  of 
questioning  candidates  and  publishing  their  replies,  developed  by 
the  Anti-Saloon  League,  was  now  being  used  with  great  success, 
he  said,  by  many  organizations.  He  described  the  carefully 
worked-out  system  in  detail  and  declared  that  this,  with  the  Initia- 
tive and  Referendum,  would  terminate  "machine"  rule  in  politics, 
and  whatever  did  this  would  promote  the  advance  of  woman  suf- 
frage. The  address  called  forth  an  animated  discussion  in  which 
it  was  shown  that  when  women  questioned  a  candidate  they  had 
no  constituency  back  of  them  to  influence  his  answers. 

A  valuable  conference  was  opened  with  a  comprehensive  paper 
by  Mrs.  Mary  Kenney  O'Sullivan  (Mass.),  prominently  identified 
with  the  women's  trade  unions,  on  the  best  methods  of  securing 
from  Congress  the  submission  of  the  Federal  Suffrage  Amend- 
ment. The  question,  if  each  State  should  secure  an  endorsement 
from  its  Legislature  of  a  uniform  resolution  calling  for  this  sub- 
mission would  it  not  influence  Congress  and  also  compel  favorable 
recommendation  in  the  national  platforms  of  the  dominant  politi- 
cal parties,  was  unanimously  answered  in  the  affirmative. 

Miss  Hauser,  the  new  chairman,  presided  over  the  press  con- 
ference, which  was  opened  with  a  paper  by  Miss  Jane  Campbell, 
a  veteran  suffragist,  president  of  the  Philadelphia  County  Suf- 
frage Club  of  600  members,  on  The  Unbiased  Editor,  which 
bristled  with  the  humorous  sarcasm  in  which  she  was  unsur- 


NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1906  175 

passed.  She  said  in  the  course  of  it:  "As  the  result  of  close 
observation  I  may  state  that  the  calm,  judicial  mind  of  the 
unbiased  editor  is  never  more  in  evidence  than  when  he  bends 
his  energies  to  a  consideration  of  the  woman  question — that 
is,  the  woman  question  in  reference  to  politics.  Then  he  is 
on  sure  ground  and  he  always  is  actuated  by  a  desire 
to  serve  the  best  interests  of  women.  Does  it  come  under  his 
ken  that  a  woman  has  the  temerity  to  suggest  even  in  faint  tones 
the  advisability  and  feasibility,  the  common  sense  and  justice  of 
being  allowed  to  cast  a  ballot,  then  the  opportunity  of  the  unbiased 
editor  has  come  and  the  rash  claimant  is  admonished  in  fatherly, 
protecting  tones  to  'Remember  that  only  in  the  Home' — he  always 
spells  home  with  a  capital  in  this  connection — 'should  a  woman 
be  in  evidence.'  He  almost  weeps  when  he  pictures  the  dire  con- 
sequences that  -would  inevitably  result  should  women  enter  the 
uncleanly  pool  of  politics.  Chivalry  would  become  extinct — chiv- 
alry being  the  guiding  principle,  according  to  the  unbiased  editor, 
on  which  men  act — and  then  would  tired  men  no  longer  give  up 
their  seats  in  trolley  cars  to  masculine  women  and  no  longer  would 
they  accord  equal  pay  for  equal  work,  as  they  chivalrously  do 
now!" 

Turning  her  shafts  on  Mr.  Bok,  editor  of  the  Ladies'  Home 
Journal,  and  ex-President  Cleveland's  articles  in  it,  Miss  Campbell 
evoked  so  much  laughter  and  applause  that  Miss  Hauser  became 
anxious  as  to  the  effect  on  the  representatives  of  the  press  who 
were  there  and  called  on  Mrs.  Upton  to  calm  the  tempestuous 
waters,  who  offered  some  "golden  precepts"  for  dealing  with  edi- 
tors, among  them  the  following :  "Keep  the  paper  fully  informed 
of  all  suffrage  news.  If  there  is  something  unpleasant  in  it  and 
the  reporter  tells  you  that  the  editor  and  not  himself  is  responsible 
for  it,  smile  and  believe  him.  Take  the  reporter  into  your  confi- 
dence and  let  him  absorb  the  impression  that  you  trust  him  im- 
plicitly. The  result  will  be  that  you  and  your  cause  will  get  the 
best  of  it.  In  a  word,  treat  the  newspaper  reporter  as  you  would 
other  gentleman  and  in  the  long  run  you  will  profit  by  it. 
If  you  are  the  press  representative  of  your  local  organization  try 
to  have  from  time  to  time  items  of  news  pertainng  to  matters  other 
than  that  of  woman  suffrage.  Use  the  telephone  lavishly  and  let 


176  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

your  home  be  a  sort  of  stopping  place  for  the  reporter  in  his 
routine  work.  When  you  present  such  an  attitude  toward  the 
press  the  editors  cannot  find  it  in  their  hearts  to  refuse  if  you 
want  a  little  space  for  yourself  and  your  cause."  The  Baltimore 
Evening  Hera'ld  commented :  "From  the  foregoing  it  will  be  ob- 
served that  in  the  dark  and  devious  avocation  of  working  the 
unsophisticated  editor,  Mrs.  Upton  is  truly  a  past  mistress,  en- 
titled to  wear  the  regalia  and  jewels  of  the  superlative  degree." 

Mrs.  May  Arkwright  Hutton  of  Idaho  told  of  the  excellent 
results  of  woman  suffrage  on  the  politics  of  that  State.  Mrs. 
Lucia  Ames  Mead,  chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Peace  and 
Arbitration,  gave  her  usual  able  report  describing  her  extensive 
work  during  the  past  year,  which  neither  in  this  or  any  other  year 
was  exceeded  by  that  of  any  one  individual.  After  her  return 
from  the  International  Peace  Congress  in  London  she  succeeded 
in  having  the  presidents  of  the  suffrage  associations  in  fifteen 
States  appoint  supervisors  of  peace  work  and  others  were  about 
to  do  so.  The  educational  authorities  in  every  State  had  been  re- 
quested to  arrange  celebrations  for  May  18,  the  anniversary  of 
the  first  Hague  Conference,  and  she  should  notify  the  suffrage 
clubs  to  do  this.  Equal  suffragists  will  aid  the  cause  of  justice  for 
themselves  in  the  nation  by  working  also  for  justice  between  the 
nations.  The  abolition  of  war  will  do  more  than  anything  else  to 
make  women  respected  and  influential.  It  will  substitute  moral 
force  for  brute  force,  reason  for  passion  and  will  forever  remove 
one  of  the  most  popular  arguments  against  giving  political  power 
to  those  who  are  incapable  of  military  service." 

Mrs.  Isabel  C.  Barrows  (Mass.),  the  well  known  writer  on 
social  and  economic  subjects,  took  part  in  the  symposium  that 
followed.  Miss  Alice  Stone  Blackwell  presided  over  the  con- 
ference on  What  the  Home  Needs  for  its  Protection — Women  on 
Health  Boards,  School  Boards  and  in  the  Police  Department,  and 
these  subjects  were  considered  by  Mrs.  Susan  S.  Fessenden 
(Mass.),  Mrs.  Upton  and  Mrs.  Barrows.  It  closed  with  a  paper 
by  the  Rev.  Marie  Jenney  Howe  on  Woman's  Municipal  Vote. 

One  of  the  most  important  evening  sessions  was  devoted  to  the 
question  of  Municipal  Government,  with  Dr.  William  H.  Welch, 
Professor  of  Pathology  in  Johns  Hopkins  University,  presiding. 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQO6  177 

A  leading  feature  was  the  address  of  the  Hon.  Frederick  C.  Howe 
of  Cleveland,  O.,  The  City  for  the  People.  He  reviewed  the  mis- 
management and  political  corruption  of  the  large  cities,  "controlled 
by  great  financial  interests  and  yet  filled  with  eager,  energetic 
people,  struggling  to  organize  a  good  democratic  movement  of 
humanity  focused  on  a  democratic  ideal."  In  voicing  the  hope 
for  the  future  he  said: 

There  is  an  upward  movement  in  all  our  cities.  We  are  endeavor- 
ing to  work  out  democracy  and  are  doing  amazingly  well.  When 
it  is  possible  to  organize  the  ideals  of  this  new  democratic  move- 
ment it  will  be  a  city  not  for  men  alone  but  for  men  and  women. 
It  is  business  which  has  made  our  cities  take  the  illogical  position 
that  women  should  not  participate  in  municipal  affairs  as  the  chief 
corrective  of  the  evils  which  underlie  most  of  our  municipal  prob- 
lems. I  believe  in  woman  suffrage  not  for  women  alone,  not  for 
men  alone,  but  for  the  advantage  of  both  men  and  women.  Any 
community,  any  society,  any  State  that  excludes  half  of  its  mem- 
bers from  participating  in  it  is  only  half  a  State,  only  half  a  city, 
only  half  a  community.  So,  you  see,  woman  suffrage  does  not 
interest  me  so  much  because  woman  is  a  taxpayer  or  because  of 
justice  as  because  of  democracy;  because  I  believe  in  the  fullest, 
t,  most  responsible  democracy  that  it  is  possible  to  create. 
The  city  of  the  people  will  be  a  man  and  woman  city.  It  will  elect 
its  officials  for  other  than  party  reasons  and  will  keep  men  and 
:neii  in  office  who  give  good  service. 

The  Hon.  Rudolph  Blankenburg,  Philadelphia's  noted  reformer, 

was  to  speak  on  Municipal  Regeneration,  -was  detained  at 

ic  and  his  wife,  Mrs.  Lucretia  L.  Blankenburg,  president  of  the 

Pennsylvania  Suffrage  Association,  told  of  the  big  campaign  of 

the  preceding  autumn  for  better  government  in  that  city  and  the 

important  part  women  had  in  it  and  said :  "The  men  claimed  that 

the  women  helped  them  a  great  deal  but  when  the  day  came  for  the 

jubilation  after  the  election,  not  a  woman  was  invited  to  sit  on 

the  platform  or  to  take  part  in  the  jubilee,  except  in  the  audience. 

In  one  of  our  suburbs  the  successful  people  gave  a  banquet  and 

they  did  condescend  to  invite  the  women  who  had  helped  them 

the  election  to  sit  in  the  gallery  after  the  banquet  and  hear 

the  speeches.  .  .  .  We  are  to  have  an  election  very  soon  and 

n    1    lei't   home  to  come  to   this  convention  our  city   party 

meeting  in  rhuivhe.s  and  halls  and  parlors  and  the 

in  ot   the  committee  chidol  me   for  deserting  my  'hum" 


178  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

work.'  I  told  her  that  it  was  a  greater  work  to  try  to  get  the  right 
to  vote  and  increase  my  influence." 

The  Hon.  William  Dudley  Foulke,  president  of  the  National 
Civil  Service  Commission,  spoke  informally  on  An  Object  Lesson 
in  Municipal  Politics,  describing  the  revolution  of  the  citizens 
against  the  corrupt  government  of  his  home  city,  Richmond,  Ind., 
and  the  valuable  assistance  rendered  by  the  women,  and,  as  always, 
demanding  the  suffrage  for  them. 

It  was  at  this  meeting  that  Miss  Jane  Addams  of  Hull  House, 
Chicago,  made  the  address  on  The  Modern  City  and  the  Municipal 
Franchise  for  Women,  which  was  thenceforth  a  part  of  the  stand- 
ard suffrage  literature.  Quotations  are  wholly  inadequate. 

It  has  been  well  said  that  the  modern  city  is  a  stronghold  of  in- 
dustrialism quite  as  the  feudal  city  was  a  stronghold  of  militarism, 
but  the  modern  cities  fear  no  enemies  and  rivals  from  without 
and  their  problems  of  government  are  solely  internal.  Affairs  for 
the  most  part  are  going  badly  in  these  great  new  centres,  in  which 
the  quickly-congregated  population  has  not  yet  learned  to  arrange 
its  affairs  satisfactorily.  Unsanitary  housing,  poisonous  se\\ 
contaminated  water,  infant  mortality,  the  spread  of  contagion,  adul- 
terated food,  impure  milk,  smoke-laden  air,  ill-ventilated  factories, 
dangerous  occupations,  juvenile  crime,  unwholesome  crowding,  pros- 
titution and  drunkenness  are  the  enemies  which  the  modern  cities 
must  face  and  overcome,  would  they  survive.  Logically  their  elec- 
torate should  be  made  up  of  those  who  can  bear  a  valiant  part  in 
this  arduous  contest,  those  who  in  the  past  have  at  least  attempted 
to  care  for  children,  to  clean  houses,  to  prepare  foods,  to  isolate 
the  family  from  moral  dangers ;  those  who  have  traditionally  taken 
care  of  that  side  of  life  which  inevitably  becomes  the  subject  of 
municipal  consideration  and  control  as  soon  as  the  population  is 
congested.  To  test  the  elector's  fitness  to  deal  with  this  situation 
by  his  ability  to  bear  arms  is  absurd.  These  problems  must  be 
solved,  if  they  are  solved  at  all,  not  from  the  military  point  of 
view,  not  even  from  the  industrial  point  of  view,  but  from  a  third, 
which  is  rapidly  developing  in  all  the  great  cities  of  the  world — 
the  human-welfare  point  of  view.  .  .  . 

City  housekeeping  has  failed  partly  because  women,  the  tradi- 
tional housekeepers,  have  not  been  consulted  as  to  its  multiform 
activities.  The  men  have  been  carelessly  indifferent  to  much  of  this 
civic  housekeeping,  as  they  have  always  been  indifferent  to  the 
details  of  the  household.  .  .  .  The  very  multifariousness  and  com- 
plexity of  a  city  government  demand  the  help  of  minds  accus- 
tomed to  detail  and  variety  of  work,  to  a  sense  of  obligation  for 
the  health  and  welfare  of  young  children  and  to  a  responsibility 
for  the  cleanliness  and  comfort  of  other  people.  Because  all  these 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION   OF    1906  179 

things  have  traditionally  been  in  the  hands  of  women,  if  they  take 
no  part  in  them  now  they  are  not  only  missing  the  education  which 
the  natural  participation  in  civic  life  would  bring  to  them  but  they 
are  losing  what  they  have  always  had. 

The  Sunday  afternoon  service  was  held  in  the  Lyric  Theater, 
whose  capacity  was  taxed  with  an  audience  "representing  every 
class  of  society,  every  creed  and  no  creed,"  according  to  the  Balti- 
more papers.  It  was  preceded  by  a  half-hour  musical  program 
by  Kdwin  M.  Shonert,  pianist,  and  Earl  J.  Pfonts,  violinist.  The 
Rev.  Antoinette  Brown  Blackwell  made  the  opening  prayer;  the 
Rev.  Anna  Howard  Shaw  read  the  Scripture  lesson  and  gave  the 
day's  text :  "Be  strong  and  very  courageous ;  be  not  afraid,  neither 
be  thou  dismayed,  for  the  Lord  thy  God  is  with  thee  whitherso- 
ever thou  goest."  The  Battle  Hymn  of  the  Republic  was  beauti- 
fully read  by  the  Rev.  Olympia  Brown  and  sung  by  Miss  Etta 
Madclox,  the  audience  joining  in  the  chorus.  Mrs.  Maud  Bal- 
lington  Booth  gave  the  principal  address  on  the  work  of  the  Vol- 
unteers of  America  for  the  men  and  women  in  prisons  and  after 
they  are  discharged.  At  its  beginning  she  said:  "I  have  never 
before  stood  on  the  platform  with  these  leaders  in  the  struggle  for 
woman  suffrage  but  I  sympathize  with  any  movement  whose  mo- 
tive is,  like  theirs,  the  uplifting  of  humanity."  Her  beauty,  her 
t  voice  and  her  rare  eloquence  made  a  deep  impression  on  the 
audience,  who  responded  with  a  generous  collection  for  her  Hope 
Halls.  The  meeting  closed  with  the  congregational  singing  of 
America  and  the  benediction  by  the  Rev.  Marie  Jenney  Howe. 
All  of  the  women  ministers  occupied  the  pulpits  of  various 
churches  in  the  morning  or  evening,  and,  according  to  the  reporter 
for  the  News,  "astonished  the  large  congregations  which  as- 
sembled to  do  them  honor  with  their  facility  of  expression  and 
the  soundness  of  their  lo^ic!''  l 

The  resolutions  offered  by  Henry  B.  Blackwell,  chairman  of 
the  committee,  covered  a  wide  and  rather  unusual  range  of  sub- 

1  The  clergymen  of  the  city  gave  cordial  assistance  to  the  convention  and  among  those 
who  opened  different  sessions  with  prayer  were  the  Reverends  Dr.  Van  Meter  of  the 
Woman's  College;  George  Scholl.  D.D.,  Lutheran  Church;  Lloyd  Coblentz.  St.  Paul's 

nit,  Grace  M.    K.   On-  i.irlem  Park 

h;   Alfred    H.    Hussry.    First    Indepen.  h;    Peter    Ainslee,   Christian 

Tempi-  ngrcgational    Chun  li;     Rabbi    Adolf    Guttmacber, 

Madison  Avenue    1  ..rshall  V.  McDuffie,  North  Avenue  Baptist  <  i  a  K. 

Bell,  First  English  Lutheran  Church;  Edward  W.  Wroth,  All  Saints'  Episcopal  Church. 


HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

jects,  showing  the  broad  scope  of  the  work  of  the  association  and 
expressing  its  pleasure  at  the  world-wide  indications  of  progress. 
Deep  regret  was  expressed  for  the  death  of  the  friends  of  the 
cause  during  the  year,  among  them  George  W.  Catt  of  New 
York,  husband  of  Mrs.  Carrie  Chapman  Catt;  Mrs.  Josephine 
Shaw  Lowell  of  New  York;  Mrs.  Jane  H.  Spofford  of  Maine; 
Mrs.  Caroline  Hallowell  Miller  of  Maryland;  Mrs.  Sarah  M. 
Perkins  of  Ohio;  John  K.  Wildman  of  Pennsylvania,  and  Speaker 
Frederick  S.  Nixon  of  the  New  York  Legislature. 

Fraternal  greetings  were  brought  from  the  Ladies  of  the  Mac- 
cabees by  Mrs.  Melva  J.  Caswell,  State  Commander  of  the  Dis- 
trict of  Columbia,  Maryland  and  Delaware;  from  the  National 
W.  C.  T.  U.,  by  Miss  Marie  C.  Brelun,  president  for  Illinois,  and 
from  the  American  Purity  Alliance  by  its  president,  Dr.  (J. 
Edward  Janney  of  Baltimore.  A  letter  was  read  by  Mrs.  Mary 
Bentley  Thomas  (Md.J,  from  Governor  Warrield  expressing  his 
thanks  for  the  opportunity  of  meeting  so  many  distinguished 
women  and  his  enjoyment  of  the  convention.  Letters  and  tele- 
grams were  read.  A  Idler  of  greeting  was  sent  to  Mrs.  Ellen 
Clark  Sargent,  a  veteran  suifragist  of  San  Francisco,  and  letters 
to  Aiiss  Laura  Clay  and  Mrs.  iiarriet  Taylor  Upton,  regretting 
their  absence.  A  special  vote  of  appreciation  was  given  to  Dr.  and 
Airs.  \\  illiam  Eunck  and  a  letter  of  thanks  was  sent  to  Dr. 
'ihoinas  and  Miss  Garrett  for  their  part  in  the  unsurpassed  suc- 
cess ot  the  convention. 

A  comprehensive  report  of  the  International  Woman  Suff rage- 
Alliance,  organized  in  Berlin  in  1904,  was  given  by  its  president, 
Airs.  Carrie  Chapman  Catt,  showing  that  "the  agitation  through- 
out Europe  for  a  broader  democracy  has  naturally  opened  the 
way  for  the  discussion  of  woman  suffrage  and  the  subject  is  being 
considered  as  never  before  in  Europe."  |_See  Chapter  on  the 
Alliance.]  The  Evening  with  Women  in  History  was  opened  by 
Mrs.  Catt,  who  said :  "One  idea  is  the  mainspring  of  the  oppo- 
sition to  woman  suffrage — that  women  are  by  nature  of  the  in- 
ferior sex.  Even  Darwin,  so  scientific  that  he  tried  to  see  all 
things  fairly,  entertained  this  unjust  view.  When  women  have 
had  the  same  inspiration  and  opportunity  as  men  their  work  has 
been  equal  in  merit." 


NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OP     I  oof)  l8l 

The  program  assuredly  showed  no  inferiority  of  mental  power. 
Mrs.  Belle  de  Rivera  (N.  Y.)  depicted  Women  of  Genius,  quoting 
Sappho,  "Margaret  of  Navarre,  Vittoria  Colonna,  Angelica 
Kauffman  and  others  eminent  in  the  annals  of  historv.  A  news- 
paper report  said  of  Mrs.  Oreola  Williams  Haskell  (N.  Y.)  : 
'The  thoroughness  of  her  address  gave  the  lie  to  any  intimation 
of  frivolity  made  by  her  youth  and  beauty,  the  pink  crepe  de 
chine  dress  and  the  giddy  pink  bow  in  her  fluffy  brown  hair." 
In  discussing  Women  in  Politics  she  said  that,  "even  though  de- 
barred from  Parliaments  and  Congresses  women  will  take  part 
in  politics  because  political  situations  and  public  events  vitally 
affect  their  lives"  and  concluded  : 

The  student,  remembering  the  laws  that  strove  to  make  women 

nonentities,  the  tremendous  force  of  adverse  rmhlic  opinion,  the  lack 

of  training  nnd  nrena  ration.  must  repudiate  forever  the  usual  nuerv 

of  the  scoffer.  "Why  bnve  there  not  been  more  eminent  women?" 

and  in  amazement  ask  himself,  "How  dors  it  happen  that  there  have 

been  any?"     To  those  women  who  would  do  great  things.  who  sigh 

for  the   old   davs.   when   the  political   mieen   ruled    from   the   salon 

or  the  throne,  we  mav  sav  that  today  woman  stands  on  the  threshold 

of  a  broader  and  more  real  political  life  than  she  has  ever  known. 

Tn  the  future  there  mav  be  no  Sarah  Jennings  or  Mme.  de  Main- 

ns,    but   \vlTMi    to    the   million-and-a-nuarter   of    the   women    of 

our    time,    who    in    the    United    States,    in    Australia    and    in    New 

Zealand  are  exercising  the  mighty  power  of  the  ballot  as  fully  and 

their  brothers,  we  shall  be  able  to  add  other  enfranchised 

f    the   world,    we   will   have  a   mighty   political    sisterhood. 

'n  renli/e  their  patriot^  dreams  and  powerful   to  bring  about 

>nditions  for  humanit. 


Campbell   described   in   an   able  and   interesting  manner 
\Vonien    Scholars   of   the   Middle  Ages.      Miss   "Rrchm   pictured 
Heroes  and  Heroines.     Mrs.  Maud  Nathan,  who  had  as  a  sub- 
\Yomen  Warriors,  according  to  the  reporter,  "remarked  as 
off  her  long  white  kids  that  she  could  not  handle  it  with 
Declaring  that   she  did  not  approve  of  war,  she  said 
that  nevcrthde-s  whenever  there  was  a  fight  for  municipal  reform 
in   N<  -k  she  was  in  the  thick  of  it.      After  showing  hnw 

•  ien  had  ]<><}  \vnrs  rmd   fallen  in  battles  she  concluded: 

•i  the  el'  MI   to  defend 

the  1in\ 
drrcd    that    women    slumld    !»•    drlianvd    from    the    i>r; 


1 82  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

citizenship;  but  today  our  cities  are  not  walled,  our  foes  are  not 
without  the  gates  trying  to  scale  the  walls.  The  enemies  are  within, 
often  found  sitting  in  high  places.  Today  citizens  are  called  upon 
to  fight,  not  warriors,  but  vice  and  corruption  and  low  standards. 
Are  not  our  mothers  quite  as  capable  as  our  fathers  to  wage  war- 
fare against  these,  the  enemies  in  our  midst? 

When  I  was  in  The  Hague  last  summer  I  visited  the  only  kind 
of  battleground  which  any  intelligent,  progressive,  self-respecting 
nation  ought  to  show  with  pride.  .  .  .  There  in  the  peaceful  little 
House  in  the  Wood  national  disputes  are  settled,  not  by  sacrificing 
the  lives  of  thousands  of  innocent,  helpless  young  men,  not  by  creat- 
ing thousands  of  widows  and  orphans,  but  by  threshing  out  all 
matters  relating  to  the  dispute  in  a  rational,  calm,  judicial  and 
honorable  way.  ...  It  seemed  to  me  that  this  2Oth  century  battle- 
ground, this  quiet,  peaceful  House  in  the  Wood,  augured  well  for 
a  new  era,  one  in  which  our  swords  will  indeed  be  turned  into 
ploughshares  and  our  spears  into  pruning  hooks,  and  the  angels 
of  peace  and  righteousness  will  hover  over  us. 

The  social  features  of  the  convention  were  of  an  unusually 
interesting  character.  The  Garrett  family  mansion  had  been 
closed  for  the  winter  but  Miss  Garrett  opened  it  completely,  in- 
vited as  home  guests  Miss  Anthony,  Mrs.  Howe,  Miss  Addams, 
Dr.  Thomas  and  other  distinguished  visitors  and  gave  a  series 
of  entertainments  that  conferred  on  the  convention  a  prestige 
which  added  much  to  its  influence  in  that  conservative  city.  In 
order  that  its  representative  men  and  women  might  meet  the 
officers  and  delegates  Miss  Garrett  had  a  luncheon  and  dinner 
every  day,  the  formal  invitations  reading:  "To  meet  Miss  Susan 
B.  Anthony  and  Governor  and  Mrs.  Warfield";  "To  meet  Miss 
Anthony  and  the  speakers  of  the  College  Evening,"  etc., — on  each 
invitation  Miss  Anthony's  name  preceding  those  of  the  other 
guests  of  honor.  All  of  the  speakers  on  the  College  Women's 
evening  were  her  house  guests  and  after  the  meeting  she  gave  a 
large  reception.  To  quote  again  from  the  Biography:  "No  one 
present  will  ever  forget  the  picture  of  Miss  Anthony  and  Mrs. 
Howe  sitting  side  by  side  on  a  divan  in  the  large  bay  window, 
with  a  background  of  ferns  and  flowers.  At  their  right  stood 
Miss  Garrett  and  Dr.  Thomas,  at  their  left  Dr.  Shaw  and  the 
line  of  eminent  college  women,  with  a  beautiful  perspective  of 
conservatory  and  art  gallery.  .  .  .  There  was  nothing  in  the 
closing  years  of  Miss  Anthony's  life  that  offered  such  encourage- 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1906  183 

ment  and  hope  as  to  see  women  possessing  the  power  of  high  intel- 
lectual ability,  wealth  and  social  position  taking  up  the  cause 
which  she  had  carried  with  patient  toil  through  poverty  and  ob- 
scurity to  this  plane  of  recognition." 

While  Miss  Anthony  was  a  guest  in  the  home  of  Miss  Garrett 
she  and  Dr.  Thomas  asked  her  what  was  the  greatest  service  they 
could  render  to  advance  the  movement  for  woman  suffrage.  She 
answered  that  the  strongest  desire  of  her  later  years  had  been  to 
raise  a  large  fund  for  the  work,  which  was  constantly  impeded 
for  the  lack  of  money,  but  her  impaired  health  had  prevented  it. 
This  need  was  frequently  discussed  during  the  week,  and  before 
the  convention  closed  they  promised  her  that  they  would  try  to 
find  a  number  of  women  who,  like  themselves,  were  unable  to  take 
an  active  part  in  working  for  woman  suffrage  but  sincerely  be- 
lieved in  it,  who  would  be  willing  to  join  together  in  contributing 
ooo  a  year  for  the  next  five  years  to  help  support  the  work  and 
to  show  in  this  practical  way  their  gratitude  to  Miss  Anthony  and 
her  associates  and  their  faith  in  the  cause.1 

The  officers,  speakers  and  delegates  accepted  invitations  of  Pres- 
ident Remsen  to  visit  Johns  Hopkins  University  and  received 
y  posible  attention;  to  a  special  exhibit  at  the  Maryland 
orical  Art  Gallery;  to  a  handsome  afternoon  tea  at  the 
Arundel  Club,  welcomed  by  its  president,  Mrs.  William  M. 
Kllicott;  to  a  large  reception  by  the  Baltimore  Woman  Suffrage 
Club  and  to  other  pleasant  functions. 

The  report  of  Mrs.  Harriet  Taylor  Upton  called  attention  to 

the  receipts  of  $2,000  for  1893  and  $12,150  during  the  past  year, 

-ind  of  thirteen  years  during  which  she  had  been  treasurer. 

•f  that  nowadays  the  association  always  has  funds,"  she 

"give's  us  a  standing  with  the  bankers  and  business  men 

which  works  largely  to  our  credit."     She  spoke  of  the  bequests, 

1  Although   Miss  Anthony   lived   only    one   month    longer   every   day    was   made   happy 
by  the  thouRht  that  those  who  would  carry  on  the  work  would  have  the  great  assistance 
of    this    fund.     A    committee    was    formed    the    following    summer    with    Miss    Garrett    as 
chairman  and  Dr.  Thomas  as  treasurer  and  the  work  of  securing  subscriptions  was  begun 
»  Anthony's  birthday  the  next  year,    1007.     By   May   i   the  $60,000  had  been  sub- 
scribed and  put  at  the  disposal  of  the  national  board  of  officers.     The  sum  was  completed 
by   a   subscription   of   $20,000    from    "a    friend"    and    not    until    after    the    death    of    Mrs. 
tussell  Sage,  who  had  headed  tb<    IJM   with  $5.000,  was  it  known  that  she  was  the  donor. 
•i«ce    had    made    generous    subscriptions    at    other    times.     The    full    list    of    donors 
will  be  found  in  Miss  Anthony's  Biography,  page  1401. 


184  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN     SI'  I-  KRAGE 

which  had  been  put  at  interest,  and  told  of  persons  who  refused 
to  contribute  a  dollar  while  they  remained  unspent.  It  was  the 
hope  of  the  officers,  she  said,  that  they  could  be  used  for  cam- 
paigns and  other  emergencies  and  that  contributions  should  pay 
the  running  expenses,  which  was  now  nearly  accomplished.  The 
disbursements  during  the  year,  including  money  advanced  for  the 
Oregon  campaign,  had  been  $  16,565,  the  amount  above  receipts 
being  taken  from  the  bequests. 

The  College  Women's  meeting  took  place  on  Thursday  and  Miss 
Anthony  was  unable  to  attend  the  convention  the  next  day.  "At 
the  Saturday  morning  session,"  the  Biography  relates,  "Dr.  Shaw 
expressed  the  great  regret  of  all  at  her  enforced  absence  and  their 
gratitude  for  the  excellent  care  she  was  receiving  at  the  home  of 
Miss  Garrett;  but  when  the  afternoon  session  opened,  in  she 
walked !  She  had  learned  that  the  money  was  to  be  raised  at  this 
time  and  she  knew  she  could  help,  so  she  conquered  her  pain  and 
came.  When  contributions  were  called  for  she  was  first  to  respond 
and  holding  out  a  little  purse  she  said :  'I  want  to  begin  by  giving 
you  my  purse.  Just  before  I  left  Rochester  my  friends  gave  me 
a  birthday  party  and  made  me  a  present  of  eighty-six  dollars. 
I  suppose  they  wanted  me  to  do  as  I  liked  with  the  money  and  I 
wish  to  send  it  to  Oregon.'  '  Under  this  inspiration  the  pledges 
soon  reached  $4,000.  Afterwards  Miss  Anthony's  seventeen 
five  dollar  gold  pieces  were  sold  for  $10  each,  and  later  some  of 
them  for  $25. 

Miss  Anthony  was  not  able  to  leave  the  house  for  the  next  two 
days,  to  her  great  sorrow.  The  leading  feature  of  the  Mom  lax- 
evening  session  was  to  be  an  address  by  Mrs.  Howe  but  she  al-o 
•was  too  ill  to  appear,  and  realizing  the  intense  disappointment  this 
would  be  to  the  audience  Miss  Anthony  made  another  heroic 
effort  and  took  her  place  on  the  platform.  The  Rev.  Herbert  S. 
Bigelow  came  from  Cincinnati  to  give  an  address  on  The  Power 
of  an  Idea,  in  which  he  said:  "If  the  world  were  never  again  to 
get  another  new  idea,  progress  would  be  at  an  end.  .  .  .  The 
birth  and  growth  and  struggle  and  triumph  of  one  great  idea 
after  another — this  is  the  story  of  human  progress.  For  more 
than  half  a  century  the  men  and  women  who  championed  the 
of  woman  suffrage  were  made  the  butt  of  ridicule,  yet  in  the  light 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION   OF    1906  185 

of  history  how  ridiculous  are  the  enemies  of  this  idea.  Fifty 
years  ago  no  American  college  but  Oberlin  was  open  to  women. 
Xo\v  a  third  of  the  college  students  in  the  United  States  are 

en."  Mrs.  Fessenden  of  Boston  spoke  eloquently  on  The 
Mount  of  Aspiration,  and  Mrs.  Lydia  A.  Coonley  Ward  of 
Chicago  represented  the  strong,  practical  side  in  her  address  on 
The  Nearest  Duty.  Miss  Alice  Henry  of  Melbourne  gave  an  in- 
teresting account  of  woman  suffrage  in  Australia,  where  women 

possessed  the  complete  franchise,  which  had  been  followed 
by  very  advanced  laws. 

It  was  not  supposed  that  Miss  Anthony  would  be  able  to  speak, 
but.  stimulated  by  the  occasion  and  longing  no  doubt  to  say  what 
she  felt  might  be  her  last  words,  she  came  forward  near  the  close 
of  the  meeting.  A  ^report  of  the  occasion  in  the  New  York 

ling  Post  said: 

The  entire  house  arose  and  the  applause  and  cheers  seemed  to 
last  for  ten  minutes.    Miss  Anthony  looked  at  the  splendid  audience 
of  men  and  women,  many  of  them  distinguished  in  their  genera- 
tion, with  calm  and  dignified  sadness.     "This  is  a  magnificent  sight 
re  me,"  she  said  slowly,  "and  these  have  been  wonderful  ad- 
dresses and  speeches  I  have  listened  to  during  the  past  week.     Yet 
I  have  looked  on  many  such  audiences  and  in  my  lifetime  I  have 
^ed  to  many  such  speakers,  all  testifying  to  the  righteousness, 
'tistice   and   the  worthiness  of   the   cause  of  woman   suffrage. 
I  never  saw  that  great  woman,  Mary  Wollstonecraft,  but  I  have 
her   eloquent  and   unanswerable   arguments   in   behalf   of   the 
liberty  of  womankind.     I  have  met  and  known  most  of  the  progres- 
women  who  came  after  her — Lucretia  Mott,  the  Grimke  sisters, 
!y  Stanton.  Lucy  Stone — a  long  galaxy  of  great  women. 
I  have  heard  them  speak,  saving  in  only  slightlv  different  phrases 
!\    what    I    heard   these   newer  advocates  of   the  cause   say  at 
meeting.     Those   older  women  have  gone  on  and   most  of 
who  worked   with   me  in  the  early  years  have  gone.     I  am 
for  a  little  time  only  and  then  my  place  will  be  filled  as  theirs 
filled.     The  fight  must  not  cease;  you  must  see  that  it  does 

There  were  indeed  Miss  Anthony's  last  words  to  a  woman 
suffrage  convention  and  they  expressed  the  dominant  thought 
which  had  directed  her  own  life — the  fight  must  not  stop! 

The  address  nf  Mr<.  TTmve  was  read  at  a  later  session  by  her 

liter.  Mrs.  Florence  TTowe  Rail,  who  expressed  her  mother's 

disappointment  at  not  being  able  to  be  present  in  person 


1 86  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

and  said  :  "She  regarded  this  convention  as  probably  the  last  she 
should  attend  and  she  hoped  to  clasp  hands  with  many  whom  she 
has  known  in  former  years  and  with  many  whom  she  has  not 
known.  She  has  heard  with  joy  of  its  success  and  sends  you  her 
affectionate  greeting  and  glad  congratulations."  In  the  course  of 
this  scholarly  address  Mrs.  Howe  said : 

I  can  well  recall  the  years  in  which  I  felt  myself  averse  to  the 
participation  of  women  in  political  life.  The  feminine  type  ap- 
peared to  me  so  precious,  so  indispensable  to  humanity,  that  I  dreaded 
any  enlargement  of  its  functions  lest  something  of  its  charm  and 
real  power  should  therein  be  lost.  I  have  often  felt  as  if  some 
sudden  and  unlocked  for  revelation  had  been  vouchsafed  to  me, 
for  at  my  first  real  contact  with  the  suffragists  of,  say,  forty  years 
ago,  I  was  made  to  feel  that  womanhood  is  not  only  static  but  also 
much  more  dynamic,  a  power  to  move  as  well  as  a  power  to 
stay.  True  womanliness  must  grow  and  not  diminish,  in  its  larger 
and  freer  exercise.  Whom  did  I  see  at  that  first  suffrage  meet- 
ing, first  in  mv  experience?  Lucy  Stone,  sweet  faced  and  silver 
voiced,  the  very  embodiment  of  Goethe's  "eternal  feminine";  Wil- 
liam Lloyd  Garrison,  Wendell  Phillips,  Thomas  Wentworth  Hig- 
ginson,  noble  advocates  of  human  freedom ;  Lucretia  Mott,  eloquent 
and  beautiful  in  her  holy  old  age.  What  did  I  hear?  Doctrine 
which  harmonized  with  my  dearest  aspirations,  extending  as  it  did 
the  hope  which  I  had  supposed  was  for  an  elect  and  superior 
few  to  all  the  motherhood  of  the  human  race.  The  new  teach- 
ing seemed  to  me  to  throw  the  door  open  for  all  women  to  come 
up  higher,  to  live  upon  a  higher  plane  of  thought  and  to  exercise 
in  larger  and  more  varied  fields  the  talents,  wonderful  indeed,  to 
which  such  limited  scope  had  hitherto  been  allowed.  I  felt,  too, 
that  the  new  freedom  brought  with  it  an  identity  of  interest  which 
formed  a  bond  of  sisterhood  and  that  the  great  force  of  cooperation 
would  wonderfully  aid  the  promotion  of  objects  dear  to  all  true 
women  alike.  .  .  . 

I  have  sat  in  the  little  chapel  in  Bethlehem  in  which  tradition 
places  the  birth  of  the  Saviour.  It  seems  fitting  that  it  should 
be  adorned  with  offerings  of  beautiful  things  but  while  I  mused 
there  a  voice  seemed  to  say  to  me,  "Look  abroad !  This  divine 
child  is  no  more,  he  has  grown  to  be  a  man  and  a  deliverer.  Go 
out  into  the  world.  Find  his  footsteps  and  follow  them.  Work, 
as  he  did,  for  the  redemption  of  mankind.  Suffer  as  he  did,  if  need 
be,  derision  and  obloquy.  Make  your  protest  against  tyranny,  mean- 
ness and  injustice !" 

The  weapon  of  Christian  warfare  is  the  ballot,  which  repre- 
sents the  peaceable  assertion  of  conviction  and  will.  Society  every- 
where is  becoming  converted  to  its  use.  Adopt  it,  oh,  you  women, 
with  clean  hands  and  a  pure  heart!  Verify  the  best  word  written 
by  the  apostle;  "In  Christ  Jesus  there  is  neither  bond  nor  free, 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1906  187 

neither  male  nor  female,  but  a  new  creature,"  the  harbinger  of  a 
new  creation ! 

On  the  last  evening  Senorita  Carolina  Holman  Huidobro  told 
of  The  Women  of  Chili  and  Argentina  in  the  Peace  Movement. 
Mrs.  Mead  spoke  on  The  World's  Crisis,  and,  with  an  unsurpassed 
knowledge  of  her  subject,  pointed  out  the  vast  responsibility  of 
the  United  States  in  the  cause  of  Peace  and  Arbitration,  saying 
in  part :  "Protected  by  two  oceans,  with  not  a  nation  on  the  hemi- 
sphere that  dares  to  attack  her ;  with  not  a  nation  in  the  world  that 
is  her  enemy,  rich  and  with  endless  resources,  this  most  fortunate 
nation  is  the  one  of  all  others  to  lead  the  world  out  of  the  increas- 
ing intolerable  bondage  of  armaments.  If  the  United  States  will 
take  a  strong  position  on  gradual,  proportional  disarmament  the 

step  may  be  made  toward  it  at  the  second  Hague  conference 
soon  to  be  held.  ...  Of  all  women  the  suffragists  should  be 
alert  and  well  informed  upon  these  momentous  questions.  Our 
battle  cry  today  must  be  'Organize  the  world!'  War  -will  cease 
when  concerted  action  has  removed  the  causes  of  war  and  not 
before." 

Mrs.  Pauline  Steinem,  an  elected  member  of  the  Toledo  (O.) 
school  hoard,  showed  convincingly  the  need  for  Women's  Work- 
on  Hoards  of  Education.  Miss  Harriet  May  Mills  (N.  Y.)  made 
a  clear,  logical  address  on  The  Right  of  Way,  and  Mr.  Blackwell 
<  Mass.)  discussed  from  his  knowledge  of  politics  The  Wooing 

lectors. 

In  closing  the  convention  Dr.  Shaw  expressed  the  hope  that 
if  it  had  brought  no  other  truth  to  the  people  of  Baltimore  it 

-liown  that  women  want  the  ballot  as  a  moans  for  accom- 
plishing the-  things  that  good  men  and  women  wish  to  accomplish. 

made  an  earnest  appeal  for  a  deeper  interest  in  the  highest 
thing>  of  life  and  more  consecrated  work  for  all  that  contributes 
to  the  progress  of  humanity. 


In  order  to  have  the  usual  hearings  before  committees  of  Con- 

the  submission  of  a  woman  suffrage  amendment  to  the 

;al  Constitution  a  large  delegation  went  to  Washington  on 

February   i.j.  the  next  day  after  the  convention  closed,  and  the 


1 88  HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

hearing  was  held  the  morning  of  the  I5th,  Miss  Anthony's  birth- 
day. She  was  not  able  to  attend,  greatly  to  her  own  disappoint- 
ment and  that  of  the  older  speakers,  whose  inspiration  she  had 
been  for  so  long  on  these  occasions.  She  had  arranged  the  first 
one  ever  held  in  1869  and  had  missed  but  two  in  thirty-seven 
years. 

The  hearing  before  the  Senate  Committee  on  Woman  Suffrage 
took  place  in  the  Marble  Room,  as  usual,  Senator  Augustus  O. 
Bacon  of  Georgia  in  the  chair  and  Dr.  Shaw  presiding.  The 
speakers  were  Sefiorita  Huidobro  of  Chili;  Mrs.  Elizabeth  D. 
Bacon,  president  of  the  Connecticut  Suffrage  Association ;  Mrs. 
Mary  Bentley  Thomas  (Md.)  ;  the  Rev.  Antoinette  Brown  Black- 
well  (N.  J.) ;  Miss  Anne  Fitzhugh  Miller  (N.  Y.) ;  Mrs.  Upton, 
Mrs.  Steinem  and  Mrs.  Fessenden. 

The  hearing  before  the  House  Judiciary  Committee,  the  Hon. 
John  J.  Jenkins  ( Wis.),  chairman,  was  in  charge  of  Mrs.  Florence 
Kelley,  first  vice-president  of  the  association.  Mrs.  Blankenburg 
told  of  the  herculean  efforts  of  over  2,000  women  at  the  last  No- 
vember election  of  Philadelphia.  Mrs.  Harriet  A.  Eager  spoke  of 
the  work  of  a  woman's  Committee  of  Moral  Education  in  Boston 
where  there  was  no  law  prohibiting  the  circulation  of  any  kind 
of  literature.  They  went  to  the  Legislature  for  such  a  law  with 
a  petition  from  32,000  of  the  representative  women  of  Massa- 
chusetts and  stayed  there  six  weeks  working  for  it  only  to  have  it 
refused.  She  told  how  the  women  of  the  State  petitioned  fifty- 
five  years  for  a  law  giving  mothers  equal  guardianship  of  their 
children  and  pointed  out  the  helpless  position  of  women  without 
political  power. 

Miss  Kate  M.  Gordon  of  New  Orleans,  corresponding  secre- 
tary of  the  association,  began:  "My  message  this  morning  was 
particularly  for  the  southern  members  of  the  committee  but  I 
shall  have  to  ask  others  present  to  carry  it  to  them,  as  I  do  not 
believe  any  of  them  are  here  although  seven  are  members."  She 
protested  against  the  attitude  of  southern  members  of  Congress 
toward  woman  suffrage  and  expressed  the  deep  resentment  of 
southern  -women  at  their  classification  with  the  disfranchised, 
saying  that  their  men  more  than  all  others  should  feel  the  re- 
sponsibility of  lifting  them  from  their  present  humiliating  po- 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION   OF    1906  189 

sition.  Mrs.  Ella  S.  Stewart,  president  of  the  Illinois  Suffrage 
Association,  based  her  argument  on  simple  justice,  and  said  in 
conclusion :  "Your  power  is  absolute  and  your  responsibility  cor- 
respondingly great.  Humiliating  as  it  is  for  me  to  beg  for 
what  is  mine  from  strangers,  I  would  a  thousand  times  rather  be 
a  defrauded  mendicant  than  to  hold  in  my  hand  the  rights,  the 
destiny  and  the  happiness  of  millions  of  human  beings  and  have 
the  heart  to  deny  their  just  claims." 

Mrs.  Mary  Kenney  O' Sullivan  (Mass.)  spoke  "as  one  repre- 
senting 3,000,000  women  who  have  been  forced  out  of  the  home 
through  necessity,"  and  said  in  the  course  of  her  strong  speech : 
"I  know  that  the  working  -women  of  this  country  are  not  receiv- 
ing the  highest  wages  because  they  have  not  a  vote.  Right  here 
in  \Yashington,  in  your  big  bindery  of  the  Government,  a  trade 
to  which  I  gave  the  larger  part  of  my  life,  the  women  who  do 
equal  work  with  the  men  do  not  receive  equal  pay.  The  Gov- 
ernment more  than  any  other  employer  has  taken  advantage  of 
women  of  my  class  because  they  have  not  a  vote.  .  .  .  The  work- 
men, more  than  any  other  men,  even  more  than  those  who  are 
supposed  to  be  statesmen,  have  seen  the  necessity  for  women  to 
have  a  vote.  Ever  since  1890  the  convention  of  the  American 
Federation  of  Labor  has  unanimously  adopted  a  resolution  favor- 
ing woman  suffrage.  I  do  not  believe  that  any  one  will  deny  that 
the  workingmen  are  the  thinking  men  of  the  country.  I  am 
a-king  you,  in  the  name  of  the  women  I  represent  at  least,  to  do 
for  us  what  our  working  brothers  are  trying  to  do — give  us  our 
rights." 

Mrs.  Lucia  Ames  Mead  said  in  the  course  of  a  long  address : 
"The'  man  -who  talks  about  home  today  as  if  it  still  gave  ample 
npjH»rtunity  for  woman's  productive  activity  as  it  once  did,  is 
talking  alxmt  a  condition  which  is  as  obsolete  as  the  conditions 
before  we  had  railroads  and  telegraphs.  Woman's  educational 
: -limit i( -s  and  productive  capacity  are  so  altered  as  to  require 
her  jx)litical  status  to  be  altered.  .  .  .  There  is  a  class  of 
women  who  do  not  need  to  earn  their  living  and  have  a  large 
leisure.  They  are  not  idle,  they  are  as  active  as  fireflies,  hut  they 
are  not  obliged  to  be  productive  aa  (.-very  human  being-  should  be. 
They  have  more  time  than  men  to  study  and  to  apply  the 


1 9O  HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

principles  of  justice  and  mercy  and  to  do  that  preventive,  educa- 
tional work  which  is  a  better  defense  of  country  than  a  squadron 
of  battleships.  The  suffrage  has  done  much  to  develop  man; 
the  woman  of  leisure  needs  it  to  develop  her ;  the  working  woman 
needs  it  to  obtain  salutary  conditions  under  which  to  earn  her 
living;  the  woman  working  for  reforms  needs  it  so  as  to  ac- 
complish in  a  year  what  otherwise  she  may  wait  for  twenty-five 
years  of  pleading  and  'influence'  to  obtain." 

Miss  Alice  Stone  Blackwell  began  her  address:  "We  are  not 
here  to  ask  you  to  extend  suffrage  to  women  but  to  give  to  the 
State  Legislatures  an  opportunity  to  vote  on  it,  and  probably 
some  practical  considerations  should  be  offered  to  show  that  pub- 
lic sentiment  has  arrived  at  a  point  where  it  seems  to  be  timely 
and  worth  while  that  this  question  should  be  submitted  to  them. 
We  would  like  to  convince  you  that  this  is  only  right.  If  three- 
fourths  of  them  are  not  prepared  to  give  us  suffrage,  we  shall 
not  get  it.  If  three-fourths  of  them  are  prepared,  then  public 
sentiment  has  arrived  at  a  point  where  we  ought  to  have  it."  She 
reviewed  the  advance  of  the  movement  and  said :  "We  could  keep 
this  committee  here  until  next  week  reading  to  them  testimony 
from  representative  men  and  women  as  to  the  good  results  of 
woman  suffrage  where  it  is  in  operation."  The  unimpeachable 
testimony  which  she  then  presented  from  the  equal  suffrage 
States  filled  several  pages  of  the  printed  record. 

Introducing  Mrs.  Kelley,  Chairman  Jenkins  had  spoken  of  her 
father,  William  D.  Kelley,  known  as  the  Father  of  the  House, 
and  she  said : 

It  is  quite  true  that  my  father,  Judge  Kelley  of  Pennsylvania, 
came  to  Congress  in  the  year  in  which  President  Lincoln  was 
first  elected  and  for  twenty-five  years  he  patiently  introduced  at 
every  session  a  resolution  preliminary  to  a  hearing  for  the  woman 
suffragists.  Through  all  that  period  of  ridicule,  when  the  hearings 
were  not  conducted  so  respectfully  or  in  so  friendly  a  manner  as 
:his  one  has  been,  he  continued  to  introduce  that  resolution.  In 
1890  death  removed  him  from  the  House  of  Representatives  and 
[  come  here  as  the  second  generation.  I  assure  you  that  I  and 
:he  rest  of  the  women  throughout  the  country  will  come  from 
generation  to  generation,  just  so  long  as  it  is  necessary.  Next  year 
my  oldest  son  will  vote  and  that  generation  will  take  up  the  task 
on  behalf  of  the  enfranchisement  of  the  women  of  this  country. 
r  .  .  Every  time  we  come  there  is  some  gain  to  record,  but,  be- 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1906  IQI 

tween  the  times,  at  least  1,000,000  new  immigrants  have  come  into 
this  country  who  will  have  to  be  brought  to  the  American  way 
of  thinking  about  women  before  they  will  vote  to  give  the  ballot 
to  those  who  are  born  here  and  whose  forefathers  have  asked 
that  we  be  enfranchised. 

It  is  an  ignominious  way  to  treat  us,  to  send  us  to  the  China- 
man in  San  Francisco,  to  the  enfranchised  Indians  of  other  west- 
ern States,  to  the  negroes,  Italians,  Hungarians,  Poles,  Bohemians 
and  innumerable  Slavic  immigrants  in  Pennsylvania  and  other  min- 
ing States  to  obtain  our  right  of  suffrage.  There  yet  remain  forty- 
three  States  in  which  women  are  not  enfranchised  and  it  looks 
as  if  it  might  take  us  a  hundred  years,  at  the  present  rate  of 
ress,  before  we  can  relieve  you  and  your  successors  from  these 
annual  hearings.  What  we  are  asking  today  is  that  you  shall  take 
a  short  cut  and  not  oblige  our  great-grandchildren  to  come  here 
and  ask  for  a  Federal  Amendment. 

Although  the  women  received  courteous  treatment  and  a  re- 
spectful hearing  from  both  committees  no  report  was  made  by 
either,  and  the  only  advantage  gained  was  that  as  usual  thousands 
of  franked  copies  of  the  hearings  were  sent  to  the  national  suf- 
f  range  headquarters  to  be  distributed  throughout  the  States. 


For  some  time  arrangements  had  been  under  way  to  celebrate 
the  birthday  of  Miss  Anthony  in  the  city  where  this  had  been  so 
often  done  and  which  she  loved  above  all  others.     By  carefully 
conserving  her  strength  she  was  able  to  attend  the  evening  cere- 
monies in  the  Church  of  Our  Father  (Universalist)  where  many 
suffrage  conventions  had  been  held  and  where  six  years  before,  at 
the  age  of  80,  she  had  resigned  the  presidency  and  laid  down  the 
1  for  the  last  time.    Letters  of  congratulation  were  read  from 
ident  Roosevelt,  Vice-President  Fairbanks,  members  of  Con- 
and  other  prominent  men;  from  Mrs.  Russell  Sage,  Mrs. 
Kahella  Beecher  Hooker,  Mrs.  Caroline  E.   Merrick  and  other 
eminent  women,  and  from  organizations  in  this  and  other  coun- 
Well  known  men  and  women  brought  their  greetings  in 
.     To  quote  again  from  her  Biography: 
•i  account  of  her  extreme  weakness  it  was  not  expected  that 
Anthony  would  s|K-ak  but  at   the  elo-e  of  the  evening  she 
'•<!  to  feel  that  she  must  say  one  last  word,  and  rising,  with 
a  tender,  spiritual  expre  — i<>n  on  her  dear   face,  she  stood  beside 
Miss  Shaw  and  explained  in  a  few  touching  words  how  the  great 


HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

•work  of  the  National  Association  had  been  placed  in  her  charge; 
turning  to  the  other  national  officers  on  the  stage  she  reached  out 
her  hand  to  them  and  expressed  her  appreciation  of  their  loyal 
support,  and  then,  realizing  that  her  strength  was  almost  gone, 
she  said:  'There  have  been  others  also  just  as  true  and  devoted 
to  the  cause — I  wish  I  could  name  every  one — but  with  such 
women  consecrating  their  lives' — here  she  paused  for  an  instant 
and  seemed  to  be  gazing  into  the  future,  then  dropping  her  arms 
to  her  side  she  finished  her  sentence — 'failure  is  impossible!' 
These  were  the  last  words  Miss  Anthony  ever  spoke  in  public  and 
from  that  moment  they  became  the  watchword  of  those  who  ac- 
cepted as  their  trust  the  work  she  laid  down."  One  month  later 
to  the  day  she  was  laid  to  rest  with  her  loved  one*. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

NATIONAL  AMERICAN   CONVENTION  OF    1907. 

The  six  preceding-  chapters  have  described  at  length  and  in 
detail  the  annual  conventions  of  the  National  American  Woman 
Suffrage  Association  in  order  to  show  that  those  who  took  part 
in  them  were  the  representative  women  and  men  of  the  day.  Their 
addresses,  reports  of  committees,  resolutions  adopted  and  other 
proceedings  demonstrate  the  wide  scope  of  the  activities  of  this 
organization,  which  from  1869  was  the  foundation  and  the  bul- 
wark of  the  vast  movement  to  obtain  equality  of  rights  for  women. 
The  Thirty-ninth  convention  met  in  Music  Hall,  Fine  Arts  Build- 
ing, Chicago,  Feb.  14-19,  1907,  and  received  a  cordial  welcome 
to  the  State  of  Lincoln,  who  in  1836  was  almost  the  first  public 
man  in  the  United  States  to  declare  in  favor  of  suffrage  for 
women.1  Lorado  Taft's  bust  of  Susan  B.  Anthony,  its  pedestal 

1  Part  of  Call:  The  friends  of  equal  rights  will  come  together  on  this  occasion  with 
an  outlook  even  more  than  usually  bright.  During  the  last  year  full  suffrage  has  been 
granted  to  the  women  of  Finland,  the  greatest  victory  since  full  national  suffrage  was 
given  to  the  women  of  Federated  Australia  in  1902.  Within  the  past  year  the  Municipal 
franchise  has  been  given  to  women  in  Natal,  South  Africa;  national  associations  have 
been  organized  in  Hungary,  Italy  and  Russia  and  the  reports  at  the  recent  meeting  of  the 
International  Alliance  at  Copenhagen  showed  a  remarkable  increase  in  the  agitation  for 
woman  suffrage  all  over  Europe.  In  England,  out  of  the  670  members  of  the  present 
House  of  Commons,  420  are  pledged  to  its  support. 

In  the  United  States  widely  circulated  newspapers  and  magazines  representing  the 
most  opposite  political  views  have  lately  declared  for  woman  suffrage;  the  National 
Grange  and  the  American  Federation  of  Labor  have  unanimously  endorsed  it.  In  Chicago 
•7  organizations  with  an  aggregate  membership  of  10,000  women  have  petitioned  for  a 
Municipal  suffrage  clause  in  the  new  charter  and  the  men  and  women  most  prominent 
in  the  city's  good  works  are  supporting  the  plea. 

:.  and  women  are  natural  complements  of  one  another.  American  political  life 
today  is  marked  by  executive  force  and  business  ability,  qualities  in  which  men  are 
strong,  but  it  is  often  lacking  in  conscience  and  humanity.  These  a  larger  infusion  of 
the  mother  element  would  supply.  We  believe  that  men  and  women  in  co-operation  can 
accomplish  better  work  than  cither  sex  alone.  .  .  . 

ANNA  HOWARD  SHAW,  President. 
FLORENCE  KELLEY,   Vice-President-at-Large. 
KATE  M.  GORDON,  Corresponding  Secretary. 
ALICE  STONE  BLACKWELL,  Recording  Secretary. 
HARRIET  TAYLOR  UPTON,  Treasurer. 
LAURA  d  j 

ANNICE  JEFFREYS  MYERS,    At 


194  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

draped  in  the  Stars  and  Stripes,  adorned  the  platform  and  a  por- 
trait of  Lucy  Stone  looked  down  on  the  speakers  in  serene  bene- 
diction. The  national  president,  Dr.  Anna  Howard  Shaw,  was 
in  the  chair  and  addresses  of  welcome  were  made  for  Illinois  by 
Mrs.  Ella  S.  Stewart,  president  of  the  State  Equal  Suffrage  Asso- 
ciation ;  for  the  churches  by  the  Right  Rev.  Samuel  E.  Fallows, 
Presiding  Bishop  of  the  Reformed  Episcopal  Church;  for  the 
National  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union  by  Mrs.  Susanna 
M.  D.  Fry,  its  corresponding  secretary.  Mrs.  Fannie  J.  Fernald, 
president  of  the  Maine  Suffrage  Association,  and  Mrs.  Mary  S. 
Sperry,  president  of  that  of  California,  responded  and  in  intro- 
ducing them  Dr.  Shaw  said :  "These  responses  from  the  Atlantic 
and  the  Pacific  Coasts  represent  greetings  from  all  the  women 
between  them."  The  presidents  of  the  Chicago  North  Side,  the 
South  Side  and  the  Evanston  Political  Equality  Clubs  were  pre- 
sented and  received  with  applause.  Bishop  Fallows  expressed  the 
wish  that  what  he  should  say  could  be  voiced  by  the  ministers  of 
all  the  churches  in  the  land  and  said :  "I  am  proud  that  from  the 
period  of  the  Civil  \Yar  and  a  little  before,  when  the  cause  of  the 
emancipation  of  the  slave  was  the  foremost  question  of  the  time 
and  was  only  settled  by  the  horrors  of  a  long  struggle — from  that 
time  I  espoused  the  cause  of  woman  suffrage.  I  hope  there  will 
be  no  need  to  fight  for  it  as  we  fought  during  those  long  years  but 
at  least  there  should  be  a  war  of  words  until  women  have  the 
power  to  deposit  a  ballot,  until  they  have  complete  enfranchise- 
ment. Your  case  is  just;  yours  is  a  righteous  cause.  I  cannot 
help  believing  that  the  exercise  of  the  suffrage  by  women  is  neces- 
sary to  the  welfare  and  growth  of  the  nation.  Your  cause  stands 
for  the  home;  it  stands  for  political  purity,  for  civic  righteous- 
ness, for  everything  that  is  for  the  betterment  of  the  State,  and 
I  should  be  guilty  of  high  treason  to  my  deepest  convictions  if 
I  did  not  bid  a  hearty  God-speed  to  your  efforts  until  every  State 
shall  recognize  the  equality  of  woman  before  the  great  law  of 
civic  redemption,  as  God  has  recognized  her  right  before  the  great 
law  of  human  redemption. " 

The  appointment  of  the  usual  committees  was  followed  by  a 
symposium  on  Municipal  Suffrage,  at  this  time  a  vital  issue  in 
Chicago,  as  a  spirited  campaign  was  in  progress  to  secure  a  clause 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQO7 

giving  it  to  women  in  the  new  city  charter  which  a  convention 
was  preparing.1  Mrs.  Ellen  M.  Henrotin  -was  to  preside  but  she 
yielded  to  Mrs.  Florence  Kelley,  who  had  to  leave  the  city,  and 
later  took  Mrs.  Kelley's  place  in  presiding  over  the  symposium  on 
Industrial  Conditions.  Professor  Sophonisba  Breckinridge 
i  Ky.),  of  Chicago  University,  gave  an  able  address  on  Municipal 
Housekeeping,  saying  in  the  course  of  it : 

In  all  the  things  that  make  the  city  a  good  place  in  which  to 
work,  the  woman  is  as  much  concerned  as  any  one.  When  it  comes 
to  the  questions  which  affect  women,  she  has  of  course  a  peculiar 
ability  to  speak,  a  peculiar  responsibility  and  an  obligation  to  assume 
every  right  necessary  to  carry  out  that  responsibility.  It  is  incum- 
bent upon  her  to  secure  the  power  to  move  in  the  most  direct 
way  upon  the  obstacles  which  lie  in  her  path  in  the  controlling 
of  conditions.  ...  It  is  to  the  housekeeper  that  I  want  to  call 
your  attention,  rather  than  to  the  working  woman.  She  has  to 
(iccicle  how  she  will  use  her  time,  energy  and  money  to  promote 
the  life,  health,  comfort  and  welfare  of  her  family.  The  little 
group  must  live  in  a  house.  If  she  resides  in  a  city,  it  is  a  mat- 
ter of  concern  what  shall  be  the  structure  of  it,  whether  made 
of  material  endangering  the  household  or  not;  if  in  an  apartment 
house,  she  is  concerned  in  the  regulations  under  which  such  houses 
are  built  and  controlled,  in  the  fire  escapes,  the  sort  of  gas,  the 
dimensions  of  the  apartments,  the  order  of  the  rooms,  the  plumb- 
ing, etc. 

1 1  is  obvious  that  today  no  woman  can  be  a  competent  housekeeper 

unless  she  has  an  intelligent  knowledge  of  these  subjects.     She  must 

exercise  a  control  over  the  ordinances  and  have  something  to  say 

about  the  men  who  make  these  ordinances  and  who  enforce  them. 

She   has    not   the   power   she  needs   as   a   housekeeper   unless    she 

that  the  officials  of  the  city  are  as  much  responsible  to  her, 

although  they  are  not  chosen  by  her  alone,   as  are  the  domestic 

ants   whom   she   does   select.      Her   collective   responsibility   is 

as  her  individual   responsibility.   .   .   .  Women  cannot 

stop  cither  at  the  bottom  or  the  top  by  asking   for   Municipal   suf- 

If  woman  is  going  to  be  a  complete  housekeeper  she  must 

member  of  a  political  group  and  that  leads  to  the  demand  for 

Municipal,  State  and  Federal  suffrage. 

Miss  Kate  M.  Gordon  (La.)  told  of  the  remarkable  work  the 

icn  of  New  Orleans  had  been  able  to  do  with  their  taxpayers' 

right  to  vote  on  matters  of  special  taxation.     "If  the  women  of 

••art  of  the  country  more  than  another  need  the  suffrage,"  she 

1  The  proposition  was  defeated  during  the  suffrage  convention  by  a  tie,  with  the  clmir- 
man,  Milton  J.  Foreman,  giving  the  drciding  vote  against  it.  [See  Illinois,  Volume  VI.] 


196  HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

declared,  "it  is  those  of  the  South."  The  Chicago  Tribune  com- 
mented :  "As  Miss  Gordon  sat  down  all  the  women  clapped,  many 
waved  handkerchiefs  and  the  applause  continued  several  minutes." 
Mrs.  Lilla  Day  Monroe  described  the  excellent  effects  of  the 
Municipal  suffrage  enjoyed  by  all  women  in  Kansas,  the  only 
State  where  it  existed  in  full.  She  called  attention  to  the  fact  that 
the  next  day,  February  15,  would  be  the  2Oth  anniversary  of  its 
granting  by  the  Legislature.  Miss  Anna  E.  Nicholes  of  Chicago 
spoke  on  The  Ballot  for  Working  Women,  saying  in  part : 

The  women  who  work  in  our  city  have  a  special  claim  to  Munici- 
pal enfranchisement,  inasmuch  as  they  not  only  help  create  Chicago's 
wealth  but  are  subject  to  the  industrial  conditions  regulated  by  the 
city  voters.  .  .  . 

Legislation  is  becoming  more  and  more  industrial  in  its  aspect. 
Abating  sweating  and  its  evils,  inspection  of  toilets,  hygienic  con- 
ditions in  shops  are  now  matters  frequently  controlled  by  our  city 
fathers.  Women  are  more  and  more  coming  into  the  industrial 
field.  The  5,000,000  now  gainfully  employed  in  the  United  States 
represent  one-fifth  of  the  total  number  of  wage-earners  and  this 
number  are  non-voters.  This  is  a  serious  handicap  to  labor  in  its 
efforts  to  secure  humane  industrial  legislation.  ...  To  these  work- 
ing women  this  matter  of  suffrage  is  an  economic  question — a  bread- 
and-butter  necessity.  It  is  a  fact,  acknowledged  by  many  large 
employers  of  labor  and  stated  also  by  Carroll  D.  Wright  in  Gov- 
ernment bulletins,  that  one  of  the  leading  reasons  for  the  prefer- 
ence of  women  wage-earners  to  men  is  that  they  can  be  secured 
more  cheaply.  Employers  are  frank  in  acknowledging  that  the 
women  work  for  less,  that  they  are  more  reliable,  more  temperate, 
less  inclined  to  strike  and  more  faithful. 

It  was  quite  as  much  for  the  industrial  opportunity  as  for  main- 
taining personal  liberty  that  Lincoln  insisted  on  the  necessity  of 
enfranchising  the  negroes.  Such  prominent  economists  as  the 
Webbs  of  England,  Carroll  D.  Wright  and  Richard  T.  Ely  of  our 
own  country  state  that  woman's  lack  of  the  ballot  is  one  of  the 
determining  causes  in  placing  her  in  the  ranks  of  the  cheap  laborer 
with  all  its  attending  evils.  So  placed  she  becomes  a  menace  in 
industry  and  drags  down  the  wages  of  the  men.  At  the  last 
convention  of  the  American  Federation  of  Labor  this  necessity  of 
the  ballot  for  the  working  woman  was  recognized  when  the  reso- 
lution was  adopted  stating  that  woman  would  never  come  into 
the  full  wage  scale  until  she  came  into  her  full  rights  of  citizen- 
ship. ...  To  the  large  body  of  women  in  our  city  who  have  to 
shift  for  themselves  as  completely  as  men  do  Municipal  suffrage 
would  mean  a  higher  rating  industrially,  a  fairer  compensation  for 
their  labor  and  more  possible  living  conditions. 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQO/  197 


Mrs.  Kelley,  who,  as  executive  secretary  of  the  National  Con- 
sumers' League  for  years  and  before  that  as  State  Factory  In- 
spector of  Illinois,  had  an  unsurpassed  knowledge  of  the  condi- 
tions that  affect  women  and  children,  gave  a  scathing  review  of 
the  failure  of  Congress  to  enact  protective  laws  and  of  the  reac- 
tionary decisions  of  Supreme  Courts.  "Do  we  ask  what  this 
has  to  do  with  Municipal  suffrage  ?"  she  inquired  and  answered: 

If  we  are  not  to  be  given  power  to  help  determine  our  own  laws 
by  electing  men  to  Congress  in  the  larger  field  of  the  republic;  and 
if,  one  by  one,  the  States  are  to  repeal  or  annul  the  legislation 
that  once  gave  some  slender  protection  to  women  and  youth,  there 
remains  at  least  the  city.  It  should  be  our  immediate  demand  that 
in  all  matters  of  the  fife  of  a  city  we  shall  have  a  word.  The 
greatest  numbers  of  working  people  are  in  the  cities.  If  our  boards 
of  health,  our  school  boards,  our  street-cleaning  departments,  our 
water  boards  —  if  all  these  local  bodies  which  have  most  to  do 
with  the  health  of  working  people,  as  with  the  health  of  other 
people,  in  the  great  centers  of  population  —  can  be  given  the  addi- 
tional stimulus  which  comes  from  the  lively  interest  of  women, 
("both  those  who  support  themselves  and  those  who  have  more 
leisure),  then  a  very  large  proportion  of  the  working  women  can 
have  more  adequate  care  for  life  and  health  and  the  children  will 
have  education  beyond  that  which  we  have  as  yet  achieved. 

Does  any  one  here  believe  that  if  the  women  had  power  to  make 
themselves  felt  in  the  administration  of  school  affairs  we  should 
have  80,000  children  on  half-time  in  New  York  City?  Truly,  if 
the  mothers  of  these  school  children,  as  well  as  their  fathers,  spoke 
in  the  elections,  the  interest  in  the  schools  would  be  quite  a  differ- 
ent one.  Does  any  one  believe  that  if  the  women  of  this  community 
could  make  themselves  felt  more  effectively  than  by  "persuasion,"  if 
they  could  make  their  will  felt,  we  should  have  such  a  smoky  sky 
as  characterizes  Chicago?  Does  any  one  believe  that  we  should 
to  boil  all  the  water  before  we  dared  to  drink  it?  It  would 
a  vast  difference  if  women  in  American  cities  could  enforce 
their  will  and  conscience  by  the  ballot  instead  of  by  the  indefinitelv 
slow  work  of  persuasion. 

The  first  evening  was  devoted  to  a  more  extended  welcome  and 
t<>  the  president's  address.  On  behalf  of  the  city  Dr.  Howard  S. 

Taylor  represented  Mayor  Fdwanl  F.  Dunne  and  in  an  eloquent 

li  he  reviewed  the  various  epochs  in  the  country's  history. 

kc,    for  instance,'1  he  said,  "the  first  chapter,  when  the  old 

Liberty  Hell  clanged  out  to  the  world  the  doctrine  that  'all  men 

•  qunl  and  endowed  with  certain  inalienable  rights  to 

liberty  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness,  and  to  secure  these  rights 


HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

governments  are  established  among  men  deriving  their  just  powers 
from  the  consent  of  the  governed.'  There  is  no  casuistry,  how- 
ever dextrous,  that  can  take  woman  out  of  that  charter."  He 
referred  to  pioneer  days  and  the  heavy  part  borne  by  women  and 
said:  "But  when  the  foundations  had  been  established  and  the 
pioneer  fathers  got  down  to  writing  the  constitutions  they  left 
the  pioneer  mothers  out."  He  spoke  of  the  time  in  the  '50' s  when 
"the  Government  invited  the  people  from  ail  over  the  world  to 
come  and  help  us  settle  our  political,  social  and  commercial  ques- 
tions but  did  not  invite  American  mothers,  sisters,  wives  and 
daughters."  "Then  came  the  Civil  War,"  he  said,  "and  the  large 
part  taken  in  it  by  women  and  when  the  war  was  over  the  Govern- 
ment made  the  great  army  of  emancipated  slaves  citizens  and  gave 
the  men  the  ballot  but  forgot  the  patriotic  white  women  of  the 
country."  "I  know,"  he  said  in  conclusion,  "that  if  the  women 
of  Chicago  and  Illinois  were  enfranchised  the  corruption  of  the 
city  council  and  the  Legislature  would  be  much  less  than  it  is. 
We  should  have  a  higher  state  of  morals  among  public  men  and 
better  laws  on  the  statute  books." 

When  the  speaker  finished  Dr.  Shaw  observed :  "We  ought  to 
thank  Mayor  Dunne  for  substituting  a  man  like  Dr.  Taylor  for 
himself."  This  brought  Mrs.  Catharine  Waugh  McCulloch  to  her 
feet  to  say :  "Mayor  Dunne  would  have  made  just  as  good  a  suf- 
frage speech  as  Dr.  Taylor."  "I  did  not  intend  any  reflection  on 
the  Mayor,"  answered  Dr.  Shaw  with  a  quiet  smile,  "but  I  think 
he  showed  excellent  judgment." 

The  Chicago  Woman's  Club  of  over  a  thousand  members,  a 
recognized  force  in  the  great  city,  sent  its  greetings  through  its 
president,  Mrs.  Gertrude  E.  Blackwelder.  Mrs.  Minnie  E.  Wat- 
kins,  as  president  of  the  State  Federation  of  Women's  Clubs,  gave 
a  welcome  in  the  name  of  its  membership  of  294  clubs  and  told  of 
the  increasing  growth  of  suffrage  sentiment  araong  them. 
"Through  the  work  of  our  Industrial,  Civil  Service  and  Legisla- 
tive Committees,"  she  said,  "we  have  learned  our  need  of  the 
ballot."  The  Rev.  Charles  R.  Henderson,  Professor  of  Sociology, 
an  earnest  suffragist,  welcomed  the  convention,  saying  in  part : 

As  I  am  to  represent  the  University  of  Chicago,  it  will  not  do 
for  me  to  make  a  speech  on  either  side.  No  one  person  can  rep- 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQO/  1 99 

resent  the  sentiments  of  four  hundred  men,  who  all  the  time  are 
in  an  attitude  of  friendly  hostility  to  anything  that  comes  up.  I 
think,  however,  there  is  one  point  of  sympathy  with  us  who  are 
engaged  in  the  work  of  investigation,  trying  to  get  beyond  the  fron- 
tier of  present  knowledge  of  all  the  sciences.  It  is  this :  As  soon 
ything  comes  to  be  in  the  possession  of  the  majority,  it  loses 
interest  for  us ;  as  long  as  there  is  something  to  do,  we  are  inter- 
ested in  it.  When  the  effort  for  woman  suffrage  is  a  thing  of 
the  past,  then  the  people  will  take  care  of  it.  Our  duty  is  to 
make  the  public  sentiment  and  let  some  one  else  put  it  into  legal 
form.  ...  | 

They  say  that  women  cannot  manage  the  great  questions  of  gov- 
ernment. That  has  yet  to  be  submitted  to  the  final  scientific  test 
\periment.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  today  the  one  highest,  finest, 
noblest  task  of  society,  if  not  of  government,  is  the  task  of  educa- 
tion and  the  inculcation  of  religion  and  of  ideals;  and  in  this  land, 
which  in  most  respects  leads  all  lands,  woman  has  the  first  word 
in  this  matter,  as  hers  is  the  strongest  and  the  wisest  word,  and  her 
influence,  her  thought  and  her  character  lead  upward  and  on.  I 
need  not,  in  this  presence,  argue  the  question. 

I  do  not  speak  merely  for  the  University  of  Chicago.  I  am  proud 
to  belong  to  a  university  of  letters,  a  republic  that  has  its  branches 
in  all  parts  of  the  civilized  world.  And  I  am  glad  that,  from  the 
time  I  started  to  learn  to  read,  in  my  own  education  in  this  Middle 
\Ve<r.  from  my  childhood  with  my  mother,  through  the  church, 
the  Sunday  school,  the  elementary  and  secondary  schools,  the  college 
and  now  the  university,  I  have  seen  women  side  by  side  with 
men.  sharing  the  same  teaching  and  having  the  same  teachers. 
That  is  what  we  stand  for  in  the  Middle  West.  .  .  .  The  founda- 
tion of  our  institutions  throughout  the  West  is  this  fundamental 
law.  not  to  be  changed,  that  if  there  is  any  advantage  to  be  had, 
women  shall  have  it  now  and  forever. 

Miss  Alice  Stone  Blackwell,  national  recording  secretary,  and 

Miss  Jane  Campbell,  secretary  of  the  Pennsylvania  Association, 

responded.    The  Hon.  Oliver  W.  Stewart  spoke  on  The  Logic  of 

I'opular  Government.     He  pointed  out  that  there  has  been  a 

lv  movement  of  mankind  toward  government  by  the  people 

the  people  and  said  in  part: 

In  our  own  country  we  can  see  this  growth  clearly.     Take  the 

<>n  of   i1  .     There  was  at    first   no  thought   that   the 

'.ould  elect  him  but  do  you  not  see  how  quickly  they  assinii- 

tlie   machinery    which    was  provided?      We    have    not    changed 

the   machinery   but    we   have   changed    the   spirit,    so    that    instead  of 

•nil    college    deliberating    and    choosing    a     President,    it    is 

PC    than    a    stenographer    to    take    the    dictation    of    the 

public.     The  people  have  absorbed   the  power  themselves,  and  you 


200  HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

can  write  it  as  true  that  they  do  not  surrender  any  power  which 
they  have  acquired  as  the  result  of  their  own  struggles.  If  any 
change  should  come  it  would  be  to  give  the  people  a  more  direct 
voice  rather  than  a  more  indirect  voice.  Take  the  change  in  the 
convention  system  toward  direct  primaries.  Do  you  not  see  how, 
in  spite  of  politicians,  the  people  have  been  writing  direct  primary 
laws?  It  is  a  part  of  the  general  movement  toward  popular 
government.  .  .  . 

There  is  a  steady  drift  in  this  direction  the  world  over  and  it 
would  be  an  anomalous  condition  if  that  movement  could  exist  and 
there  could  be  at  the  same  time  a  retrograde  movement  as  to  the 
rights  of  women.  ...  I  have  grown  philosophical  with  reference  to 
the  temporary  defeats  that  we  suffer.  The  thing  to  do  is  to  com- 
miserate those  who  bring  about  the  defeats.  I  look  at  the  black 
disgrace  with  which  they  will  live  in  history  who  said  they  would 
die  for  their  own  rights  and  yet  were  tyrants  enough  to  deny  the 
rights  of  others.  .  .  .  The  hour  is  quickly  coming  when  the  genius 
of  our  government,  where  it  is  true  to  itself,  will  have  to  give 
the  ballot  to  womankind.  May  that  day  come  speedily! 

This  was  Dr.  Shaw's  6oth  birthday  and  many  pleasant  refer- 
ences had  been  made  to  it  by  the  delegates.  She  began  her  presi- 
dent's address  by  saying:  "We  have  never  before  been  more 
enthusiastic  than  today.  Victory  has  not  come  in  the  United 
States  but  we  are  not  working  for  ourselves  alone.  Wherever 
freedom  comes  to  any  woman  that  is  our  victory  and  when  the 
new  constitution  of  Finland  granted  absolute  equality  to  its 
woman  citizens,  that  was  our  victory."  Municipal  suffrage  had 
been  given  to  the  women  of  Natal,  South  Africa,  she  said :  "and 
now  at  the  foot  of  Mt.  Ararat,  where  the  ark  rested,  the  Catholi- 
cos,  or  High  Priest  of  that  conservative  people  and  religion,  the 
Armenians,  has  issued  an  edict  that  the  women  of  the  church  shall 
not  only  have  a  voice  in  the  election  of  its  officers  but  also  shall 
be  eligible  to  official  position."  She  referred  to  the  recent  defeat 
of  the  suffrage  amendment  in  Oregon  and  said:  "All  honor  to 
those  37,000  men  who  voted  for  it;  their  descendants  will  not 
be  ashamed  of  their  fathers'  act.  There  are  today  organizations 
of  Sons  and  Daughters  of  the  American  Revolution  and  there 
will  some  day  be  one  of  'Sons  and  Daughters  of  the  Evolution 
of  Women's  Freedom,'  but  there  will  never  be  one  of  the  Tories 
who  fought  against  that  Revolution  or  this  Evolution,"  and  she 
continued : 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQO7  2OI 

This  year  I  took  for  my  motto  those  splendid  words :  'Truth  loses 
many  battles  but  always  wins  its  war."  We  did  not  win  save  as 
tin 'si'  who  fight  for  the  truth  are  always  the  people  who  win. 
There  never  was,  there  never  will  be  greater  defeat  in  any  human 
life  than  the  victory  which  comes  to  the  man  or  woman  who  is 
fighting  against  the  truth,  and  there  never  can  be  a  greater  victory 

Y  human  soul  than  the  fact  that  it  is  fighting  for  the  truth, 
whether  it  wins  or  not.  .  .  .  This  has  been  a  year  of  victory  in 
that  more  women  have  been  enfranchised  than  in  any  preceding 
year.  We  have  the  largest  membership  that  we  have  ever  had. 
\\V  come  together  in  hope  and  in  the  firm  determination  that  we 
will  fight  it  out  on  this  line  if  it  takes  all  summer  and  all  the 
summers  of  our  life,  and  then  the  battle  will  not  be  finished. unless 
the  victory  is  absolutely  won  for  all  women.  .  .  .  While  we  have 
rejoice  we  have  also  cause  for  sorrow.  As  an  organiza- 
tion it  has  been  the  saddest  year  we  have  known  or  ever  can  know, 

there  has  gone  out  from  among  us  the  visible  presence  of 
her  who  was  our  leader  for  over  fifty  years,  and  I  have  just 
come  with  others  directly  from  the  home  in  Rochester  where  we 
attended  the  funeral  services  of  the  dear  sister  Mary,  who  was 
the  first  of  the  two  to  enter  the  movement  and  was  always  the 
faithful  co-worker  and  home-maker.  Both  have  folded  their  hands 
in  rest  since  our  last  convention.  Each  gave  her  whole  life  to  the 
of  woman  and  each  in  passing  away  left  all  she  had  to  this 
rause.  The  sorrow  is  ours,  the  peace  and  the  triumphal  reward  of 
loving  service  are  theirs.  I  hope  we  shall  spend  no  time  in  mourn- 

JK!  turning  to  the  past  but  with  our  faces  toward  the  future, 
strengthened  by  the  inspiration  we  have  received  from  our  great 

r.  go  on  fighting  her  battle  and  God's  battle  until  the  complete 
victory  is  won. 

With  two  exceptions  this  was  the  only  national  convention  dur- 

the  thirty-nine  years  that  had  not  been  animated  by  the 

'•nee  of  Miss  Anthony  and  the  second  day — February  15,  her 

birthday — was  largely  devoted  to  her.1     There  were  three 

reports  on  Memorials.    One  was  presented  by  Mrs.  May  Wright 

til    (Tnd.)    for  the  Executive   Committee  of   the   National 

Council  of  Women  and  contemplated  a  bust  to  be  executed  in 

marble  by  the  sculptor,  Adelaide  Johnson,  who  had  made  the  one 

in  the  Metropolitan  Museum,  New  York.     A  second  was  pre- 

"d  by  Mrs.  Mary  T.  Lewis  Gannett  of  Rochester,  N.  Y.,  for 

an  Anthony  Memorial  Building  for  the  women  students  of  the 

"Mis*  Anthony  hrlprd  arrange  for  the  first  National  Woman  Suffrage  Convention 
•nd  it  was  held  in  Washington  in  January,  1869.  From  that  time  to  1906  the  missW 
but  two  of  these  annual  meetings,  when  she  was  speaking  in  the  far  West  under  the 
auspices  of  a  lecture  bureau,  and  each  time  she  sent  the  proceeds  of  a  week's  lecture* 


as  her  contribution. 
VOL    v 


2O2  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN     SIM-FRAGE 

university  of  that  city,  who  had  been  admitted  largely  through 
the  effort  of  Miss  Anthony.  [Life  and  Work,  page  1221.]  A 
third  was  for  a  $100,000  Memorial  Fund  for  the  work  of  the 
National  American  Association.  The  report  of  the  committee 
for  this  third  fund,  which  was  presented  by  Mrs.  Avery,  stated 
that  the  nearness  of  success  for  woman  suffrage  now  depended 
on  securing  the  money  to  do  the  necessary  work  of  propaganda, 
organization,  publicity,  etc.,  and  that  the  most  fitting  memorial 
to  Miss  Anthony  would  be  a  fund  of  not  less  than  $100,000  to  be 
used  exclusively  for  "the  furtherance  of  the  woman  suffrage 
cause  in  the  United  States  in  such  amounts  and  for  such  pur- 
poses as  the  general  officers  of  the  association  shall  from  time  to 
time  deem  best."  It  also  provided  that  the  officers  should  be 
permitted  to  select  eleven  women  to  act  as  trustees  of  this  fund, 
six  of  whom  should  be  from  the  official  board.  This  report  w.'is 
unanimously  adopted.  Mrs.  Upton,  the  national  treasurer,  at 
once  appealed  for  pledges  and  the  delegates  responded  with  about 
$24,000.  The  business  committee  of  the  association  elected  as 
its  six  members  Dr.  Shaw,  Mrs.  Avery,  Mrs.  Upton,  Miss  Black- 
well,  Miss  Gordon  and  Miss  Clay.  Mrs.  Henry  Villard  of  New 
York;  Mrs.  Pauline  Agassiz  Shaw  of  Boston  and  Miss  Jane 
Addams  of  Chicago  were  the  only  others  selected.1 

According  to  the  custom  for  a  number  of  years  Miss  Lucy  K. 
Anthony  was  requested  to  present  in  the  name  of  the  association 
framed  portraits  of  Miss  Anthony  to  various  institutions — in  this 
instance  to  Hull  House  and  the  Chicago  Political  Equality  League. 
Telegrams  were  received  from  the  Mayor  of  Des  Moines,  la. ; 
from  the  Utah  Council  of  Suffrage  Women ;  from  the  Intcrurban 
Woman  Suffrage  Council  of  Greater  New  York,  saying  they  had 
observed  the  day  by  opening  headquarters,  and  from  a  number 
of  other  sources  telling  that  the  birthday  was  being  celebrated 
in  ways  that  would  have  been  pleasing  to  Miss  Anthony. 

The  evening  memorial  services  were  beautiful  and  impressive. 

1  Through  lack  of  initiative  and  effort  the  money  for  the  bust  was  never  raised.  For 
Mrs.  Gannett's  report  and  other  matter  about  the  Memorial  Building  see  the  Appendix  to 
this  chapter.  See  also  page  442,  Volume  VI.  Reports  on  the  Memorial  Fund  were  made 
to  the  convention  year  after  year.  The  intention  at  first  was  to  create  a  fund  and  use 
only  the  interest  but  immediate  demands  were  so  urgent  that  the  money  subscribed  was 
appropriated  as  needed  and  an  audited  account  given  by  the  national  treasurer  at  each 
annual  convention. 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1 907  2C»3 

Mason  Slade  at  the  organ  rendered  the  great  chorus — Guilmant ; 
Cantilene — Wheeldon;  Marche  Militaire — Schubert.  The  Rev. 
Mecca  Marie  Varney  of  Chicago  offered  prayer.  During  the 
evening  Miss  Marie  Ludwig  gave  an  exquisite  harp  solo  and  Mrs. 
Jennie  F.  W.  Johnson  sang  with  deep  feeling  Tennyson's  Cross- 
ing the  Bar,  a  favorite  poem  of  Miss  Anthony's.  A  telegram  of 
greeting  from  the  International  Woman  Suffrage  Alliance  was 
sent  through  its  president,  Mrs.  Carrie  Chapman  Catt.  A  tribute 
of  an  intimate  and  loving  nature  was  paid  by  Miss  Emily  How- 
land  of  Sherwood,  a  friend  of  half  a  century,  in  which  she  said : 
"The  first  time  I  ever  met  Miss  Anthony  was  at  an  anti-slavery 
meeting  in  my  own  shire  town  of  Auburn,  N.  Y.,  which  was 
broken  up  by  a  mob  and  we  took  refuge  with  Mrs.  Martha  Wright, 
a  sister  of  Lucretia  Mott."  She  spoke  of  Miss  Anthony's  "genius 
for  friendship"  and  quoted  the  lines :  "The  bravest  are  the  tender- 
est,  the  loving  are  the  daring."  Mrs.  Rachel  Foster  Avery  gave 
a  number  of  instances  during  their  travel  in  Europe  which 
showed  Miss  Anthony's  strong  humanitarianism. 

Mrs.  Fannie  Barrier  Williams  of  Chicago  paid  touching  tribute 
in  behalf  of  the  colored  people,  in  which  she  said:  "My  presence 
cm  this  platform  shows  that  the  gracious  spirit  of  Miss  Anthony 
still  survives  in  her  followers.  .  .  .  When  Miss  Anthony  took  up 
the  cause  of  women  she  did  not  know  them  by  their  color,  nation- 
ality, creed  or  birth,  she  stood  only  for  the  emancipation  of  women 
from  the  thraldom  of  sex.  She  became  an  invincible  champion 
of  anti-slavery.  In  the  half  century  of  her  unremitting  struggle 
for  liberty,  more  liberty,  and  complete  liberty  for  negro  men  and 
women  in  chains  and  for  white  women  in  their  helpless  subjection 
to  man's  laws,  she  never  wavered,  never  doubted,  never  compro- 
d.  She  held  it  to  be  mockery  to  ask  man  or  woman  to  be 
happy  or  contented  if  not  free.  She  saw  no  substitute  for  liberty. 
When  slavery  was  overthrown  and  the  work  of  reconstruction 
began  she  was  still  unwearied  and  watchful.  She  had  an  inti- 
mate acquaintance  with  the  leading  statesmen  of  the  times.  Her 
judgment  and  advice  were  i  ;  and  heard  in  much  of  the 

legislation   that   gave  a   status  of  citizenship  to  the  million 
• 

The  principal  address  was  made  by  the  Rev.  Jenkin  Lloyd  Jones 


2O4  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

of  Chicago,  a  devoted  friend,  with  whose  courageous  and  inde- 
pendent spirit  Miss  Anthony  had  been  in  deep  sympathy.1  Trib- 
utes were  paid  to  other  devoted  adherents  to  the  cause  who  had 
died  during  the  year  and  Henry  B.  Blackwell  in  closing  his  own 
said :  "The  workers  pass  on  but  the  work  remains."  Dr.  Shaw 
took  up  the  words,  making  them  the  text  of  a  beautiful  memorial 
address,  calling  the  long  list  one  by  one,  beginning  with  the  An- 
thony sisters  and  Mrs.  Isabella  Beecher  Hooker  and  naming 
among  the  other  veteran  workers:  Rosa  L.  Segur,  Ohio;  Emily  B. 
Ketcham,  Michigan ;  the  Hon.  H.  S.  Greenleaf ,  Professor  Henry 
A.  Ward,  Eliza  Thayer,  Emogene  Dewey  and  Mrs.  James  Sar- 
gent, New  York ;  Virginia  Durant  Young,  South  Carolina ;  Ellen 
Powell  Thompson,  District  of  Columbia ;  Laura  Moore,  Vermont ; 
Mrs.  Henry  W.  Blair  and  Mrs.  Oliver  Branch,  New  Hampshire ; 
Susan  W.  Lippincott,  New  Jersey,  and  many  others. 

The  all-pervading  spirit  of  the  convention  was  that  of  carry- 
ing forward  Miss  Anthony's  work.  The  board  of  officers  was  re- 
elected  almost  unanimously  except  that  Dr.  Jeffreys  Myers,  who 
wished  to  retire  as  second  auditor,  was  replaced  by  Mrs.  Mary  S. 
Sperry  of  San  Francisco.  Mrs.  Avery,  for  twenty-one  years  cor- 
responding secretary,  had  returned  from  a  long  sojourn  in  Europe 
and  the  desire  was  so  strong  to  have  her  on  the  board  again  that 
the  office  of  second  vice-president  was  created.  At  Mrs.  Florence 
Kelley's  insistence  she  was  allowed  to  yield  the  first  vice-presi- 
dency to  Mrs.  Avery  and  take  the  second  place  as  having  less 
responsibility. 

The  report  of  the  headquarters  secretary,  Miss  Elizabeth  J. 
Hauser,  told  of  the  sending  out  of  19,000  letters  and  182,264 

»  In  the  Life  and  Work  of  Susan  B.  Anthony  Chapter  LXXIV  begins:  "The  death 
of  no  woman  ever  called  forth  so  wide  an  editorial  comment  as  that  of  Miss  Anthony, 
except  possibly  that  of  Queen  Victoria,  whose  years  in  public  life  numbered  about  the 
same.  On  the  desk  where  this  is  written  are  almost  one  thousand  editorials,  representing 
all  the  papers  of  consequence  in  the  United  States  and  many  in  other  countries,  and 
they  form  what  may  be  accepted  without  reserve  as  the  consensus  of  thought  in  the 
early  years  of  the  twentieth  century  in  regard  to  Miss  Anthony  and  the  work  she 
accomplished." 

Over  eighty  pages  of  extracts  from  these  editorials  are  given  and  several  memorial 
poems.  A  large  number  of  magazines  in  this  and  other  countries  contained  sketches  and 
articles  from  which  quotations  are  made.  Tributes  of  her  biographer  were  published  in 
the  April  numbers  of  the  Review  of  Reviews  and  the  North  American  Review,  and  on  the 
week  following  her  death  in  Collier's  and  the  New  York  Independent. 

In  Chapter  LXXI  and  following  in  the  Biography  are  full  accounts  of  Miss  Anthoay's 
death  and  funeral  services. 


NATIONAL  AMERICAN  CONVENTION  OF  1907  205 

pieces  of  literature  within  the  year.  It  gave  the  names  of  many 
eminent  men  and  women  who  were  contributors  to  this  literature, 
much  of  which  first  appeared  in  prominent  magazines  and  news- 
papers, and  spoke  of  the  excellent  propaganda  work  of  The  Public, 
edited  by  Louis  F.  Post.  It  emphasized  the  important  accession 
of  the  North  American  Review  and  the  Harper  publications, 
which  had  come  under  the  management  of  Colonel  George 
Harvey.  The  report  told  of  the  bequest  of  Miss  Anthony  to  the 
National  American  Association  of  all  the  remaining  bound  vol- 
umes of  the  History  of  Woman  Suffrage,  which  had  been  sent  to 
the  headquarters  and  weighed  ten  tons.1  Fifty  sets  had  been 
sold  during  the  year.  Files  of  the  Reports  of  the  national  con- 
ventions from  1900  to  1906  inclusive  had  been  placed  in  one  hun- 
dred of  the  largest  libraries  in  the  United  States.  The  associa- 
tion arranged  with  Mrs.  Harper  for  the  exclusive  sale  of  the  Life 
and  Work  of  Susan  B.  Anthony.  The  convention  voted  that 
Progress,  edited  by  Mrs.  Upton,  should  be  changed  to  a  weekly 
and  enlarged,  and  every  suffrage  club  was  urged  to  subscribe  for 
Jus  Svffragii,  the  official  paper  of  the  International  Woman  Suf- 
frage Alliance.  Thousands  of  copies  of  new  and  valuable  litera- 
ture had  been  sold.  After  the  press  work  -was  turned  over  to  the 
headquarters  1,200  copies  of  articles  of  national  interest  were 
supplied  each  week  to  the  fifty-eight  State  chairmen  of  the  press 
committee  from  July  to  January  and  28,875  copies  of  118  news 
it t-nis  and  50  special  articles  were  sent  to  prominent  newspapers. 
The  important  work  with  organizations  and  their  conventions 
•was  not  neglected  and  during  the  past  year  they  were  asked  specifi- 
cally for  a  resolution  calling  on  Congress  to  submit  a  Federal 
Woman  Suffrage  Amendment,  with  the  following  result: 

The  American  Federation  of  Labor  at  its  annual  meeting  in  Min- 

rovered  this  request  in  a  series  of  carefully  worded  resolu- 

(  )tluT  important  organizations  which  gave  official  endorsement 

within   the  year  are  the  World's  Woman's  Christian  Temperance 

•n,  National  Purity  Conference,  National  Free  Baptist  Woman's 

ry  Society,  Spiritualists  of  the  United  States  and  Canada, 

1  By  vote  of  the  convention  these  volumes  were  to  be  presented  to  the  club  or  indi- 
vidual member  under  whose  auspices  a  new  club  of  not  less  than  twenty  paid  up  members 
bad  been  formed  and  remained  in  active  existrnce  for  not  less  than  a  year  and  was 
properly  certified.  The  following  year  the  Kxccutive  Committee  voted  to  place  300  sets 
in  public  libraries. 


2O6  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

Ladies  of  the  Modern  Maccabees,  International  Brotherhood  of 
Bookbinders,  International  Brotherhood  of  Teamsters,  Patrons  of 
Husbandry,  National  Grange,  and  the  United  Mine  Workers  of 
America.  To  these  we  may  add  the  fourteen  other  national  organi- 
zations reported  in  previous  years  which  have  received  fraternal 
delegates  from  our  association  or  given  formal  endorsement,  mak- 
ing a  total  of  twenty-five  large  associations  which  responded  favor- 
ably to  our  "convention  resolutions"  requests. 

For  the  first  time  the  General  Federation  of  Women's  Clubs  in- 
vited our  president  to  take  part  in  the  program  at  the  Biennial. 
Resolutions  have  been  reported  to  headquarters  from  the  State 
W.  C.  T.  U.'s  of  seven  States;  the  Letter  Carriers'  Associations  of 
Illinois,  Ohio,  New  York  and  Pennsylvania;  the  State  Granges  of 
thirteen  States;  the  State  Federations  of  Labor  of  fifteen  States. 
The  Prohibitionists  of  eight  States  have  had  woman  suffrage  in 
their  party  platforms;  the  Socialists  always  declare  for  it  and  in 
California  the  Democrats,  the  Independence  League  and  the  Union 
Labor  parties  incorporated  planks  in  their  State  platforms.  The 
State  Teachers'  Associations  of  California  and  Illinois,  the  Sons 
of  Temperance  of  Connecticut  and  Illinois,  the  Good  Templars  of 
Maine,  the  Congress  of  Mothers  and  the  Federations  of  Women's 
Clubs  of  Illinois  and  New  Hampshire  are  among  other  organiza- 
tions which  have  acted  favorably  on  some  phase  of  the  woman 
suffrage  question.1 

Saturday  afternoon  was  devoted  entirely  to  social  affairs.  They 
began  with  a  luncheon  given  at  Hull  House  by  Miss  Jane  Addams 
to  officers,  delegates  and  alternates,  after  which  the  activities  of 
this  remarkable  institution  were  explained.  Systematic  sight- 
seeing was  carried  out,  groups  of  the  guests  being  personally  con- 
ducted to  the  Field  Columbian  Museum,  the  Art  Museum,  the 
big  department  stores  and  other  points  of  interest.  One  group 
went  to  Chicago  University,  where  Dr.  Shaw  addressed  the  stu- 
dents of  the  Women's  Union  and  the  College  Girls'  Suffrage 
Club.  Afterwards  they  were  entertained  by  the  Dean  of  Women, 
Miss  Marian  Talbot.  In  the  evening  the  Chicago  Woman's  Club 
gave  a  large  reception,  its  president,  Mrs.  Blackwelder,  and  the 
chairman  of  the  Social  Committee,  Miss  Clara  Dixon,  being  as- 
sisted in  receiving  by  the  officers  of  the  association.  Its  hand- 
some club  rooms  in  the  Fine  Arts  Building  were  placed  at  the 
service  of  the  delegates  throughout  the  convention. 

Ministers  of  Chicago  who  opened  the  sessions  with  prayers 

1  This  work  was  continued  year  after  year  until  the  list  became  far  too  large  to  publish. 
Not  one  organization,  save  a  few  connected  with  the  liquor  business,  ever  adopted  a 
resolution  against  woman  suffrage  except  the  anti-suffrage  societies  themselves. 


NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1907  2O/ 

were  Dr.  J.  A.  Rondthaler  of  the  Normal  Park  Presbyterian 
Church;  Dr.  Austin  K.  de  Blois  of  the  First  Baptist  Church,  and 
the  Rev.  Jean  F.  Loba  of  the  First  Congregational  Church, 
Evanston.  A  number  of  pulpits  in  the  city  were  filled  by  officers 
and  delegates  Sunday  morning.  The  Studebaker  Theater  -was 
taken  for  the  regular  service  of  the  convention  in  the  afternoon 
in  order  to  accommodate  the  large  audience.  The  Rev.  Kate 
Hughes  of  Chicago  offered  prayer.  Dr.  Shaw  presided  and  read 
a  message  from  Miss  Mary  S.  Anthony  dictated  a  few  days 
before  her  death,  when  Miss  Shaw  asked  her  what  word  she  would 
like  to  send  to  the  convention.  It  said  in  part: 

Until  we,  a  so-called  Christian  nation,  put  into  practice  those 
principles  of  justice  which  we  claim  are  the  foundation  of  our 
national  greatness,  we  cannot  hope  to  inspire  confidence  in  the 
people  of  the  world  in  our  lofty  pretensions  of  freedom  and  fair 
play  for  all.  The  wrong  which  today  outranks  all  others  is  the 
disfranchisement  of  the  mothers  of  the  race.  So  long  as  this  injus- 
tice toward  women  continues,  just  so  long  will  men  fail  to  recognize 
justice  in  its  application  to  each  other.  This  one  question  puts  all 
else  into  the  background  and  until  we  can  establish  equality  between 
men  and  women  we  shall  never  realize  the  full  development  of 
which  manhood  and  womanhood  are  capable.  Because  I  believe 
this  so  thoroughly  I  have  given  the  best  of  myself  and  the  best 
work  of  my  life  to  help  obtain  political  freedom  for  women,  know- 
ing that  upon  this  rests  the  hope  not  only  of  the  freedom  of  men 
but  of  the  onward  civilization  of  the  world.  I  therefore  urge 
upon  the  delegates  and  members  of  the  National  Association  not  to 
lose  courage,  no  matter  what  befalls,  but  to  work  on  in  hope  and 
faith,  knowing  well  that  the  time  of  the  coming  of  woman's  politi- 
cal lilxrty  depends  largely  upon  the  zeal  and  unwearying  service 
of  those  who  believe  in  its  justice. 

The  Rev.  Herbert  S.  Bigelow  of  Cincinnati  in  a  strong  address 
showed  the  Value  of  the  Ballot.  Miss  Addams  told  with  much 
feeling  of  the  recent  campaign  for  the  Municipal  franchise,  the 
objections  they  had  to  meet,  the  character  of  the  opposition  and 
how  hard  it  was  for  women  to  be  patient. 

Rabbi  Kinil  G.  Hirsch  gave  an  able  address  under  the  title 
"Why  Not?"  a  study  in  Prejudice  and  Superstition,  reviewing 
the  objections  to  woman  suffrage  and  finding  their  origin  in  Ori- 
entalism, in  the  military  ideal,  in  political  expediency.  He  ended 
his  refutation  of  all  of  them  by  saying:  "All  our  American 
itutions  will  be  protected  and  benefited  when  we  open  the 


2O8  HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

doors  and  give  -women,  who  never  should  have  been  denied  it, 
the  right  to  govern  themselves,  to  govern  the  country  in  conjunc- 
tion with  men  and  to  decide  the  issues  that  affect  their  own  inter- 
ests. Men  have  had  this  right  for  themselves  alone  too  long. 
The  day  will  come,  my  sisters,  when  the  conscience  of  the  world 
will  be  aroused  to  such  a  degree  that  no  one  will  dare  question 
the  justice  of  your  movement." 

Many  greetings  were  received  through  letters,  telegrams  and 
fraternal  delegates.  Prof.  John  A.  Scott,  representing  president 

A.  M.  Harris  of  Northwestern  University,  Evanston,  brought  an 
invitation  for  speakers  to  address  the  students  and  Miss  Gordon 
and  Miss  Caroline  Lexow  responded.     In  his  greeting  Professor 
Scott  said:  "I  believe  in  woman  suffrage  because  I  believe  in 
the  home.  ...  I  don't  care  a  whit  for  the  argument  that  women 
with  property  should  have  a  vote.     Property  will  always  be  rep- 
resented and  it  does  not  so  much  matter  whether  the  property- 
holding  women  have  a  vote  or  not  but  it  is  of  immense  importance 
to  those  women  who  work  for  their  living.     That  they  have  no 
representation  is  a  great  menace  to  those  who  are  nominally  free 
but  who  must  compete  with  slaves.    Women  are  economic  entities 
and  they  should  be  represented.    Labor  without  representation  is 
as  wrong  as  taxation  without  representation." 

E.  M.  Nockels,  fraternal  delegate  from  the  American  Federa- 
tion of  Labor,  addressed  the  convention  and  read  a  letter  from 
its  president,  Samuel  Gompers,  expressing  the  hope  of  universal 
suffrage  for  women.  Mrs.  Emma  S.  Olds  brought  greetings  from 
the  Ladies  of  the  Maccabees  of  the  World,  and  Mrs.  Martin 
Barbe,  the  first  vice-president,  from  the  National  Council  of 
Jewish  Women.  A  letter  from  Mrs.  Mary  Wood  Swift 
(Calif.),  president  of  the  National  Council  of  Women,  gave  its 
fraternal  greetings.  A  cordial  letter  was  read  from  Mrs.  Mary 

B.  Clay  of  Kentucky  and  telegrams  from  Mrs.  Mary  C.  C.  Brad- 
ford, Dr.  Frances  Woods,  Mrs.  Ida  Porter  Boyer  and  the  Cana- 
dian Woman  Suffrage  Association.     Telegrams  of  appreciation 
were  sent  to  Julia  Ward  Howe,  Clara  Barton,  Caroline  E.  Mer- 
rick,  Emily  P.   Collins,   Col.   T.  W.   Higginson,   Margaret  W. 
Campbell,  Judith  W.  Smith,  Caroline  M.  Severance,  Emma  J. 
Bartol,  Armenia  S.  White,  Elizabeth  Smith  Miller,  Ellen  S.  Sar- 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1 907  2OQ 

gent,  Sarah  L.  Willis  and  Charlotte  L.  Pierce,  all  old  and  beloved 
suffrage  workers. 

The  symposium  on  Industrial  Conditions  of  Women  and  Chil- 
dren, with  Mrs.  Henrotin  presiding,  occupied  one  afternoon.  She 
pointed  out  the  revolution  in  the  work  of  women  by  its  being 
taken  from  the  home  into  the  open  market  where  they  had  to 
follow ;  described  their  handicaps,  the  immense  importance  of  their 
labor,  the  business  ability  that  many  had  developed,  the  property 
they  had  accumulated,  the  taxes  they  pay;  she  said  if  they  had  a 
voice  in  deciding  how  these  taxes  should  be  spent  it  would  not 
only  be  a  splendid  thing  for  the  city  financially  but  morally,  and 
urged  that  they  should  have  the  power  of  the  suffrage.  Graham 
Romeyn  Taylor  of  Chicago  paid  high  tribute  to  the  work  of 
women's  organizations  in  all  movements  for  civic  improvement 
and  described  that  of  the  Women's  Clubs  in  Chicago;  spoke  of 
the  Consumer's  League  also  and  declared  the  Women's  Trade 
Union  League  most  effective  of  all  in  bettering  the  condition  of 
working  women.  He  predicted  close  cooperation  between  this 
League  and  the  National  Suffrage  Association.  Miss  Alice  Henry 
of  Australia  spoke  very  effectively  from  her  knowledge  of  the 
conditions  of  labor  in  her  own  country  and  the  investigation  she 
was  making  in  the  United  States.  Miss  Casey,  president  of  the 
Chicago  Working  Women's  Suffrage  Association,  gave  facts  from 
personal  knowledge  showing  their  need  of  the  vote.  James  C. 
Kelliher,  former  president  of  the  National  Letter  Carriers'  Asso- 
ciation, spoke  briefly  and  to  the  point.  Miss  Mary  McDowell  of 
(  hicago  made  the  principal  address  entitled  The  Working  Women 
as  a  National  Asset,  in  which  she  showed  how  little  conception 
Congress  and  the  Courts  had  of  the  legislation  needed  in  their 
behalf  and  the  sins  of  omission  and  commission  that  had  resulted. 
In  closing  she  said : 

We  need  a  body  of  facts  so  strong  that  the  Judiciary  will  see 

the  li.ulit.     We  need  a  body  of   facts  that  will  teach  housekeepers 

0  srorn  these  women  because  they  can  not  get  a  cook.     We 

a  body  of  facts  to  teach  working  men  that  this  work  of  women 

•nething  which  has  come  to  stay.     Thru-  are  going  to  be  more 

arning  their  living  in  the   future  than   in  the  past.      '1 
girls  in   a   movement  that  we  <ln   n«»t   yet    <|tiite  nmler- 

I.     I  do  not  believe  that  our  Heavenly  Father  permits  so  large 


2IO  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

a  movement  as  these  five  million  women  in  one  country  earning  their 
own  living  without  there  being  in  it  something  that  is  for  the  best. 
...  As  a  means  to  our  work  we  want  the  suffrage.  We  all  get 
very  tired  of  the  woman  question.  I  will  discuss  the  human  ques- 
tion with  any  one  but  I  will  not  discuss  the  woman  question,  because 
I  think  that  is  past.  If  women  are  going  into  industry,  if  they 
are  going  to  have  their  places  of  responsibility,  then  they  must 
more  and  more  meet  the  responsibility  that  their  brothers  have  with 
whom  they  work.  It  is  not  fair  to  the  working  brother  to  let 
the  girls  come  in  and  cut  down  the  wages  and  have  no  sense  of 
responsibility,  no  feeling  of  permanency.  It  is  a  very  great  danger. 
Therefore,  working  women  should  have  the  ballot  to  make  them 
feel  that  they,  too,  are  responsible  citizens.  .  .  . 

All  reverence  to  the  work  that  the  suffragists  have  done !  We  have 
always  honored  dear  Miss  Anthony  and  we  all  owe  gratitude  to 
you  women  who  have  been  so  long  in  this  cause  making  a  way 
for  the  rest  of  us.  The  working  women  are  joining  your  ranks 
because  they  know  that  they  must  do  so. 

The  report  of  the  Congressional  Committee,  Mrs.  Catt  chair- 
man, -was  read  by  Mrs.  Kelley.  It  said  that  after  the  excellent 
hearings  before  the  committees  of  Congress  the  preceding  winter 
had  no  effect  it  was  decided  to  ask  the  cooperation  of  the  General 
Federation  of  Women's  Clubs.  This  was  done  and  its  Indus- 
trial Advisory  Board  agreed  to  send  out  a  circular  letter.  The 
association's  Congressional  Committee  prepared  one  which  the 
federation's  board  sent  to  4,000  individual  clubs  asking  them  to 
question  the  members  of  Congress  from  their  districts  as  to 
their  opinion  of  a  Federal  Woman  Suffrage  Amendment  and  the 
request  was  largely  complied  with.  A  resolution  was  adopted  that 
the  association  urge  concerted  action  among  the  State  auxiliaries 
to  secure  the  submission  by  Congress  of  a  Sixteenth  Amendment 
forbidding  disfranchisement  on  account  of  sex  and  that  they  be 
recommended  to  make  it  a  feature  of  their  work  to  obtain  from 
their  Legislatures  a  resolution  in  favor  of  such  an  amendment.  A 
telegram  of  greeting  was  sent  to  Mrs.  Catt  and  she  was  appointed 
fraternal  delegate  to  the  Peace  Conference  in  New  York  in  April. 

Hard  and  conscientious  work  was  shown  in  the  reports  of  the 
chairmen  of  all  the  committees  :  Legislation  for  Civil  Rights,  Mrs. 
Lucretia  L.  Blankenburg;  Peace  and  Arbitration,  Mrs.  Lucia 
Ames  Mead;  Presidential  Suffrage,  Henry  B.  Blackwell;  Libra- 
ries, Mrs.  Ida  Porter  Boyer;  Literature,  Miss  Alice  Stone  Black- 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1907  211 

well;  Enrollment,  Mrs.  Oreola  Williams  Haskell;  Membership, 
Miss  Laura  Clay,  and  others.  Miss  Clay  urged  that  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  political  parties  be  taken  as  a  model  by  the  suffrage 
societies.  As  usual  the  State  reports  were  among  the  most 
interesting  features  of  the  convention,  for  they  gave  in  detail 
the  nation-wide  work  that  was  being  done  for  woman  suffrage. 
At  this  time  that  of  Oklahoma,  Mrs.  Kate  L.  Biggars,  president, 
had  a  prominent  place,  as  the  association  had  been  helping  its 
\v<  -men  during  the  past  year  in  an  effort  to  have  the  convention 
which  was  framing  a  constitution  for  statehood  put  in  a  clause  for 
woman  suffrage.  A  corps  of  able  national  workers  was  there  for 
months  while  the  most  strenuous  work  was  done  but  the  only 
result  was  the  franchise  on  school  matters. 

The  report  on  Oregon  was  read  by  the  corresponding  secretary, 
Mi>s  Gordon.  The  campaign  there  for  a  woman  suffrage  amend- 
ment to  the  State  constitution  was  possibly  the  most  strenuous  that 
had  ever  been  made  for  this  purpose  and  the  National  Association 
had  given  more  assistance,  financial  and  otherwise,  than  to  any 
other,  a  number  of  its  officers  going  there  in  person.  Among  them 
\\t-rc  Miss  Clay  and  Miss  Gordon,  who  made  full  reports.1 

The  report  of  Mrs.  Harriet  Taylor  Upton,  national  treasurer, 
showed  that  the  receipts  of  the  association  for  1906  had  been 
$18,203  and  it  had  expended  on  the  Oregon  campaign  $18,075,  a 
sum  equal  to  its  year's  income.  A  portion  of  the  money,  how- 
.  was  taken  from  the  reserve  fund  and  $8,000  had  been  sub- 
M-rilicd  directly  for  this  campaign  by  individuals  and  States.  The 
total  disbursements  for  the  year  had  been  $25,933.  The  power 
of  the  association  to  rise  above  defeat  and  its  courage  and  deter- 

*  One  of  the  striking  features  of  the  recent  national  suffrage  convention  in  Chicago 
was  the  large  number  of  very  close  votes  on  woman  suffrage  bills  that  were  announced 
from  different  States,  all  taking  place  at  about  the  same  time.  While  the  convention  was 
hi  session,  the  Chicago  charter  convention  defeated  woman  suffrage  by  a  tie  vote.  The 
Nebraska  delegates  got  word  that  it  h;«l  been  lost  in  their  Lower  House  by  a  vote  of  47 
to  46,  with  a  tie  in  the  Senate  In  tin-  Oklahoma  constitutional  convention,  where  the 
gambling  and  liquor  forces  as  usual  lined  up  against  woman  suffrage,  it  came  so  near 
passing  that  a  change  of  seven  votes  would  have  carried  it.  In  the  West  Virginia  Legis- 
lature, where  tin  mnt<  <•,  the  House  vote  this  time  stood 
38  yeas  to  24  nays.  In  South  Dakota  the  measure  passed  the  Senate  and  came  so  near 
passing  the  House  that  a  change  of  seven  votes  would  have  carried  it.  In  the  Minnesota 
House  the  vote  showed  a  small  majority  for  suffrage  but  not  the  constitutional  one 
required.  All  these  close  legislative  votes  followed  hard  upon  the  remarkable  vote  in 
Vermont,  where  the  suffrage  bill  passed  the  House  130  to  25  and  came  so  near  passing 
the  Senate  that  a  change  of  three  votes  would  have  carried  it. —  Woman' t  Journal. 


212  HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

initiation,  so  many  times  shown,  were  strikingly  illustrated  on  this 
occasion  when  the  convention  voted  to  raise  a  fund  of  $100,000 
and  pledged  $24,000  of  this  amount  before  it  adjourned. 

The  Resolutions  presented  by  Mr.  Blackwell,  chairman  of  the 
committee,  covered  a  wide  range  of  subjects,  among  them  the 
following : 

In  view  of  the  fact  that  in  only  14  of  our  States  have  married 
mothers  any  legal  right  to  the  custody,  control  and  earnings  of  their 
minor  children,  we  urge  the  women  of  the  other  States  to  work 
for  laws  giving  to  mothers  equal  rights  with  fathers. 

The  traffic  in  women  and  girls  which  is  carried  on  in  the  United 
States  and  in  other  countries  is  a  heinous  blot  upon  civilization 
and  we  demand  of  Congress  and  our  State  Legislatures  that  every 
possible  step  be  takc-u  to  suppress  the  infamous  traffic  in  this  country. 

We  urge  upon  Congress  and  State  Legislatures  the  enactment 
of  laws  prohibiting  the  employment  of  children  under  16  years 
of  age  in  mines,  stores  or  factories. 

We  favor  the  adoption  of  State  amendments  establishing  direct 
legislation  by  the  voters  through  the  initiative  and  referendum. 

Inasmuch  as  in  the  second  Hague  Peace  Conference  there  will 
be  offered  the  greatest  opportunity  in  human  history  to  lessen  the 
burden  of  militarism,  therefore  we  request  the  President  of  the 
United  States  to  approve  the  recommendations  for  the  action  of 
that  conference  which  were  presented  by  the  Inter-Parliamentary 
>!i,  to-wit:  (i)  An  advisory  wurld  congress;  (2)  a  general  arbi- 
tration treaty;  (3)  the  limitation  of  armaments;  (4)  protection  of 
priuite  property  at  sea  in  time  of  war;  (5)  investigation  by  an 
impartial  commission  of  difficulties  between  nations  before  declara- 
tion of  hostilities. 

The  convention  at  one  evening  session  listened  to  interesting 
addresses  by  Mrs.  Mary  E.  Coggeshall,  president  of  the  Iowa 
Suffrage  Association,  Then  and  Now;  Professor  Emma  M.  Per- 
kins of  Western  Reserve  University  (Ohio),  Educational  Ideals; 
Louis  F.  Post,  editor  of  The  Public,  The  Denatured  Woman. 
Mrs.  Avery  gave  a  much  enjoyed  report  of  the  Congress  of  the 
International  Suffrage  Alliance  in  Copenhagen  the  preceding  Au- 
gust. On  the  last  evening  addresses  were  made  by  John  Z.  White 
of  Chicago;  Mrs.  Upton  on  What  Next?  Miss  Lexow  on  The 
Place  of  Equal  Suffrage  in  Higher  Education.  Dr.  Shaw  closed 
the  convention  with  a  few  eloquent  words  of  encouragement,  hope 
and  prophecy  for  the  success  of  the  cause  to  which  they  gladly 
gave  to  the  utmost  their  time,  their  labor  and  the  best  of  every- 
thing they  possessed. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

NATIONAL  AMERICAN   CONVENTION  OF    1908. 

The  Fortieth  annual  convention,  Oct.  15-21,  1908,  celebrated  a 
notable  event,  as  it  was  the  6oth  anniversary  of  the  first  Woman's 
Rights  Convention,  that  famous  gathering  of  July  19-20,  1848, 
in  Seneca  Falls,  N.  Y.,  the  home  of  Elizabeth  Cady  Stanton.  The 
celebration  was  appropriately  held  in  Buffalo,  the  largest  city  in 
the  western  part  of  the  State,  and  was  one  of  the  most  interesting 
and  successful  of  the  organization's  many  conventions.1  The 
evening  before  it  opened  the  president  and  directors  of  the  Buf- 
falo Fine  Arts  Academy  gave  a  large  reception  to  the  officers,  dele- 
gates, members  and  friends  of  the  association. 

The  convention  met  in  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association 
building  but  this  proved  to  be  entirely  too  small  for  the  evening 
sessions,  which  were  held  in  the  large  Central  Presbyterian 

1  Part  of  Call :  Since  we  met  last  in  convention  women  in  Norway  have  won  full 
suffrage;  tax-paying  women  in  Iceland  have  been  granted  a  vote  and  made  eligible  as 
municipal  councillors;  Municipal  suffrage  has  been  given  to  women  in  Denmark  and 
they  now  vote  for  all  officers  except  members  of  Parliament;  women  in  Sweden,  who 
already  had  the  Municipal  vote,  have  been  made  eligible  to  municipal  offices;  a  proxy  in 
the  election  of  the  Douma  has  been  conferred  on  women  of  property  in  Russia.  In 
Great  Britain,  where  they  have  long  possessed  Municipal  suffrage,  women  have  been  made 
eligible  as  mayors,  county,  borough  and  town  councillors  and  their  heroic  struggle  for 
Parliamentary  suffrage  is  attracting  the  attention  of  the  world. 

In  our  own  country  during  the  past  year,  175,000  women  of  Michigan  appealed  for 
full  suffrage  to  its  constitutional  convention  and  a  partial  franchise  was  given;  in  Oregon 
women  obtained  the  submission  of  a  constitutional  amendment  for  suffrage  to  a  referen- 
dum vote.  Though  no  large  victories  were  won  the  advocates  of  equal  suffrage  have 
never  felt  more  hopeful,  as  public  sentiment  is  in  closer  sympathy  with  them  than  ever 
before.  Five  hundred  associations  of  men,  organized  for  other  purposes  and  numbering 
millions  of  voters,  have  officially  declared  for  woman  suffrage;  only  one,  the  organized 
liquor  traffic,  has  made  a  record  of  unremitting  hostility  to  it  and  the  domination  of  the 
saloon  in  politics  has  wrested  many  victories  from  our  grasp.  .  .  . 

We  cordially  invite  all  men  and  women  who  have  faith  in  the  principles  of  the 
American  government  and  love  liberty  and  justice  to  meet  with  us  in  convention  in  Buffalo. 

ANNA  HOWARD  SHAW,  President. 

RACHEL  FOSTER  AVERY,  First   Vice-President. 

FLORENCE  KELLEY,  Second  Vice-President. 

KATE  M.  GORDON,  Corresponding  Secretary. 

ALICE  STONE  BLACXWELL,   Recording  Secretary. 

HARRIET  TAYLOI  UFTON,  Treasurer. 

LAURA  CLAY,  )  . 

MARY  SIMMON   SPE.RY,  '  Audlt 

213 


214  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

Church.  The  excellent  program  was  the  work  of  Miss  Kate  Gor- 
don, national  corresponding  secretary,  and  the  admirable  ar- 
rangements were  due  to  Mrs.  Richard  Williams,  president  for 
the  past  eight  years  of  the  Political  Equality  Club,  with  a  corps 
of  local  helpers,  but  an  accident  on  the  first  day  prevented  her 
from  welcoming  the  convention  or  taking  part  in  its  proceedings. 
With  the  national  president,  Dr.  Anna  Howard  Shaw,  in  the 
chair,  it  was  opened  with  prayer  by  the  Rev.  Antoinette  Brown 
Blackwell.1  Mrs.  Helen  Z.  M.  Rodgers,  a  lawyer  of  Buffalo, 
extended  a  welcome  from  women  in  the  professions,  who,  she 
said,  "had  only  penetrated  the  ante-rooms  and  the  annexes — the 
teachers  never  able  to  reach  the  salaries  paid  to  men ;  the  doctors 
shut  out  from  the  advantage  of  hospital  positions;  the  lawyers 
allowed  to  help  interpret  the  laws  but  not  to  help  make  them." 
"To  get  much  further,"  she  said,  "we  must  be  invested  with  full 
citizenship." 

Mrs.  John  Miller  Horton  gave  a  cordial  welcome  for  the  City 
Federation  of  Women's  Clubs,  of  which  she  was  president,  and 
for  the  Buffalo  Chapter  of  the  Daughters  of  the  American  Revo- 
lution, the  Niagara  Frontier  Chapter  of  the  Daughters  of  1812 
and  the  Nellie  Custis  Branch  of  the  Children  of  the  Revolution, 
as  regent  of  each  of  them.  She  presented  to  Dr.  Shaw  a  large 
cluster  of  American  Beauty  roses  tied  with  the  blue  and  gold  of 
the  federation  and  the  blue  and  white  of  the  D.  A.  R.,  which  was 
accepted  in  the  name  of  Susan  B.  Anthony  and  reverently  laid 
over  her  portrait  that  stood  on  an  easel.  Dr.  Ida  C.  Bender, 
president  of  the  Women  Teachers'  Association,  spoke  earnestly 
in  behalf  of  "the  army  of  teachers  who  are  training  the  future 
citizens  of  the  republic,"  and  Dr.  Shaw  commented :  "Political 
nonentities  can  hardly  be  expected  to  inspire  a  political  entity 
with  enthusiasm." 

The  Western  Federation  of  Women's  Clubs  gave  its  welcome 
through  its  president,  Mrs.  Nettie  Rogers  Shuler,  of  whom  the 
Woman's  Journal  said :  "She  spoke  with  an  accent  of  unaffected 
sincerity  and  self-forgetfulness  that  recalled  the  spirit  of  the 

1  Other  ministers  who  officiated  at  different  times  were  the  Reverends  Anna  Howard 
Shaw,  Anna  Garlin  Spencer  and  Olympia  Brown  of  the  convention,  and  the  Reverends 
Richard  W.  Boynton,  Robert  Freeman,  L.  O.  Williams,  E.  H.  Dickinson  and  F.  Hyatt 
Smith  of  Buffalo. 


NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1 908  21$ 

pioneers."  She  referred  with  pride  to  the  fact  that  this  organi- 
zation, with  nearly  100  clubs  and  about  32,000  members,  was  the 
first  Federation  of  Women's  Clubs  to  admit  suffrage  societies. 
Mrs.  Lucretia  L.  Blankenburg,  president  of  the  Pennsylvania  Suf- 
frage Association  and  officer  of  the  General  Federation,  brought 
its  greeting,  the  first  it  had  ever  sent  to  a  national  suffrage  con- 
vention. Mrs.  Frances  W.  Graham,  president  of  the  New  York 
State  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union,  gave  its  greeting 
and  spoke  of  the  close  cooperation  which  had  always  existed 
between  the  workers  for  temperance  and  suffrage.  Dr.  Shaw 
asked  that  she  would  convey  the  cordial  greetings  and  best  wishes 
of  the  association  to  the  National  W.  C.  T.  U.,  to  whose  conven- 
tion in  Denver  she  was  en  route.  Mrs.  Ella  Hawley  Crossett,  for 
the  sixth  term  president  of  the  New  York  State  Suffrage  Asso- 
ciation, united  with  Dr.  Shaw  in  responding  to  the  welcoming 
addresses  and  spoke  with  deep  feeling  of  the  courage  and  per- 
sistence of  the  pioneers  and  of  the  pride  with  which  the  State 
where  the  movement  for  woman  suffrage  had  its  birth  welcomed 
the  convention  to  celebrate  the  event. 

Miss  Emily  Rowland  of  Sherwood,  N.  Y.,  reformer,  educator 
and  philanthropist,  a  co-worker  and  friend  of  the  early  suffra- 
,  gave  a  delightful  address  on  The  Spirit  of  1848,  "herself 
a  living  embodiment  of  that  spirit,"  in  which  she  said: 

"<  ireater  love  hath  no  man  than  tin's,  that  he  lay  down  his  life 

for  his  fric'nds!"     These  are  the  words  that  come  to  me  as  I  essay 

•ak  of  the  Spirit  of  '48!     Was  it  not  something  of  this  love 

which   inspired   that   immortal   Declaration   made   at   the   Woman's 

ts  Convention  on  July  ig-jo.  184^?     "This,"  says  Mrs.  Stantnn 

in  her  autobiography,  "was  the  initial  step  in  the  most  momentous 

m  that  has  yet  been  launched  upon  the  world — the  first  organ- 

•st  the  injustice  which  had  brooded  for  ages  over 

-ne-half  of  the  race.     No  words  could 

Aliment  on  finding  a  few  days  afterward  that  what 

•d    tn    us    so    timely,    so    rational    and    so    sacred    should    IK-    a 

m  and  ridicule  in  the  entire  press  of  the  nation. 

alone  stood  by  us  manfully." 

The  Declaration   had  been  signed  by  many,  the  audiences  being 

.    but    when    pulpit    and    press    ridiculed    and    reproved    do    we 

••1  that  one  by  one  the  women  withdrew  their  names  and  "joined 

Much    I    fear   that    our  own   or^ani/ation   would 

Mil   proportions   if   today   submitted    to  the  ordeal    from 

Indeed    e\en    Mrs.    Stanton   confessed    that    if 


2l6  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

she  had  had  the  slightest  premonition  of  all  that  would  follow  this 
convention,  she  feared  her  courage  would  not  have  been  equal 
to  it.  Fortunate  ignorance,  if  she  did  not  underrate  her  bravery, 
for  she  and  a  goodly  number  of  the  other  signers  were  steadfast. 
They  chose  to  side  with  truth  and  take  the  consequences. 

Mrs.  Rachel  Foster  Avery  (Perm.),  corresponding  secretary 
of  the  International  Woman  Suffrage  Alliance,  presented  a  long 
and  valuable  report  of  its  recent  congress  in  Amsterdam.  [See 
chapter  on  Alliance.!  The  convention  then  adjourned  for  the 
reception  given  by  Mrs.  Horton,  whose  handsome  home  on  Dela- 
ware Avenue  was  decorated  with  American  Beauty  roses,  the 
dining  room  with  yellow  chrysanthemums.  She  was  assisted  in 
receiving  by  Dr.  Shaw,  Mrs.  Crossett  and  Mrs.  Allison  S.  Cap- 
well,  president  of  the  Erie  County  Suffrage  Association. 

At  the  evening  session  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Smith  Miller  (N.  Y.), 
presided,  daughter  of  Gerrit  Smith,  who  was  a  staunch  advocate 
of  woman  suffrage  from  the  time  the  movement  for  it  began. 
Hundreds  were  turned  away  for  lack  of  room.  The  convention 
was  officially  welcomed  to  the  city  by  Mayor  J.  N.  Adams  and  the 
welcome  on  the  part  of  the  State  was  expressed  by  Senator  Henry 
W.  Hill,  a  consistent  supporter  of  the  legislative  work  for  suf- 
frage. The  principal  feature  of  the  evening  was  the  president's 
address  of  Dr.  Shaw,  of  whom  the  report  in  the  Buffalo  Express 
said :  "The  Rev.  Anna  Howard  Shaw  has  set  a  new  standard  for 
womanhood.  She  is  one  of  the  most  wonderful  women  of  her 
time,  alert,  watchful,  magnetic,  earnest,  with  a  mind  as  quick 
for  a  joke  as  for  the  truth.  She  points  her  arguments  with  epi- 
grams and  tips  the  arrows  of  her  persuasion  with  a  jest.  .  .  . 
Even  the  unbelievers  are  carried  away  with  her  brilliancy,  elo- 
quence and  mental  grasp."  There  was  no  adequate  report  of  her 
address  but  she  began  by  saying : 

We  are  scarcely  able  today  to  understand  what  those  brave  pioneers 
endured  to  secure  the  things  which  we  accept  as  a  matter  of  course. 
They  started  the  greatest  revolution  the  world  has  ever  witnessed. 
During  these  last  sixty  years  more  changes  have  been  wrought  for 
the  benefit  of  women,  more  opportunities  for  education  have  been 
secured  and  more  all-round  enlightenment  than  in  the  6,000  years 
preceding.  There  are  women  who  accept  these  advantages  and  the 
positions  that  have  been  obtained  because  of  this  earlv  movement 
who  have  no  conception  of  what  it  has  meant  to  open  the  highways 


NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1 908  217 

of  progress  for  them.  Some  of  those  who  oppose  the  suffrage 
say :  "These  things  would  have  come ;  men  would  have  given  woman 
these  opportunities  as  civilization  advanced."  Whv  did  they  not 
come  sooner  if  men  were  so  willing?  Why  should  they  have  grown 
more  in  the  last  sixty  years  than  in  all  the  vears  before?  .  .  .  But 
the  women  in  all  this  long  time  of  struggle  have  not  stood  entirely 
alone.  There  have  always  been  some  men  to  stand  by  their  side 
and  they  owed  it  to  do  so,  for  ever  since  the  world  began  women 
have  stood  by  men  in  their  efforts  to  achieve  the  right.  Never 
wns  there  a  great  leader  who  had  not  some  woman  bv  his  side. 
Woman  was  first  at  the  cradle,  last  at  the  cross  and  first  at  the 
tomb.  Women  have  stood  shoulder  to  shoulder  with  men  always 
in  their  efforts.  .  .  .  Some  tell  us  that  we  have  not  made  great 
progress.  Jt  is  impossible  to  change  the  attitude  of  all  the  con- 
flicting elements  of  humanitv  in  three-score  years.  If  Christianity 
in  TOOO  vears,  with  the  teaching  of  such  a  Leader,  has  not  yet  made 
:  Congresses  unnecessary,  what  can  be  expected  of  other 
reforms  ? 

The  secretary's  report  of  Miss  Gordon  contributed  this  bit  of 
history : 

At  this  junction  of  the  work  a  question  arising  upon  the  advisa- 
bility of  securing  a  petition  of  a  million  signatures  to  present  to 
President  "Roosevelt  in  order  to  influence  a  recommendation  of  suf- 
frage for  women  in  his  annual  message,  a  request  was  made  that 
he  receive  at  Oyster  Bav  a  committee  from  our  association.  The 
President  reasonably  declined  to  have  his  vacation  interrupted  with 
committees  but  offered  to  receive  our  request  in  writing.  Your  sec- 
retary accordingly  wrote  him  to  the  effect  that  we  wished  to  know — 
before  going  to  the  labor  and  expense  involved  in  securing  such 
n  petition — whether  its  influence  would  have  anv  weight  in  leading 
him  to  recommend  woman  suffrage  in  his  message.  Courteously 
but  emphatically  came  the  renlv  that  it  would  not,  but  at  the  same 
time  extending  an  invitation  for  the  National  Association  to  appoint 
a  committee  to  see  him  on  his  return  to  Washington.  The  com- 
mittee appointed  was  composed  of  vour  national  treasurer,  Mrs. 
Upton,  Mrs.  Henrv  Dickson  Brims  of  New  Orleans,  Mrs.  Katharine 
"Reed  P.alentine  of  Maine  and  your  corresponding  secretary,  and  at 
-  npointcd  time  it  was  received  bv  the  President,  who  again 
'  his  opinion  on  the  absolute  valnelessness  of  such  a  peti- 
tion. In  co  dnir"  "red  what  for  the  women  of  this  republic 
is  their  only  rierht  the  right  of  petition.  The  interview  was  fruitful 
of  no  surcystion  beyond  the  time-honored  recommendation  to  "get 
another  State."  Women  who  worship  as  a  fetish  the  power  of 
to  petition  mav  well  catalogue  tin's  fallacy  with  those  other 
American  fallacies  that  "taxation  without  representation  is  tyranny": 
that  "crovernmer'  their  iust  powers  from  the  consent  of 
"f\  that  the  Government  guarantees  "equal  rights 
for  nil  a'vi  ^r-rial  privileges  for  none." 


2l8  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

Miss  Gordon  told  how  the  last  convention  had  changed  the 
plan  for  forty  years  of  holding  the  national  convention  in  Wash- 
ington during  the  first  session  of  a  new  Congress  and  therefore 
the  corresponding  secretary  had  been  obliged  to  arrange  for  rep- 
resentative women  to  go  there  and  have  a  hearing  before  the 
committees  of  Senate  and  House.  Mrs.  Balentine,  who  was  stay- 
ing in  Washington,  and  Miss  Emma  Gillett,  a  lawyer  of  that 
city,  took  charge  and  hearings  were  granted  March  3.  They 
lacked  the  inspiration  of  the  presence  of  delegates  from  all  parts 
of  the  country  and  the  convention  lost  the  pleasure  and  benefit. 

The  Work  Conferences  were  continued  under  the  name  of 
Round  Table  Conferences.  The  subjects  considered  were:  In- 
crease of  membership;  press  work;  i6th  Amendment  as  a  line 
of  policy;  finance;  State  legislative  methods.  An  organizers' 
symposium  discussed  "A  comparison  of  conditions  today  with 
those  of  ten  years  ago;  the  building  of  a  State  association;  the 
personal  touch ;  preliminary  arrangements  for  meetings." 

The  usual  comprehensive  report  was  made  by  the  headquarters 
secretary,  Miss  Elizabeth  J.  Hauser,  who  told  of  the  vast  amount 
of  work  done,  which  included  the  sending  out  of  13,000  letters 
and  207,410  pieces  of  literature,  exclusive  of  matter  for  the  press. 
Progress  had  been  issued  monthly,  the  Political  Equality  Leaflets 
and  twenty  other  kinds  had  been  published  and  a  card  catalogue 
of  5,696  names  completed ;  the  convention  reports  edited  and 
distributed,  the  sales  of  the  Life  of  Miss  Anthony  and  the  History 
of  Woman  Suffrage  looked  after  and  an  endless  amount  of  other 
work  done.  Miss  Hauser  told  also  of  the  extensive  effort  with 
organizations.  Ten  great  national  associations  during  1907, 
twenty-four  State  associations  and  ninety-three  labor  unions  had 
passed  resolutions  for  woman  suffrage,  and  thus  far  in  1908  nine 
national  and  thirty-six  important  State  associations  had  done 
so.  She  gave  an  equally  encouraging  report  of  the  work  with 
the  press,  which  was  done  through  committee  chairmen  in  thirty- 
two  States,  who  had  furnished  thousands  of  articles  to  hundreds 
of  newspapers.  Part  of  this  material  was  local  but  the  national 
headquarters  had  supplied  69,244  pages.  Suitable  matter  had 
been  sent  to  religious,  educational  and  other  specialized  papers 
and  over  a  thousand  letters  to  editors.  A  long  list  was  given  of 


NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1908  2IQ 

the  leading  magazines  which  had  published  articles  on  woman 
suffrage  by  prominent  writers  during  the  year.  The  reason  was 
that  things  were  happening  in  all  parts  of  the  world  directly  re- 
lated to  this  question. 

Miss  Hauser's  report  was  accepted  by  a  rising  vote.  She 
presided  at  the  Press  Conference  on  how  to  secure  the  publication 
of  woman  suffrage  in  country  and  in  city  papers;  character  of 
material ;  what  is  the  greatest  need  in  press  work ;  should  "anti" 
articles  be  answered,  etc.  Interesting  addresses  were  made  on 
Woman's  Share  in  Productive  Industry  by  Mrs.  Anna  Cadogan 
Ktz  (N.  Y.)  ;  A  Square  Deal,  by  Mrs.  Grace  H.  Ballantyne 
(la.)  :  and  one  by  Mrs.  Clara  B.  Arthur,  president  of  the  Michi- 
gan State  Association,  reviewing  the  extensive  work  that  had 
been  done  in  its  recent  constitutional  convention  to  secure  a 
woman  suffrage  clause.  Henry  B.  Blackwell  (Mass.)  began  his 
report  on  Presidential  Suffrage  by  saying:  "It  was  the  maxim 
of  Napoleon  Bonaparte  to  concentrate  his  military  forces  upon 
the  point  in  his  enemy's  lines  of  the  greatest  importance  and 
least  resistance  and  by  so  doing  he  conquered  Europe.  This 
point  in  the  woman  suffrage  battle  is,  under  our  form  of  govern- 
ment, the  Presidential  Suffrage,  the  vote  for  presidential  electors." 

The  great  evening  of  the  week  was  the  one  devoted  to  the 
Commemorative  Program  in  Honor  of  the  1848  Convention. 
This  convention  was  called  by  Mrs.  Stanton,  Lucretia  Mott,  Mary 
Ann  McClintock  and  Martha  C.  Wright — the  last  three  Friends, 
or  Quakers — to  consider  a  Declaration  of  Sentiments  and  set  of 
hitions  which  they  had  prepared  and  it  adopted  both.1  Those 
resolutions  of  sixty  years  ago  were  now  discussed  by  women 
who  represented  the  two  succeeding  generations,  still  in  the  midst 
of  the  contest  which  the  women  who  began  it  expected  to  sec 
ended  during  tlieir  lifetime.  The  session  was  opened  with  prayer 
1ie  Rev.  Olympia  Brown,  a  veteran  suffragist,  and  the  pre- 
siding officer  was  Mrs.  Eliza  Wright  Osborne  (N.  Y.),  daughter 
lartha  C.  Wright  and  niece  of  Lucretia  Mott.  Each  reso- 
lution was  presented  and  commented  on  in  a  brief,  pungent  speech, 
including  Mr.  Blackwell,  husband  of  Lucy  Stone, 
both  pio-  -id  another  pioneer,  the  Rev.  Antoinette  Brown 

1  For  full  account  see  History  of  Woman  Suffrage.  Volume  I,  page  67. 


22O  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

Blackwell,  the  first  ordained  woman  minister ;  Mrs.  Harriot  Stan- 
ton  Blatch,  daughter  of  Mrs.  Stanton;  Mrs.  Fanny  Garrison 
Villard,  daughter  of  William  Lloyd  Garrison,  a  pioneer ;  the  Rev. 
Anna  Garlin  Spencer,  an  early  leader  in  Rhode  Island,  and  Miss 
Laura  Clay,  at  the  head  of  the  movement  in  Kentucky  almost 
from  its  beginning.  Among  the  later  generation  were  the  Rev. 
Caroline  Bartlett  Crane  (Mich.),  Miss  Julie  R.  Jenney  (N.  Y.), 
Mrs.  Ella  S.  Stewart  (111.),  Mrs.  Charlotte  Perkins  Gilman 
(N.  Y.)  and  Mrs.  Judith  Hyams  Douglas  (La.). 

Of  most  of  these  addresses  there  is  no  printed  record. 
Mrs.  Gilman  commented  on  the  resolution  that  "the  laws  which 
place  woman  in  a  position  inferior  to  that  of  man  are  contrary 
to  the  great  precept  of  nature,"  saying  in  part:  "Woman  has  the 
same  right  to  happiness  and  justice  as  an  individual  that  man  has 
and  as  the  mother  of  the  race  she  has  more.  .  .  .  Women  have 
a  right  to  citizenship  and  to  all  that  citizenship  implies,  not  only 
for  their  own  sake  but  especially  because  the  world  needs  them. 
We  have  the  masculine  and  the  feminine  but  above  them  both  is 
the  human,  which  has  nothing  to  do  with  sex.  The  argument 
for  equal  freedom  and  equal  opportunities  for  women  rests  not 
on  the  law  of  the  worthy  Mr.  Blackstone  but  on  the  law  of  nature, 
which  is  the  law  of  God.  .  .  ." 

Mrs.  Blackwell  said  in  response  to  the  resolution  that  "as  man 
accords  to  woman  moral  superiority  it  is  his  pre-eminent  duty  to 
encourage  her  to  speak  and  teach  in  religious  assemblies" :  "You 
cannot  realize  how  serious  a  thing  it  was  to  be  a  minister  in  early 
days  when  St.  Paul  was  taken  literally.  I  know  from  personal 
experience  that  nearly  all  the  religious  world  in  those  days 
believed  it  to  be  a  sin  for  a  woman  to  try  to  preach.  My  own 
mother  urged  me  to  become  a  foreign  missionary  instead;  she 
was  willing  to  send  her  daughter  away  to  other  lands  rather  than 
have  her  become  a  minister  at  home.  At  18  I  was  considered  as 
well-fitted  for  college  as  the  half  dozen  young  men  among  my 
schoolmates  who  were  going  to  take  a  college  course.  At  that 
time  Oberlin,  O.,  was  the  only  college  that  admitted  women. 
When  I  arrived  there  Lucy  Stone  had  pretty  well  stirred  up  the 
whole  institution.  I  was  warned  against  her  in  advance  but  we 
soon  became  warm  friends.  One  beautiful  evening  we  walked 


NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IO/)8  221 

out  together  and  as  we  stood  in  that  glorious  sunset  I  told  her 
that  I  meant  to  be  a  minister.  She  said :  'You  can't  do  it ;  they 
will  never  let  a  woman  be  a  public  teacher  in  the  church.'  .  .  . 
One  other  woman  and  I  graduated  from  the  theological  school. 
For  three  years  the  authorities  of  the  school  put  our  names  into 
the  catalogue  with  a  star  and  then  they  dropped  us  out  and  it 
took  forty  years  to  get  us  reinstated." 

Mrs.  Spencer  said  of  the  resolution  that  "the  same  transgres- 
sions should  be  visited  with  equal  seventy  on  man  and  woman." 
"Of  all  the  notable  pronunciamentos  at  Seneca  Falls  no  resolu- 
tions shows  a  finer  spiritual  audacity  than  this.  A  delicious  flavor 
of  transcendentalism  from  beginning  to  end  marks  the  phrase- 
ology. Like  the  Brook  Farm  experiment  the  Seneca  Falls  Con- 
vention was  the  outcome  of  a  great  wave  of  idealism  sweeping 
over  the  world.  It  was  seen  in  England  and  in  Europe.  Ger- 
many was  stirring  things  up  and  Italy  was  seething  with  revolu- 
tion. This  new  world  was  eager  to  put  its  idealism  into  imme- 
diate practical  living.  .  .  .  Women  were  looking  after  their 
woman's  share  of  it.  They  felt  that  it  must  be  founded  on  spir- 
itual ideas  and  this  was  a  spiritual  Declaration  of  Independence. 
We  honor  these  pioneers  because  women  who  had  been  trained  to 
follow  and  not  to  lead,  and  taught  that  wives  and  mothers  should 
buy  their  security  at  the  cost  of  a  discarded  fragment  of  their 
sex,  dared  to  summon  men  to  an  equal  bar  and  to  declare  that  in 
purity,  as  in  justice,  there  is  no  sex." 

Mrs.  Stewart  treated  with  delicious  wit  and  sarcasm  the  reso- 
lution of  protest  against  "the  objection  of  indelicacy  and  impro- 
priety which  is  so  often  brought  against  women  who  address  a 
public  audience  by  those  who  encourage  their  appearance  in  the 
•re  and  the  circus."  Miss  Clay  discussed  with  dignity  and 
•usness  the  resolution  that  "equality  of  human  rights  neces- 
sarily follows  identity  in  capabilities  and  responsibilities."  Mrs. 
Villnrd  spoke  of  the  great  privilege  of  being  the  daughter  of  a 
reformer  and  said:  "The  cause  of  woman  is  so  intimately  con- 
nected with  that  of  man  that  I  think  the  men  will  be  the  gainers 
by  its  triumph  even  more  than  women."  Mrs.  Douglas,  a  bril- 
liant young  speaker  from  New  Orleans,  new  to  the  suffrage  plat- 
form, took  up  the  resolution,  "Woman  has  too  long  rested  satis- 


222  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

fied  in  the  circumscribed  limits  which  corrupt  customs  and  a  per- 
verted application  of  the  Scriptures  have  marked  out  for  her,  and 
it  is  time  she  should  move  in  the  enlarged  sphere  which  her  great 
Creator  has  assigned  to  her,"  and  said  in  part : 

Only  one  thing  can  make  me  see  the  justness  of  woman  being 
classed  with  the  idiot,  the  insane  and  the  criminal  and  that  is,  if 
she  is  willing,  if  she  is  satisfied  to  be  so  classed,  if  she  is  contented 
to  remain  in  the  circumscribed  limits  which  corrupt  customs  and 
perverted  application  of  the  Scriptures  have  marked  out  for  her. 
It  is  idiotic  not  to  want  one's  liberty ;  it  is  insane  not  to  value 
one's  inalienable  rights  and  it  is  criminal  to  neglect  one's  God-given 
responsibilities.  God  placed  woman  originally  in  the  same  sphere 
with  man,  with  the  same  inspirations  and  aspirations,  the  same 
emotions  and  intellect  and  accountability.  .  .  .  The  Chinamen  for 
centuries  have  taken  peculiar  means  for  restricting  women's  activi- 
ties by  binding  the  feet  of  girl  babies  and  yet  there  remains  the 
significant  fact  that,  after  centuries  of  constraint,  God  continues 
to  send  the  female  child  into  the  world  with  feet  well  formed,  with 
a  foundation  as  substantial  to  stand  upon  as  that  of  the  male  child. 
As  in  this  instance,  so  in  all  cases  of  restriction  put  upon  women — 
they  do  not  come  from  God  but  from  man,  beginning  at  birth.  .  .  . 
For  thousands  of  centuries  woman  has  heard  what  sphere  God 
wanted  her  to  move  in  from  men,  God's  self-ordained  proxies. 
The  thing  for  woman  to  do  is  to  blaze  the  way  of  her  sex  so  thor- 
oughly that  sixteen-year-old  boys  in  the  next  generation  will  not 
dare  ask  a  scholarly  woman  incredulously  if  she  really  thinks  women 
have  sense  enough  to  vote.  Woman  can  enter  into  the  larger 
sphere  her  great  Creator  has  assigned  her  only  when  she  has  an 
equal  voice  with  man  in  forming  public  opinion,  which  crystalizes 
customs ;  only  when  her  voice  is  heard  in  the  pulpit,  applying  Scrip- 
ture to  man  and  woman  equally,  and  when  it  is  heard  in  the  Legisla- 
ture. Only  then  can  be  realized  the  full  import  of  God's  words  when 
He  said,  "It  is  not  well  for  man  to  be  alone." 

Mrs.  Douglas  analyzed  without  mercy  the  pronouncements  of 
Paul  regarding  women  and  said:  "The  pulpits  may  insist  that 
Paul  was  infallible  but  I  prefer  to  believe  that  he  was  human  and 
liable  to  err."  When  she  had  finished  Dr.  Shaw  remarked  dryly: 
"I  have  often  thought  that  Paul  was  never  equalled  in  his  advice 
to  wife,  mother  and  maiden  aunt  except  by  the  present  occupant 
of  the  Presidential  chair"  [Roosevelt]. 

To  Mrs.  Blatch  was  given  the  privilege  of  speaking  to  the 
resolution  so  strenuously  insisted  upon  by  her  mother :  "It  is  the 
duty  of  the  women  of  this  country  to  secure  to  themselves  their 


NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1908  223 

sacred  right  to  the  elective  franchise/'    In  the  course  of  an  ani- 
mated speech  she  said : 

Mrs.  Stanton  was  quick  to  see  and,  what  is  greater,  quick  to  seize 
the  psychological  moment,  and  in  that  July  of  1848  she  had  not 
only  the  inspiration  but  the  determination  to  grasp  the  opportunity 
to  set  forth  a  resolution  asking  "votes  for  women."  How  clear  was 
her  vision,  how  perfect  her  sense  of  balance !  Property  rights  might 
be  gained,  rights  of  person  protected,  guardianship  of  children 
achieved,  but  without  the  ballot  she  saw  all  would  be  insecure.  What 
was  given  today  might  be  taken  away  tomorrow  unless  women  them- 
selves possessed  the  power  to  make  or  remake  laws.  Women  are 
getting  the  sense  of  solidarity  by  being  crowded  together  in  the 
workshop ;  they  are  learning  the  lesson  of  fellowship.  Brought  side 
by  side  in  the  college  and  in  the  business  world,  they  are  begin- 
ning to  learn  that  they  have  a  common  interest.  They  know  now 
that  they  form  a  class.  The  anti-suffragist  is  the  isolated  woman, 
she  is  the  belated  product  of  the  i8th  century.  She  is  not  inten- 
tionally, viciously  selfish,  she  has  merely  not  developed  into  2Oth 
century  fellowship.  She  is  unrelated  to  our  democratic  society  of 
today.  .  .  .  How  shallow,  in  the  face  of  that  idea  of  duty  in  fulfill- 
ing our  obligations  of  citizenship,  sound  the  words  of  Governor 
Hughes  that  "when  women  want  the  vote  they  will  get  it!"  Want 
it?  That  is  no  measure  of  social  need.  It  was  death  to  the  nation 
to  have  slavery  within  its  bounds  but  no  one  advised  waiting  until 
the  enslaved  negroes  wanted  to  be  free  before  this  dire  disease 
should  be  cured.  The  State  needs  the  attention  of  women,  their 
thought,  their  service,  and  so  it  becomes  the  duty  of  all  who  have 
the  best  interests  of  the  State  at  heart  to  seek  to  bind  women 
to  it  in  closest  bonds  of  citizenship. 

In  response  to  Resolution  Eleven  that,  being  held  morally  re- 
sponsible, woman  had  therefore  a  right  to  express  herself  in 
public  on  all  questions  of  morals  and  religion,  the  Rev.  Mrs. 
Crane  began  with  fine  sarcasm:  "To  women  has  always  unques- 
tionably been  allowed  the  being  good.  They  are  called  too  good 
to  enter  the  slimy  pool  of  politics.  They  are  complimented  often 
in  the  spirit  of  the  man  who  said  to  his  wife:  'Angelina,  you  get 
up  and  make  the  fire;  it  -will  seem  so  much  warmer  if  laid  by 
your  fair  hands!'  To  women  is  also  conceded  the  right  to  be 
religious  and  unfortunately  it  often  happens  that  all  the  religion 
a  man  ha-  U  in  his  wife's  name.  Ruskin  said:  'If  yon  don't 
want  the  kingdom  of  heaven  to  come,  don't  pray  for  it  hut  ii 
do  want  it  to  come  you  must  do  more-  than  pray  for  it.'  Women 


224  HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

must  vote  as  well  as  pray.  Whoever  is  able  to  make  peace  in  this 
distracted  world  is  the  one  who  should  be  allowed  to  do  it." 

A  full  report  of  the  work  among  the  churches  was  made  at  a 
morning  meeting  by  Mrs.  Lucy  Hobart  Day  (Me.),  chairman 
of  the  committee,  which  showed  that  eighteen  States  had  ap- 
pointed branch  committees.  These  had  organized  suffrage  circles 
in  different  churches,  encouraged  debates  among  the  young 
people,  arranged  meetings,  distributed  literature,  obtained  hear- 
ings before  many  kinds  of  religious  bodies,  secured  resolutions 
and  tried  to  have  official  recognition  of  women  in  the  churches. 
Ministers  had  been  requested  to  preach  sermons  in  favor  and 
many  had  done  so,  twenty-rive  in  San  Francisco  alone.  Mrs. 
Pauline  Steinem  (Ohio),  chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Educa- 
tion, reported  on  its  efforts  in  organizing  Mothers'  and  Parents' 
Clubs  and  working  through  these  lor  suffrage ;  putting  pictures  of 
the  pioneers  in  schools  and  securing  the  cooperation  of  the 
teachers  for  brief  talks  about  them;  supplying  books  containing 
selections  from  suffrage  speeches,  poems,  etc.,  to  be  used  in  the 
schools.  It  was  also  proposed  to  see  that  text  books  on  history 
and  civics  are  written  with  a  proper  appreciation  of  the  work 
of  women. 

Part  of  an  afternoon  was  devoted  to  a  discussion  led  by  Dr. 
Rosalie  Slaughter  Morton  (N.  Y.),  delegated  representative  of 
Prince  Morrow  and  the  American  Society  for  Sanitary  and 
Moral  Prophylaxis.  In  an  eloquent  address  she  described  the 
terrible  devastation,  especially  among  women  and  children,  from 
diseases  which  until  lately  had  been  concealed  and  never  men- 
tioned. She  attributed  these  conditions  partly  to  the  fact  that 
boys  and  girls  were  left  in  ignorance  and  this  was  often  because 
the  mothers  were  ignorant.  The  chief  cause  of  the  wide  preva- 
lence of  these  diseases  was  the  double  standard  of  morals,  the 
belief  that  a  chaste  life  for  a  man  is  incompatible  with  health  and 
that  the  consequences  of  immorality  end  with  themselves  and 
will  not  be  transmitted.  She  urged  women  to  unite  in  the  demand 
for  a  higher  standard  of  morals  among  men.  Mrs.  Oilman  spoke 
strongly  on  the  necessity  for  more  vigorous  measures  for  a 
quarantine  of  the  infected  and  health  certificates  for  every  mar- 
riage and  she  laid  a  large  share  of  the  cause  of  immorality  at 


NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1 908  225 

the  door  of  the  economic  dependence  of  women.  Mrs.  Florence 
Kelley,  executive  secretary  of  the  National  Consumers'  League, 
whose  life  was  being  spent  in  improving  the  economic  position 
of  women,  said:  "How  are  we  dealing  with  this  monstrous  evil? 
Are  we  going  to  wait  patiently  and  rear  a  whole  generation  of 
children  and  grandchildren  and  trust  to  their  gradual  increase 
in  strength  of  character?"  She  told  of  the  mothers  who  bring 
up  children  in  the  best  and  wisest  manner  but  the  environment 
outside  the  home,  which  they  have  no  power  to  shape,  nullifies 
all  their  teaching.  "That  is  a  very  slow  way  of  dealing  with  a 
cancer,"  she  said.  "Women  have  tried  for  forty  years  to  get  the 
power  to  have  the  laws  enforced  and  that  is  our  greatest  need 
today."  A  principal  feature  of  this  important  discussion  was 
the  strong,  analytical  address  of  the  Rev.  Anna  Garlin  Spencer, 
in  the  course  of  which  she  said: 

The  formation  of  the  New  York  Society  for  Sanitary  and  Moral 
Prophylaxis  marked  an  important  era.  For  the  first  time  the  physi- 
cians as  a  whole  assumed  a  social  duty  to  promote  purity.  They 
had  done  it  as  individuals,  but  this  was  the  first  instance  of  their 
banding  themselves  together  on  a  moral  as  well  as  a  sanitary  plane 
to  enlighten  the  public  as  to  the  causes  of  social  disease.  ...  Dr. 
Prince  Morrow  should  be  everlastingly  honored  by  every  woman. 
I  consider  no  woman  guiltless,  whether  she  lives  in  a  suffrage 
State  or  not,  if  she  does  not  hold  herself  responsible  for  guard- 
ing less  fortunate  women.  Corrupt  custom  has  rent  the  sacred, 
seamless  robe  of  womanhood  and  cast  out  part  of  the  women, 
abandoning  them  to  degradation.  We  must  learn  to  recognize  the 
responsibility  of  pure  women  for  the  fallen  women,  of  the  woman 
whose  circumstances  have  enabled  her  to  stand,  for  the  woman 
whom  adverse  conditions  have  borne  down.  We  should  oppose  the 
;ice  of  womanhood,  whether  of  an  innocent  girl  sacrificed  with 
pomp  and  ceremony  in  church,  or  of  a  poor  waif  in  the  street; 
'  protection  is  the  ability  of  voting  girls  to  earn  their 
living  by  congenial  labor.  All  the  social  purity  societies  do  not 

ide  schools  as  a  preventive.  .  .  . 

We  must  not  look  at  this  matter  from  only  one  point  of  view 

:  y    that    we   can   do    nothing   about    it    until    we   arc-   ;mne<l    with 

the  ballot.      1    am  a  suffragist  but  not  "high  church,"    I   am  a  suf- 

omcthing  else.     We  ought  to  have  the  ballot,  we  are 

'1  vantage  in  our  work  while-  we  are  deprived  of  it.  but  even 

without  it  we  have  great  power.     We  must  stamp  out  the  traffic  in 

mhood,  it  is  a  survival  of  barbarism.     Womanhood   is  a  unit; 

in  can  he  an   outcast   without   dire  evil   to   family   life. 

What  caused  the  doct  >me  together  in  a  Society  for  Sanitary 


226  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

and  Moral  Prophylaxis?  It  was  because  the  evil  done  in  dark 
places  came  back  in  injury  to  the  family  life.  .  .  .  We  must  make 
ourselves  more  terrible  than  an  army  with  banners  to  despoilers 
of  womanhood.  .  .  .  Men  are  no  longer  to  be  excused  for  writing 
in  scarlet  on  their  foreheads  their  incapacity  for  self-control.  None 
of  us  is  longer  to  be  excused  for  cowardice  and  acquiescence  in  the 
sacrifice  of  womanhood.  Not  even  that  woman — vilest  of  all  crea- 
tures on  the  face  of  the  earth  I  do  believe — the  procuress,  shall  be 
beyond  the  pale  of  sympathy,  for  she  is  merely  the  product  of  the 
feeling  on  the  part  of  men  that  they  owe  nothing  to  women  or 
to  themselves  in  the  way  of  purity,  and  the  feeling  on  the  part  of 
women  that  they  have  no  right  to  demand  of  men  what  men  de- 
mand of  them.  If  women  are  going  to  amount  to  anything  in 
government,  they  would  better  begin  to  practice  here  and  now  and 
band  themselves  together  with  noble  men  to  bring  about  this  reform. 

Of  equal  interest  with  Pioneers'  Evening  and  in  striking  con- 
trast with  it  was  the  College  Evening.  One  commemorated  the 
first  efforts  to  obtain  a  college  education  for  women,  the  other 
the  full  fruition  of  these  efforts  in  the  announcement  of  a  Na- 
tional College  Women's  Equal  Suffrage  League  with  branches  in 
fifteen  States.  Dr.  Shaw,  possessing  three  college  degrees, 
opened  the  session,  and  the  founder  of  the  League,  Mrs.  Maud 
Wood  Park,  a  graduate  of  Radcliffe  College,  presided.  "With 
the  exception  of  Oberlin  and  Antioch,"  she  said,  "not  one  college 
was  open  to  women  before  the  organized  movement  for  woman 
suffrage  began."  She  gave  statistics  of  the  large  number  now 
open  to  them  and  said :  "Such  facts  as  these  help  us  to  under- 
stand the  service  which  the  leaders  of  the  suffrage  movement 
performed  for  college  women  and  it  is  fitting  that  these  should 
make  public  recognition  of  their  debt.  It  was  with  this  idea 
of  responsibility  for  benefits  received  that  the  first  branch  of 
this  League  was  formed  in  Massachusetts  in  1900.  The  League 
realizes  that  the  best  way  to  pay  our  debt  to  the  noble  women 
who  toiled  and  suffered,  who  bore  ridicule,  insult  and  privation, 
is  for  us  in  our  turn  to  sow  the  seed  of  future  opportunities  for 


women/' 


In  introducing  Dr.  Sophonisba  P.  Breckinridge,  dean  of  the 
Junior  Women's  College  of  the  University  of  Chicago,  Mrs. 
Park  said  that  she  had  half  the  letters  of  the  alphabet  attached 
to  her  name  representing  degrees.  Dr.  Breckinridge  also  paid  a 


NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1908  227 

tribute  of  gratitude  to  the  National  Suffrage  Association  and 
began  her  address:  "My  faith  has  three  articles.  I  believe  it 
is  the  right  and  the  duty  of  the  wage-earning  woman  to  claim  the 
ballot  and  to  have  her  claim  recognized  to  participate  in  the  polit- 
ical life  of  her  community.  Her  status  as  a  worker  depends  in 
part  upon  it  and  only  thus  can  she  protect  the  interests  of  her 
group.  I  believe  it  is  the  right  and  duty  of  the  wife  and  mother 
to  claim  the  ballot,  for  as  a  housekeeper  and  carer  of  her  children 
she  cannot  do  her  work  economically  and  satisfactorily  without 
it.  It  is  easy  to  see  why  the  wage-earning  women  and  the  house- 
keepers need  the  ballot ;  but  why  should  we,  who  do  not  belong  to 
either  of  those  groups,  -want  it?  Every  woman  should  want  it 
because  tasks  lie  before  the  public  so  difficult  that  they  can  not  be 
fulfilled  without  the  cooperation  of  all  the  trained  minds  in  the 
community,  and  these  problems  can  be  met  only  by  collective 
action.  We  want  to  get  hold  of  the  little  device  that  moves  the 
machinery." 

Miss  Caroline  Lexow,  president  of  the  New  York  branch  of 
the  league,  a  graduate  of  Barnard  College,  a  part  of  Columbia 
University,  "charmed  the  audience  with  her  girlish  simplicity 
and  with  the  tribute  she  paid  to  the  women  who  more  than  half 
a  century  ago  sowed  the  seeds  -which  have  yielded  so  rich  a 
harvest  for  the  women  of  today,"  to  quote  from  an  enthusiastic 
reporter.  Of  another  young  speaker  the  Buffalo  Express  said: 
"To  the  front  of  the  platform  stepped  a  sweet-faced,  bright-eyed, 
rosy  English  girl,  Miss  Ray  Costello,  a  graduate  of  Newnham 
College,  Cambridge  University,  who  spoke  on  Equal  Suffrage 
among  English  University  Women.  She  had  captured  her  audi- 
ence before  she  started  to  describe  the  energetic  work  of  the 
college  women."  "In  England  as  in  the  United  States,"  Miss 
Costello  said,  "the  pioneers  in  the  demand  for  higher  education 
were  also  pioneers  in  the  demand  for  votes.  When  the  action 
of  the  'militant'  suffragettes  brought  the  question  into  such 
prominence  that  the  opponents  began  to  state  their  objections, 
the  college  women  -were  aroused  and  became  more  and  more 
active,  but  as  a  whole  they  were  in  favor  of  peaceful  rather  than 
militant  tactics."  She  told  also  of  the  growth  of  favorable  senti- 
ment in  the  men's  colleges. 


228  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

This  was  the  first  appearance  at  a  national  suffrage  convention 
of  Mrs.  Frances  Squire  Potter,  professor  of  English  in  the 
University  of  Minnesota,  and  her  address  on  Women  and  the 
Vote  was  one  of  the  ablest  ever  given  before  this  body  which  was 
accustomed  to  superior  addresses.  Limited  space  forbids  ex- 
tended quotation : 

Louis  XIV  said  an  infamous  thing  when  he  declared :  "I  am  the 
State,"  but  he  announced  his  position  frankly.  He  was  an  auto- 
crat and  he  said  so.  It  was  a  more  honest  and  therefore  less  harmful 
position  than  that  of  a  majority  of  voters  in  our  country  today. 
Can  it  help  but  confuse  and  deteriorate  one  sex,  trained  to  believe 
and  call  itself  living  in  a  democracy,  to  say  silently  year  by  year 
at  the  polls,  "I  am  the  State"?  Can  it  help  but  confuse  and  de- 
teriorate the  other  sex,  similarly  trained  to  acquiescence  year  after 
year  in  a  national  misrepresentation  and  a  personal  no-representation  ? 
This  fundamental  insincerity  of  our  so-called  democracy  is  as  in- 
sidious an  influence  upon  the  minds  and  morals  of  our  franchised 
men,  our  unfranchised  women  and  our  young  Americans  of  both 
sexes,  as  hypocrisy  is  to  a  church  member  or  spurious  currency  to 
a  bank.  It  is  to  be  remembered  that  the  evils  which  are  pointed 
out  in  our  commonwealth  today  are  not  the  evils  of  a  democracy 
but  of  an  amorphous  something  which  is  afraid  to  be  a  democracy. 
Whether  the  opposition  to  women's  voting  be  honestly  professed 
or  whether  it  is  concealed  under  chivalrous  idolatry,  distrust  and 
skepticism  are  behind  it.  ...  When  pushed  to  the  wall,  objectors 
to  woman  suffrage  now-a-days  take  refuge  behind  one  of  two  plati- 
tudes: The  first  is  used  too  often  by  women  whose  public  activi- 
ties ought  logically  to  make  them  suffragists — the  assertion  that  equal 
suffrage  is  bound  to  come  in  time  but  that  at  present  there  are 
more  pressing  needs.  "Let  us  get  the  poor  better  housed  and  fed," 
these  women  say.  "Let  us  get  our  schools  improved  and  our  cities 
cleaned  up  and  then  we  shall  have  time  to  take  up  the  cause  of 
equal  suffrage."  Is  not  this  a  survival  of  that  old  vice  of  woman- 
kind, indirection?  .  .  .  The  suffrage  issue  should  not  be  put  off 
but  should  be  placed  first,  as  making  the  other  issues  easier  and 
more  permanent.  .  .  . 

This  brings  me  to  the  other  platitude.  How  often  we  are  told, 
"Women  themselves  do  not  want  it;  when  they  do  it  will  be  given 
to  them."  That  is  to  say,  when  an  overwhelming  majority  of 
women  want  what  they  ought  to  have,  then  they  can  have  it. 
Extension  of  suffrage  never  has  been  granted  on  these  terms.  No 
great  reform  has  gone  through  on  these  terms.  In  an  enlightened 
State  wanting  is  not  considered  a  necessary  condition  to  the  grant- 
ing of  education  or  the  extension  of  any  privilege.  Such  a  State 
confers  it  in  order  to  create  the  desire;  unenlightened  States,  like 
Turkey  and  Russia,  hold  off  until  revolution  compels  a  reluctant, 
niggardly  abdication  of  tyranny.  .  .  .  We  have  the  conviction  that 


NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQo8  22Q 

that  which  has  come  in  Finland  and  Australia,  which  is  coming  in 
Great  Britain,  will  come  in  America,  and  there  is  a  majesty  in  the 
sight  of  a  great  world-tide  which  has  been  gathering  force  through 
generations,  which  is  rising  steadily  and  irresistibly,  that  should 
paralyze  any  American  Xerxes  who  thinks  to  stop  it  with  humanly 
created  restraints. 

Dr.  M.  Carey  Thomas,  president  of  Bryn  Mawr  College,  re- 
ceived an  ovation.  "The  formation  of  this  National  College 
League,"  she  said,  "indicates  that  college  women  will  be  ready 
to  bear  their  part  in  the  stupendous  social  change  of  which  the 
demand  for  woman  suffrage  is  only  the  outward  symbol,"  and 
she  continued  : 

Sixty  years  ago  all  university  studies  and  all  the  charmed  world 
of  scholarship  were  a  man's  world,  in  which  women  had  no  share. 
Xmv.  although  only  one  woman  in  one  thousand  goes  to  college 
even  in  the  United  States,  where  there  are  more  college  women  than 
in  any  other  country,  the  position  of  every  individual  woman  in 
every  part  of  the  civilized  world  has  been  changed  because  this 
one  thousandth  per  cent,  have  proved  beyond  the  possibility  of 
question  that  in  intellect  there  is  no  sex,  that  the  accumulated  learn- 
ing of  our  great  past  and  of  our  still  greater  future  is  the  inheri- 
tance of  women  also.  Men  have  admitted  women  into  intellectual 
comradeship  and  the  opinions  of  educated  women  can  no  longer  be 
ignored  by  educated  men.  .  .  .  Women  are  one-half  of  the  world, 
but  until  a  century  ago  the  world  of  music  and  painting  and  sculp- 
ture and  literature  and  scholarship  and  science  was  a  man's  world. 
The  world  of  trades  and  professions  and  work  of  all  kinds  was 
a  man's  world.  Women  lived  a  twilight  life,  a  half-life  apart,  and 
looked  out  and  saw  men  as  shadows  walking.  Now  women  have 
won  the  rie^ht  to  higher  education  and  to  economic  independence. 
The  right  to  become  citizens  of  the  State  is  the  next  and  inevita- 
ble consequence  of  education  and  work  outside  the  home.  We  have 
pone  so  far;  we  must  go  farther.  Whv  nre  we  afraid?  Tt  is  the 
step  forward  on  the  path  toward  the  sunrise  —  and  the  sun 
is  rising  over  a  new  heaven  and  a  new  earth. 


The  National  College  Women's  TCqnal  Suffrage  Lenguo 
formally  organized  as  auxiliary  to  the  National  American  Asso- 
ciation. with  Dr.  Thomas  president.  Miss  Lexow  secretary;  Dr. 
Margaret  Long,  of  Smith  College,  treasurer:  Mrs.  Park  chair- 
man of  the  organization  committee;  Dr.  Rrcckinridge,  Mrs.  C.  S. 
\Vnorl\vard,  adviser  to  women  in  the  University  of  Wisconsin, 
and  Miss  France  W.  McLean  of  the  University  of  California 
were  among  the  vie-  '  -tits.  Three  thousand  dollars  were 


230  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

appropriated  for  its  work  the  first  year  from  the  Anthony 
Memorial  Fund.  The  following  day  Mrs.  George  Howard  Lewis 
gave  a  beautiful  luncheon  at  the  Twentieth  Century  Club  in 
honor  of  Dr.  Shaw,  Dr.  Thomas  and  the  college  women  and  it 
included  the  officials  of  the  national  and  State  suffrage  associa- 
tions. The  tables  were  decorated  with  orchids  and  yellow  chrys- 
anthemums and  there  were  corsage  bouquets  of  violets  for  the 
guests  of  honor. 

The  women  ministers  in  attendance  and  some  of  the  delegates 
spoke  in  various  churches  Sunday  morning.  A  departure  was 
made  from  the  usual  custom  of  holding  religious  services  in 
the  afternoon  and  they  were  replaced  by  an  industrial  meeting. 
One  of  the  city  papers  thus  introduced  its  account :  "Any  theatre 
after  a  packed  house  had  better  advertise  a  woman's  meeting  with 
the  Rev.  Anna  Howard  Shaw  presiding.  At  the  Star  Theatre, 
where  an  industrial  mass  meeting  was  held  under  the  auspices  of 
the  National  Suffrage  Association  yesterday  afternoon,  when 
Dr.  Shaw  stepped  to  the  front  of  the  stage  to  call  it  to  order, 
men,  as  well  as  women,  filled  all  the  seats  on  the  ground  floor  and 
packed  the  galleries  and  boxes,  while  many  stood  during  the 
entire  program  and  many  more  were  turned  away.  It  was  the 
largest  meeting  in  the  cause  of  equal  suffrage  that  Buffalo  has 
ever  known.  After  prayer  by  the  Rev.  Robert  Freeman  and  a 
musical  selection  by  the  choir  of  the  First  Unitarian  Church, 
Dr.  Shaw  announced  that  the  audience  would  rise  while  Julia 
Ward  Howe's  Battle  Hymn  of  the  Republic  was  sung.  She 
stood  with  bowed  head  as  she  listened.  "Some  one  asked  me  this 
morning  if  I  am  very  happy,"  said  Dr.  Shaw,  "and  I  said  yes, 
for  I  have  everything  in  the  world  that  is  necessary  to  happiness, 
good  faith,  good  friends  and  all  the  work  I  can  possibly  do.  I 
think  God's  greatest  blessing  to  the  human  race  was  when  He 
sent  man  forth  into  the  world  to  earn  his  bread  by  the  sweat  of 
his  face.  I  believe  in  toil,  in  the  dignity  of  labor,  but  I  also 
believe  in  adequate  compensation  for  that  toil." 

The  report  of  the  committee  on  Industrial  Problems  Affecting 
Women  and  Children  was  given  by  its  chairman,  Mrs.  Kelley, 
executive  secretary  of  the  National  Consumers'  League,  in  which 
she  said:  "In  New  York  woman  can  not  be  deprived  of  the 


NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQo8  23 1 

sacred  right  to  work  all  night  in  factories  on  pain  of  dismissal. 
Such  is  the  recent  decision  of  the  Court  of  Appeals.  On  the 
other  hand  the  same  Court  has  within  a  week  held  that  the  law 
is  constitutional  which  restricts  to  eight  hours  the  work  of  men 
employed  by  the  State,  the  county  or  the  city.  I  wish  the  women 
who  think  that  'persuasion'  is  all-sufficient  might  have  our  ex- 
perience in  New  York  City;  we  worked  for  twelve  years  to  get 
inspectors  who  should  look  after  the  women  and  children  in 
stores  and  mercantile  establishments.  At  last  an  act  was  passed 
by  which  inspectors  were  to  be  appointed  and  for  about  a  year 
and  a  half  they  really  inspected  and  looked  after  the  children  and 
young  girls  in  the  stores.  Then  a  great  philanthropist,  Nathan 
Straus,  who  was  connected  with  an  establishment  employing 
many  young  people,  got  himself  appointed,  as  he  frankly  said,  in 
order  to  get  the  salaries  of  the  inspectors  stricken  out  of  the 
budget  and  to  get  sterilized  milk  put  into  it.  He  got  the  salaries 
out  and  the  sterilized  milk  in  and  then  he  resigned.  The  next 
year  his  successor  got  the  sterilized  milk  out  and  there  we  were, 
back  just  where  we  had  been  at  the  beginning.  We  had  to  set 
to  work  again  and  labor  for  years  longer,  petitioning  all  the 
changing  and  kaleidoscopic  officials  who  have  to  do  with  the 
finances  of  New  York;  and  one  mayor  said  frankly  to  us — to 
the  Consumers'  League:  "Ladies,  why  do  you  keep  on  coming? 
You  know  you  will  never  get  anything — there  isn't  a  voter  among 
you !  .  .  .  "Mrs.  Kelley  said  the  Consumers'  League  had  been 
investigating  the  condition  of  girls  working  in  stores,  away 
from  home,  and  she  gave  a  heartbreaking  account  of  their  destitu- 
tion and  semi-starvation.  "Only  nineteen  States  protect  grown 
women  at  all,"  she  said.  "I  am  very  tired  of  'persuasion'  and  from 
tlii-  time  on  I  mean  to  try  other  methods." 

Intense  interest  was  manifested  in  the  address  entitled  Noblesse 
Oblige  by  Miss  Jean  Gordon,  factory  inspector  for  New  Orleans, 
in  which  she  said  in  part: 

<•  of  the  st   and   truest   criticisms   brought  against  our 

American  leisure  class  is  that  they  are  absolutely  devoid  of  a  proper 

appreciation    of    what    is    conveyed    in    the    expression.    "Noblesse 

.;<•."      In   no  count rv    in    the   world   are   there   so  many   young 

•  n  of  education,  wealth  and  leisure,  free  as  the  winds  of  heaven 


232  HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

to  do  as  they  wish.  In  no  country  are  there  more  interesting  prob- 
lems to  be  solved  and  one  would  think  such  work  would  appeal 
to  this  very  class,  especially  as  most  of  them  are  the  daughters 
of  men  who  by  their  large  constructive  minds  have  created  condi- 
tions and  opportunities  and  developed  them  into  the  great  industries 
for  which  America  is  justly  famous;  and  it  would  seem  by  the  law 
of  cross  inheritance  that  these  daughters  would  inherit  some  of 
the  great  creative  ability  of  their  fathers  and  fairly  burn  to  apply 
their  leisure  and  education  to  working  out  the  social  problems  which 
are  besetting  more  and  more  this  great  country.  But  unfortunately, 
with  a  few  exceptions,  they  rest  contented  with  playing  the  Lady 
Bountiful  and  their  only  appreciation  of  the  spirit  of  Noblesse  Oblige 
has  been  the  old,  aristocratic  idea  of  charity.  .  .  . 

Think  what  it  would  mean  to  bring  their  trained  minds  and  great 
wealth  and  leisure  to  the  study  of  the  economic  conditions  which 
are  represented  in  the  underpaid  services  and  long  hours  of  their 
less    fortunate   sisters   in   the  mills   and    factories   throughout   this 
broad   land !     Think  what  it  would  mean   if   from  the  protection 
with  which  their  wealth  and  position  surround  them  they  took  their 
stand  on  the  great  question  of  the  dual  code  of  morality!     Think 
what  it  would  mean  to  the  little  children  being  stunted  mentally 
and  physically  in  our  mills  and   factories,   if  these  thousands  of 
young  women,  many  of  them  enjoying  the  wealth  made  out  of  these 
little  human  souls,  refused  to  wear  or  buy  anything  made  under 
any  but  decent  living  conditions !     Think  what  it  would  mean  if 
they  decided  that  every  child  should  have  a  seat  in  school,  that 
every  neighborhood  should  have  a  play-ground  and  a  public  bath ! 
Too  long  the  men  and  women  of  leisure  and  education  in  America 
have  left  the  administration  of  our  public  affairs  to  fall  into  the 
hands  of  a  class  whose  conception  of  the  duties  involved  in  public 
service  is  of  the  lowest  order.  .  .  .  Instead  of  being  regarded  as 
only  fitted  for  women  of  ordinary  position  and  intellect,  all  offices 
such  as  superintendents  of  reformatories,  matrons  and  women  fac- 
tory inspectors,  should  be  filled  by  women  of  standing,  education, 
refinement  and  independent  means.     Such  women  would  be  above 
the  temptation  of  graft  or  the  fear  of  losing  their  positions.     They 
are   on   a   social   footing  with   the  manufacturers   and   no   mill   or 
factory  owner  likes  to  meet  the  factory  inspector  at  a   reception 
or  dining  in  the  home  of  a  mutual  friend  if  he  is  trying  to  evade 
the  law.     American  women  of  leisure  must  awaken  to  an  appre- 
ciation of  the  democratic  idea  of  Noblesse  Oblige. 

Mrs.  Blatch  was  introduced  as  "president  of  the  Self -Support- 
ing Women's  Suffrage  League  and  the  only  one  in  it  who  was  not 
self-supporting  in  the  accepted  sense  of  the  term."  "When  I  hear 
that  there  are  5,000,000  working  women  in  this  country,"  said 
Dr.  Shaw,  "I  always  take  occasion  to  say  that  there  are  18,000,000 
but  only  5,000,000  receive  their  wages."  Mrs.  Blatch  traced  the 


NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1 908  233 

changes  of  the  years  'which  have  made  it  necessary  for  women 
to  go  out  of  the  home  to  earn  their  bread  in  factory,  shop  and 
mercantile  establishments.  "Cooperation  is  the  only  way  out 
of  the  present  condition  of  the  working  women,"  she  asserted. 
"President  Thomas  said  last  night  that  the  gates  of  knowledge 
had  swung  wide  open  for  women.  They  have  not  done  so  for 
the  working  girls."  She  pointed  out  the  many  opportunities  for 
the  boys  to  learn  the  trades  'which  are  denied  to  the  girls.  "There 
is  only  one  way  to  redress  their  wrongs  and  that  is  by  the  ballot," 
she  declared,  and  in  closing  she  said:  "Of  all  the  people  who 
block  the  progress  of  woman  suffrage  the  worst  are  the  women 
of  wealth  and  leisure  who  never  knew  a  day's  work  and  never 
felt  a  clay's  want,  but  who  selfishly  stand  in  the  way  of  those 
women  who  know  what  it  means  to  earn  the  bread  they  eat  by 
the  sternest  toil  and  who,  with  a  voice  in  the  Government,  could 
better  themselves  in  every  way." 

The  last  address  was  made  by  Dr.  Shaw  and  even  the  cold, 
prosaic  official  report  of  the  convention  said :  "It  was  one  of 
the  greatest  speeches  of  the  entire  week."  She  began  by  telling 
of  the  immense  demonstration  in  London  during  the  past  sum- 
mer when  10,000  women  marched  through  the  streets  to  prove 
to  the  Government  that  women  did  want  to  vote,  and  then  she 
proceeded  to  tell  why  American  women  wanted  it  and  how  they 
were  determined  to  compel  some  action  by  the  Government.  In 
the  evening  the  officers  held  a  reception  for  the  delegates,  speakers 
and  friends  in  the  Lenox  Hotel,  convention  headquarters. 

In  the  Monday  afternoon  symposium  the  stock  objections  to 

woman  suffrage  were  considered  by  Miss  Lexow,  Miss  Laura 

Kans.V  Mrs.  William  C.  Gannett  (N.  Y.),  Mrs.  Kelley 

rind  Miss  Maude  K.  Miner,  a  probation  officer  in  New  York. 

;ner  said   in   answering  the   objection  to  "the  immoral 

"Is  the  fact  that  immoral  women  would  have  the  vote' 

1  objection?     I  do  not  believe  that  it  is.     In  the  first  place 

such  women  nre  a  very  small  proportion  of  the  whole.     Fifty 

to  one  hundred  a  night  are  brought  into  the  night  court  but  we 

'be   same   faces   over  and   over  arrain.      There  are  perhaps 

0  such  women  in  New  York  City  in  a  population  of   four 

million  but  there  is  le<^  reason  :  n franchising  the  -woman 


»OU   T 


234  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

than  for  disfranchising  some  of  the  men,  as  there  are  at  least 
4,000  men  who  are  living  wholly  or  in  part  on  these  women's 
earnings.  ...  I  do  not  believe  that  all  women  who  have 
fallen  would  use  their  votes  for  evil.  I  have  dealt  with  250 
of  them  and  I  am  often  surprised  to  see  how  much  sense  of 
honor  some  of  them  have  and  how  intelligent  they  are.  At  pres- 
ent they  are  the  slaves  of  the  saloon-keepers,  and  the  Raines  law 
hotels  and  the  saloons  are  at  the  root  of  the  evil.  We  ought  to 
do  more  to  protect  them  from  such  a  life.  ...  It  seems  to 
be  women's  work  to  deal  with  such  problems  and  to  secure 
legislation  along  these  lines  and  we  can  only  do  this  by  having 
the  ballot.  With  it  we  can  do  much  more  in  the  way  of  breaking 
up  the  power  of  the  saloon  in  politics,  which  is  at  the  bottom 
of  all." 

Dr.  Shaw  was  quickly  on  her  feet  to  say  that  Miss  Miner  had 
touched  upon  the  vital  spot  in  the  whole  suffrage  movement; 
that  the  liquor  interests  were  at  the  bottom  of  the  opposition  to 
it  and  that  in  the  States  where  it  had  been  defeated  they  were 
responsible.  Mrs.  Kelley  spoke  for  The  Woman  at  the  Bottom 
of  the  Heap,  who  had  even  greater  need  of  the  ballot  than  her 
more  fortunate  sisters.  Mrs.  Gannett,  wife  of  the  Unitarian 
minister,  William  C.  Gannett  of  Rochester,  N.  Y.,  both  loving 
friends  of  Miss  Anthony,  considered  the  assertion  that  "women 
do  not  want  to  vote,"  saying  in  part: 

They  tell  us  that  women  can  bring  better  things  to  pass  by  indirect 
influence.  Try  to  persuade  any  man  that  he  will  have  more  weight, 
more  influence,  if  he  gives  up  his  vote,  allies  himself  with  no  party 
and  relies  on  influence  to  achieve  his  ends !  By  all  means  let  us 
use  to  its  utmost  whatever  influence  we  have,  but  in  all  justice 
do  not  ask  us  to  be  content  with  this.  Facts  show  that  a  large 
body  of  earnest,  responsible  women  do  want  the  ballot,  a  body  large 
enough  to  deserve  very  respectful  hearing  from  our  law-makers,  but 
there  certainly  are  many  women  who  do  not  yet  want  to  vote. 
We  think  they  ought  to  want  it;  that  women  have  no  more  right 
than  men  to  accept  and  enjoy  the  protection  and  privileges  of  civilized 
government  and  shirk  its  duties  and  responsibilities.  They  say  they 
do  not  thus  shirk,  that  woman's  sphere  lies  in  a  different  place, 
and  we  answer:  "This  is  true  but  only  part  of  the  truth."  .  .  .  Munici- 
pal government  belongs  far  more  to  woman's  sphere  than  to  man's, 
if  we  must  choose  between  the  two;  it  is  home-making  and  house- 
keeping writ  large,  but  just  as  the  best  home  is  that  where  father 


NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1 908  235 

and  mother  together  rule,  so  shall  we  have  the  better  city,  the  better 
State,  when  men  and  women  together  counsel,  together  rule.  No 
mother  fulfills  her  whole  mother  duty  in  the  sight  of  God  who  is 
not  willing  to  do  her  service,  to  take  her  share  of  direct  respon- 
sibility for  the  good  of  the  whole.  She  can  not  fully  care  for  her 
own  without  some  care  for  all  the  children  of  the  community. 
Her  own,  however  guarded,  are  menaced  so  long  as  the  least  of 
these  is  exposed  to  pestilence  or  is  robbed  of  bis  birthright  of  fresh 
air  and  sunshine. 

The  hard  struggle  and  toil  of  our  honored  pioneers  was  for 
\Y<>man's  Rights.  We  of  the  coming  day  must  take  up  the  cry 
of  \Yoman's  Duty.  We  live  in  the  new  age;  new  obligations  are 
laid  upon  us.  We  must  labor  until  no  woman  in  the  land  shall 
be  content  to  say,  "I  am  not  willing  to  pay  the  price  I  owe  for 
the  comfort  and  safety  of  my  life";  until  every  woman  shall  be 
ashamed  not  to  demand  equal  duties  and  equal  responsibilities  for 
the  common  weal ;  until  none  can  be  found  of  whom  it  can  with 
truth  be  said,  "They  do  not  want  to  vote." 

Miss  Gregg  discussed  The  Real  Enemy,  and,  while  endorsing 
all  that  had  been  said,'  asserted  that  "this  enemy  is  among  our 
own  sex."  "It  is  not  the  anti-suffragist,"  she  said,  "she  is  our 
unwilling  ally,  for  when  there  is  danger  that  we  might  fall  asleep 
she  arouses  us  by  buzzing  about  our  ears  with  her  misrepresenta- 
tions. It  is  not  the  indifferent  suffragist,  she  can  be  galvanized 
into  life.  Our  real  enemy  is  the  dead  or  dormant  suffragist," 
and  then  she  preached  a  stirring  sermon  on  the  necessity  for  hard, 
incessant,  faithful  work  by  all  who  were  enlisted  heart  and 
soul  in  this  cause. 

Mrs.  Upton,  the  treasurer,  called  attention  to  the  mistaken 
conveyed  through  the  newspapers  that  the  association  had 
unlimited  funds.  The  report  that  it  intended  to  raise  $100,000  had 
been  made  to  read  that  it  had  raised  it,  and  the  Garrett-Thomas 
fund  of  Si 2,000  a  year  had  caused  many  to  cease  their  sub- 
scriptions.1 The  new  opportunities  for  effective  work  caused 
T  demands  for  money  than  ever  before  and  the  year  1907 
had  been  the  most  anxious  the  board  had  known.  The  expendi- 
ha<l  been  larger  than  the  receipts  and  most  of  the  balance 
that  was  in  the  treasury  had  been  used.  Even  this  strong  si 

1  This  fund  had  been  raised  primarily  to  pay  aalariea  to  officers  who  now  had  to 
devote  their  whole  time  to  the  increased  work  of  the  association  and  who  had  hitherto 
for  the  most  part  jriven  their  service  gratuitously.  Dr.  Shaw  received  $3,500;  the  secre- 
tary $1,000,  the  treasurer  $1,000.  This  left  $6,500  for  other  purposes  each  year. 


236  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

ment,  backed  by  an  appeal  from  Dr.  Shaw,  brought  pledges  only 
to  the  amount  of  $3,600,  a  less  amount  than  for  years,  the  dele- 
gates, many  of  small  means,  still  feeling  that  their  former  sub- 
scriptions were  not  necessary.  Dr.  Shaw  then  read  to  the  con- 
vention a  letter  to  herself  from  Mrs.  George  Howard  Lewis  of 
Buffalo,  who  expressed  the  pleasure  of  the  New  York  State 
suffrage  clubs  that  the  6oth  anniversary  of  the  first  Woman's 
Rights  Convention  had  been  held  in  this  city,  at  Miss  Anthony's 
expressed  wish,  and  ended:  "In  memory  of  Susan  B.  Anthony 
will  you  accept  the  enclosed  check  for  $10,000  to  be  used  as  the 
national  officers  deem  best  in  the  work,  so  dear  to  her  and  to  all 
true  lovers  of  justice,  for  the  enfranchisement  of  women?"  As 
she  showed  the  enclosure  Dr.  Shaw  said:  "This  is  the  largest 
check  I  ever  held  in  my  hand."  The  convention  rose  in  apprecia- 
tion of  Mrs.  Lewis's  generous  gift. 

The  report  of  Mrs.  Ida  Porter  Boyer,  chairman  of  the  Libraries 
Committee,  the  result  of  a  month's  research  in  the  Library  of 
Congress  in  Washington  and  another  month  in  the  Public  Library 
of  Boston,  was  most  interesting,  as  it  dealt  with  old  manuscripts 
and  books  on  the  Rights  of  Women  written  in  the  i6th  and  i/th 
centuries.  The  valuable  report  of  Mrs.  Lucretia  L.  Blankenburg, 
chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Legislation  and  Civil  Rights,  em- 
bodied those  of  presidents  of  twenty-three  State  Suffrage  Asso- 
ciations, covering  school,  labor,  factory  and  temperance  laws, 
mercantile  inspection,  juvenile  courts,  educational  matters,  pro- 
tection of  wives  and  many  others  relating  to  the  welfare  of  women 
and  children,  most  of  them  showing  advance. 

The  speakers  at  the  Monday  evening  session  were  Miss  Har- 
riet Grim,  winner  of  the  Springer  prize  for  the  best  essay  written 
by  an  Illinois  college  student,  who  described  "The  Womanly 
Woman  in  Politics":  Mrs.  Katharine  Reed  Balentine  (Me.), 
daughter  of  Thomas  B.  Reed,  the  famous  Speaker  of  the  lower 
house  of  Congress  and  a  staunch  suffragist,  and  the  brilliant 
orator,  Mrs.  Philip  Snowden  of  England.  Mrs.  Balentine  said 
in  beginning  her  address  that  now  women  were  voting  in  Russia 
she  had  the  courage  to  hope  that  they  would  sometime  obtain 
the  suffrage  in  New  York,  Massachusetts  and  Maine,  and  con- 
tinued in  part; 


NATIONAL    AMKkU'AN     (  o  \  V  K  \TION    OF    1908  237 

In  England  the  last  final  argument,  that  women  do  not  them- 
selves want  the  franchise,  has  in  the  light  of  recent  events  become 
ridiculous.     On  June   13,    15,000   suffragists  paraded  through   the 
streets  of  London  and  it  is  said  that  the  woman  suffrage  meeting 
of  June  21  was  the  largest  public  meeting  ever  held  for  any  cause. 
Fifty  thousand  women  have  just  stormed  Parliament.  .  .  .  No  one 
now  doubts  that  the  women  of  England  want  and  intend  to  have 
votes.     It  is  said  that  history  repeats  itself  but  this  particular  phe- 
nomenon— the  world-wide  claim  of  women  to  political  equality  with 
men — has  never  appeared  before;  it  has  no  historic  precedent.  .  .  . 
Does  disfranchised  influence,  unsteadied  by  the  responsibility  of 
the  ballot  and  the  broadening  experience  of  public  service,   make 
for  the  greatest  good   to   the  greatest  number,   which  is  the  aim 
of  true  democracy?     Can  women,  and  do  the  average,  every-day 
women   in  their  present   condition  as   subjects  take   a   very   lively 
interest  in  the  real  welfare  of   the   State?     Hardly,   and   are  not 
men  and  children  affected  by  this  indifference?     It  could  scarcely 
be  otherwise.     It  may  be  said  that  average  men,  notwithstanding 
their  possession  of   the  ballot,  are  indifferent  to  the  public  weal, 
but  are  they  not  rendered  doubly  so  by  continually  associating  with 
a  class  that  feels  no  allegiance  to  the  State?  ...  In  the  political 
subjection   and   consequent  political   ignorance  and   indifference  of 
we  mien,   men  are  unconsciously   forging  their  own   fetters.     They 
can  not  retain  their  rights  unless  they  share  them  with  women.     This 
is  the  true  significance  of  the  woman  suffrage  movement  through- 
out the  world.     It   is  a  vast  attempt  at  the  establishing  of   real 
rnment   by   the   people    of    republics    which,    being   real,    shall 
endure ;  and  as  such  it  is  as  much  a  movement  for  men's  rights  as  for 
\v<  »nien's. 

The  "militant"  suffrage  movement  in  Great  Britain,  at  thjs 

time  in  its  early  stage,  was  attracting  worldwide  attention  and 

Mrs.  Snowden  devoted  much  of  her  address  to  explaining  it, 

ing  in  part:     "Our  methods  may  seem  strange  to  you,   for 

perhaps  you  do  not  fully  understand.     We  have  the  Municipal 

vote  and  have  used  it  for  many  years.    Today  an  Englishwoman 

may  vote  for  every  official  except  a  member  of  Parliament;  she 

may  sit  in  every  political  body  except  the  Parliament  and  we 

:  that  last  right.     We  have  420  members  out  of  670  of 

iN  members  pledged  to  this  reform.     When  the  full  suffrage  bill 

went  t<>  its  second  reading  the  votes  stood  three  to  one  in  favor. 

\Ve  want  that  vote  put  through  but  it  is  the  British  Cabinet  we 

HUM   i;et  at  to  approve  finally  the  act   when   it   has  passed   the 

It  is  the  Government  we  are  trying  to  annoy.    Our 

unit  never  moves  in  any  radical  way  until  it  is  kicked. 


238  HISTORY   OF   WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

Sir  'Henry  Campbell  Bannerman,  when  prime  minister,  advised 
the  -women  to  harass  the  Government  until  they  got  what  they 
wanted  and  that  is  just  what  we  are  doing  today.  The  Liberal 
Government,  helped  into  power  by  at  least  80,000  tax-paying 
women,  promised  to  grant  their  rights.  How  have  they  kept 
that  promise  ?" 

Speaking  of  the  two  "militant"  societies  Mrs.  Snowden  said: 
"Our  policy  of  aggressiveness  has  been  justified  by  its  results. 
When  we  began  almost  every  newspaper  in  England  was  against 
us.  Now,  with  one  exception,  the  Times,  the  London  papers 
are  all  for  us.  The  'militancy'  thus  far  has  consisted  chiefly  in 
'heckling'  speakers;  assembling  before  the  House  of  Commons 
in  large  numbers;  getting  into  the  gallery  and  into  public  meet- 
ings and  calling  out  'Votes  for  Women'  and  breaking  windows 
in  government  buildings,  a  time-honored  English  custom  of 
showing  disapproval.  Many  suffragists  in  the  United  States, 
knowing  the  contemptuous  manner  in  which  those  of  Great 
Britain  and  Ireland  have  been  treated  by  the  Government,  have 
felt  a  good  deal  of  sympathy  with  these  measures."  At  this 
convention  and  the  one  preceding  sympathy  was  expressed  by 
Dr.  Shaw  and  others  and  resolutions  to  this  effect  were  adopted. 

One  of  the  Buffalo  papers  said  in  regard  to  the  election  of 
officers:  "If  the  way  the  women  vote  at  the  national  convention 
may  be  taken  as  a  criterion  of  what  they  will  do  when  they 
gain  the  ballot,  there  will  be  very  little  electioneering.  Yester- 
day's election  was  characterized  by  entire  absence  of  wire-pulling. 
The  balloting  was  done  quickly  and  there  was  no  contest  for 
any  office,  the  women  voting  as  they  wished  and  only  a  few 
scattered  ballots  going  for  particular  friends  of  voters.  The 
election  of  the  president,  first  vice-president,  corresponding  secre- 
tary and  treasurer  was  unanimous  and  the  others  so  nearly  so 
that  there  was  no  question  of  result  by  the  time  half  the  ballots 
had  been  counted."  Mrs.  Sperry  retired  from  the  office  of 
second  vice-president  and  Mrs.  Ella  S.  Stewart,  president  of  the 
Illinois  suffrage  association,  was  chosen  in  her  place. 

The  paper  on  Some  Legal  Phases  of  the  Disfranchisement  of 
Women  by  Mrs.  Harriette  Johnston  Wood,  a  New  York  lawyer, 
was  regarded  as  so  important  that  it  was  ordered  to  be  printed 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1 908  239 

for  circulation.  She  quoted  from  Federal  and  State  constitu- 
tions and  court  decisions  to  prove  that  "if  properly  construed 
the  laws  specify  the  rights  and  privileges  of  'persons'  and  no 
distinction  is  made  as  to  'sex'  in  provisions  relating  to  the  elective 
franchise."  She  encouraged  women  to  try  to  register  for  voting 
and  qualify  for  jury  service  and  urged  that  bills  be  presented 
to  legislative  bodies  covering  the  following  points :  First,  that 
citizens  shall  equally  enjoy  all  civil  and  political  rights  and 
privileges;  second,  that  in  the  selection  of  jurors  no  discrimina- 
tion shall  be  made  against  citizens  on  account  of  sex;  third,  that 
representation  be  based  on  the  electorate  and  that  non-voters  be 
non-taxpayers;  fourth,  that  husband  and  wife  have  equal  right 
in  each  other's  property;  fifth,  equal  rights  in  the  property  of 
a  child;  sixth,  in  case  of  separation,  equal  rights  to  the  custody 
of  the  children.  A  visit  to  the  Albright  Art  Gallery  and  an 
automobile  ride  along  the  lake  front,  through  Delaware  Park 
and  the  many  handsome  avenues  of  the  city,  -was  a  much-enjoyed 
part  of  this  afternoon's  program. 

At  one  evening  session  Miss  Grace  H.  Ballantyne,  attorney  in 
the  noted  City  Hall  case  at  Des  Moines,  Iowa,  gave  a  spirited  ac- 
count of  the  way  in  which  the  women's  right  to  vote  on  issuing 
bonds  was  sustained.  Mrs.  Kate  Trimble  Woolsey  (Ky.),  who 
had  resided  some  years  in  England,  compared  the  condition  of 
women  in  that  country  and  the  United  States  to  the  disadvantage 
of  the  latter,  "where,"  she  said,  "the  -women  did  not  profit  by 
the  Declaration  of  Independence  but  on  the  contrary  lost  when 
the  colonies  were  supplanted  by  the  republic.  In  this  they  dis- 
cover that  a  republic  may  endure  as  a  political  institution  to  the 
end  of  time  without  conferring  recognition,  honors  or  power  on 
women;  that  it  can  exist  as  an  oligarchy  of  sex,  and  they  say: 
'Why  should  we  be  loyal  to  this  government?'  Thus  through 
women  republicanism  itself  is  imperiled  and  I  tell  you  that  if  an 
amendment  is  not  added  to  the  National  Constitution  giving  -wo- 
men the  power  to  vote,  this  republic,  within  the  living  generation, 
will  find  that  prophecy,  'Woman  is  the  rock  upon  which  our 
Ship  of  State  is  to  founder,'  will  be  fulfilled." 

As  chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Peace  and  Arbitration  Mrs. 
Lucia  Ames  Mead  gave  a  report  of  its  many  activities.  In  1907 


24O  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

she  had  attended  a  plenary  session  at  The  Hague  Peace  Con- 
ference, which  she  described  in  glowing  terms,  and  she  went 
as  a  delegate  in  September  to  an  International  Peace  Conference 
in  Munich.  In  July,  1908,  she  went  to  one  in  London,  where 
Mrs.  Belva  A.  Lockwood  of  Washington,  D.  C,  presented  a 
paper  on  the  Central  American  Peace  Congress,  held  in  that  city, 
and  the  recently  established  Arbitration  Court,  which  formed  the 
basis  of  three  resolutions  adopted  by  the  congress.  She  told  of 
the  new  society,  the  American  School  Peace  League  to  improve 
the  teaching  of  history  and  in  every  way  promote  international 
fraternity,  sympathy  and  justice. 

During  business  meetings  the  following  were  among  the  recom- 
mendations adopted:  To  recommend  to  States  to  continue  a  sys- 
tematic and  specialized  distribution  of  literature;  to  secure  and 
present  to  Congress  at  an  early  date  a  petition  asking  for  a 
1 6th  Amendment  enfranchising  women,  the  chair  to  appoint  a 
committee  to  superintend  this  work;  to  try  to  obtain  the  ap- 
pointment of  a  U.  S.  Senate  Committee  on  Woman  Suffrage 
favorable  to  it;  to  send  letters  simultaneously  to  the  President 
of  the  United  States  in  advance  of  the  time  for  writing  his 
message,  followed  by  telegrams  one  week  preceding  the  opening 
of  Congress,  expressing  the  wishes  of  women  for  the  ballot; 
to  ask  their  Legislatures  for  some  form  of  suffrage  and  follow 
up  this  request  with  systematic  legislative  work;  to  urge  that 
States  having  any  form  of  partial  suffrage  take  measures  to 
secure  the  largest  possible  use  of  it  by  women.  It  was  decided 
to  appropriate  $125  for  two  months'  work  in  South  Dakota  to 
ascertain  conditions  with  a  view  to  the  submission  of  a  State 
amendment. 

The  resolutions  presented  by  Mr.  Blackwell,  chairman  of  the 
committee,  reviewed  the  wonderful  progress  made  by  women 
since  the  first  convention  whose  6oth  anniversary  they  were  cele- 
brating. They  told  of  the  progress  of  suffrage,  as  outlined  in 
the  Call  for  the  convention,  and  said:  "When  that  first  con- 
vention met,  one  college  in  the  United  States  admitted  women; 
now  hundreds  do  so.  Then  there  was  not  a  single  woman 
physician  or  ordained  minister  or  lawyer;  now  there  are  7,000 
women  physicians  and  surgeons,  3,000  ordained  ministers  and 


NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1908  24! 

1,000  lawyers.  Then  only  a  few  poorly-paid  employments  were 
open  to  women ;  now  they  are  in  more  than  three  hundred  occupa- 
tions and  comprise  80  per  cent,  of  our  school  teachers.  Then 
there  were  scarcely  any  organizations  of  women;  now  such  or- 
ganizations are  numbered  by  thousands.  Then  the  few  women 
who  dared  to  speak  in  public,  even  on  philanthropic  questions, 
were  overwhelmingly  condemned  by  public  opinion;  now  the 
•women  most  opposed  to  woman  suffrage  travel  about  the  country 
making  speeches  to  prove  that  a  woman's  only  place  is  at  home. 
Then  a  married  woman  in  most  of  our  States  could  not  control 
her  own  person,  property  or  earnings;  now  in  most  of  them 
these  laws  have  been  largely  amended  or  repealed  and  it  is  only 
in  regard  to  the  ballot  that  the  fiction  of  woman's  perpetual 
minority  is  still  kept  up." 

Mrs.  Catt's  powerful  address  was  entitled  The  Battle  to  the 
Strong  but  nothing  is  preserved  except  newspaper  clippings. 
She  ended  by  saying:  "In  all  history  there  has  been  no  event 
fraught  with  more  importance  for  the  generations  to  follow  than 
the  present  uprising  of  the  women  of  the  world.  .  .  .  Every 
struggle  helps  and  no  movement  for  right,  for  reform  in  this 
country  or  in  England  but  has  made  the  woman's  movement 
easier  in  every  other  land.  We  have  brought  the  countries  of 
the  world  very  close  together  in  the  last  few  years.  Papers 
and  cables  and  telegraph  spread  the  news  almost  instantly  to 
the  centres  of  the  earth  and  then  to  the  obscure  corners,  so  that 
the  women  of  other  nations  know  what  the  women  here  are  doing 
and  what  they  are  doing  in  every  other  part  of  the  world.  .  .  . 
The  suffrage  campaign  in  England  has  become  the  kind  of 
fanaticism  that  caused  the  American  Revolution.  These  women 
are  no  longer  reformers,  they  are  rebels,  and  they  are  going  to 
win.  .  .  .  Woman's  hour  has  struck  at  last  and  all  along 
the  line  there  is  a  mobilization  of  the  woman's  army  ready  for 
ice.  We  are  going  forward  with  flags  flying  to  win.  If 
you  are  not  for  us  you  are  against  us.  Justice  for  the  -women 
of  the  world  is  coming.  This  is  to  be  a  battle  to  the  strong — 
:ig  in  faith,  strong  in  courage,  strong  in  conviction.  Women 
;<1  up  lor  the  citi/.enship  of  uur  own  country  and 


242  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

let  the  world  know  we  are  not  ashamed  of  the  Declaration  of 
Independence!" 

A  newspaper  account  said:  "And  then  Anna  Howard  Shaw 
stepped  forward,  the  light  of  a  great  purpose  shining  in  her 
eyes.  'Our  International  president  has  asked  for  recruits,'  she 
said.  'Never  have  we  had  so  many  as  now/  She  spoke  of  the 
immense  gains  to  the  suffrage  cause  within  the  last  few  months 
in  America  and  of  the  suffrage  pioneers  and  their  sufferings,  and 
ended:  'The  path  has  been  blazed  for  us  and  they  have  shown 
us  the  way.  Who  shall  say  that  our  triumph  is  to  be  long  de- 
layed? It  is  the  hour  for  us  to  rally.  We  have  enlisted  for  the 
war.  Ninety  days  ?  No ;  for  the  war !  We  may  not  win  every 
battle  but  we  shall  win  the  war.  Happy  they  who  are  the  burden- 
bearers  in  a  great  fight!  Happy  is  any  man  or  woman  who  is 
called  by  the  Giver  of  all  to  serve  •Him  in  the  cause  of  humanity ! 
Friends,  come  with  us  and  we  will  do  you  good;  but  whether 
you  come  or  not  we  are  going,  and  when  we  enter  the  promised 
land  of  freedom  we  will  try  to  be  just  and  to  show  that  we  under- 
stand what  freedom  is,  what  the  law  is.  'God  grant  us  law  in 
liberty  and  liberty  in  law !' ' 


CHAPTER  IX. 

NATIONAL  AMERICAN  CONVENTION  OF   1909. 

The  invitation  to  hold  the  Forty-first  annual  convention  of  the 
association  in  Seattle  was  accepted  for  two  special  reasons.  The 
Washington  Legislature  had  submitted  a  woman  suffrage  amend- 
ment to  be  voted  on  in  1910;  similar  action  had  been  taken  by 
the  Legislatures  of  Oregon  and  South  Dakota,  and  a  convention 
on  the  Pacific  Coast  would  attract  western  people  and  create 
sentiment  in  favor  of  these  amendments.  The  Alaska- Yukon- 
Pacific  Exposition  in  progress  during  the  summer,  by  causing 
reduced  railroad  rates,  would  enable  those  of  the  east  and  middle 
to  attend  the  convention  and  visit  this  beautiful  section  of 
tlu-  country.1  The  date  fixed  was  July  1-6. 

The  eastern  delegates  assembled  in  Chicago  on  June  25  to  take 
the  "suffrage  special"  train  for  Seattle  and  a  reception  -was  given 

1  Part  of  Call:  In  entering  upon  the  fifth  decade  of  its  work  for  the  enfranchisement 
of  women  in  the  United  States,  the  National  American  Woman  Suffrage  Association 
invites  all  those  to  share  in  its  councils  who  believe  that  the  help  of  women  is  needed 
by  the  Government.  It  is  a  grave  mistake  of  statesmanship  to  continue  to  ignore  the 
wisdom  of  the  thousands  of  our  women  citizens,  who,  fitted  by  education  and  home 
interests,  are  anxious  to  help  solve  the  many  and  vital  problems  upon  which  our  country's 
future  safety  and  prosperity  depend.  .  .  . 

During  the  year  1908  our  cause  won  four  solid  victories.  Michigan  gave  taxpaying 
women  a  vote  on  questions  of  local  taxation  and  the  granting  of  franchises;  Denmark 
gave  women  who  are  taxpayers  or  wives  of  taxpayers  a  vote  for  all  officers  but  members 
of  Parliament;  Belgium  gave  women  engaged  in  trade  a  vote  for  the  Conseils  des  Prud- 
hommes;  and  Victoria  in  Australia  gave  full  State  suffrage  to  all  women.  The  legislative 
hearings  in  New  York,  Massachusetts  and  Nebraska  have  called  out  unprecedented  crowds 
•bowing  the  growth  of  popular  interest.  .  .  .  The  Legislatures  of  Oregon,  Washington 
and  South  Dakota  have  voted  to  submit  the  question  of  woman  suffrage  to  the  electors 
in  1910.  The  workers  for  woman's  political  freedom  have  great  cause  for  rejoicing. 

ANNA  HOWARD  SHAW,  President. 

RACHEL    FOSTER    AVERY,    First    Vice- President. 

FLORENCE  KELLEY,  Second  Vice-President. 

KATE  M.  GORDON,  Corresponding  Secretary. 

ALICE  STONE  BLACK  WELL,  Recording  Secretary. 

HARRIET  TAYLOR  UPTOK,  Treasurer. 

LAURA  CLAY,  )  . 

ELLA  S.  STEWART,    \  Aud"°"- 

'I  he    Call    ended   with    the    touching    poem    of    the   young    Southern    poet,    Mrs.    Olive 
d  Dargan,  "The  Lord  of  little  children  to  the  sleeping  mothers  spoke." 

243 


244  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

to  them  at  Hotel  Stratford  by  the  Chicago  suffragists.  At  St. 
Paul  the  next  morning  ex-Senator  S.  A.  Stockwell  and  Mrs. 
Stockwell,  president  of  the  Minnesota  Association,  with  a  dele- 
gation of  suffragists,  met  them  at  the  station  and  escorted  them 
to  the  Woman's  Exchange,  where  a  delicious  breakfast  was  served 
on  tables  adorned  with  golden  iris  and  ferns.  Many  club  officials 
were  there  and  brief  addresses  were  made  by  Dr.  Anna  Howard 
Shaw,  Mrs.  Florence  Kelley,  Miss  Laura  Clay,  Mrs.  Fanny  Gar- 
rison Villard,  Mrs.  Charlotte  Perkins  Oilman,  Miss  Alice  Stone 
JJlackwell,  Miss  Kate  M.  Gordon  and  Mrs.  Harriet  Taylor  Upton. 
Mrs.  Villard  recalled  a  visit  she  had  made  there  twenty-six  years 
before  with  her  husband,  Henry  Villard,  who  had  just  com- 
pleted the  Northern  Pacific  Railroad  and  his  train  was  making  a 
kind  of  triumphal  tour  across  the  continent.  "St.  Paul  wel- 
comed him  with  a  procession  ten  miles  long,"  she  said,  "and 
Minneapolis,  determined  not  to  be  outdone,  got  up  one  fifteen 
miles  long.  It  gives  me  joy  to  remember  that  not  only  my 
father,  William  Lloyd  Garrison,  but  also  my  good  German-born 
husband  believed  in  equal  rights  for  women." 

The  train  sped  through  the  Great  Northwest  and  continuous 
business  meetings  were  held  by  the  board  of  officers  in  what 
was  usually  the  smoking  car  until  the  next  stop  was  made  at 
Spokane,  Washington.  Here  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  had 
appropriated  $500  for  their  entertainment.  They  were  presented 
•with  buttons  and  badges  and  taken  in  automobiles  through  the 
beautiful  residence  district,  the  handsome  grounds  of  the  three 
colleges  and  to  the  picturesque  Falls.  Then  they  saw  the  fine 
exhibits  in  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  and  were  taken  to  the 
Amateur  Athletic  Club,  whose  facilities  for  rest  and  recreation 
were  placed  at  their  disposal.  An  elaborate  banquet  followed 
with  Mrs.  May  Arkwright  Hutton,  president  of  the  Spokane 
Equal  Suffrage  Club,  presiding.  Mrs.  Emma  Smith  De  Voe, 
president  of  the  State  Suffrage  Association,  welcomed  them 
to  Washington,  and  Mayor  N.  S.  Pratt  to  the  city.  "I  have 
•welcomed  many  organizations  to  Spokane,"  he  said,  "but  none 
with  so  much  pleasure  as  this.  My  belief  in  equal  suffrage  is 
no  new  conviction;  I  have  voted  for  it  twice  and  hope  soon  to 
do  so  again.  The  coming  of  equal  rights  for  women  is  the  in- 


NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVKNTiny    OF    JOOQ  245 

evitable  result  of  progress  and  enlightenment."  He  presented 
Dr.  Shaw  with  a  gavel  made  of  wood  from  the  four  suffrage 
States  bound  together  with  a  band  of  Idaho  silver  and  expressed 
the  hope  that  when  she  used  it  to  open  the  convention  in  Seattle 
the  sound  would  be  like  "the  shot  heard  round  the  world." 

The  account  in  the  Woman's  Journal  said:  "Dr.  Shaw,  in 
returning  thanks,  said :  'It  is  an  apt  simile,  for  the  blow  will  be 
struck  on  the  Pacific  Coast  and  it  needs  to  be  heard  to  the  Atlantic 
and  not  only  from  the  west  to  the  east  but  from  the  north  to  the 
south.  I  hope  it  will  be  answered  by  men  who,  having  known 
themselves  what  freedom  is.  wish  to  give  women  the  benefits  of 
it  also.  The  only  man  who  can  be  in  any  way  excused  for  want- 
ing to  withhold  freedom  from  women  is  the  man  who  is  him- 
self a  slave.'  She  recalled  the  times  when  the  suffragists  were 
offered  not  banquets  but  abuse  and  compared  them  to  the  pioneer 
days  of  clearing  the  forest.  She  closed  with  a  beautiful  tribute 
to  the  pioneer  mothers  and  called  upon  the  men  to  pay  their  debt 
to  them  next  November." 

Mrs.  Villard,  recalling  here  also  her  visit  of  more  than  a  quar- 
ter of  a  century  before,  s^id  in  part :  "Never  could  I  have  believed 
that  such  changes  could  have  been  wrought  since  that  historic 
train.  Then  there  was  nothing  at  Spokane  but  Indians  and  cow- 
boys and  the  beautiful  Falls.  I  am  glad  you  want  women  to 
share  the  full  life  of  the  city.  'The  -woman's  cause  is  man's.' 
This  movement  is  as  wide  as  the  world  and  will  benefit  men  as 
well  as  women.  I  have  come  on  this  trip  largely  because  I  like 
to  connect  my  husband's  name  not  merelv  with  the  building  of  a 
great  railroad  but  also  with  the  cause  of  justice  to  women  in  which 
he  believed.  T  wish  greater  and  greater  prosperity  to  Spokane 
but  with  her  material  prosperity  let  her  not  forget  the  larger 
things  which  must  go  hand  in  hand  with  it  if  cities  are  not  to 
perish  from  the  earth." 

Mrs.  Abigail  Scott  Dnniway  of  Portland,  Ore.,  the  renowned 
suffrage  pioneer  of  the  northwest,  was  enthusiastically  received 
and  in  the  course  of  her  interesting  reminiscences  said :  "I  re- 
member when  'Old  Oregon'  comprised  most  of  the  Pacific  North- 
\ve^t.  At  that  time  T  was  living  in  a  log  cabin  engaged  in  the  very 
domestic  occupation  of  raising  a  large  family  of  Miinll  children 


246  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

...  On  my  first  visit  to  Spokane  I  came  by  stage  from  Walla 
Walla.  It  went  bumping  and  careening  over  the  rocks  and  the 
one  hotel  of  the  village  had  not  accommodations  for  the  three  or 
four  passengers.  They  made  up  improvised  beds  for  us  on 
slats  and  all  the  food  we  had  for  several  days  was  bread  and 
sugar,  but  I  enjoyed  it  for  after  such  a  journey  anything  tasted 
good.  There  was  only  one  little  hall  in  the  town  and  I  was  im- 
portuned by  Captain  Wilkinson  of  Portland  to  speak.  So  I 
hired  the  hall  for  Sunday  and  he  advised  me  to  offer  it  to  a  clergy- 
man there  for  the  afternoon  service.  I  did  so  and  asked  him 
to  announce  after  his  sermon  that  my  meeting  would  be  held  in 
the  evening.  He  accepted  the  use  of  the  hall  but  failed  to  give 
the  notice.  When  I  asked  him  about  it  he  said :  'Do  you  think 
I  would  notice  a  woman's  meeting?'  But  we  had  a  good  one 
and  almost  everybody  in  Spokane  subscribed  for  my  paper,  the 
New  Northwest.  The  next  time  I  came  here  was  to  celebrate 
the  completion  of  the  Northern  Pacific  Railroad.  I  had  the  honor 
of  writing  a  poem  for  the  occasion  and  reading  it  in  that  little 
hall  and  Henry  Villard  wrote  me  a  letter  about  it." 

A  large  evening  meeting  was  held  in  the  First  Methodist 
Church  with  Mrs.  LaReine  Baker  presiding.  Henry  B.  Black- 
well  and  Prof.  Frances  Squire  Potter  were  among  the  national 
speakers.  A  tired  lot  of  travellers  but  happy  over  their  cordial 
welcome  took  the  night  train.  Next  day  they  stopped  for  a  brief 
time  at  North  Yakima  and  Ellensburg  and  spoke  from  the  rear 
platform  to  the  crowds  awaiting  them.  Women,  girls  and  children 
dressed  in  white  greeted  them  with  banners,  songs  and  quantities 
of  the  lovely  roses  for  which  that  section  is  noted  and  with  fancy 
baskets  of  the  wonderful  cherries  and  apples.  During  several 
hours  spent  in  Tacoma  they  had  the  famous  ride  around  the  city 
in  special  trolley  cars,  supper  at  sunset  on  the  veranda  of  a  hotel* 
overlooking  the  beautiful  Puget  Sound  and  a  walk  through  the 
magnificent  park. 

The  never  to  be  forgotten  convention  in  Seattle  was  pre- 
ceded by  an  evening  reception  on  June  30  in  Lincoln  Hotel,  given 
by  the  State  suffrage  association,  whose  former  president, 
Mrs.  Homer  M.  Hill,  extended  its  welcome  to  the  delegates. 
Dr.  Shaw,  the  national  president,  called  the  convention  to  order 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQOO,  247 

the  next  afternoon  in  the  large  Plymouth  Congregational  Church 
and  the  audience  sang  The  March  of  the  Mothers.  Mrs.  Mar- 
garet B.  Platt  brought  the  greetings  of  the  Woman's  Christian 
Temperance  Union,  pointing  out  that  "there  are  wrongs  which 
can  never  be  righted  until  woman  holds  in  her  hand  the  ballot, 
symbol  of  the  power  to  right  them."  In  introducing  Mrs.  M.  B. 
Lord  to  speak  for  the  Grange,  Dr.  Shaw  said  she  herself  was  a 
member  of  it.  Mrs.  Lord  said  in  part:  "From  the  first  of  it 
women  came  into  our  organization  on  a  perfect  equality  and 
for  forty  years  the  Grange  has  carried  on  an  education  for  wo- 
man suffrage.  It  was  the  proudest  moment  of  my  life  when  I 
got  a  resolution  for  it  through  the  New  York  State  Grange. 
Here  in  Washington  it  has  increased  three-fold  in  five  years  and 
always  passes  a  resolution  in  favor  of  suffrage  for  women." 
Mrs.  De  Voe  gave  a  big-hearted  welcome  from  the  State  and 
Mrs.  Mary  S.  Sperry,  president  of  the  California  suffrage  asso- 
ciation, made  a  gracious  response.  By  a  rising  vote  the  con- 
vention sent  a  message  of  warm  regard  to  Mrs.  Carrie  Chap- 
man Catt  of  New  York,  the  former  national  president,  and  re- 
gret that  she  was  not  able  to  be  present.  Dr.  Shaw  spoke  of 
the  "masterly  way"  in  which  she  had  presided  at  the  meeting  of 
the  International  Suffrage  Alliance  in  London  in  May,  "her  power 
and  dignity  commanding  universal  respect/'  and  told  of  the  mes- 

of  greeting  from  Queen  Maud  of  Norway  and  other  in- 
cidents of  the  congress. 

Leaving-  more  formal  ceremonies  for  the  evening  the  conven- 
tion proceeded  to  business  and  listened  to  the  report  of  the  corre- 
sponding secretary,  Miss  Gordon  (La.).  In  referring  to  the 

ilized  literature  which  had  been  sent  out,  she  spoke  of  the 
:   of  the  Brewers'  and  Wholesale  Liquor  Dealers'  Associa- 

so  widely  circulated  during  the  recent  Oregon  Suffrage  cam- 

n,  calling  the  attention  of  all  retailers  in  the  State  to  the 

of  defeating  the  amendment,  and  to  the  postal  instruct- 

hem  how  to  mark  their  ballot,  with  a  return  card  signifying 
their  willingness.  This  had  been  put  into  an  "exhibit"  by  Miss 

;\vell  and  her  Literature  Committee  and  Miss  Gordon  urged 
that  clergymen  of  all  denominations  should  be  circularized  with 
it.  She  said :  "I  believe  the  association  should  not  be  dissuaded 


248  HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

from  this  undertaking  because  of  the  amount  of  work  and  its 
costliness.  The  burden  of  responsibility  rests  upon  us  to  prove 
with  such  evidence  that  the  worst  enemy  of  the  church  and  the 
most  active  enemy  of  woman  suffrage  is  a  mutual  foe,  the  'or- 
ganized liquor  and  vice  power.'  If  in  the  face  of  such  direct 
evidence  representatives  of  the  church  still  allow  prejudice,  ig- 
norance or  indifference  to  woman  suffrage  to  influence  them,  then 
they  knowingly  become  the  common  allies  of  this  power." 

Miss  Gordon  gave  instances  to  show  the  great  change  taking 
place  in  the  attitude  of  the  public  toward  woman  suffrage  and  said 
the  present  difficulty  was  to  utilize  the  opportunities  which  pre- 
sented themselves.  She  urged  more  concentrated  effort  from  the 
national  headquarters  and  a  substantial  appropriation  to  enable  the 
chairmen  of  the  standing  committees  to  carry  on  their  work ;  also 
that  they  should  be  elected  instead  of  appointed  and  be  members  of 
the  official  board,  and  she  concluded:  "It  is  earnestly  recom- 
mended that  suffragists  take  steps  to  politicalize  their  methods. 
The  primaries,  affording  in  many  States  an  opportunity  for  women 
to  secure  the  nominations  of  favorable  candidates ;  active  interest 
in  defeating  the  election  of  those  opposed  to  suffrage ;  the  question- 
ing of  candidates,  etc.,  are  all  instances  -where  intelligent  interest 
and  activity  on  the  part  of  suffragists  will  educate  the  public 
far  more  effectively  than  debates,  lectures  and  literature — to  see 
that  women  are  determined  to  take  an  active  part  in  so-called 
politics,  so  intimately  associated  for  weal  or  woe  in  their  lives." 

The  reports  of  the  headquarters  secretary  and  national  press 
chairman,  Miss  Elizabeth  J.  Hauser  (Ohio)  were  read  by  Mrs. 
Upton.  The  first  in  speaking  of  the  increased  demands  on  the 
headquarters  began:  "In  no  previous  presidential  campaign  in 
the  United  States  were  the  views  of  candidates  on  the  enfran- 
chisement of  women  ever  so  generally  commented  on  by  the 
press.  Perhaps  never  before  did  candidates  consider  the  ques- 
tion of  sufficient  importance  to  have  any  opinion  upon  it.  Never 
before  did  the  newspaper  interviewer  put  to  every  possible  per- 
sonage— politician  or  preacher,  writer  or  speaker,  inventor  or 
explorer,  captain  of  industry,  social  worker,  actor,  prize-fighter, 
maid,  matron,  widow — the  burning  query,  'What  about  votes 
for  women?'"  She  told  of  about  30,000  letters  having  been 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQOQ  249 

sent  out  and  an  average  of  nearly  i  ,000  pieces  of  literature  a  day, 
as  many  in  the  first  half  of  the  present  year  as  in  all  of  1908. 
The  Book  Department,  in  charge  of  Miss  Caroline  I.  Reilly,  re- 
ported that  the  sales  of  the  Life  and  Work  of  Susan  B.  Anthony 
bad  amounted  to  $800:  200  sets  of  the  History  of  Woman  Suf- 
frage had  been  placed  in  the  libraries  of  the  leading  colleges  and 
universities:  TOO  copies  of  the  Reports  of  the  last  two  national 
convention?  bad  been  put  into  the  libraries  which  keep  the  file. 

The  deletes  to  the  presidential  nominating  conventions  had 
been  appealed  to  by  letter  for  a  suffrage  plank  in  the  platform 
but  without  result.  The  Independence  Partv  convention  in  Chi- 
rn^o  voted  it  down.  The  usual  work  had  been  done  in  inter- 
national and  national  conventions  and  many  had  adopted  favor- 
nble  resolutions,  among  them  those  of  the  International  Brick- 
layers' and  Stone  Masons'  Union  meeting  in  Detroit:  the  Inter- 
national Cotton  Spinners'  Union  in  Boston  and  the  Woman's 
National  Trade  Union  League  in  that  city:  the  National  Council 
of  Women  and  the  Johns  Hopkins  Alumni  Association.  The 
TTnited  Mine  Workers  of  America,  meeting  at  Indianapolis, 
passed  the  woman  suffrage  resolution  by  unanimous  vote  and 
sent  to  the  headquarters  500  copies  of  it,  which  were  promptlv 
mailed  to  members  of  Congress.  The  American  Federation  of 
Labor,  representing  2,000,000  members,  at  its  convention  in 
Denver,  followed  its  long  established  custom  of  passing  this 
resolution.  Dr.  Shaw  attended  the  National  Conference  of  Char- 
ities and  Corrections:  Mrs.  Julia  Ward  Howe  was  received  as 
a  fraternal  delegate  from  the  National  American  Suffrage  Asso- 
ciation bv  the  Ceneral  Federation  of  Women's  Clubs  at  its 
biennial  in  Boston:  Mrs.  Stockwell  bv  the  convention  of  the 
American  Library  Association:  Mrs.  Sperry  and  Mrs.  Alice  L. 
Park  of  California,  by  the  Nurses  Associated  Alumnne  of  the 
United  States:  Mrs.  Coryell  by  the  American  Baptist  Home 
Missionary  Society,  and  the  association  had  representatives  at 
many  other  conventions.  "To  summarize,  20  national  associa- 
tions have  endorser]  woman  suffrage:  14  others  have  taken  action 
on  some  phase  of  the  question:  20  State  Federations  of  Labor, 
if>  State  Granges  and  ^-ven  State  Letter  Carriers'  Associations 
have  endorsed  it.  Some  of  the  States  have  carried  on  a  very 


VOL. 


25O  HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

active  propaganda  in  this  direction,  securing  endorsements  from 
hundreds  of  local  organizations  representing  labor  unions,  educa- 
tional and  religious  societies,  Farmers'  Institutes,  etc." 

In  the  press  report  Miss  Hauser  said  that  43,000  copies  of 
Progress  had  been  sent  out  and  52,095  pages  of  material  repre- 
senting 190  different  subjects  had  been  distributed,  including 
1,262  copies  of  Mrs.  Catt's  address  to  the  International  Suffrage 
Alliance.  She  told  of  the  special  articles,  of  the  full  pages,  of 
the  personal  work  with  editors — a  report  of  remarkable  ac- 
complishment, filling  eight  printed  pages  of  the  Minutes.  In 
concluding  she  said :  "The  day  of  old  methods  has  gone  by  and 
if  new  methods  are  to  be  successfully  developed  there  must  be 
for  press  chairman  a  woman  who  is  not  only  acquainted  with  the 
philosophy  and  history  of  the  woman  suffrage  movement  but  who 
is  possessed  of  the  newspaper  instinct  and  the  ability  to  make 
friends  readily.  Nothing  but  press  work  should  be  expected  of 
her  and  she  should  be  enabled  to  get  in  touch  with  the  controlling 
forces  in  the  newspaper  world."  This  report  was  supplemented 
with  that  of  Miss  Blackwell,  chairman  of  the  Committee  on 
Literature. 

As  the  headquarters  were  soon  to  be  removed  from  Warren, 
Ohio,  and  Miss  Hauser  had  resigned  as  secretary,  this  was  the 
last  of  her  excellent  reports  and  the  convention  sent  her  a  letter 
of  thanks  and  appreciation  for  her  admirable  work.  Dr.  Shaw 
said  of  her:  "There  never  was  a  woman  who  gave  more  con- 
secrated service;  she  dreamed  of  woman  suffrage  by  night  and 
toiled  for  it  by  day."  [Afterward  Miss  Hauser  went  to  the 
headquarters  in  New  York  as  vice-chairman  of  the  National  Press 
Committee.] 

In  the  evening  Mayor  John  F.  Miller  welcomed  the  convention 
and  congratulated  the  association  on  the  personnel  of  its  members 
in  Washington.  "This  has  been  a  pioneer  State  in  the  woman's 
rights  movement,"  he  said.  "In  1854  Arthur  Denny  introduced 
a  woman  suffrage  bill  in  the  Territorial  Legislature.  In  1878 
the  civil  disabilities  of  married  women  were  removed  and  this 
was  the  first  State  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  to  say  that  a 
wife's  property  should  be  her  own.  Women  here  have  all  the 
rights  of  men  except  to  vote  and  hold  office.  I  do  not  know 


NATION  \L     \MF.R!f\X    CONVENTION    OF 

whether  woman  suffrage  will  bring  in  everything  good  and  abol- 
ish everything  evil  but  if  it  will  by  all  means  let  us  have  it."  He 
closed  -with  a  tribute  to  the  mothers  in  the  State. 

In  an  eloquent  response  Mrs.  Villard  reminded  the  Mayor  that 
if  a  cause  is  just  the  consequences  following  in  its  path  need  not 
be  feared  and  said :  "I  was  early  taught  by  my  father  that  moral 
principle  in  vigorous  exercise  is  irresistible.  It  has  an  immortal 
essence.  It  may  disappear  for  a  time  but  it  can  no  more  be  trod 
out  of  existence  by  the  iron  foot  of  time  or  the  ponderous  march 
of  iniquity  than  matter  can  be  annihilated.  It  lives  somewhere, 
somehow,  and  rises  again  in  renovated  strength.  The  women  of 
this  country  who  are  advocating  the  cause  of  woman  suffrage  are 
animated  by  a  great  moral  principle.  They  are  armed  with 
a  spiritual  weapon  of  finest  caliber  and  one  that  is  sure  to  win/' 
She  told  of  the  great  reception  given  in  1883  to  her  husband  and 
his  guests  when  they  reached  Seattle  for  the  opening  of  the 
railroad  after  its  completion ;  of  his  response  and  that  of  the  Hon., 
Carl  Schurz.  She  described  an  address  made  by  a  young  girl, 
the^daughter  of  Professor  Powell  of  the  university,  the  entire 
expenses  of  which  Mr.  Villard  had  paid  for  several  years,  in 
which  she  said  he  would  be  remembered  more  for  what  he  had 
done  for  education  than  for  the  building  of  the  railroad.  "In 
the  retrospect  of  time,"  said  Mrs.  Villard,  "I  can  see  her,  sweetly 
modest  and  gracious,  standing  as  it  were  with  outstretched  arms 
inviting  the  women  who  are  gathered  here  today  to  come  and 
help  make  the  State  of  Washington  free."  Then  in  an  appeal 
for  the  pending  suffrage  amendment  she  said:  "Many  tributes 
of  respect  and  admiration  have  been  paid  to  my  noble  companion' 
in  the  great  northwest,  which  are  carefully  cherished  by  me  ancl 
my  children,  but  I  crave  one  more  and  it  is  this — that  Mr.  Villanl's 
keen  sense  of  justice  ancl  fair  play  for  women  shall  find  echo 
in  the  hearts  of  the  men  of  Washington,  to  whose  extraordinary 
development  he  gave  such  powerful  impetus,  so  that  in  Novem- 
ber, 1910,  they  will  proclaim  with  loud  accord  that  the  women 
of  Washington  are  no  longer  bond  but  free,  no  longer  disfran- 
•'\  but  regenerated  and  disenthralled,  rqual  partners  in  the 
unending  struggle  of  the  human  race  for  nobler  laws  and  hi 
moral  standards." 


252  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

The  evening  session  closed  with  the  president's  address  of  Dr. 
Shaw,  which  the  Woman's  Journal  described  as  "inimitable"  but 
not  a  paragraph  of  it  can  be  found  after  the  lapse  of  years.  Her 
speeches  always  were  inspired  by  the  occasion  and  only  a  steno- 
graphic report  could  give  an  adequate  idea  of  them.  Miss  Anthony 
mourned  because  this  was  not  made  and  others  often  spoke  of  it 
but  Dr.  Shaw  herself  was  indifferent.  There  were  pressing  de- 
mands for  money  and  the  endless  details  of  these  meetings  ab- 
sorbed the  time  and  strength  of  those  who  might  otherwise  have 
attended  to  it. 

Mrs.  Upton  in  her  report  as  treasurer  made  a  stirring  appeal 
in  which  she  said :  "The  most  important  question  before  this 
convention  is  that  of  money.  A  grave  responsibility  rests  upon 
the  shoulders  of  each  delegate.  She  should  know  how  much 
money  we  have  had  in  the  last  year,  where  it  went  and  why. 
More  than  this,  she  should  decide  for  herself  how  money  for 
the  coming  year  shall  be  disbursed  and  suggest  ways  of  raising 
the  same.  No  delegate  ought  to  quiet  her  conscience  with  the 
thought  that  the  judgment  of  the  general  officers  is  the  best  judg- 
ment. Each  State  has  entrusted  into  the  hands  of  its  delegates 
precious  business  and  the  responsibility  is  great  and  cannot  hon- 
estly be  disregarded.  In  the  long  ago  we  worked  until  our  money 
gave  out.  Now,  as  the  beginning  of  the  end  of  our  work  is 
in  sight,  demands  for  money  are  many  and  if  business  rules  are 
followed  they  must  be  met.  The  small  self-sacrifices  must  be 
continued  and  larger  ways  of  obtaining  money  created.  We  are 
all  shouting  for  a  fifth  star  on  our  suffrage  flag  but  we  must 
remember  that  no  star  was  ever  placed  upon  any  flag  without 
cost,  without  sacrifice.  Our  fifth  star  will  find  its  place  because 
we  explain  to  voters  what  a  fifth  star  really  means.  These  voters 
will  not  come  to  us ;  we  must  go  to  them.  To  go  anywhere  costs 
money.  To  go  to  the  voters  of  a  large  and  thinly  populated 
State  means  much  money.  Shall  we  be  content  with  four  stars 
or  shall  we  provide  the  means  to  get  a  fifth?" 

The  total  receipts  of  the  past  year  were  $15,420;  disburse- 
ments, $14,480.  She  told  of  the  many  ways  in  which  the  money 
was  being  used — over  $2,000  added  to  several  other  thousands 
spent  in  field  work  in  Oklahoma  for  the  next  year's  amendment 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQOQ  253 

campaign;  $3,000  to  the  College  League;  headquarters'  expenses, 
literature,  posters,  etc.  Part  of  the  money  came  from  the  An- 
thony Memorial  Fund,  part  from  the  fund  raised  by  Dr.  Thomas 
and  Miss  Garrett,  the  rest  from  individual  subscriptions.  The 
convention,  which  was  not  a  large  one,  subscribed  over  $3,000. 
The  following  recommendations  of  the  Business  Committee  were 
adopted  by  the  convention:  Appropriations  shall  be  made  for 
educational,  church  and  petition  work;  financial  aid  shall  not  be 
given  to  States  having  campaigns  on  hand  unless  there  be  perfect 
harmony  -within  the  ranks  of  the  workers  of  those  States;  an 
organizer  shall  be  sent  to  Arizona  to  prepare  the  Territory  for 
constitutional  or  legislative  work  and  a  campaign  organizer  to 
South  Dakota. 

There  was  much  interest  in  the  question  of  returning  the  na- 
tional headquarters  to  New  York  City.  It  was  long  the  desire  of 
Miss  Anthony  to  do  this  on  a  scale  befitting  so  large  a  city  and  so 
important  a  cause  and  the  funds  had  never  been  available.  Mrs. 
Oliver  H.  P.  Belmont,  who  had  lately  come  into  the  suffrage 
movement,  had  taken  the  entire  twentieth  floor  of  a  new  office 
building  for  two  years  and  invited  the  New  York  State  Suffrage 
Association  to  occupy  a  part  of  it.  She  now  extended  an  invita- 
tion to  the  National  Association  to  use  for  this  period  as  many 
rooms  as  it  needed  and  she  would  pay  the  difference  in  the  rent 
between  these  and  the  headquarters  at  Warren,  O.  In  addition 
she  would  maintain  the  press  bureau.  The  advantages  of  this 
great  newspaper  and  magazine  center  were  recognized  by  the 
general  officers,  executive  committee  and  delegates,  the  offer  was 
gladly  accepted  and  a  rising  vote  of  thanks  was  sent  to  Mrs. 
Belmont. 

Miss  Perle  Penfield  (Texas)  read  the  report  of  Mrs.  Lucia 
Ames  Mead,  chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Peace  and  Arbitra- 
tion. She  told  of  the  tenth  anniversary  this  year  of  The  Hague 
Conference,  which  was  attended  by  representatives  of  forty-six 
instead  of  twenty-six  nations  and  had  made  various  international 
agreements  that  would  lessen  the  likelihood  of  war.  She  spoke 
of  attending  the  second  National  Peace  Congress  in  Chicago 
in  May,  at  which  all  the  women  who  took  part  were  suffragists 
.  Mead  referred  to  having  spoken  eighty-six  times  during  the 


254  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

year.    In  pointing  out  the  work  that  should  be  done  in  the  United 
States  for  peace  she  said : 

A  great  campaign  of  education  is  needed  in  the  schools  and  col- 
leges, in  the  press  and  pulpit  and  in  every  organization  of  men 
and  women  that  stands  for  progress.  Pre-eminently  among  women's 
organizations,  the  National  American  Woman  Suffrage  Association, 
which  opposes  the  injustice  of  refusing  the  ballot  to  women,  should 
stand  against  the  grossest  of  all  injustices  which  leaves  innocent 
women  widowed  and  children  orphaned  by  war,  and  which  in  time 
of  peace  diverts  nearly  two-thirds  of  the  federal  revenue  from  con- 
structive work  to  payment  for  past  wars  and  preparation  for  future 
wars.  Thus  far  this  association  has  been  so  absorbed  in  its  direct 
methods  of  advancing  suffrage  that  it  has  not  perhaps  sufficiently 
realized  the  power  of  many  agencies  that  are  furthering  its  cause 
by  indirect  means.  I  firmly  believe  that  substituting  statesmanship 
for  battleship  will  do  more  to  remove  the  electoral  injustices  that 
still  prevent  our  being  a  democracy  than  any  direct  means  used 
to  obtain  woman  suffrage,  important  and  necessary  as  these  are. 
Women,  though  hating  war,  quite  as  frequently  as  men  are  deluded 
by  the  plea  that  peace  can  be  ensured  only  by  huge  armaments. 
It  is  a  question  whether  woman  suffrage  would  greatly  lessen  the 
vote  for  these  supposed  preventives  of  war,  but  there  is  no  ques- 
tion that  more  reliance  on  reason  and  less  on  force  would  exalt 
respect  for  woman  and  would  remove  the  objection  that  woman's 
physical  inferiority  has  anything  to  do  with  suffrage. 

Several  delegates  expressed  the  need  and  the  right  of  mothers 
to  strive  to  prevent  war.  Mrs.  Duniway,  Mrs.  Philena  Everett 
Johnson  and  Mrs.  DeVoe  spoke  on  the  pending  amendment  cam- 
paigns in  their  respective  States  of  Oregon,  South  Dakota  and 
Washington.  Mrs.  Clara  Bewick  Colby's  subject  was  the  Ameri- 
can Situation  vs.  the  English  Situation  and  she  described  the 
conditions  in  England  which  caused  the  "suffragette"  or 
"militant"  movement.  Mrs.  Florence  Kelley,  chairman  of  the 
Industrial  Committee,  spoke  on  the  Wage  Earning  Woman  and 
the  Ballot.  "Because  of  the  decision  of  the  United  States  Su- 
preme Court  in  the  Oregon  case,"  she  said,  "fourteen  State 
Legislatures  in  the  past  year  have  considered  bills  for  shortening 
the  workday  for  women  and  six  have  enacted  laws  for  it.  South 
Carolina  has  taken  a  step  backward  by  changing  the  hours  from 
ten  to  twelve.  Child  labor  is  constantly  increasing  in  spite  of 
our  efforts.  I  have  seen  the  evolution  of  modern  industry  and 
it  has  meant  the  sacrifice  of  thousands  of  young  lives."  At  the 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1909  255 

close  of  the  afternoon  session  the  delegates  enjoyed  an  automobile 
ride  of  many  miles  amidst  scenery  which  many  who  had  travelled 
widely  declared  was  unsurpassed  in  the  whole  world. 

The  most  brilliant  session  of  the  convention  probably  was  that 
of  the  College  Women's  Evening,  with  Dr.  Shaw  presiding.  Miss 
Caroline  Lexow  (N.  Y.),  secretary  of  the  College  Women's 
League,  spoke  of  its  remarkable  growth  since  its  organization 
the  preceding  year  and  said  that  it  now  had  twenty-four  branches 
in  as  many  States  and  twenty-five  chapters  in  as  many  colleges. 
She  called  attention  to  the  fact  that  no  College  Anti-Suffrage 
Association  had  ever  been  formed  and  said  that  college  women 
remembered  the  words  of  one  of  the  pioneers:  "Make  the  best 
use  you  can  of  your  freedom  for  we  have  bought  it  at  a  great 
price."  Mrs.  Eva  Emery  Dye  (Ore.)  gave  an  able  address  on 
College  Women  in  Civic  Life.  The  Law  and  the  Woman  was 
the  subject  considered  by  Miss  Adella  M.  Parker,  a  popular 
lawyer,  president  of  the  Washington  College  League.  "I  have 
been  looking  for  years,"  she  said,  "to  find  any  legislation  that 
does  not  affect  women,  from  a  tariff  on  gloves  to  a  declaration 
of  war.  The  great  problems  which  face  the  human  race  demand 
the  genius  of  both  men  and  women  to  solve  them.  The  law 
needs  women  quite  as  much  as  women  need  the  law."  The 
closing  address  on  College  Women  and  Democracy  by  Frances 
Squire  Potter,  professor  of  English  at  the  University  of  Minne- 
sota, was  a  masterly  review  of  the  relation  of  college  women  to 
the  life  of  the  present,  and  later  it  was  printed  by  the  College 
League  as  a  part  of  its  literature.  In  the  course  of  it  she  said : 

The  admission  of  women  began  with  Oberlin,  Ohio,  in  1833,  then 
a   provincial    institution,   religious   in   its   purpose   and    one    where 
the   hoys   rind   ^irls   did   the   work.      From   that    time   on    the    \\Vst 
ommitted   to  the  co-educational    State   university.      The   influ- 
'\vard  and  women  demanded  admittance  sur-v^sivrly 
in   this   college   and   that   college.      It    i<   to   he  rcnu-mhercd   that    they 
did  not  go  in  naturally  and  pleasantly  hut  at   the  point  of  tlu-  sword 
and   to   tin-   snund   of    the  trumpet.      And    today   the   sc^re-aicd    col- 
lege :  !  entrenchments  of  the  middle 

1  nunneries  <,f  learning  crown  the  hill- 

:p.m   I'.o-toj]  to  Washington  and  "watch  the  star  of  i-i!< llertual 

"Mowing    upon    the    demo 
ation   of   the  university  we  now   BCC   ri>ini'   a   tide  which 


256  HISTORY   OF   WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

inevitable  as  was  that  first  movement,  which  will  bear  the  college 
woman,  as  it  bears  the  college  man,  out  of  the  fostering  shelter  of 
the  college  hall  into  the  great  welter  of  life,  of  full  citizenship.  .  .  . 
Since  the  colleges  of  America  opened  to  women,  nothing  so  vital 
to  the  nourishment  of  this  spirit  has  happened  as  the  formation 
of  the  College  Equal  Suffrage  League.  .  .  .  There  are  certain  definite 
things  for  which  a  college  woman  registers  herself  in  joining  this 
league.  First,  a  direct  return  to  the  country  of  the  energy  which 
it  has  trained.  A  woman's  whole  education  to-day  is  toward  direct 
results.  She  has  been  educated  away  from  the  old  indirect  ideal 
of  the  boarding-school.  There  she  was  taught  to  be  a  persuasive 
ornament,  now  she  is  taught  to  be  an  individual  mind,  will  and  con- 
science and  to  use  these  in  acting  herself.  I  hold  that  there  is 
no  more  graphic  illustration  of  inconsistent  waste  than  the  spectacle 
of  a  college-trained  woman  falsifying  her  entire  education  by  shy- 
ing away  from  suffrage.  .  .  .  The  time  has  gone  by  when  a  college 
woman  can  be  allowed  to  be  noncommittal  on  this  subject.  If  she 
has  not  thought  about  equal  suffrage  she  must  do  so  now,  exactly 
as  persons  of  intelligence  were  compelled  to  think  about  slavery 
in  the  time  of  Garrison,  or  about  the  reformation  in  the  time  of 
Martin  Luther.  To  those  who  try  to  get  out  of  it  it  is  not  unfitting 
to  quote  Thomas  Huxley's  famous  sentence:  "He  who  will  not 
reason  is  a  bigot;  he  who  dare  not  reason  is  a  coward;  he  who 
can  not  reason  is  a  fool."  ... 

It  devolves  upon  the  college  woman  more  than  upon  any  other 
one  type  to  face  and  conquer  a  retarding  tendency  which  is  becom- 
ing marked  in  this  country.  I  refer  to  the  anti-feminization  move- 
ment. Dr.  Stanley  Hall  has  given  voice  to  it  in  education;  Dr. 
Lyman  Abbott  quavers  about  it  in  religion;  the  committee  on  tariff 
revision  is  an  example  of  it  in  politics.  When  women  sent  a  peti- 
tion to  the  committee  against  raising  the  duties  on  certain  neces- 
sities of  life  of  which  they  were  the  chief  consumers,  the  chairman 
said:  "It  doesn't  make  any  difference  whether  these  women  send  in 
a  petition  signed  by  500  or  5,000  names,  they  will  receive  no  con- 
sideration. Let  them  talk  things  over  in  their  clubs  and  other  organi- 
zations; this  will  occupy  them  and  do  no  one  any  harm;  but  it 
will  not  affect  the  tariff."  On  the  same  day  the  committee  accorded 
a  deferential  hearing  to  a  deputation  of  lumbermen.  .  .  .  This 
discrimination  against  woman,  the  vague  feeling  that  she  has  been 
allowed  to  get  on  too  fast,  to  get  out  of  control,  that  she  has  slipped 
into  too  large  activities  while  the  good  man  slept,  has  come  upon 
us  at  the  very  time  when  Scandinavia  and  Germany  and  England 
are  getting  rid  of  their  simian  chivalry.  It  is  notorious  that  America, 
which  once  was  the  progressive  nation,  has  been  for  a  generation 
in  a  comatose  state  in  the  matter  of  social  ideas.  It  is  high  time 
that  our  college  women  should  stand  solid  against  the  blind  super- 
stition, whose  mother  is  fear  and  whose  father  is  egoism,  that 
women  can  not  be  trusted  in  public  affairs.  .  .  . 


NATIONAL  AMERICAN  CONVENTION  OF  1909          257 

The  report  of  Mr.  Blackwell  on  Presidential  suffrage  was  ac- 
cepted by  a  rising  vote  and  his  report  as  chairman  of  the  Com- 
mittee on  Resolutions  was  adopted,  as  usual,  without  change.1 
For  many  years  he  had  served  as  chairman  of  these  committees. 
His  constitutional  argument  for  the  right  of  Legislatures  to 
grant  women  a  vote  for  presidential  electors  always  stood  unchal- 
lenged and  his  faith  that  they  would  do  this  was  eventually  justi- 
fied. One  of  the  founders  of  the  American  Suffrage  Association 
in  1869,  ne  had  not  during  forty  years  missed  attending  a  na- 
tional suffrage  convention,  first  with  his  wife,  Lucy  Stone,  and 
later  with  his  daughter,  Alice  Stone  Blackwell.  He  had  never 
seemed  in  better  health  and  spirits  than  at  this  one  in  Seattle 
but  two  months  later,  on  September  7,  he  died  at  the  age  of  84, 
a  great  loss  to  the  cause  of  -woman  suffrage.  (Memorials  in 
next  chapter.) 

The  Legislative  Evening  was  in  charge  of  the  State  suffrage 
association,  Mrs.  De  Voe  in  the  chair,  and  it  was  the  intention 
to  have  those  members  of  the  Legislature  who  were  principally 
responsible  for  submitting  the  amendment  address  the  convention 
but  an  extra  session  at  that  time  spoiled  this  program.  The 
Hon.  Alonzo  Wardell  spoke  for  Charles  R.  Case,  president  of 
the  State  Federation  of  Labor,  which  was  strongly  in  favor  of 
the  amendment,  he  said,  and  had  votes  enough  to  carry  it  if  the 
members  would  go  to  the  polls.  Mrs.  Lord  represented  the 
(\ range,  which  she  said  could  be  depended  on  for  an  affirmative 
vote.  Miss  Parker  gave  a  graphic  description  of  the  ' 'illegal  and 
dishonorable  methods"  by  which  the  vote  was  taken  away  from 
the  women  while  Washington  was  a  Territory.2  Mrs.  John 
Moore  of  Tacoma  read  a  powerful  scene  from  The  Spanish 
-y  by  George  Eliot.  After  a  lively  collection  speech  by  Mrs. 
;n,  Dr.  Shaw  closed  the  evening  with  a  mirth-provoking 
"question  box." 

1  The  resolutions  declared  the  movement  for  woman  suffrage  to  be  but  a  part  of  the 
great  struggle  for  human  liberty;  called  for  the  enactment  of  initiative  and  referendum 
laws;  equal  pay  for  women  and  men  in  public  and  private  employment;  uniform  State 
laws  against  child  labor  and  for  compulsory  education;  more  industrial  training  for  boys 
and  girls  in  the  public  schools;  more  strenuous  effort  against  the  white  slave  traffic. 
They  demanded  that  the  United  States  should  take  the  lead  in  an  international  movement 
for  the  limitation  of  armaments.  A  cordial  vote  of  thanks  was  given  for  the  hospitality 
and  courtesies  of  the  city  and  the  people  of  Seattle. 

*  See  History  of  Woman  Suffrage,  Volume  IV,  page  1096. 


258  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

At  an  afternoon  session  Mrs.  Rachel  Foster  Avery  read  the 
report  of  the  National  Committee  on  the  Petition  to  Congress.  It 
had  been  the  plan  of  Mrs.  Catt,  as  presented  and  adopted  at 
the  convention  of  1908,  to  have  one  final  petition  to  Congress  for 
the  submission  of  the  Federal  Amendment  and  she  had  con- 
sented to  take  the  chairmanship  temporarily.  Headquarters  had 
been  opened  in  the  Martha  Washington,  the  woman's  hotel  in 
New  York  City,  where  the  headquarters  of  the  Interurban  Wo- 
man Suffrage  Council,  of  which  Mrs.  Catt  was  chairman,  were 
located.  Here  she  and  Miss  Mary  Garrett  Hay  spent  many 
months  from  9  a.  m.  to  5  p.  m.,  assisted  by  Miss  Minnie  J. 
Reynolds,  who  did  press  work  and  correspondence  with  the  States. 
Mrs.  Priscilla  D.  Hackstaff  of  Brooklyn,  a  former  Missourian, 
took  charge  of  the  work  in  that  State  from  these  headquarters 
and  there  was  an  energetic  volunteer  sub-committee  of  New  York 
suffragists.  The  report  continued: 

"The  Governors  of  the  four  enfranchised  States  served  on  an 
honorary  Advisory  Committee,  as  did  the  following  men  and  women : 
Anna  Howard  Shaw,  Clara  Barton,  Julia  Ward  Howe,  William 
Lloyd  Garrison,  William  Dudley  Foulke,  Jane  Addums,  Mary  E. 
Garrett,  Sarah  Platt  Decker,  the  Hon.  John  D.  Long,  Samuel  Gom- 
pers,  Colonel  George  Harvey,  Rabbi  Charles  Fleischer  (Mass.), 
Dr.  Josiah  Strong,  Edward  T.  Devine,  John  Mitchell,  Judge  Ben 
Lindsey,  Mrs.  Clarence  Mackay,  Lillian  M.  Hollister,  Mary  Lowe 
Dickinson,  Mrs.  Bourke  Cockran  and  Cynthia  Westover  Alden. 

When  Mrs.  Catt  left  for  London  in  March,  1909,  in  the  interests 
of  the  International  Woman  Suffrage  Alliance,  the  work  came  to 
me.  At  that  time  upwards  of  10,000  letters  had  been  written  and 
100,000  petitions  distributed  and  twenty-three  State  organizations 
were  collecting,  counting,  pasting  and  classifying  the  lists.  Since 
then  five  other  States  have  gone  to  work.  Letters  were  written 
to  all  the  newspapers  in  the  four  equal  suffrage  States  asking  the 
insertion  of  a  coupon  petition  and  these  coupons  brought  in  the 
names  of  many  friends  who  could  not  otherwise  be  readied  and  who 
were  enthusiastic  workers  for  the  petition.  Others  to  the  Age  of 
Reason  and  Wilshire's  Magazine  brought  hundreds  of  willing 
workers.  Letters  were  sent  in  every  direction,  friends  stirred  up, 
reminded  of  their  task  and  requested  to  send  names  of  others  who 
would  work.  Every  sheet  that  came  in  was  searched  for  names  of 
possible  friends  who  might  circulate  the  petitions.  Between  March 
i  and  July  I,  1909,  nearly  2,000  letters  were  written  and  45,000 
blanks  distributed.  .  .  . 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION   OF    IQCK)  259 

Later  the  work  was  removed  to  Washington  and  headquarters 
established  there  to  finish  the  petition  by  1910. 

The  report  of  Mrs.  Lucretia  L.  Blankenburg  (Penn.),  chair- 
man of  the  Committee  on  Civil  Rights,  showed  the  usual  pains- 
taking year's  work.  Her  letters  to  all  the  State  presidents  for 
information  had  brought  answers  from  twenty-two  and  eleven 
of  these  showed  advanced  legislation  for  women  and  children. 
In  some  of  them  it  was  amended  labor  laws  or  new  ones ;  in  others 
for  a  Juvenile  Court,  for  improving  the  position  of  teachers, 
for  the  advantage  of  children  in  the  public  schools,  for  property 
rights  of  wives.  Maine  reported  nearly  a  dozen  such  new  laws. 
Minnesota  was  in  the  lead  -with  thirty  Acts  of  the  Legislature. 

Mrs.  Mary  E.  Craigie  ( N.  Y. ) ,  chairman  of  the  Committee  on 
Church  Work,  introduced  her  excellent  report  by  saying :  "Presi- 
dent Taft  recently  said  in  a  public  address:  'Christianity  and 
the  spirit  of  Christianity  are  the  only  basis  for  the  hope  of  mod- 
ern civilization  and  the  growth  of  popular  self-government.' 
.  .  .  Women  are  to-day  and  always  have  been  the  mainstay 
and  chief  support  of  the  churches  and  the  leaders  in  all  great 
moral  reforms;  yet  as  a  disfranchised  class  they  are  powerless 
to  aid  in  bringing  about  any  reforms  that  depend  upon  legisla- 
tive or  governmental  action  and  the  church  is  thereby  deprived 
of  more  than  two-thirds  of  its  power  to  help  extend  civic  right- 
eousness throughout  the  land.  Now  that  there  is  a  world-wide 
movement  among  women  to  demand  the  political  power  to  do 
their  part  in  the  world's  work,  they  have  a  right  to  ask  and  to 
receive  from  ministers  and  from  all  Christian  people  support 
and  help  in  working  for  this  greatest  of  all  reforms."  .  .  . 
Mrs.  Craigie  told  of  addressing  the  ministerial  association  of 
Canada  at  Toronto,  where  fifteen  minutes  had  been  allotted  to 
her  but  by  unanimous  insistence  she  was  obliged  to  keep  on  for 
an  hour.  An  interesting  discussion  followed,  after  which  an 
endorsement  of  the  principle  of  woman  suffrage  was  unanimously 
voted.  She  spoke  at  a  meeting  of  the  Dominion  Temperance 
Alliance,  where  there  were  600  delegates,  many  of  them  clergy- 
men, and  a  resolution  by  the  chairman  endorsing  the  woman 
suffrage  bill  then  before  the  Provincial  Legislature  was  carried 
without  a  dissenting  vote.  Reports  were  included  of  the  good 


20*0  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

work  accomplished  by  the  members  of  her  committee  in  the 
various  States. 

The  usual  Sunday  afternoon  convention  meeting  was  held 
in  the  auditorium  on  the  Exposition  grounds,  under  the  auspices 
of  this  church  committee,  with  a  large  audience  who  listened  to 
an  able  presentation  of  The  Sacred  Duties  and  Obligations  of 
Citizenship.  Dr.  Shaw  presided  and  the  speakers  were  the  Rev. 
C.  Lyng  Hansen,  Mrs.  Craigie,  Professor  Potter  and  Miss  Janet 
Richards.  Mrs.  Kelley  spoke  in  the  First  Christian  Church,  Mrs. 
Eva  Emery  Dye  in  the  Second  Avenue  Congregational  Church 
and  the  Rev.  Mary  G.  Andrews  preached  for  the  Universalists 
on  The  Freedom  of  Truth.  At  the  First  Methodist  Protestant 
Church,  Miss  Laura  Clay  talked  on  Christian  Citizenship  in 
the  morning  and  Dr.  Shaw  preached  in  the  evening.  Mrs. 
Charlotte  Perkins  Oilman  spoke  at  the  Boylston  Avenue  Unitarian 
Church  in  the  morning  and  Mrs.  Oilman  and  Mrs.  Pauline 
Steinem  at  a  patriotic  service  in  Plymouth  Church  in  the  even- 
ing. Mr.  Blackwell  and  Mrs.  Steinem  spoke  in  the  Jewish 
synagogue.1  In  the  evening  the  officers  of  the  association  were 
"at  home"  to  the  members  of  the  convention  and  friends  at  the 
Lincoln  Hotel. 

The  election  of  officers  took  place  Monday  morning.  At  Miss 
Blackwell's  request  she  was  permitted  to  retire  from  the  office  of 
recording  secretary,  which  she  had  filled  for  twenty  years,  and 
the  convention  gave  her  a  rising  vote  of  thanks  for  her  most 
efficient  service.  Her  complete  and  satisfactory  reports  of  the 
national  conventions  in  her  paper,  the  Woman  s  Journal,  had 
formed  a  standard  record  that  nowhere  else  could  be  found.  She 
exchanged  places  with  Mrs.  Ella  S.  Stewart,  second  auditor,  and 
was  thus  retained  on  the  board.  The  remainder  of  the  officers 
were  re-elected  but  Miss  Gordon,  the  corresponding  secretary, 
stated  that  with  the  removal  of  the  headquarters  to  New  York 
and  the  increased  work  which  would  follow,  this  officer  should 

1  The  ministers  of  Seattle  who  opened  the  various  sessions  with  prayer  were:  Doctors 
A.  Norman  Ward,  Protestant  Methodist;  Thomas  E.  Elliott,  Queen  Anne  Methodist; 
George  Robert  Cairns,  Temple  Baptist;  Edward  Lincoln  Smith,  Pilgrim  Congregational ; 
Sydney  Strong,  Queen  Anne  Congregational;  the  Reverends  J.  D.  O.  Powers,  Unitarian; 
W.  H.  W.  Rees,  First  Methodist  Episcopal;  W.  A.  Major,  Bethany  Presbyterian;  Joseph 
L.  Garvin,  First  Christian;  C.  Lyng  Hanson,  Scandinavian  Methodist;  F.  O.  Iverson, 
Norwegian  Lutheran;  P.  Nelson,  Norwegian  Congregational  Missionary. 


NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1909  26l 

be  there  all  the  time,  which  was  impossible  for  her.  Professor 
Potter  was  the  unanimous  choice  of  the  convention,  and,  after 
communicating  with  the  university  and  securing  a  leave  of  ab- 
sense  for  two  years,  she  accepted  the  office.  Her  assistant  and 
friend,  Professor  Mary  Gray  Peck,  accepted  the  office  of 
headquarters  secretary.  Both  were  prominent  in  the  College 
Suffrage  League  in  that  State.  The  convention  by  a  rising  vote 
expressed  its  appreciation  of  the  excellent  work  Miss  Gordon  had 
done,  "and  for  the  still  greater  work  that  she  will  yet  do,"  added 
Dr.  Shaw. 

It  was  voted  to  change  the  name  of  the  Business  Committee 
to  the  Official  Board  and  to  add  Mrs.  Catt,  the  only  ex-president, 
to  this  board.  Urgent  invitations  were  received  from  Governor 
Robert  S.  Vessey  of  South  Dakota  and  the  Mayor  and  Chamber 
of  Commerce  of  Sioux  Falls  to  hold  the  convention  of  1910 
there,  as  an  amendment  was  to  be  voted  on  in  the  autumn.  Dr. 
Shaw  commented :  "Governor  Vessey  is  a  man  who  has  con- 
vict ions  and  is  not  afraid  to  stand  by  them.  I  am  grateful  that 
he  dares  to  do  this  while  he  is  in  office."  A  delegate  spoke  of 
the  appointment  of  a  woman  for  the  first  time  to  an  office  in 
.  her  State  and  immediately  delegates  from  other  States  gave  the 
same  announcement  until  it  was  necessary  to  stop  the  flood.  Miss 
Penfield,  one  of  a  number  of  national  organizers  who  -were  kept 
constantly  in  the  field,  told  of  having  worked  in  six  States  in  the 
past  six  months.  In  Pennsylvania  she  visited  thirty-five  small 
towns,  holding  parlor  meetings,  which  she  advocated  as  leading 
to  the  formation  of  suffrage  clubs.  In  Kentucky  she  addressed 
fifteen  colleges  and  schools.  Mrs.  Ida  Porter  Boyer  (Penn.), 

>  Mary  N.  Chase  (N.  H.)  and  Miss  Laura  Gregg  (Kans.) 

c  experiences  in  field  work. 

Mrs.   Villard   presided   Monday   evening   and    in   introducing 
Mr.  Blackwell,  whom  the  audience  rose  to  greet,  she  said:    "It 

pleasure  for  me  to  pay  also  a  tribute  to  the  loveliness  of  his 

•,  Lucy  Stone.  To  my  childish  vision  she  -was  a  type  of 
jMTpotual  sunshine/'  Mr.  Blackwell  gave  the  opinion  of  a  man 
of  loner  observation  and  experience  on  How  to  Get  Votes  for 
\Vomen.  Mrs.  Oar  C  on  Citizenship — What  Is  It?  Mrs. 

Stewart  relieved  Mrs.  Upton  of  her  usual  task  of  taking  a  col- 


262  HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

lection  and  among  her  witty  remarks  was  one  on  Bartholdi's 
statue  of  Liberty.  "The  real  goddesses  of  Liberty  in  this  coun- 
try do  not  spend  a  large  amount  of  time  standing  on  pedestals 
in  public  places;  they  use  their  torches  to  startle  the  bats  in 
political  cellars."  Referring  to  the  ignoring  of  women's  work 
in  the  histories  she  said :  "When  I  was  a  child  and  studied  about 
the  Pilgrim  Fathers  I  supposed  they  were  all  bachelors,  as  I  never 
found  a  word  about  their  wives."  Mrs.  Charlotte  Perkins  Gil- 
man's  topic  was  Masculine,  Feminine  and  Human,  discussed 
with  her  usual  keen  analysis  and  illuminated  with  her  pungent 
epigrams. 

A  spirited  symposium  took  place  on  Pre-Election  Methods, 
led  by  Mrs.  Stewart,  who  outlined  the  work  done  in  Illinois, 
where  it  had  been  reduced  to  a  system.  "We  find  candidates 
much  less  tractable  after  election  than  before,"  she  said,  "al- 
though we  always  send  literature  and  letters  to  the  members- 
elect  and  subscribe  for  the  Woman's  Journal  for  them.  We  are 
now  strong  enough  in  some  districts  for  pre-election  work  to  elect 
our  friends  and  defeat  our  enemies.  Mrs.  Catharine  Waugh 
McCulloch  sent  a  circular  letter  to  every  member  of  the  last 
Legislature,  with  questions  as  to  his  attitude  on  woman  suffrage 
and  from  the  answers  she  compiled  a  leaflet  recommending  the 
election  of  the  men  who  promised  to  vote  for  our  measures.  She 
sent  this  to  every  paper  in  Illinois  and  distributed  it  as  widely  as 
possible  among  the  women's  clubs  and  women  at  large.  She  did 
the  same  with  our  Congressmen.  Not  one  of  the  legislators 
who  promised  to  vote  for  our  bill  voted  against  it.  Our  most 
important  measure  was  lost  in  the  Senate  by  a  majority  of  only 
one  vote.  Eight  of  the  Senators  who  voted  against  it  are  up 
for  re-election  and  we  shall  do  our  best  to  keep  them  from  going 
back.  Illinois  has  printed  for  several  years  a  Roll  of  Honor 
of  the  legislators  who  have  voted  right  on  our  bills." 

The  discussion  showed  a  general  opinion  that  it  was  high  time 
for  action  of  this  kind.  Mrs.  Kelley  asked :  "Why  not  do  pre- 
nomination  work?"  and  Dr.  Shaw  said:  "I  do  not  know  a 
political  method  when  I  see  it  and  I  haven't  an  ounce  of  political 
sense  but  I  do  believe  heartily  in  this  sort  of  work."  Led  by 
Mrs.  Ella  Hawley  Crossett,  president  of  the  New  York  asso- 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQOQ  263 

ciation,  "Should  there  be  concentration  on  one  bill  or  work  for 
several"?  was  discussed.  Miss  Gordon  said:  "Ask  for  every- 
thing in  sight  and  you  will  get  a  little."  Mrs.  Cornelia  Telford 
Jewett,  editor  of  the  Union  Signal,  brought  a  fraternal  greeting 
from  the  National  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union  and 
when  she  said  that  most  of  the  criticism  she  received  was  that 
she  gave  the  readers  too  much  suffrage,  Dr.  Shaw  remarked  in 
her  jovial  way:  "They  would  get  more  if  I  could  write,  as  Mrs. 
Jewett  has  often  asked  me  for  articles." 

Among  the  symposiums  and  round  table  conferences  in  the 
morning  and  afternoon  sessions  were  those  on  "How  to  make 
existing  suffrage  sentiment  politically  effective,"  Miss  Clay  pre- 
siding; "The  tariff  in  its  relation  to  women,"  and  "Taxation 
without  representation  is  tyranny  in  1909  as  much  as  in  1776," 
Mrs.  Villard  presiding  in  place  of  Mrs.  DeVoe,  who  was  ill; 
"Parents'  organizations,  their  value  in  creating  public  sentiment," 
and  "The  self-government  plan  in  our  public  schools  as  an  aid 
in  preparing  the  coming  generations  for  woman  suffrage,"  Mrs. 
B.  W.  Dawley  (Ohio),  presiding.  The  report  of  the  Committee 
on  Education,  presented  by  its  chairman,  Mrs.  Steinem,  said  that 
the  principal  work  of  the  half-year  had  been  to  carry  out  the 
resolutions  adopted  at  the  Buffalo  convention  to  investigate  the 
text  books  on  History  and  Civics  used  in  the  public  schools  and 
she  had  secured  a  valuable  expression  of  opinion  through  letters 
sent  to  400  superintendents  of  schools  and  twenty-six  school 
book  publishing  houses.  Some  of  them  quoted  the  names  of 
Betsy  Ross,  Molly  Pitcher,  Martha  Washington  and  Dolly 
Madison  to  show  that  women  were  not  neglected  in  the  text 
books.  Many  declared  they  had  given  the  subject  no  thought 
but  were  open  to  conviction.  In  summing  up  Mrs.  Steinem  ex- 
pressed the  belief  that  this  lack  of  recognition  of  woman's  in- 
fluence in  history  -was  not  so  much  the  result  of  intention  as  of 
the  masculine  point  of  view  which  has  dominated  civilization. 
"The  impression  conveyed  by  our  text  books/'  she  said,  "is  that 
this  world  has  been  made  by  men  and  for  men  and  the  ideals 
they  are  putting  forth  are  colored  by  masculine  thought.  .  .  . 
Our  text  books  on  Civics  do  not  show  the  slightest  appreciation 
of  the  significance  of  the  'woman's  movement.'  .  .  . 


264  HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

On  the  closing  night  Miss  Richards,  the  noted  lecturer  of 
Washington,  D.  C.,  made  a  delightfully  clever  and  sparkling 
speech  on  Sex  Antagonism,  Why  and  What  is  the  Cure?  Pro- 
fessor Potter  gave  a  second  splendid  address  and  Dr.  Shaw's 
eloquent  farewell  sent  the  audience  home  in  an  exalted  mood. 

The  excellent  arrangements  for  the  convention  and  the  enter- 
tainment of  the  officers  and  delegates  had  been  made  with  much 
care  and  judgment  by  the  State  association  and  the  Seattle  so- 
ciety, which  appropriated  $1,000  for  the  purpose.1  The  sur- 
passing beauty  of  the  city  and  the  Exposition  was  an  unceasing 
delight.  Miss  Blackwell  said  in  her  description  in  the  Woman's 
Journal:  "The  splendid  setting  of  the  convention  was  a  con- 
stant pleasure — the  tall  firs,  the  beautiful  water  and  picturesque 
mountains.  Large  bunches  of  sweet  peas  and  of  the  enormous 
roses  never  seen  but  on  the  Pacific  coast  were  constantly  being 
handed  up  to  the  president  and  speakers  in  the  course  of  the 
convention  by  the  pretty  little  pages.  All  the  delegates  agreed 
that  the  display  of  flowers  on  the  grounds  was  more  beautiful 
than  they  had  seen  at  any  previous  Exposition.  Some  of  the 
delegates  from  the  Atlantic  coast  said  it  was  worth  coming  across 
the  continent  just  to  see  this  flower  garden." 

The  always-to-be-remembered  feature  of  the  week  was  Suffrage 
Day  at  the  Exposition,  arranged  by  its  officials  for  the  day  fol- 
lowing the  convention.  To  quote  again  from  Miss  Blackwell : 

In  the  morning  on  arriving  at  the  Exposition  we  found  above 
the  gate  a  big  banner  with  the  inscription,  "Woman  Suffrage  Day." 
Every  person  entering  the  grounds  was  presented  with  a  special 
button  and  a  green-ribbon  badge  representing  the  Equal  Suffrage 
Association  of  Washington,  the  Evergreen  State.  High  in  the  air 
over  the  grounds  floated  a  large  "Votes  for  Women"  kite.  All  the 
toy  balloons  sold  on  the  grounds  that  day  were  stamped  with  the 
words  "Votes  for  Women"  and  many  of  the  delegates  bought  them 
and  went  around  with  them  hovering  over  their  heads  like  Japanese 
lanterns — yellow,  red,  white  or  green  but  predominantly  green.  At 
the  morning  meeting  in  the  great  auditorium  there  was  fine  music 
by  the  Exposition  band,  with  addresses  of  welcome  from  J.  E.  Chil- 
berg,  president;  Louis  W.  Buckley,  director  of  ceremonies  and  spe- 
cial events,  and  R.  W.  Raymond,  assistant  director,  and  brief  speeches 
by  Dr.  Shaw,  Miss  Gordon,  Mrs.  Upton,  Miss  Blackwell,  Mrs. 

1  Committee:  Mrs.  DeVoe,  Dr.  Cora  Smith  Eaton,  Mrs.  Bessie  J.  Savage,  Miss  Adella 
M.  Parker,  Dr.  Sarah  A.  Kendall,  Mrs.  Ellen  S.  Lockenby  and  a  small  army  of  assistants. 


X  \TTnx\L    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQOQ  265 

Stewart.  Miss  Clay,  Mrs.  Kelley,  Mrs.  Oilman  and  Professor  Pot- 
ter. .  .  .  After  the  morning-  exercises,  the  national  officers  were 
taketi  to  the  Education  building  and  treated  to  an  excellent  lunch 
o  x'ked  and  served  by  the  domestic  science  class  of  the  high  school. 
In  the  afternoon  there  was  a  reception  in  the  magnificent  room 
occupying  the  ground  floor  of  the  Washington  State  building  with 
mure  addresses  of  welcome  by  prominent  men  connected  with  the 

•sition  and  more  short  speeches  by  the  visitors.  Later  in  the 
afternoon  there  was  another  reception  at  the  Idaho  building  by 
the  Idaho  and  Utah  women  with  more  refreshments  served  by 
motherly  matrons  and  pretty  girls.  The  day  closed  with  a  "day- 
light dinner"  given  by  the  Washington  Equal  Suffrage  Associa- 
tion at  The  Firs,  the  headquarters  of  the  Young  Women's  Chris- 
tian Association.  Hundreds  of  suffragists  sat  down  to  the  table 
within  the  building  and  on  the  large  veranda  looking  off  over  a 
delightful  prospect  and  there  were  many  appreciative  speeches.  It 

long  after  nightfall  when  the  happy  gathering  broke  up  and 
the  visitors  then  had  a  chance  to  see  the  fairy-like  spectacle  of  the 

>sition  by  night,  with  every  building  outlined  in  electric  lights, 
the  pools  shimmering,  the  fountain  gleaming  and  a  series  of  cascades 
c<  uning  down  in  foam,  with  electric  lights  of  different  colors  glowing 
through  each  waterfall. 

VOL.   V 


CHAPTER  X. 

NATIONAL  AMERICAN  CONVENTION  OF 

As  a  national  convention  had  not  been  held  in  Washington 
since  1904  the  suffragists  were  pleased  to  return  to  that  city 
with  the  Forty-second  in  the  long  list,  which  was  held  April 
14-19,  1910.  *  Three  special  cars  were  filled  by  delegates  from 
New  York  City  alone.  It  had  become  very  difficult  to  get  a  suit- 
able place  for  conventions  in  the  national  capital  and  the  experi- 
ment was  made  of  holding  this  one  in  the  large  ball  room  of  the 
Arlington  Hotel,  which  proved  entirely  inadequate  for  the  audi- 
ences. The  convention  was  called  to  order  on  the  first  afternoon 
by  the  national  president,  Dr.  Anna  Howard  Shaw,  and  wel- 
comed by  the  president  of  the  District  of  Columbia  suffrage  as- 
sociation, Miss  Harriette  J.  -Hifton,  and  the  president  of  the 
District  branch  of  the  College  Equal  Suffrage  League,  Miss  Mabel 

1  Part  of  Call:  During  the  past  year  women  have  voted  for  the  first  time  in  Norway 
at  a  Parliamentary  election,  for  the  first  time  in  Denmark  at  the  Municipal  elections,  for 
the  first  time  in  Victoria  at  an  election  for  the  State  Parliament.  This  year  a  woman 
has  been  nominated  as  a  member  of  the  Municipal  Council  in  Paris,  a  woman  is  filling 
the  office  of  Mayor  in  one  English  city  and  a  number  are  serving  as  aldermen  in  others. 
In  our  own  country  women  are  voting  for  the  first  time  in  Michigan  on  questions  of  local 
taxation,  while  in  Washington,  Oregon,  South  Dakota  and  Oklahoma,  suffrage  amend- 
ments to  the  State  constitutions  are  pending.  From  Chicago,  radiating  north,  east,  south 
and  west,  there  is  going  out  an  influence  which  is  making  the  social  settlements  centers 
of  political  influence.  In  Spokane,  New  York  and  Baltimore,  political  settlements  are 
under  way.  From  one  of  the  great  press  centers  of  the  world,  New  York  City,  suffrage 
propaganda  is  travelling  through  all  civilized  countries,  and  in  its  New  York  headquarters 
the  National  American  Woman  Suffrage  Association  is  receiving  news  of  an  unprecedented 
rising  suffrage  sentiment  from  men  and  women  belonging  to  all  the  great  nations  of 
the  earth. 

Our  cause  is  universal,  its  majesty  is  intrinsic,  its  logic  is  unanswerable,  its  success 
is  sure.  Let  the  women  of  America  come  together  in  this  year  1910  consecrated  anew 
to  the  superb  hope  for  humanity  which  lies  in  a  full  democracy. 

ANNA  HOWARD  SHAW,  President. 

RACHEL    FOSTER    AVERY,    First    Vice-President. 

FLORENCE  KELLEY,  Second  Vice-President. 

FRANCES  SQUIRE  POTTER,  Corresponding  Secretary. 

ELLA  S.   STEWART,  Recording  Secretary. 

HARRIET  TAYLOR  UPTON,  Treasurer. 

LAURA  CLAY,  )  .     ,. 

*  o  T»  f  Auditors. 

ALICE  STONE  BLACKWELL, 

266 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION   OF    IQIO  267 

Foster.     The  response  for  the  National  Association  was  made 
by  Miss  Laura  Clay  of  Kentucky,  one  of  its  officers. 

The  report  of  the  Committee  on  Church  Work  was  read  by 
its  chairman,  Mrs.  Mary  E.  Craigie,  who  gave  a  record  of  the 
accomplishments  of  her  committees  in  the  various  States  and 
said :  "The  moral  awakening  of  the  churches  to  a  need  for  more 
united  efforts  along  lines  of  social  and  moral  reform  carries  with 
it  a  great  responsibility  for  women,  who,  representing  two-thirds 
of  the  numerical  power  of  the  churches,  are  in  their  present  dis- 
franchised condition  negative  factors  in  those  broader  fields  of 
activity  which  now  constitute  church  work.  Women  are  begin- 
ning to  realize  that  they  are  wasting  their  efforts  and  energies 
in  trying  to  effect  moral  and  social  reforms  dependent  upon  legis- 
lative action  or  law  enforcement  and  they  are  asking:  'Shall  we 
go  on  with  the  farce  of  attacking  the  constantly  growing  evils 
of  intemperance,  immorality  and  crime  which  menace  our  homes, 
our  children  and  society  at  large,  knowing  that  our  efforts  are 

^s  and  futile,  or  shall  we  take  a  stand  which  will  show  that 
we  are  in  earnest  and  demand  the  weapon  of  the  ballot  which  is 
necessary  before  we  can  do  our  part  as  Christian  citizens  in  ad- 
vancing the  kingdom  of  God  on  earth?'  ' 

The  excellent  report  of  the  new  headquarters  secretary,  Profes- 
sor Mary  Gray  Peck,  filled  ten  pages  of  the  printed  Minutes  and 
in  addition  to  the  large  collection  of  statistics  contained  many 
useful  suggestions.  Like  all  of  the  reports  from  the  headquarters 
it  showed  the  great  advantage  of  having  them  in  a  large  center. 
Referring  to  the  literature  department  she  said:  "Local  chair- 
men should  see  that  tables  with  suffrage  literature  are  placed 
in  all  church  and  charitable  bazaars  as  far  as  possible  and  that 
our  papers  may  be  subscribed  for  at  all  subscription  agencies; 

that  our  publications  are  on  the  shelves  and  on  file  in  the 
public  libraries  throughout  the  State.  One  of  the  things  Mrs. 
Pankhurst  said  when  she  was  looking  over  our  work-room  was: 
'Don't  give  away  your  publications.  We  found  we  got  rid  of 
much  more  when  we  sold  and  now  we  give  away  nothing.'  We 

always  given  away  ours  with  considerable  freedom  and  been 

to  have  them  read  at  our  expense  but  at  the  low  figure  we 
put  on  them  we  could  draw  the  gratis  line  closer  without  impair- 


268  HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

ing  our  popularity.  .  .  .  The  average  daily  output  of  literature 
since  the  opening  of  headquarters  in  New  York — and  this  does 
not  include  the  orders  which  continued  to  be  filled  in  Warren- 
has  been  2,742  pieces,  or  a  growth  of  more  than  25  per  cent, 
over  the  average  of  last  year.  Our  cash  sales  from  January  i 
to  April  i  have  amounted  to  $938,  or  an  average  of  $312  per 
month  as  against  the  average  of  $89  per  month  for  1908-9.  That 
is,  our  cash  sales  for  the  past  three  months  are  three  and  a  half 
times  greater  than  they  were  at  the  same  time  last  year." 

'The  propagandist  part  of  the  correspondence,"  said  Miss  Peck, 
"soon  makes  a  wise  woman  of  the  headquarters  secretary.  The 
time  for  general  argument  and  abstract  appeal  has  largely  gone 
by.  The  call  now  is  for  statistics,  laws,  definite  citations,  in- 
stances of  industrial  conditions,  legal  status  of  women  and  chil- 
dren, etc.  .  .  .  The  State  organizations  could  do  no  more  valu- 
able service  in  aiding  our  efficiency  as  an  information  agency 
than  by  each  getting  out  a  condensed  and  reliable  bulletin  of  State 
laws  relating  to  women  and  children ;  and  also  by  collecting  data 
as  to  the  property  held  and  taxes  paid  by  women,  with  illustrative 
instances  where  disfranchisement  has  forced  these  taxpayers  to 
submit  to  injustice  and  unfair  discrimination."  She  told  of  the 
increasing  call  for  woman  suffrage  literature  from  public  libraries 
to  meet  the  demand  and  urged  the  encouragement  of  debates, 
saying:  "If  the  State  organizations  would  make  a  persistent  effort 
to  have  suffrage  debated  in  the  schools  and  if  they  advertised  the 
national  headquarters  as  prepared  to  furnish  a  volume  of  debate 
material  for  thirty  cents,  suffrage  would  receive  continuous  adver- 
tising at  no  financial  expense  to  us,  nor  would  the  good  to  the 
movement  cease  with  the  debate.  Get  the  young  people  interested 
and  you  catch  the  mothers.  Also  by  keeping  a  card  register  of 
the  young  debaters,  the  State  organization  would  have  the  names 
and  addresses  of  an  ever-growing  list  of  oncoming  citizens  inter- 
ested in  the  subject.  Debaters  are  a  good  deal  cheaper  than  or- 
ganizers. The  State  University  of  Wisconsin  is  sending  out 
through  its  university  extension  department  our  suffrage  litera- 
ture in  travelling  libraries  to  meet  the  demand  in  the  public  schools 
for  debate  material.  I  believe  most  State  universities  would  be 
t;lad  to  do  the  same  for  us.  Many  universities  and  colleges  have 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQIO  269 

discussed  suffrage  the  past  winter,  notably  Dartmouth,  Williams 
and  Brown  in  their  annual  intercollegiate  debate,  Yale  in  the 
inter-class  debate,  the  University  of  Texas  against  Tulane  Univer- 
sity of  Louisiana,  and  Stanford  will  debate  with  Berkeley,  April 
1 6."  Miss  Peck  made  many  other  valuable  suggestions  from  the 
trained  viewpoint  of  a  university  woman. 

Representative  A.  W.  Rucker  was  introduced  as  a  proxy  for 
the  Colorado  association  and  gave  its  report  with  a  warm  per- 
sonal endorsement  of  equal  suffrage  as  it  had  existed  in  his 
State  for  seventeen  years.  The  convention  greeted  with  enthusi- 
asm the  mother  of  U.  S.  Senator  Robert  L.  Owen  of  Oklahoma, 
who  said  she  could  not  make  a  speech  but  would  send  her  son 
to  do  so  that  evening. 

Although  national  suffrage  conventions  had  been  held  in  Wash- 
ington since  1869  no  official  recognition  ever  had  been  asked  for 
or  given  by  the  President  of  the  United  States.  The  leaders 
thought  that  now  the  movement  was  of  sufficient  size  and  impor- 
tance to  justify  them  in  inviting  President  Taft  to  give  simply 
an  address  of  welcome.  The  invitation  was  sent  with  the  state- 
ment that  its  acceptance  would  not  be  regarded  as  committing  him 
to  an  advocacy  of  woman  suffrage  and  it  -was  accepted  with  this 
understanding,  although  Mrs.  Elihu  Root  presented  a  request 
from  the  Anti-Suffrage  Association  that  he  would  not  accept  it. 
The  entire  country  was  interested  and  on  the  opening  evening, 
when  he  was  to  speak,  the  auditorium  was  crowded  and  lines 
of  people  reached  to  the  street.  President  Taft  came  in  with  his 
escort  while  Dr.  Shaw  was  in  the  midst  of  her  annual  address 
hut  she  stopped  instantly  and  welcomed  him  to  the  platform. 
The  audience  arose  and  with  applause  and  waving  of  handker- 
chiefs remained  standing  until  he  was  seated.  At  one  point  in 
brief  address  there  -was  apparently  a  slight  hissing  in  the 
part  of  the  room.  The  President  paused ;  Dr.  Shaw  sprang  to 
her  feet  exclaiming,  "Oh,  my  children !"  and  the  audience,  which 
was  excited  and  amazed,  instantly  became  quiet  and  listened 
vet  fully  to  the  rest  of  his  speech,  but  as  he  left  the  room, 
shaking  hands  with  Dr.  Shaw,  a  few  remained  seated. 
As  this  incident  attracted  nation-wide  comment  and  much  criti- 


270  HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

cism  it  seems  advisable  to  publish  the  proceedings  in  full.    The 
address  was  as  follows : 

I  am  not  entirely  certain  that  I  ought  to  have  come  tonight,  but 
your  committee  who  invited  me  assured  me  that  I  should  be  welcome 
even  if  I  did  not  support  all  the  views  which  were  here  advanced. 
I  considered  that  this  movement  represented  a  sufficient  part  of 
the  intelligence  of  the  community  to  justify  my  coming  here  and 
welcoming  you  to  Washington.  The  difficulty  I  expect  to  encounter 
is  this — at  least  it  is  a  difficulty  that  occurs  to  me  as  I  judge  my 
own  feelings  in  causes  in  which  I  have  an  intense  interest — to  wit: 
that  I  am  always  a  good  deal  more  impatient  with  those  who  only 
go  half-way  with  me  than  with  those  who  actually  oppose  me.  Now 
when  I  was  sixteen  years  old  and  was  graduated  from  the  Wood- 
ward High  School  in  Cincinnati,  I  took  for  my  subject  "Woman 
Suffrage"  and  I  was  as  strong  an  advocate  of  it  as  any  member 
of  this  convention.  I  had  read  Mills's  "Subjection  of  Women" ; 
my  father  was  a  woman  suffragist  and  so  at  that  time  I  was  orthodox 
but  in  the  actual  political  experience  which  I  have  had  I  have  modi- 
fied my  views  somewhat. 

In  the  first  place  popular  representative  government  we  approve 
and  support  because  on  the  whole  every  class,  that  is,  every  set 
of  individuals  who  are  similarly  situated  in  the  community,  who  are 
intelligent  enough  to  know  what  their  own  interests  are,  are  better 
qualified  to  determine  how  those  interests  shall  be  cared  for  and 
preserved  than  any  other  class,  however  altruistic  that  class  may  be ; 
but  I  call  your  attention  to  two  qualifications  in  that  statement.  One 
is  that  the  class  should  be  intelligent  enough  to  know  its  own  inter- 
ests. The  theory  that  Hottentots  or  any  other  uneducated,  altogether 
unintelligent  class  is  fitted  for  self-government  at  once  or  to  take 
part  in  government  is  a  theory  that  I  wholly  dissent  from — but  this 
qualification  is  not  applicable  here.  The  other  qualification  to  which 
I  call  your  attention  is  that  the  class  should  as  a  whole  care  enough 
to  look  after  its  interests,  to  take  part  as  a  whole  in  the  exercise 
of  political  power  if  it  is  conferred.  Now  if  it  does  not  care 
enough  for  this,  then  it  seems  to  me  that  the  danger  is,  if  the 
power  is  conferred,  that  it  may  be  exercised  by  that  part  of  the 
class  least  desirable  as  political  constituents  and  be  neglected  by  many 
of  those  who  are  intelligent  and  patriotic  and  would  be  most  desir- 
able as  members  of  the  electorate. 

It  was  at  this  point  the  supposed  hissing  occurred  and  the 
President  continued: 

Now,  my  dear  ladies,  you  must  show  yourselves  equal  to  self- 
government  by  exercising,  in  listening  to  opposing  arguments,  that 
degree  of  restraint  without  which  self-government  is  impossible. 
If  I  could  be  sure  that  women  as  a  class  in  the  community,  includ- 
ing all  the  intelligent  women  most  desirable  as  political  constitu- 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQIO  2JI 

ents,  would  exercise  the  franchise,  I  should  be  in  favor  of  it. 
At  present  there  is  considerable  doubt  upon  that  point.  In  cer- 
tain of  the  States  which  have  tried  it  woman  suffrage  has  not 
been  a  failure.  It  has  not  made,  I  think,  any  substantial  difference 
in  politics.  I  think  it  is  perhaps  possible  to  say  that  its  adoption 
has  shown  an  improvement  in  the  body  politic,  but  it  has  been 
tested  only  in  those  States  where  population  is  sparse  and  where 
the  problem  of  entrusting  such  power  to  women  in  the  concen- 
trated population  of  large  cities  is  not  presented.  For  this  rea- 
son, if  you  will  permit  me  to  say  so,  my  impression  is  that  the 
task  before  you  in  securing  what  you  think  ought  to  be  granted 
in  respect  to  the  political  rights  of  women  is  not  in  convincing  men 
but  it  is  in  convincing  the  majority  of  your  own  class  of  the 
wisdom  of  extending  the  suffrage  to  them  and  of  their  duty  to 
exercise  it. 

Now  that  is  my  confession  of  faith.  I  am  glad  to  welcome 
you  here.  I  am  glad  to  welcome  an  intelligent  body  of  women, 
earnest  in  the  discussion  of  politics,  earnest  in  the  question  of 
good  government  and  earnest  and  high-minded  in  the  cause  they 
are  pursuing,  even  if  I  disagree  with  them,  not  in  principle  but 
in  the  application  of  it  to  the  present  situation.  More  than  this 
I  ought  not  to  say  and  I  hope  you  will  not  deem  me  ungracious 
in  saying  as  much  as  I  have  said,  but  I  came  here  at  the  invi- 
tation of  your  committee  with  the  understanding  as  to  what  I  might 
say  and  that  I  should  not  subscribe  to  all  the  principles  that  you 
are  here  to  advocate.  I  congratulate  you  on  coming  to  Wash- 
ington, this  most  beautiful  of  cities,  to  hold  your  convention.  I 
trust  that  it  may  result  in  everything  that  you  hope  for  and  I  am 
sure  that  the  coming  together  of  honest,  intelligent  and  earnest 
women  like  these  cannot  but  be  productive  of  good. 

Some  persons  thought  that  the  hissing  was  done  by  one  or 
more  delegates  from  the  equal  suffrage  States  because  of  the 
aspersion  cast  on  the  class  of  women  who  were  likely  to  vote. 
Others  believed  there  was  no  hissing  but  that  it  was  merely  an 
exclamation  of  "hush"  because  of  the  noise  caused  by  the  moving 
of  loose  chairs,  many  in  the  back  part  of  the  room  standing  up 
on  them  to  get  a  better  view.  It  was,  however,  a  matter  of  great 
concern  and  regret  on  the  part  of  the  national  officers,  who  met 
early  the  next  morning  and  framed  the  following  resolution : 

WHEREAS  the  President  of  the  United  States  in  welcoming  the 
Forty-second  Annual  Convention  of  the  National  American  Woman 
Suffrage  Association  lias  taken  the  historic  position  of  being  the 
incumbent  of  his  office  to  recogni/.e  officially  our  determina- 
tion to  secure  a  complete  democracy,  thereby  testifying  his  convic- 
tion as  to  its  power  and  growth,  and 


HISTORY   OF    WOMAN   SUFFRAGE 

WHEREAS  his  seriousness,  honesty  and  friendliness  converted  what 
might  have  been  an  empty  form  into  an  official  courtesy,  historic 
alike  for  him  and  for  us, 

THEREFORE  be  it  resolved  that  we  convey  to  President  William 
H.  Taft  the  thanks  and  appreciation  of  this  convention  for  his 
welcome,  assuring  him  at  the  same  time  that  the  patriotism  and 
public  spirit  of  the  women  of  America  intend  to  make  themselves 
directly  felt  in  the  government  of  which  he  is  the  honored  head 
and  that  at  no  distant  date. 

This  was  adopted  at  the  morning's  session  of  the  conven- 
tion by  a  unanimous  rising  vote.  At  the  opening  of  the  after- 
noon session  Dr.  Shaw  said :  "I  think  one  of  the  saddest  hours 
that  I  have  ever  spent  in  connection  with  one  of  our  national 
conventions  I  spent  last  night  after  the  occurrence  of  an  incident 
here  for  which  none  of  the  officers  of  this  association  bears  the 
least  responsibility  and  we  trust  none  of  the  delegates  needs  to 
bear  any  of  it,  when  there  was  a  dissent  made  to  an  utterance  of 
President  Taft.  It  seemed  to  us  a  most  unwise  and  ungracious 
act  and  we  feel  the  keenest  possible  regret  over  it.  Because  of 
this  the  Official  Board  has  prepared  a  letter  to  the  President 
expressing  our  regret  that  the  occurrence  should  have  taken 
place,  whether  by  a  member  of  this  body  or  by  a  visitor.  It  is 
impossible  to  control  a  great  public  audience  individually  and 
an  organization  is  not  responsible  for  everything  which  takes 
place  in  its  public  meetings.  While  I  do  not  think  our  organiza- 
tion as  a  body  is  at  all  responsible  for  what  took  place  last  night 
I  feel  that,  since  the  President  was  our  guest,  it  is  our  duty  to 
express  our  very  deep  regret  for  the  incident.  I  ask,  therefore, 
that,  without  discussion  and  without  further  speech,  there  shall 
be  concurrence  on  the  part  of  the  convention  with  the  Official 
Board  in  sending  a  letter  of  regret  to  the  President." 

The  convention  agreed  to  this  instantly  with  but  one  dissenting 
and  it  was  ascertained  that  she  was  not  only  not  a  delegate  but  not 
a  member  of  the  association.  This  justified  the  general  opinion 
that  if  there  had  been  any  hissing  the  night  before  it  was  done  by 
some  of  the  large  number  of  outsiders  in  the  audience.  The 
letter  signed  by  Professor  Frances  Squire  Potter,  as  correspond- 
ing secretary,  read  as  follows : 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQIO  273 

To  President  William  Howard  Taft, 
My  dear  Mr.  President: 

The  enclosed  resolution,  introduced  by  the  Committee  on  Con- 
vention Resolutions,  was  passed  unanimously  by  the  National  Ameri- 
can Woman  Suffrage  Association  today  at  the  opening  of  its  morn- 
ing session.  I  am  instructed  by  the  unanimous  vote  of  the  Official 
Board  and  of  the  delegates  now  assembled  to  send  you  with  the 
resolution  this  official  communication. 

The  official  board  and  delegates  were  but  a  small  part  of  the  very 
large  gathering  to  hear  your  greeting  last  evening  but  as  the  rep- 
resentatives of  the  association  these  delegates  feel  great  sorrow 
that  any  one  present,  either  a  member  or  an  outsider,  should  have 
interrupted  your  address  by  an  expression  of  personal  feeling,  and 
they  herewith  disclaim  responsibility  for  such  interruption  and  ask 
your  acceptance  of  this  expression  of  regret  in  the  spirit  in  which 
it  is  given. 

The  letter  was  sent  in  the  afternoon  by  messenger  across 
Lafayette  Square,  which  separated  the  Arlington  from  the  White 
House,  and  the  next  morning  the  following  answer  was  received: 

The  White  House, 
Washington,  April  16,  1910. 
My  dear  Mrs.  Potter: 

1    beg  to  acknowledge  your   favor  of   April   15.     I   unite  with 

you  in  regretting  the  incident  occurring  during  my  address  to  which 

ynur  letter  refers.     I  regret  it  not  because  of  any  personal  feeling, 

for  I  have  none  on  the  subject  at  all,  but  only  because  much  more 

significance  has  been  given  to  it  than  it  deserves  and  because  it  may 

be  used  in  an  unfair  way  to  embarrass  the  leaders  of  your  movement. 

I   thank  the  association  for  the  kindly  and  cordial  tone  of  the 

resolutions  transmitted  and  hope  that  the  feature  of  Thursday  night's 

meeting,  which  you  describe  as  having  given  your  association  much 

row,  may  soon  be  entirely  forgotten. 

Sincerely  yours, 

William  H.  Taft. 

This  closed  the  incident  as  far  as  it  could  be  closed  but  there 

was  a  great  deal  of  sympathy  with  the  sentiment  expressed  by 

Alice  Stone  Black-well  in  the  Woman's  Joitrndl:  "It  was 

n  that  while  the  President  was  not  an  anti-suffragist  he  was 

not  a  strong  suffragist  and  might  not  even  be  wholly  with  us.     It 

therefore,  not  expected   that  he  would  at   the  convention 

'come  out  for  suffrage.'     Indeed,  he  was  not  invited  to  make  an 

address  but  simply  to  extend  to  the  convention  the  welcome  of 

the  ii  :al,  not  bccan-e  lie  was  a  suffragist  but  because 

the  convention  thought  that  it  was  representative  enough  and  oi 


274  HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

sufficient  size  and  standing  in  the  country  to  warrant  asking  the 
President  to  do  this  one  thing.  JHe  could  have  declined  the  invi- 
tation and  no  one  would  have  been  offended.  He  could  have 
said  he  was  an  anti-suffragist.  He  could  have  tactfully  omitted 
his  opinion  and  confined  his  time  to  greetings  and  welcome  as 
Chief  Executive  to  the  convention  as  a  large  organization  of  the 
women  of  the  nation.  At  the  point  where  the  supposed  hissing 
occurred,  it  was  as  if  the  speaker  had  struck  those  women  in  the 
face  with  a  whip.  Even  those  who  most  resented  the  President's 
remarks  regretted  the  expression  of  open  disapproval  in  such  a 
manner,  but,  to  a  person,  the  audience  felt  that  he  had  been  untact- 
ful,  and,  however  unintentionally,  had  implied  an  odious  com- 
parison; that  he  had  not  sufficiently  considered  this  great  body 
of  the  picked  women  of  the  land  to  choose  his  language  in  address- 
ing them." 

The  President's  address  was  preceded  by  one  given  by  Pro- 
fessor Potter  on  The  Making  of  Democracy,  which  had  seldom 
been  equalled  in  its  statesmanlike  qualities.  This  was  followed 
by  a  powerful  argument  on  Why  Women  Should  Have  the  Suf- 
frage, by  Senator  Robert  L.  Owen  (Okla.),  one  of  the  ablest 
speakers  in  the  U.  S.  Senate  and  always  an  uncompromising 
supporter  of  the  political  rights  of  women. 

At  an  afternoon  session  Mrs.  Rachel  Foster  Avery  (Penn.), 
who  had  succeeded  Mrs.  Carrie  Chapman  Catt  as  chairman  of 
the  Committee  on  Petition  to  Congress,  took  up  the  report  where 
it  had  ended  at  the  last  convention.  She  said  that,  in  addition 
to  the  100,000  petitions  and  5,000  individual  letters  sent  from 
New  York  under  Mrs.  Catt's  supervision,  there  had  gone  out 
from  the  headquarters  after  they  had  been  removed  to  Washing- 
ton and  placed  in  charge  of  Mrs.  Rachel  Brill  Ezekiel,  60,000 
more  pietitions,  11,000  more  letters  and  1,185  postals  with 
appeals.  "The  petition,"  she  said,  "has  been  a  means  of  intro- 
ducing suffrage  into  thousands  of  households  and  hundreds  of 
meetings  of  all  kinds  in  which  the  subject  had  not  before  been 
mentioned.  Even  women's  clubs  have  had  to  listen  to  suffrage 
when  brought  to  them  by  eager  seekers  after  signatures.  It  has 
given  to  many  people  who  have  never  before  done  anything  for 
suffrage  an  opportunity.  In  some  cases  whole  neighborhoods 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQIO  275 

have  been  reached  through  the  work  of  a  single  energetic  -woman 
willing  to  go  from  house  to  house  circulating  the  petition  and 
leaving  literature  with  families  where  she  found  little  or  no 
sympathy  for  our  movement.  All  letters  sent  out  from  petition 
headquarters  enclosed  suffrage  leaflets  and  carried  to  thousands 
of  men  and  women  the  first  suffrage  literature  they  had  seen." 
All  this  vast  work  had  cost  only  $4,555,  of  which  Mrs.  Catt  had 
contributed  $1,000.  The  most  strenuous  effort  had  not  succeeded 
in  getting  the  return  of  all  the  petitions  in  time  for  the  convention 
but  those  at  hand  contained  404,825  names.1 

The  arrangements  for  the  parade  which  was  to  carry  the  peti- 
tions to  Congress  were  in  the  hands  of  Miss  Mary  Garrett  Hay. 
Mrs.  Helen  H.  Gardener  obtained  the  use  of  fifty  cars  from 
interested  residents  of  Washington  and  these  were  handsomely 
adorned  with  the  flag  of  the  United  States  and  suffrage  banners. 
The  official  report  said:  "The  most  picturesque  incident  of  the 
convention  was  the  long  line  of  fifty  decorated  automobiles  which 
bore  the  petitions  and  delegates  of  each  State  from  the  Hotel 
Arlington  to  the  Capitol,  where  the  petitions  were  personally 
delivered  to  the  various  Senators  and  Representatives  who  were 
to  present  them  to  Congress.  The  large  piles  of  rolled  petitions, 
the  respect  of  the  people  who  lined  the  streets,  the  courtesy  of 
the  Congressmen  and  the  crowds  which  watched  the  presentation 
in  Senate  and  House  were  all  impressive.  Senator  LaFollette 
brought  instant  silence  when,  presenting  his  share  of  the  peti- 
tions, he  said,  "I  hope  the  time  will  come  when  this  great  body 
of  intelligent  people  will  not  find  it  necessary  to  petition  for 
that  which  ought  to  be  accorded  as  a  right  in  a  country  of  equal 
opportunities." 

At  the  afternoon  session  a  vote  of  thanks  was  given  to  Senator 
illette  and  all  the  Senators  and  Representatives  who  pre- 
sented the  petitions.  Deep  appreciation  was  expressed  of  the  labor 
of  Mrs.  Catt  in  connection  with  the  petitions  and  regret  that  she 

1  Mrs.  Catt's  original  plan  required  each  State  to  tabulate  the  signers  according  to 
their  lines  of  work  but  this  was  not  fully  carried  out.  Miss  Minnie  J.  Reynolds,  in 
charge  of  the  Writer's  Section,  published  a  long  and  interesting  report  in  the  Woman's 
Journal.  Simply  the  names  of  distinguished  writers,  men  and  women,  who  had  signed, 
filled  a  solid  column  and  yet  she  said:  "The  work  on  this  section  was  absurdly  fragmentary. 
In  the  city  of  Washington  Miss  Nettie  Lovisa  White  had  obtained  the  names  of  sixty, 
including  the  most  prominent  newspaper  correspondents." 


276  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

was  not  able  to  be  present  at  the  Capitol.  This  was  the  last  of 
the  hundreds  of  thousands  of  petitions  to  Congress  for  the  sub- 
mission of  a  National  Amendment  to  enfranchise  women  which 
began  in  I866.1 

Mrs.  Harriet  Taylor  Upton  in  her  treasurer's  report  said  the 
past  year  had  been  an  unusually  hard  one  financially  not  because 
of  adversity  but  because  of  prosperity.  Formerly  the  States  had 
sent  their  money  to  the  national  treasury  to  be  used  as  the  Official 
Board  thought  best,  but  now  there  -were  so  many  campaigns  and 
new  lines  of  work  in  various  States  that  they  wanted  to  disburse 
their  own  money.  This  was  encouraging  but  hard  on  the  national 
work.  Few  were  the  years  between  1899  and  1908  when  some 
legacy  was  not  received,  as  Miss  Anthony  never  missed  an  op- 
portunity to  urge  women  to  make  such  bequests.  After  her 
death  Miss  Mary  Anthony  followed  her  example  but  since  both 
had  passed  away  little  had  been  done  in  this  direction.  The 
total  receipts  for  1909  were  $21,466,  and  the  general  disburse- 
ments $19,814.  With  the  headquarters  in  New  York  more 
money  had  been  received  but  more  also  had  to  be  spent.  Mrs. 
Oliver  H.  P.  Belmont  furnished  the  offices  of  the  Press  Com- 
mittee, paid  their  rent,  the  salaries  of  three  workers  and  all  other 
expenses  connected  with  it.  Mrs.  William  M.  Ivins  of  New 
York  City  and  Mrs.  Mary  Ely  Parsons  of  Rye,  N.  Y.,  furnished 
Dr.  Shaw's  office. 

In  closing  Mrs.  Upton  said  that  the  duties  of  the  headquarters 
and  of  the  treasurer's  office  had  been  so  closely  connected  that 
up  to  this  time  it  had  been  difficult  to  separate  them.  In  fact 
from  the  time  she  was  elected  to  date  she  had  always  done  some 
work  properly  belonging  to  headquarters.  From  the  first  a 
clerk  was  supplied  to  her  and  she  was  so  situated  that  she  could 
do  this  and  was  more  than  willing  to.  She  had  edited  twelve 
reports  of  annual  conventions  and  was  editor  and  manager  of 
Progress  for  seven  years.  She  told  how  letters  and  requests 
continued  to  come  to  her  after  the  headquarters  went  to  New 
York  and  she  was  obliged  to  employ  another  clerk,  whose  salary 
she  herself  paid.  In  closing  she  said:  "Since  1893  your  treasurer 
has  received  and  disbursed  more  than  $275,000  and  she  wishes 

1  See  History  of  Woman  Suffrage,  Volume  II,  page  91. 


NATIONAL  AMERICAN    CONVENTION   OF    IQIO  277 

the  treasurer  for  the  coming  year  could  have  that  full  amount 
for  the  next  twelve  months'  work."  The  convention  accepted  the 
report  with  a  rising  vote  of  thanks  for  her  many  years  of  con- 
tinuous service. 

The  general  subscriptions  at  the  convention,  including  those 
for  the  South  Dakota  campaign,  were  $4,363.  Mrs.  Belmont 
continued  her  pledge  of  $600  a  month.  The  association  had 
various  funds  to  draw  from,  which  were  supplied  by  contributions. 
It  was  voted  to  appropriate  $150  a  month  for  six  and  a  half 
months'  work  in  Oklahoma  if  the  amendment  was  to  go  to  the 
voters  in  November. 

Memorial  services  were  held  on  the  morning  of  April  15  for 
two  distinguished  members  of  the  association,  Henry  B.  Black- 
well,  who  had  died  Sept.  7,  1909,  and  William  Lloyd  Garrison, 
five  days  later.  On  the  program  was  an  extract  from  a  speech 
made  by  Mr.  Blackwell  at  a  national  Woman's  Rights  Convention 
in  Geveland,  O.,  in  1853:  "The  interests  of  the  sexes  are  insep- 
arably connected  and  in  the  elevation  of  the  one  lies  the  salvation 
of  the  other.  Therefore,  I  claim  a  part  in  this  last  and  grandest 
movement  of  the  ages,  for  whatever  concerns  woman  concerns 
the  race."  Affectionate  and  beautiful  tributes  to  Mr.  Blackwell's 
nearly  fifty  years'  devotion  to  the  cause  of  woman  suffrage  were 
paid  by  those  who  had  known  him  long  and  intimately,  which  are 
partially  quoted  here. 

Mrs.  Fanny  Garrison  Villard :  I  have  ever  regarded  Mr.  Black- 
well  a*  ,1  many-sided  reformer,  one  whose  most  distinguished  claim 

membrance  consists  in  the  fact  that  no  other  man  has  devoted 
so  much  of  his  life  to  the  task  of  securing  the  enfranchisement  of 
women.  Only  those  who  have  read  the  Woman's  Journal  regularly 
and  depended  on  it  for  an  accurate  record  of  the  slow  but  steady 

:i  of   progress  of   this  great  movement  can   fully  realize  the 

enormous  amount  of  editorial  work  contributed  to  it  by  him  during 

the    past    forty    years.     The    combination    of    superior    intellectual 

vith  tcndcrest  sympathies  formed  a  rare  equipment  for  sue- 

D  field  of  usefulness.     In  truth  his  advocacy  of  the 

won:  -narked   by   such   /eal  and   enthusiasm  that  one 

not  knowing  the  initials  "II.   B.  B."  stood  for  a  man  might  quite 

naturally  have  believed  that  only  a  woman  could  own  them. 

innately   he   was   possessed    of    the   sunni- 

and  Messed  with  an  unusual  sense  of  humor  which  enabled  him  to 


278  HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

see  things  in  their  true  proportions  and  make  light  of  obstacles  in 
his  path.  The  many  and  varied  tributes  that  have  been  paid  to 
his  memory  all  dwell  upon  his  intense  love  of  justice  which  led 
him  to  wage  war  against  oppression  wherever  he  found  it.  ...  It 
was  my  good  fortune  to  be  present  at  the  celebration  of  Mr.  Black- 
well's  eightieth  birthday  in  Faneuil  Hall  in  Boston.  With  great 
clarity  of  vision  he  defined  the  duty  of  the  hour  and  said:  "But 
we  can  not  afford  to  be  a  mutual  admiration  society,  there  is  still 
work  to  do."  .  .  .  With  what  patience,  fortitude  and  true  courage 
he  and  Lucy  Stone,  his  wife,  played  their  part  in  the  face  of  ridi- 
cule and  opprobium  is  now  a  matter  of  history.  Women  who  to- 
day live  a  freer  life  because  of  their  labors  and  those  of  their  co- 
adjutors must  offer  to  their  memory  the  highest  meed  of  praise. 

Mrs.  Catharine  Waugh  McCulloch :  Lives  consecrated  to  great 
reforms,  particularly  to  the  advancement  of  a  reform  to  emanci- 
pate women,  teach  us  that  the  age  of  chivalry  is  not  past.  These 
great  men  whom  we  honor  to-day  were  not,  like  the  knights  of 
old,  inspired  by  the  love  of  some  one  woman  whom  they  desired 
to  possess,  but  they  strove  for  justice  for  those  they  loved  best  and 
for  us  too,  who  were  their  friends,  and  for  millions  of  women  they 
never  knew.  Their  far-reaching  chivalry  was  one  of  the  most 
important  elements  in  the  characters  of  Mr.  Blackwell  and  Mr.  Gar- 
rison. Both  of  them  were  unusually  fortunate  in  the  women  who 
were  their  nearest  and  dearest.  Mr.  Blackwell's  sister  Elizabeth 
was  the  first  woman  physician  in  the  United  States;  his  sister-in- 
law,  Antoinette  Brown  Blackwell,  the  first  ordained  minister;  his 
wife,  Lucy  Stone,  one  of  the  sweetest  and  truest  of  the  pioneer 
suffrage  lecturers. 

Mr.  Garrison  was  not  old  enough  to  be  related  to  so  many 
pioneers,  except  through  his  illustrious  father,  but  his  wife's  devo- 
tion to  the  suffrage  work,  his  sister's  unfaltering  activity  and  his 
association  from  boyhood  with  Boston's  brilliant  coterie  of  renowned 
women,  might  well  have  influenced  him  to  have  a  higher  regard 
and  deeper  respect  for  all  their  sex.  .  .  .  Mr.  Blackwell  and  Mr. 
Garrison,  in  their  beautiful  family  lives,  are  particularly  illustrious 
examples  that  woman  suffrage  will  not  break  up  the  home.  Many 
long  years  did  these  pairs  of  married  friends  work  together  for 
our  cause.  .  .  . 

To-day  we  sorrow  for  the  loss  of  these  men  but  not  without 
hope,  for  there  are  other  men  coming  forward  to  take  up  the 
work  they  have  dropped.  We  women  who  are  here  to-day  do 
not  represent  merely  ourselves  and  the  tens  of  thousands  of  other 
suffrage  women  but  we  are  backed  by  the  sympathy,  the  active 
encouragement  and  the  money  of  our  husbands,  our  brothers,  our 
fathers,  and  many  of  us  have  chivalrous  sons.  More  even  than 
sympathy  they  now  give,  as  some  are  giving  themselves  for  service. 
One  of  Mr.  Blackwell's  last  letters  to  me  related  to  securing  a 
large  membership  among  men,  and  our  Men's  Suffrage  Leagues, 
now  springing  up  in  all  large  cities,  might  well  name  themselves 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQIO  279 

for  him.  ...  Go  forward,  men,  with  the  spirit  of  Blackwell  and 
Garrison ! 

Mrs.  McCulloch  paid  a  beautiful  tribute  to  the  human  side  of 
Mr.  Blackwell's  character,  his  love  of  nature  and  his  companion- 
ship with  children. 

Miss  Jane   Campbell:   I   need  not  enter  into  the  details  of   the 
life,  public  or  private,  of  Mr.  Blackwell.     They  are  written  in  let- 
ters  of   gold   in   the   annals   of   the   suffrage   movement   from   the 
moment  when  in  the  beautiful,  unselfish  ardor  of  youth,  with  his 
wife,  the  silver-tongued  Lucy  Stone,  he  entered  upon  a  career  of 
patient,  unflagging  devotion  to  the  cause  of  woman's  rights.  .   .   . 
It  evinced  a  high  and  noble  spirit,  a  great  courage,   for  any  man 
to  espouse  an  almost  universally  ridiculed  cause,  as  did  Mr.  Black- 
well  ;   possibly   greater   courage   than   even  a   woman,   conservative 
and  timid  if  not  by  nature  yet  made  so  by  education,  showed  when 
emerged   from  her  awed  subjection  and  ventured   to  demand 
her  equal  share  of  privileges  as  well  as  of  disabilities.     The  woman 
had  the  burning  sense  of  injustice  to  arouse  her,   the  indignation 
«1  by  her  calm  relegation  to  the  position  of  an  inferior  to  inspire 
her  with  courage  to  fight  for  freedom,  but  a  man,  a  man  like  Mr. 
Blackwell.   had   no  such  bitter  sense  of   personal  wrong  to   impel 
him.     lie  entered  the  contest  not  for  himself,  for  he  had  no  wrongs 
dress,  but  his  great  soul  saw  that  woman  had  and  he  devoted 
means,  energy,  talents  to  redress  them.     It  is  a  rarely  high, 
"fish   record  of  a  noble  life  that  he  has  left  for  the  admira- 
.•iiid  example  of  other  men.  .  .  .  He  was  one  of  the  most  eloquent, 
ful  and  logical  speakers  we  have  ever  had  on  our  platform, 
with  his  fine,  resounding  voice  giving  clear  expression  to  his  logical 
thinking,  and  he  was  a  ready  and  forceful  writer.  .  .  . 

Miss  Anne  Fitzhugh  Miller:  It  was  always  a  joy  to  meet  Mr. 

'.well   for  there  was  never  any  picking  up  of  broken  threads 

ir  spinning  or  knitting  or  weaving  of  good  comradeship,  which 

if  no  absence  had  intervened.     I  felt  at  home 

with  him  always  he  was  a  man  after  my  own  heart,  direct,  decided. 
to  high  ideals,  and  yet  he  possessed  an  elasticity 
in  re  which  made  him  the  most  comfortable  of  comrades.     II  is 
of   humor  and  his  love  of   fun  made  the  best  of  good  times 
<-re   fortunate  enough   to   share   his   merry   moods. 
.   It  was  alwavs  a  delight  to  hear  him  speak.     The  sound  of  his 
and   refreshed  and   the  soundness   of   his   thought  in- 
spired  confidence  and  admiration.      His   half-century  of   contin 

lute  devotion  to  the  cause  of   woman   suffrage   Lrives   Mr. 

a  unique  position  in  history.     All  women  <>\ye  him  a  debt 

of  p:  \vhich   they   can   best   pay  by  renewed  devotion   to  the 

to   which    1  »ed    his   life.      In    the    truest    and    broadest 

•ild  be  rememlK-red  a  A'omen." 


280  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

Dr.  Shaw  added  her  own  fine  appreciation  of  the  two  men  and 
speaking  from  almost  a  lifetime  of  acquaintance  with  Mr.  Gar- 
rison gave  a  glowing  eulogy  of  his  noble  character,  lofty  con- 
victions and  fearless  courage,  a  worthy  son  of  a  great  father. 
Among  other  prominent  friends  of  woman  suffrage  who  had 
passed  away  during  the  year,  recorded  in  the  memorial  resolu- 
tions, were  Justice  Brewer,  of  the  U.  S.  Supreme  Court;  Dr. 
Borden  P.  Bowne,  head  of  the  department  of  philosophy  and 
dean  of  the  graduate  school  in  Boston  University ;  Judge  Charles 
B.  Waite  and  Dr.  Sarah  Hackett  Stevenson  of  Chicago ;  Charles 
Sprague  Smith,  director  of  Cooper  Institute,  New  York,  and 
many  devoted  workers  in  the  various  States. 

At  one  interesting  evening  session  Mrs.  Kate  Trimble  Wool- 
sey  (Ky.)  spoke  on  Republics  versus  Women,  the  title  of  her 
book ;  Mrs.  Meta  L.  Stern  on  Woman  Suffrage  from  a  Socialist's 
Point  of  View;  Miss  Alice  Paul  on  The  English  Situation.  Mrs. 
Catt's  subject  was  Caught  in  a  Snare  and  the  convention  voted 
to  have  it  printed  for  circulation.  As  Miss  Alice  Stone  Blackwell 
was  ill  at  home,  missing  the  annual-  convention  for  the  first 
time,  the  readers  of  the  Woman's  Journal  were  deprived  of  her 
usual  comprehensive  reports  and  abstracts  of  the  speeches  where 
the  manuscript  was  not  available.  That  of  Miss  Paul  was  pub- 
lished in  full.  She  had  recently  returned  from  London,  where 
she  had  been  a  member  of  Mrs.  Pankhurst's  organization,  had 
been  sent  to  prison,  had  gone  on  a  "hunger  strike"  and  been 
forcibly  fed,  and  she  felt  the  situation  keenly.  A  part  of  her 
speech  was  as  follows: 

As  we  gather  here  as  suffragists,  our  hearts  naturally  go  out  to 
those  women  at  the  storm-center  of  our  movement — to  those  women 
in  Great  Britain  who  are  having  a  struggle  such  as  women  have  never 
had  in  any  other  land.  The  violent  criticism,  the  suppression  and 
distortion  of  facts  from  which  they  have  suffered  at  the  hands 
of  the  politically-inspired  press  of  their  own  country  have  made  it 
difficult  for  one  on  this  side  to  gain  any  true  conception  of  their 
movement.  .  .  . 

The  essence  of  the  campaign  of  the  suffragettes  is  opposition 
to  the  Government.  The  country  seems  willing  that  the  vote  be 
extended  to  women.  This  last  Parliament  showed  its  willingness 
by  passing  their  franchise  bill  through  its  second  reading  by  a  three- 
to-one  majority,  but  the  Government,  that  little  group  which  con- 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQIO  28l 

trols  legislation,  would  not  let  it  become  law.  It  is  not  a  war  of 
women  against  men,  for  the  men  are  helping  loyally,  but  a  war  of 
men  and  women  together  against  the  politicians  at  the  head,  who 
because  of  their  own  political  interests  seem  afraid  to  enfranchise 
women.  The  suffragettes  have  gone  with  petitions  to  the  head  of 
the  Government,  as  our  representatives  will  go  in  a  few  days  to  the 
authorities  in  Washington.  Here  they  will  be  received  with  cour- 
tesy, but  Mr.  Asquith  has  never  since  he  has  been  Prime  Minister 
received  a  deputation  of  women  on  this  question  of  their  suffrage. 
Each  time  he  curtly  refuses  to  see  them  and  orders  the  police  to 
drive  them  away  or  arrest  them.  Thirteen  times  the  deputations 
of  one  society  alone  have  been  arrested.  .  .  . 

The  Earl  of  Lytton  said  the  other  day  that  more  violence  had 
been  done  by  the  men  during  the  three  weeks  of  the  recent  election 
than  by  the  women  during  their  entire  agitation.  Such  action  on 
the  part  of  voters  is  wrong  for  they  have  a  constitutional  way, 
through  the  ballot,  of  redressing  their  grievances,  but  on  the  part 
of  a  disfranchised  class,  after  half  a  century's  trial  has  proved 
all  their  methods  to  be  of  no  avail,  a  protest  such  as  these  women 
have  made  seems  entirely  right.  We  are  so  close  at  hand  that 
perhaps  we  hardly  realize  the  full  significance  of  their  movement. 
The  greatest  drama  that  is  being  enacted  in  the  world  today,  it 
seems  to  me.  is  the  battle  of  the  British  women.  When  historians 
can  look  back  from  the  perspective  of  a  century  or  two  I  think  they 
will  say  that  this  talk  of  dreadnaughts  and  budgets  and  House  of 
Lords  was  after  all  of  but  little  moment  and  that  the  great  event 
of  world  significance  in  Great  Britain  earlv  in  the  century  was 
the  magnificent  struggle  for  political  freedom  on  the  part  of  her 
women. 

The  comprehensive  report  of  the  corresponding  secretary, 
Professor  Potter,  filled  ten  pages  of  the  printed  Minutes  and 
n  complete  summary  of  the  year's  work  and  that  which 
should  be  done.  Names  were  given  of  about  forty  associations 
which  had  passed  resolutions  for  woman  suffrage  during  the 
year,  preceded  usually  by  discussion.  These  included  Federa- 
tions nf  Labor,  Granges,  Temperance  Societies,  Federations  of 
Women's  Clubs,  religious  bodies  and  labor  organizations. 
Among  the  last  were  the  International  Typographical  Union, 
International  Chair  Workers,  Amalgamated  Association  of  Street 
and  Electric  Railway  Employees,  American  Federation  of  Labor, 
National  Women's  Trade  Union  League  and  many  others.  She 
called  attention  to  the  fact  that  in  many  instances  the  endorsement 
wa«=  unanimous  and  that  the  labor  resolutions  were  stronger 
than  ever  before,  0  he  phrase  "our  intention  to  secure 


282  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

woman  suffrage.''  The  Pennsylvania  Federation  said:  "In  se- 
lecting candidates  for  political  office  we  will  endeavor  to  secure 
men  who  are  committed  to  a  belief  in  the  right  of  women  to 
vote." 

Professor  Potter  emphasized  the  need  of  research  experts  to 
bring  the  statistics  up  to  date,  as  it  was  now  impossible  to 
answer  the  requests  for  information  from  the  best  type  of  those 
asking  it,  university  graduates  working  for  higher  degrees,  men 
and  women  writing  articles,  books,  plays,  etc.  She  reported 
the  beginning  of  a  card  catalogue  of  subjects  and  the  progress 
made  toward  carrying  out  the  instructions  of  the  Seattle  con- 
vention that  the  national  headquarters  undertake  a  handbook  of 
Federal  and  State  Laws  for  Women  and  a  bibliography.  She 
described  the  character  of  the  thousands  of  letters  sent  out,  cov- 
ering work  for  prize  essays,  poster  campaigns,  mass  meetings, 
"settlement"  -work,  appointments  of  women,  newspaper  and  maga- 
zine publicity  and  especially  organization  along  political  lines. 
As  she  had  been  asked  to  act  as  field  lecturer  as  well  as  cor- 
responding secretary  she  reported  fifty- four  lectures  given,  not 
only  at  State  suffrage  conventions  but  before  men's  leagues,  press 
clubs,  labor  meetings,  churches,  universities,  etc. 

The  convention  showed  by  a  rising  vote  its  full  appreciation 
of  this  report,  which  was  the  first  and  last  given  by  Professor 
Potter  as  corresponding  secretary.  Differences  in  regard  to 
administration  had  arisen  which  proved  to  be  irreconcilable  and 
she  had  declined  to  stand  for  re-election.  The  Official  Board 
was  divided  in  opinion  and  this  led  to  several  changes  in  its  per- 
sonnel. Dr.  Shaw  was  re-elected  president;  Mrs.  Avery,  first 
vice-president;  Mrs.  Stewart,  second  vice-president;  Mrs.  Upton, 
treasurer;  Miss  Clay  and  Miss  Blackwell,  first  and  second  audi- 
tors. Mrs.  Florence  Kelley  declined  re-nomination  as  second 
vice-president  and  Mrs.  Catharine  Waugh  McCulloch  was  elected. 
Mrs.  Mary  Ware  Dennett  (Mass.)  was  chosen  for  correspond- 
ing secretary.  Later  in  the  convention  Mrs.  Avery  and  Mrs. 
Upton  gave  in  their  resignations,  which  the  delegates  refused  to 
accept  and  then  both  announced  that  their  offices  would  be  vacant 
in  one  month.  Mrs.  Upton  had  been  treasurer  of  the  association 
since  1893  and  the  delegates  were  most  reluctant  to  let  her  go. 


NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQIO  283 

By  action  of  the  Executive  Committee  Mrs.  McCulloch  was 
advanced  to  the  office  of  first  vice-president;  Miss  Kate  M.  Gor- 
don (La.)  was  made  second  vice-president  and  Miss  Jessie  Ash- 
ley (N.  Y.),  treasurer. 

The  National  College  Equal  Suffrage  League  held  business 

ions  Saturday  forenoon  and  afternoon  with  its  president, 
Dr.  M.  Carey  Thomas  of  Bryn  Mawr  presiding,  and  a  luncheon 
was  given  for  its  delegates.  Miss  Caroline  Lexow  made  the 
annual  report.  At  the  evening  meeting  of  the  convention  Mrs. 
Alice  Duer  Miller  (N.  Y.),  representing  the  Equal  Franchise 
Society,  of  which  Mrs.  Clarence  Mackay  was  president,  spoke  on 
The  Sisterhood  of  Women,  saying  in  part:  "We  have  plenty  of 
work  to  do  but  it  is  not  that,  it  is  not  the  organization,  the  growth 
of  membership  and  the  spread  of  theories  that  make  me  confident 
of  success.  It  is  the  extraordinary  spirit  that  animates  the 
women  who  are  working  for  suffrage,  the  sense  of  comradeship 
and  community  among  them,  rich  and  poor,  educated  and  illit- 
erate, old  and  young,  mothers  and  daughters.  We  have  been 
taught  to  admire  the  i8th  century  because  it  did  so  much  to  dis- 
solve class  distinctions.  It  broke  down  some  of  the  barriers,  not 
between  man  and  woman,  but  between  groups  of  men,  for  within 
groups  men  have  always  had  this  spirit  of  comradeship,  and  oh, 
how  they  have  valued  it!  They  did  not  get  it  in  domestic  rela- 
tions, however  happy;  or  in  friendships,  however  warm.  They 

it,  or  rather  they  found  a  field  in  which  to  exercise  it,  in  the 

impersonal  activities  of  their  lives,  in  their  crusades,  guilds,  col- 

,  labor  unions  and  clubs.     But  between  women  the  barriers 

been  of  a  more  serious  type.    They  have  been  segregated  not 

only  class  by  class  but  individual  by  individual  and  house  by  house. 

;>arriers  too  are  dissolving.     Women  are  finding  an 

:n  for  their  sense  of  comradeship,  for  their  impersonal 

loyalty  to  their  own  sex;  they  are  waking  up  to  the  fact  that  a 

f  of  equality  is  more  thrilling  to  those  who  have  the  right 

stuff  in  them  than  any  sense  of  superiority  could  ever  have  been  " 

Miss  Harriet  E.  Grim  of  Wisconsin  University  described  The 

Call  of  the  New  Age  to  College  Women.     Miss  Juliet  Stuart 

Poyntz,  president  of  Barnard  chapter  of  the  Coll 

ed  Education  and  Social  Progress.     Mrs.  Elizabeth  M.  Gil- 


284  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

mer,  "Dorothy  Dix,"  in  an  address  on  The  Real  Reason  why 
Women  cannot  Vote,  gave  a  delightful  imitation  of  the  voice  and 
•words  of  a  wise  old  negro,  "Mirandy,"  from  which  the  following 
is  quoted: 

Yassum,  dat's  de  trouble  wid  women  down  to  dis  very  day.  Dey 
ain't  got  no  backbone.  Of  a  rib  dey  was  made  an'  a  rib  dey  has 
stayed  an'  nobody  ain't  got  no  right  to  expect  nothin'  else  from 
'em.  Hit's  becaze  woman  was  made  out  of  man's  rib — an'  from  de 
way  she  acts  hit  looks  lak  she  was  made  out  of  a  floatin'  rib  at  dat— 
an'  man  was  left  wid  all  his  backbone,  dat  he  has  got  de  comeuppance 
over  woman.  Dat's  de  reason  we  women  sets  down  an'  cries  when 
we  ought  to  git  up  an'  heave  brickbats.  What's  de  reason  dat  we 
women  can't  vote,  an'  ain't  got  no  say-so  'bout  makin'  de  laws  dat 
bosses  us?  Ain't  we  got  de  right  on  our  side?  Yassir,  but  we'se 
got  no  backbone  in  us  to  just  retch  out  an'  grab  dat  ballot. 

Dere  ain't  nobody  'sputing  dat  we'se  got  to  scrape  up  de  money 
to  pay  de  tax  collector,  even  if  we  does  have  to  get  down  into 
a  skirt  pocket  for  hit  insted  of  pants'  pocket,  an'  our  belongin'  to 
de  angel  sect  ain't  gwine  to  keep  us  out  of  jail  if  we  gits  in  a  fi^ht 
wid  anodder  lady  or  we  swipes  a  ruffled  petticote  off  de  clothesline 
next  do'.  Fudermo',  when  de  meat  trust  puts  up  de  price  of  po'k 
chops,  hits  de  woman  dat  has  to  squeeze  de  eagle  on  de  dollar  ontel 
hit  holler  a  little  louder  an'  pare  de  potato  peelin's  a  little  thinner. 
An*  dat  makes  us  women  jest  a-achin'  to  have  a  finger  in  dat  gov- 
ernment pie  an'  see  if  we  can't  put  a  little  mo'  sweetnin*  in  hit,  an* 
make  hit  a  little  lighter  so  dat  hit  won't  get  so  heavy  an'  ondigestible 
on  de  stomachs  of  dem  what  ain't  millionaires. 

Yassir,  we'se  jest  a-honin'  for  de  franchise  an'  we  might  have 
had  hit  any  time  dese  last  forty  years  ef  we'd  had  enough  back- 
bone to  riz  up  an'  fit  one  good  fight  for  hit,  but  instead  of  dat  we 
set  around  a-holdin'  our  hands  an'  all  we'se  done  is  to  say  in  a  meek 
voice:  "Please,  sir,  I  don't  lak  to  trouble  you  but  ef  you'd  kindly 
pass  me  de  ballot  hit  sho'ly  would  be  agreeable  to  me."  An'  in- 
stead of  givin'  hit  to  us,  men  has  kinder  winked  one  eye  at  de  odder 
an'  said :  "Lawd,  she  don't  want  hit  or  else  she's  make  a  row  about 
hit.  Dat's  de  way  we  men  did.  We  didn't  go  after  de  right  to 
vote  wid  our  pink  tea  manners  on." 

Yassir,  dat's  de  true  word,  an'  you  listen  to  me — de  day  dat  women 
spunks  up  an*  rolls  up  dere  sleeves  an*  says  to  dere  husband  dat  dey 
ain't  a-gwine  to  do  no'  mo*  cookin'  in  his  house,  nor  darnin'  of 
socks,  nor  patchin'  of  britches  untel  dere  is  some  female  votin', 
why  dat  day  de  ballot  will  be  fetched  home  to  women  on  a  silver 
platter.  All  dat  stands  between  women  an'  suffrage  is  de  lack  of 
a  spinal  colum. 

An  able  address  was  given  by  Henry  Wilbur,  as  representative 
of  the  Friends'  Equal  Rights  Association.  Max  Eastman,  assist- 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQIO  285 

ant  professor  in  Columbia  University,  representing  the  New  York 
Men's  League  for  Woman  Suffrage,  of  which  he  was  secretary, 
taking  the  broad  subject  Democracy  and  Women,  said  in  the 
course  of  his  speech : 

The  democratic  hypothesis  is  that  a  State  is  good  not  when  it 
conforms  to  some  abstract  eternal  ideal  of  what  a  State  ought  to 
be,  as  the  Greeks  thought,  but  when  it  conforms  to  the  interests 
of  particular  concrete  individuals,  namely,  its  citizens,  all  of  them 
that  are  in  mental  and  moral  health;  and  that  the  way  to  find  out 
their  interests  is  not  to  sit  on  a  throne  or  a  bench  and  think  about 
it  but  to  go  and  ask  them.  .  .  .  Barring  this  question  of  democracy, 
I  think  the  political  arguments  for  woman  suffrage  are  not  the 
main  ones.  The  great  thing  to  my  mind  is  not  that  women  will 
improve  politics  but  that  politics  will  develop  women.  The  political 
act,  the  nature  it  demands  and  the  recognition  it  attracts,  will  alter 
the  character  and  status  of  women  in  society  to  the  benefit  of  them- 
selves, their  husbands,  their  children  and  their  homes.  Upon  this 
ground  we  can  stand  and  declare  that  it  is  of  high  and  immediate 
importance  to  all  humanity  not  only  that  we  give  those  women  the 
vote  who  want  it  but  that  we  rouse  those  who  do  not  know  enough 
to  want  it  to  a  better  appreciation  of  the  great  age  in  which  they 
have  the  good  fortune  to  live.  Whatever  else  we  may  say  for  the 
industrial  era  we  can  say  this,  that  it  has  made  possible  and  actual 
the  physical,  social,  moral  and  intellectual  emancipation  of  women.  .  .  . 

The  other  day  I  had  a  letter  from  a  man  who  said  he  wouldn't 
join  my  society  because  he  feared  I  was  "striking  a  blow  at  the 
family,  which  is  the  cornerstone  of  society."  Well,  I  am  not  much 
of  an  authority  on  matrimony  but  that  sort  of  language  sounds  to 
me  like  a  hysterical  outcry  from  a  person  whose  family  is  already 
tutu -ring.  It  is  at  least  certain  that  a  great  many  of  these  corner- 
's of  society  are  tottering,  and  why?  Because  there  dwell  in 
triviality  and  vacuity,  which  prepare  the  way  of  the  devil. 
\Yh<)  can  think  that  intellectual  divergence,  disagreement  upon  great 
public  questions,  would  disrupt  a  family  worth  holding  together? 
<  )n  the  contrary,  nothing  save  a  community  of  great  interests — 
icr  in  agreement  or  disagreement — can  revive  a  fading  romance. 
A  high  and  equal  comradeship  is  the  one  thing  that  can  save  those 
families  which  are  the  tottering  cornerstones  of  society.  A  greater 
service  of  the  developed  woman  to  the  State,  however,  will  be  her 
motherhood.  .  .  .  And  yet  to  hear  the  sacred  ness  of  mother- 
hood advanced  as  a  reason  why  women  should  not  become  public- 
sj.iritrd  and  effectual,  you  would  think  this  nation  had  no  greater 
hope  than  to  rear  in  innocence  a  generation  of  grown-up  babies. 
is  in  a  state  of  invalid  remoteness  from  life  and 
who  shall  arm  the  young  with  intelligent  virtue?  To  educate  a  child 
him  nut  into  the  world  >  :  irnrc.  It  is  not  to  bring 

him  in  vi  >cence  to  the  front  door  and  say,  "Now  run  on  and 


286  HISTORY   OF   WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

be  a  good  child !''     A  million  lives  wrecked  at  the  very  off-go  can 
bear  witness  to  the  failure  of  this  method. 

Mrs.  Harriot  Stanton  Blatch  ( N.  Y. )  presided  at  a  symposium 
on  Open  Air  Meetings,  which  were  then  being  much  discussed, 
and  they  were  advocated  by  Miss  Ray  Costello  of  England ;  Mrs. 
Katherine  Dexter  McCormick  (Mass.),  Mrs.  Susan  W.  Fitz- 
gerald (Mass.)  and  Mrs.  Helen  LaReine  Baker  (Wash.).  Mrs. 
Blatch  announced  a  practical  demonstration  that  afternoon  at  the 
corner  of  Seventh  Street  and  Pennsylvania  Avenue.  Mrs.  Catt. 
presided  over  a  conference  on  Political  District  Organization  as 
demonstrated  in  New  York  City.  An  afternoon  meeting  was 
devoted  to  an  Industrial  Program  arranged  by  Mrs.  Myra  Strawn 
Hartshorne  of  Chicago.  Conditions  affecting  Women  as  Workers 
and  as  Wives  and  Mothers  of  Workers  were  graphically  described 
by  Miss  Rose  Schneiderman  (N.  Y.),  president  of  the  Cap 
Makers'  Union.  The  Consequences  to  Motherhood  and  Woman- 
hood, as  demonstrated  by  the  White  Slave  Traffic,  were  strikingly 
pictured  by  Mrs.  Raymond  Robins  (Ills.),  president  of  the  Na- 
tional Women's  Trade  Union  League.  A  private  conference, 
Mrs.  Mary  Hutcheson  Page  (Mass.)  presiding,  discussed  the 
necessity  for  defeating  anti-suffrage  candidates  for  Congress  and 
Legislatures.  Mrs.  Florence  Kelley,  executive  secretary  of  the 
National  Consumers'  League,  brought  greetings  from  the  South- 
ern Conference  on  Woman  and  Child  Labor,  which  she  had  just 
attended,  with  a  special  one  from  Miss  Jean  Gordon  (La.),  and 
made  a  striking  address.  Dr.  Anna  Mercy,  president  of  the  first 
suffrage  club  on  the  East  Side  of  New  York,  gave  practical 
experiences.  Miss  Nettie  A.  Podell  and  Miss  Bertha  Ryshpan, 
representing  the  Political  Equality  League,  of  which  Mrs.  Bel- 
mont  was  president,  told  of  its  gratifying  experiments  with  Politic 
cal  Settlements  in  New  York  City.  The  session  closed  with  a 
stirring  address  by  Charles  Edward  Russell  on  Self -Defense  or 
the  Demand  for  Political  Action. 

Mrs.  Pauline  Steinem  (Ohio)  reported  the  usual  active  and  ef- 
ficient work  of  her  Committee  on  Education,  urging  among  other 
valuable  methods  the  organization  of  Mothers'  and  Parents'  Clubs 
in  connection  with  all  public  schools.  Mrs.  McCulloch  gave  her 
report  as  Legal  Adviser,  which  combined  sound  sense  with  spark- 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQIO  287 

ling  humor.  She  showed  how  much  money  had  been  lost  to  the 
association  because  those  who  intended  to  leave  bequests  to  it 
delayed  making  their  wills.  She  urged  the  women  to  study  the 
statutes  of  their  States  relating  to  women  and  said  that,  while 
she  had  been  glad  to  contribute  her  services  as  legal  adviser  and 
would  not  accept  a  salary,  the  association  should  employ  a  com- 
petent lawyer  -who  could  stay  at  the  national  headquarters  and 
give  her  entire  time  to  compiling  the  laws  for  women  and  giving 
legal  information.  The  convention  Minutes  say:  "A  rising  vote 
of  thanks  was  given  to  Mrs.  McCulloch  for  her  magnificent  work 
as  legal  adviser  for  many  years."  Miss  Gordon  presented  the 
plan  for  raising  the  Susan  B.  Anthony  Memorial  Fund;  Mrs. 
Alice  C.  Dewey  (N.  Y.),  the  report  on  Bibliography;  Dr.  Mary 
D.  Hussey  (N.  J.),  on  Enrollment.  Miss  Elizabeth  J.  Hauser 
read  the  report  of  Mrs.  Ida  Husted  Harper,  chairman  of  the 
National  Press  Committee,  which  said  in  part : 

My  strong  belief  that  New  York  offered  the  greatest  and  most 
promising  field  in  the  world  for  suffrage  press  work  has  been  abun- 
dantly sustained.     The  national  press  bureau  was  opened  about  the 
middle  of   September,   soon  after  the  national   headquarters   were 
moved  to  this  city,  with  a  private  reception  to  the  representatives 
of  every  newspaper  in  the  city,  to  whom  its  objects  and  hopes  were 
stated.     From  that  day  the  most  of  the  men  and  women  reporters 
have  been  its  unfailing  friends.    A  number  of  the  women  have  not 
missed  coming  a  single  day  and  most  of  them  are  ardent  suffragists 
and  anxious  to  help  the  cause  in  every  possible  way.     Hack  of  re- 
porters have  l>een  the  interest  and  support  of   city  and   nian:u,nnvj 
editors.    In  the  nearly  seven  months  there  have  not  been  half-a-do/.eii 
really  opposing  editorials  and  there  have  been  many  of  a  favorable 
and  helpful  character.    Every  day  sixteen  papers  of  New  York  C'ity 
been  examined  by  some  member  of  the  bureau  and  the  dippings 
'illy  filed.     These,  during  the  past  five  months,  have  comprised 
O  articles  on  woman  suffrage,  ran^in^  in  length  from  a  para- 
-  to  a  p. 

During    these    five    months    there    have    been    received     fmm    one 

1 'tin-au  10,800  clippings  on  woman  suffrage  from  papers 

outside  of    \e\v    York   City.      Included   in   these  are   2,3!!    editorials. 

All  of  these  were  read,  sorted  and  filed.      (See  exhibit.)      The  num- 

/ine  articles   on    woman    sulVra-e  a^   noted   in    /';v 
during  this   period   has   h<-( -11   about    one   hundred.      It    is   doubtful    if 

•'1   in  all  the  preceding  ten  mbincd. 

Jn    years    past    there    ha  of    tin- 

large  .voiiM  aeccpt   an  arlidr  mi   woman   suffrage.      I 

me  the  prett   bun-aii  tblished   in    \Yw    York,  practically 


288  HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

every  one  of  any  consequence  in  the  United  States  has  urgently  re- 
quested articles  and  used  all  that  could  be  furnished.  From  one  to 
a  dozen  articles  each,  with  a  great  many  photographs,  have  been 
sent  to  the  Associated  Press,  United  Press,  Laffan  Bureau  and 
National  News  Syndicate  of  New  York ;  Western  Newspaper  Union, 
Chicago;  Newspaper  Enterprise  Association,  Cleveland;  North- 
American  Press  Syndicate,  Grand  Rapids;  over  100  short  items  to 
the  American  Press  Association.  There  has  been  scarcely  a  limit  to 
the  requests  for  suffrage  matter  from  influential  papers  in  all  parts 
of  the  country.  .  .  .  Once  a  month  I  have  supplied  an  article  on 
the  work  in  the  United  States  for  Jus  Suffragii,  the  international 
paper  published  in  Rotterdam.  ...  I  have  also  edited  Progress.  .  .  . 
Before  closing,  I  want  to  express  my  deep  appreciation  of  the 
generosity  of  Mrs.  Oliver  H.  P.  Belmont,  through  which  the  press 
bureau  has  this  splendid  opportunity  for  work.  Every  comfort  and 
facility  have  been  provided  and  every  request  cheerfully  granted. 
Mrs.  Belmont  never  attempts,  because  of  her  financial  assistance,  to 
exercise  any  supervision  over  the  bureau.  It  is  now  well  established ; 
it  enjoys  the  confidence  of  the  press  and  the  public  and  the  opportu- 
nities that  lie  before  it  cannot  be  measured  in  extent  and  importance. 

During  the  convention  many  prominent  visitors  were  intro- 
duced to  the  audiences,  among  them  Miss  Mary  Johnston,  who  had 
taken  a  leading  part  in  organizing  the  State  Suffrage  Association 
of  Virginia,  and  its  president,  Mrs.  Lila  Meade  Valentine;  Mrs. 
Elizabeth  Upham  Yates,  the  new  president  of  Rhode  Island ;  J.  H. 
Braly,  president  of  the  Men's  League  of  California;  J.  Luther 
Langston,  secretary  and  treasurer  of  the  Oklahoma  Federation 
of  Labor,  and  Daniel  R.  Anthony,  M.C.,  of  Kansas.  Many 
greetings  were  received  including  one  from  the  Finnish  Temper- 
ance organizations  through  Miss  Maggie  Walz  of  Michigan  and 
others  from  Mrs.  Caroline  M.  Severance  and  Mrs.  Elizabeth 
Boynton  Harbert,  pioneer  suffragists  now  living  in  California. 
Greetings  were  sent  to  Miss  Clara  Barton  of  Washington,  D.  C. ; 
Mrs.  Julia  Ward  Howe  of  Boston;  Miss  Blackwell;  the  Rev. 
Antoinette  Brown  Blackwell  of  Elizabeth,  N.  J. ;  Mrs.  George 
Howard  Lewis  of  Buffalo;  Mrs.  Eliza  Wright  Osborne  of 
Auburn,  N.  Y. ;  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Smith  Miller  of  Geneva,  N.  Y., 
all  pioneers  in  suffrage  work,  ancj  to  Mrs.  Belmont  in  New  York. 
A  vote  of  thanks  was  extended  to  Miss  Belle  Bennett  (Ky.), 
president  of  the  Southern  Home  Mission,  for  her  strong  efforts 
to  secure  the  admission  of  women  to  the  General  Conference  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  South. 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQIO  289 

Through  the  effort  of  the  District  Equal  Suffrage  Association 
the  spacious  Belasco  Theater  had  been  secured  for  the  Sunday 
afternoon  meeting.  Dr.  Shaw  presided  and  Rabbi  Abram  Simon 
offered  prayer.1  A  large  audience  listened  to  forceful  addresses 
by  Miss  Beatrice  Forbes  Robertson,  Miss  Laura  Clay,  Miss  Har- 
riet May  Mills,  Mrs.  Ella  S.  Stewart  and  Mrs.  Charlotte  Perkins 
Gilman.  In  the  evening  the  officers  of  the  association  received  the 
delegates,  speakers  and  members  of  the  convention  in  the  parlors 
of  the  Arlington. 

One  of  the  most  valuable  reports  given  at  the  convention  was 
that  of  Mrs.  Lucia  Ames  Mead,  chairman  of  the  Standing  Com- 
mittee on  Peace  and  Arbitration.  The  events  of  a  few  years  later 
caused  the  delegates  to  remember  with  renewed  interest  the  ex- 
tended work  and  fervent  appeals  of  Mrs.  Mead  and  her  asso- 
ciates for  settling  the  world's  disputes  by  peaceful  methods.  On 
this  occasion  she  made  a  special  plea  to  those  who  were  working 
for  the  enfranchisement  of  women. 

Professor  Potter,  Mr.  Blackwell's  successor  as  chairman  of 
the  committee,  presented  a  set  of  strong  resolutions,  international 
as  well  as  national  in  character,  -which  were  adopted  without  dis- 
cussion. 

A  subject  which  received  much  attention  was  the  offer  of 
Miss  Blackwell  to  make  the  Woman's  Journal  the  official  organ 
of  the  association.  It  needed  the  help  of  the  paper  and  since 
the  death  of  her  father  she  needed  some  one  to  share  the  responsi- 
bility of  its  publication.  Miss  Clay,  Mrs.  McCulloch,  Mrs.  Den- 
nett and  Miss  Mary  Garrett  of  Baltimore  were  appointed  to  plan 
the  business  details.  An  agreement  was  made  for  one  year,  Miss 
Blackwell  to  continue  as  editor  without  salary  but  the  associa- 
te employ  a  business  manager  and  such  other  help  as  she 
required. 

A  noteworthy  program  marked  the  last  evening  of  the  conven- 

,  which  opened  with  a  powerful  address  by  Raymond  Robins 

on  The  Worker,  the  Law  and  the  Courts.    It  was  to  be  followed 

by  a  consideration  of  Scientific  Propaganda  in  Practical  Politics, 

with  the  Literature  discussed  by  Mrs.  Hartshorne  but  she  was  ill 

1  Washington  ministers  who  opened  various  «e»sion»  with  prayer  were  the  Reverend* 
U.  G.  B.  I'icrce,  Samuel  II.  Woodrow,  John  Van  Schaick  and  William  I.  McKcnncy. 


290  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

and  Professor  Potter  took  her  place.  Plans  for  activity  in  behalf 
of  changes  of  law  and  its  administration  that  will  benefit  women 
and  children  in  particular  and  society  in  general  were  presented 
by  Miss  Grace  Strachan,  president  of  the  New  York  Federation 
of  Teachers.  Special  plans  in  behalf  of  woman  suffrage  were  sub- 
mitted by  Mrs.  James  Lees  Laidlaw  (N.  Y.).  Dr.  Shaw,  who 
presided,  called  attention  to  the  hearings  before  the  committees 
of  Senate  and  House  the  next  morning  and  closed  the  convention 
with  one  of  her  characteristic  speeches  which  sent  the  audience 
home  happy  and  ready  for  the  battle. 

The  dominant  note  of  the  convention  was  the  intention  hence- 
forth to  enter  the  field  of  politics.  The  New  York  Evening  Post 
said  in  its  account:  "The  audiences  at  all  the  meetings  were  too 
large  for  the  capacity  of  the  room  and  at  the  Sunday  night  public 
gathering  hundreds  had  to  be  turned  away.  Without  exception 
State  delegations  reported  that  the  work  of  the  next  yearr  would 
consist  of  active  effort  along  political  lines,  the  organization  of 
woman  suffrage  'parties'  -with  membership  comprising  men  and 
women.  Delegations  would  interview  candidates  and  voters  in 
regard  to  their  suffrage  opinions;  conduct  open-air  meetings 
throughout  the  summer  and  be  on  duty  at  the  polls  during 
elections." 

The  Woman's  Journal  said  in  its  summing  up :  "The  personnel 
of  the  delegates  and  speakers  was  such  as  to  inspire  the  most 
hostile,  the  most  conservative  and  the  most  despondent  student 
of  human  nature.  When  an  observer  reflected  that  these  dele- 
gates represented  thousands  of  women  in  each  State  who  believe 
in  equal  suffrage,  and  that  the  speakers  and  leaders  of  the  con- 
vention voiced  the  thoughts,  hopes  and  aspirations  of  suffragists 
the  world  over,  he  could  not  help  being  stirred  profoundly  with 
the  conviction  not  only  that  equal  rights  are  inevitable  in  the 
near  future  but  also  -with  the  compelling  faith  that  the  world  is 
truly  marching  on  in  the  very  best  sense  and  that  it  can  never 
again  be  quite  as  dark  a  place  to  live  in  as  it  has  been.  A  notable 
feature  was  the  absolute  conviction  with  which  these  representa- 
tives of  the  people  speak  and  the  unmistakable  determination  to 
win  a  speedy  victory." 


NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQIO  2QI 

The  "hearings"  before  committees  of  Senate  and  House  took 
place  on  the  historic  date,  April  19,  when  in  1776  "the  shot  was 
fired  which  was  heard  around  the  world"  proclaiming  the  birth 
of  a  republic  founded  on  the  right  of  every  individual  to  repre- 
sent himself  by  his  ballot!  Heretofore  they  had  been  held  in 
the  Marble  Room  of  the  Senate  Building  and  the  room  of  the 
House  Judiciary  Committee,  which  could  accommodate  only  a 
very  limited  number  of  the  delegates  and  none  of  the  public.  The 
splendid  new  office  buildings  of  the  two  Houses  of  Congress  were 
now  finished  and  in  the  spacious  rooms  assigned  for  the  hearings 
all  of  the  delegates  found  seats  and  many  others,  although  a  long 
line  of  the  disappointed  extended  down  the  corridor. 

The  members  of  the  Senate  Committee  were  Alexander  S.  Clay 
(Ga.),  chairman;  Senators  Joseph  F.  Johnston  (Ala.),  Elmer  J. 
Burkett  (Neb.),  George  Peabody  Wetmore  (R.  I.),  Albert  J. 
Beveridge  (Ind.).  All  were  present  except  Senator  Beveridge. 
Dr.  Shaw  presided  and  before  introducing  the  speakers  gave  a 
resume  of  the  petitions  which  had  just  been  presented  to  the 
Congress,  called  attention  to  the  names  of  many  eminent  men  and 
women  who  had  signed  them  and  said :  "Believing  that  the  first 
republic  in  the  world,  founded  upon  the  principle  of  self-govern- 
ment with  'equal  rights  for  all  and  special  privileges  for  none,' 
should  be  among  the  leaders  and  not  the  laggards  in  this  great 
world  movement,  your  petitioners  pray  this  honorable  body  to 
submit  to  the  Legislatures  of  the  several  States  for  ratification 
an  amendment  to  the  Federal  Constitution  which  will  enable 
American  women  to  vote."  She  continued: 

It  is  not  revolutionary  on  our  part  to  ask  a  share  in  our  Govern- 

We  are  demanding  it  because  it  is  in  accord  with  American 

[&  and  absolutely  essential  to  the  establishment  of  true  democracy. 

A   democratic   form  of  government  is  right  or  it  is  not  right — it 

her  right  that  the  people  should  be  self-governed  or  that  they 

should  not.     If  it  is  not  ri^lit,  then  we  ought  to  know  it;    the  whole 

people  ought  to  know  it.     If  it  is  ri^ht,  then  the  whole  people  ought 

-  «|ual  opportunities  in  self-government.     It  is  not  that  we 

women   \vMi   to  dictate  in   regard  to  men  or  that  we  assume  any 

;or  ahility  for  government,  any  superior  wisdom,  hut  it  is  that 

c  that  whether  we  are  wise  or  not,  whether  we  have  a 

p  of  all  the  affairs  of  state  or  not,  whether  we  are  earning  and 

'tally  with  men  or  not,  we  are  human  beings  and  as 


HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

a  part  of  the  Government  we  should  have  at  least  a  chance  to  ex- 
ercise whatever  powers  we  possess  equally  with  all  other  citizens. 
It  is  because  we  believe  that  this  Government  should  be  true  to  its 
fundamental  principles  that  we  make  these  demands. 

Some  one  asked  Wendell  Phillips  if  Christianity  were  not  a  failure 
and  he  replied,  "It  has  not  yet  been  tried."  So  we  can  say  in  regard 
to  democracy.  We  hear  the  cry  everywhere  that  democracy  is  a 
failure.  A  speaker  in  New  York  said  that  our  democracy  was  the 
laughing  stock  of  all  the  civilized  nations  of  the  world.  It  is  the 
laughing  stock  because  of  the  failure  of  this  democracy  to  dare  to 
be  democratic.  We  have  never  tried  universal  suffrage  but  if  that 
which  we  have  is  a  failure  the  cure  for  it  is  not  to  restrict  it  but 
to  extend  it,  because  no  class  of  men  is  able  to  represent  another 
class  and  it  is  much  truer  that  no  class  nor  all  classes  of  men  are 
capable  of  representing  any  class  or  all  classes  of  women.  Believ- 
ing this,  we  have  come  as  citizens  of  the  United  States  to  this  Mecca 
of  all  the  people  for  more  than  forty  years  and  we  are  ready  to  come 
for  as  many  years  more  as  may  be  necessary  until  our  plea  is  granted. 

Dr.  Shaw  then  said:  "I  desire  to  introduce  speakers  from  the 
professions  and  lines  of  work  represented  in  our  petitions :  Mrs. 
Catharine  Waugh  McCulloch  of  Chicago,  who  has  been  a  prac- 
ticing lawyer  for  twenty-four  years  and  was  recently  re-elected 
to  the  office  of  justice  of  the  peace." 

Mrs.  McCulloch.  There  may  be  a  woman  school-teacher  some- 
where who  does  not  want  to  vote  that  may  be  satisfied  to  receive 
only  75  per  cent,  as  much  as  men  teachers  and  to  have  no  chance 
at  highly  paid  superintendencies.  There  may  be  a  mother  who  does 
not  want  equality  at  the  ballot  box  nor  in  the  guardianship  of  her 
children.  There  may  be  some  factory  girl  who  so  earnestly  believes 
it  right  to  receive  less  wages  than  men  do  that  she  never  wants  the 
ballot  to  help  her  get  equal  pay  for  equal  work.  It  may  be  that 
there  is  some  woman  paying  heavy  taxes — heavier  than  the  equally 
wealthy  man  next  door — who  is  happy  to  be  taxed  without  being 
represented.  It  may  be  that  some  woman  civil-service  employee  at 
Washington  or  in  the  State  has  for  a  long  time  been  at  the  top  of  the 
list  of  those  who  are  eligible  for  promotion  and  has  seen  men  below 
her  on  the  list  requisitioned  for  places  with  large  salaries  and  ap- 
proves of  this  and  enjoys  being  discriminated  against  because  she  is 
not  a  voter.  There  may  be  some  woman  physician  who  does  not 
want  to  vote  and  who  observes  uncomplainingly  tliat  all  remunerative 
political  offices  to  which  physicians  are  eligible  on  city  or  State 
boards  of  health  or  in  public  hospitals  are  filled  by  men.  There  may 
be  a  nurse  so  busy  saving  life  that  she  has  not  realized  the  foolish- 
ness of  her  disfranchisement  on  the  ground  that  she  was  never  a 
soldier  to  destroy  life.  There  may  be  some  young  woman  in  rail- 
road office,  stenographer,  bookkeeper  or  clerk,  who  meekly  approves 


NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONYI  XIloX    ()F    K)IO  293 

an  order  for  the  discharge  of  all  women  employees  for  the  ostensible 
reason  that  they  marry  too  soon  but  for  the  real  reason  that  they 
do  not  vote. 

There  may  be  a  woman  in  any  of  these  varied  employments  who 
is  so  convinced  of  her  own  inferiority  that  she  does  not  want  the  ballot 
but  to  the  credit  of  the  women  lawyers  it  may  be  said  that  almost 
every  one  does  want  to  vote  and  can  tell  several  reasons  why.  A 
woman  may  in  this  century  go  through  a  law  college  the  only  woman 
in  her  class  without  discomfort.  She  opens  those  sacred  law  books 
as  easily  and  learns  as  readily  as  do  the  men  and  passes  as  good  an 
examination.  She  sees  her  young  men  classmates  rise  to  great  dis- 
tinction in  the  service  of  the  State.  She  may  count  among  them, 
as  T  can,  city  attorneys,  State  attorneys,  civil-service  commissioners, 
Judges  of  high  degree.  Senators  and  Governors.  It  will  be  impossible 
to  prove  to  her  that  she,  who  in  law  school  fed  on  the  same  mental 
diet  as  did  these  now  renowned  political  leaders,  is  too  ignorant  to 
vote  for  them  or  against  them  or  that  the  quality  of  her  brain  for- 
bids her  understanding  of  the  great  problems  her  law  classmates  are 
now  solving.  .  .  . 

Dr.  Shaw:  The  next  speaker  will  be  Miss  Kveline  Gano,  a 
teacher  of  history  in  one  of  the  high  schools  of  New  York  City, 
who  will  speak  on  behalf  of  the  teachers  of  the  country. 

Miss  Gano.  If  the  woman  teacher's  need  of  the  ballot  is  a  de- 
batable question  then  another  very  natural  question  arises :  Do  men 
teachers  need  the  ballot?  .  .  .  I  "am  asked  to  speak  particularly  of 
women  who  have  made  teaching  a  profession.  In  1870,  41  per 
cent,  of  the  teachers  in  the  United  States  were  men;  21  per  cent, 
to-day  are  men.  In  large  cities  the  number  of  women  teachers  is 
still  greater  in  proportion.  In  New  York  only  12  1-2  per  cent,  of 
the  T 7,000  teachers  are  men.  According  to  the  last  census  there  are 
1 7,000,000  children  in  the  United  States  who  should  be  in  elementary 
schools.  Approximately  QO  per  cent,  are  taught  almost  entirely  by 
women.  In  New  York  City  only  seven  per  cent,  of  the  600,000 
children  in  the  public  schools  ever  enter  grades  higher  than  the 
elementary;  in  western  cities  a  few  more.  Practically  all  of  the 
schooling  that  r>o  citizens  out  of  loo  ever  get  they  receive  from 
the  hands  and  hearts  and  minds  of  women.  Whatever  tin's  great 
number  of  future  citizens  knows  of  citizenship  nnd  correct  standards 
of  morals  and  industry  they  have  learned  from  the  mothers  ami  the 
womrn  •  The  very  foundations  of  law  and  equity  and 

:<*e  are  in  the  hands  of  women  who  are  in  the  eyes  of  the  law 
!s  and  deper  If  these  women  t<  arhers  and  m« 

>f  their  responsibilities  by  actual  participation 
in  civic  life,  what  might  be  the  results  in  even  one  decade?  Who 
is  to  blame  if  they  do  not  have  the  k< CIHT  s<  n^c? 

One  of  the  proMc-m^  faring  this  republic  has  been  turned 


2Q4  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

over  to  women  teachers — that  of  coping  with  the  foreign  born  and 
their  children.  Who  can  estimate  the  value  of  this  great  construc- 
tive work,  the  creation  of  American  citizens  out  of  the  varied  mate- 
rials that  are  lauded  on  our  shores?  And  who  can  estimate  the 
quickening  force  and  the  gain  in  appreciation  and  respect  for  law 
and  order,  if  the  mothers  and  the  teachers  of  these  children  were 
considered  worthy  of  the  principles  which  they  are  asked  to  incul- 
cate? Thousands  of  these  women  teachers  are  college  graduates 
with  fine  training  and  all  are  women  of  more  than  average  in- 
telligence. They  are  not  only  bread  winners  but  very  often  they 
are  the  heads  of  families  which  they  have  inherited.  They  are 
caring  for  and  educating  younger  brothers  and  sisters,  nieces  and 
nephews,  and  providing  for  aged  fathers  and  mothers.  It  has  been 
said  that  the  men  of  each  class  will  protect  the  women  of  each 
class.  Witness  the  men  teachers  of  New  York  City,  who  in  1900 
secured  a  State  law  that  gave  to  themselves  salaries  from  30  per 
cent,  to  100  per  cent,  higher  than  to  women  doing  the  same  grade 
of  work.  A  woman  teacher  in  the  elementary  schools  must  work 
nine  years  in  order  to  receive  the  salary  that  the  man  teacher  begins 
with.  She  may  and  often  does  supervise  men,  because  of  having 
passed  a  difficult  examination,  and  receive  $800  a  year  less  than  the 
men  whom  she  supervises.  A  woman  principal  receives  $1,000 
less  than  a  man  principal  in  the  same  grade  of  work,  having  the  very 
same  qualifications.  Governor  Hughes  has  characterized  these  dis- 
criminations against  women  as  "glaring  and  gross  inequalities."  but 
in  spite  of  the  efforts  of  15,000  women  teachers  for  the  last  four 
years  the  inequalities  still  continue.  It  is  rather  easy  to  see  the 
value  of  the  ballot  to  the  men  teachers  of  the  city  of  New  York.  .  .  . 
As  citizens  under  the  I4th  Amendment  of  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States,  we  claim  the  honored  and  inherited  right  to 
petition  our  Government  or  either  branch  thereof  for  a  redress  of 
grievances  that  very  plainly  exist  because  of  the  present  legal  status 
of  women  in  41  States  of  the  Union.  We  ask  that  our  petition, 
which  is  signed  by  hundreds  of  thousands  of  law-abiding  citizens, 
shall  receive  serious  and  courteous  attention.  We  well  know  that 
when  a  petition  of  such  great  consequence  to  millions  of  citizens 
is  not  so  considered  the  foundation  of  republican  government  is 
attacked  and  weakened  where  it  should  be  supported  and  strengthened. 

Dr.  Shaw :  I  present  now  Dr.  Anna  E.  Blount,  a  physician  from 
Chicago,  who  will  speak  in  behalf  of  the  medical  practitioners. 

Dr.  Blount.  In  my  city  there  are  500  women  doctors ;  in  my 
State  there  are  750;  in  the  United  States  in  1900  there  were  7,399. 
These  women  doctors  know  the  womanhood  of  the  country  perhaps 
more  intimately  than  any  other  class  of  women  know  it.  I  have 
talked  with  many  of  them  and  I  have  yet  to  find  one  who  does  not 
believe  in  woman  suffrage.  The  Woman's  Medical  Club  in  Chicago 
has  joined  the  suffrage  association.  Why  do  we  want  the  ballot? 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    OLNYl  N'TION    OF    IQIO  2Q5 

Partly  our  reasons  are  personal  to  our  own  profession  and  partly 
they  are  the  same  that  move  the  whole  mass  of  mankind  to  ask 
for  suffrage  today.  Some  of  our  personal  reasons  are  these:  As 
women  we  are  excluded  from  most  of  the  well-paid  positions  for 
physicians.  We  know  that  the  dependent  womanhood  of  the  country 
needs  our  care;  from  time  to  time  we  hear  grewsome  tales  from 
the  insane  asylums  and  the  pauper  institutions  of  wrongs  done  the 
women  localise  there  is  no  woman  doctor  there  to  protect  them. 
Little  children  in  my  own  State  have  gone  through  a  life  of  degrada- 
tion owing  to  the  fact  that  there  was  no  woman  doctor  in  charge 
of  them  in  the  public  institutions.  The  best  paid  positions  are 
political  jobs  and  no  woman  can  get  one.  Another  reason  why,  as 
•'cians,  we  want  the  ballot  is  that  at  present  we  need  police 
protection.  We  need  a  city  that  is  well  lighted  and  safe  for  women, 
as  we  arc  obliged  to  go  out  at  all  hours  of  the  night.  A  few  years 
ago  the  hunters  of  women  became  unusually  active  and  several 
respectable  women  were  in  the  early  hours  of  the  evening  hunted 
to  their  death  and  murdered.  We  were  told  at  that  time  by  the 
commissioner  of  police  that  it  would  be  well  for  all  the  respectable 
women  of  the  city  to  remain  indoors  after  8  o'clock  in  the  evening 
unless  they  were  escorted  by  a  gentleman!  Imagine  when  the  tele- 
phone rings  for  a  woman  doctor  to  attend  some  critical  case  that 
she  shall  be  required  either  to  get  a  male  escort  or  remain  at  home ! 
This  is  also  true  of  nurses  and  many  others.  .  .  . 

I  do  not  think  that  men  can  grow  to  be  the  best  men  when  they 
are  in  constant  association  with  a  subject  class.  I  ask  you  gentlemen 
of  the  United  States  Senate,  for  the  sake  of  womanhood,  but  most 
of  all  for  the  sake  of  manhood,  to  report  this  resolution  out  of  the 
committee,  and  to  ask  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  to  give  the 
women  of  this  country,  so  far  as  in  its  power,  the  right  of  suf- 

Dr.  Shaw:  "I  present  a  lawyer,  Mrs.  Ellen  Spencer  Mussey, 
but  she  will  speak  in  the  capacity  of  a  college  woman."  After 
giving  her  experience  in  trying  to  secure  better  laws  for  women 
in  the  District  of  Columbia,  Mrs.  Mussey  told  of  her  visits  to 
Xorway  and  Sweden,  where  as  attorney  for  a  legation  she  had 
every  opportunity  to  attend  the  Parliaments,  meet  the  statesmen 
and  leading  women  and  hear  their  universal  testimony  in  favor 
of  the  experiment  in  woman  suffrage.  In  closing  she  stated  that 
airman  of  the  legislative  committee  of  the  General  Federa- 
of  Women's  Clubs  she  had  received  reports  from  hundreds 
of  them  regretting  their  lack  of  power  to  obtain  legislation  and 
their  need  of  representation  on  boards  of  education  and  of  public 
institutions.  Dr.  Shaw  then  introduced  Miss  Minnie  J.  Reynolds 


2Q6  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

of  New  Jersey,  formerly  of  Colorado,  who  had  supervised  the 
petition  of  the  writers. 

Miss  Reynolds.  This  attempt  to  canvass  the  writers  of  the  United 
States  is  absurdly  inadequate  and  fragmentary.  It  was  the  unpaid 
work  of  women,  each  of  whom  had  her  own  occupation  in  life,  in 
such  spare  time  as  they  could  get  during  the  year.  These  writers 
represent  only  twenty-one  States.  Others,  including  such  great 
States  as  New  York,  Michigan  and  Wisconsin,  sent  in  huge  rolls 
of  names  without  a  classification.  I  am  speaking  for  1,870  writers. 
The  first  name  is  that  of  William  Dean  Howells,  the  "dean  of 
American  letters,"  perhaps  more  truly  representative  of  American 
literature  than  any  other  living  person.  The  second  name  is  that 
of  John  Bigelow,  ex-ambassador  to  France,  ex-secretary-of-state  of 
New  York,  and  author  of  some  twenty  scholarly  books.  On  this 
list  are  the  names  of  men  and  women  known  to  every  reader  of 
American  literature  and  to  every  reader  of  the  periodical  press. 
The  petition  blanks  were  sent  to  them  by  mail  and  if  they  did  not 
wish  to  sign  they  had  only  to  drop  them  in  the  waste-basket.  A 
number  of  publicists  have  signed,  among  them  Melville  E.  Stone, 
head  of  the  Associated  Press,  and  six  of  his  editors;  S.  S.  and  T.  C. 
McClure,  publishers  of  the  McClure's  Magazine;  the  editors  of 
Everybody's,  the  Independent,  the  Public,  Philistine,  Delineator, 
Designer,  New  Idea,  Harper's  Bazar,  La  Follette's  Magazine,  the 
Springfield  Republican ;  editors  of  Current  Literature,  Philadel- 
phia Record,  Cincinnati  Commercial  Tribune,  New  York  Herald, 
New  York  Tribune,  Baltimore  Sun,  Baltimore  American,  Minne- 
apolis News,  Cincinnati  Post  and  numerous  other  newspapers  over 
the  country.  These  publications  reach  millions  of  readers. 

There  are  on  this  list  the  names  of  many  persons  who,  although 
authors  or  magazine  writers,  are  still  more  distinguished  in  other 
lines  of  work,  as  William  James  and  George  Herbert  Palmer  of 
Harvard ;  Graham  Taylor  and  Shailer  Matthews  of  the  University 
of  Chicago;  Simon  N.  Patten  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania; 
and  other  professors  from  the  universities  of  Harvard,  Chicago, 
Pennsylvania.  Minnesota,  Cornell  and  Columbia,  and  from  Oberlin, 
Vassar  and  Wellesley.  The  great  families  of  Hawthorne,  Chanler 
and  Beecher  are  represented  by  living  descendants  who  are  carrying 
on  the  literary  traditions  which  must  ever  be  associated  with  those 
names.  The  late  Richard  Watson  Gilder,  editor  of  the  Century, 
published  a  tribute  to  Dr.  Mary  Putnam  Jacobi  after  her  death.  In 
this  he  said  in  substance  that  the  American  women  who  had  most 
conspicuously  united  rare  intelligence  with  rare  goodness  were 
Josephine  Shaw  Lowell,  founder  of  the  New  York  Charity  Organ- 
ization; Alice  Freeman  Palmer,  president  of  Wellesley  College,  and 
Dr.  Jacobi.  Mr.  Gilder  was  an  anti-suffragist.  The  three  women 
whom  he  thus  placed  at  the  pinnacle  of  American  womanhood  were 
all  strong  suffragists. 

The  women  whose  names  are  on  this  list  represent  brains  and 


NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONYF.NTinN    OF    IQIO  2Q7 

character;  they  represent  that  element  of  American  womanhood 
which  is  winning  its  own  way  successfully  in  the  great  world  of 
competition  and  strenuous  endeavor;  influencing  the  minds  and 
molding  the  public  opinion  of  the  country  through  their  books  and 
through  the  press.  There  may  be  those  among  you,  gentlemen,  who 
are  opposed  to  suffrage,  but  I  am  sure  there  is  not  one  who  would 
not  be  glad  to  know  that  his  daughter  was  a  woman  of  this  type 
if  it  so  happened  that  he  was  obliged  to  leave  her  unprovided  for. 
There  is  one  girl,  Jean  Webster,  who  made  $4,000  on  one  book  the 
year  she  left  college.  There  is  one  woman,  Mary  Johnston,  who 
naid  $20,000  in  advance  royalties  on  one  book  before  a  word 
of  it  was  printed.  A  number  of  distinguished  writers  had  signed 
the  general  petition  before  the  writers'  blank  had  reached  them, 
among  them  Mark  Twain,  Booth  Tarkington,  Ernest  Thompson 
Si-ton.  Julia  Wnrd  Howe,  Frances  Hodgson  Burnett,  Mary  Wilkins 
Freeman  and  Ellen  Glasgow. 

Mrs.  Rachel  Foster  Avery,  former  corresponding  secretary  of 
the  National  Suffrage  Association,  in  speaking  of  the  petition 
tnjrl  of  one  containing  10,000  names  which  had  been  gathered  in 
Indiana  years  ago  and  presented  to  the  Legislature  by  Mrs. 
Zerelda  G.  Wallace,  often  referred  to  as  the  mother  pictured  in 
"Ben  Hur."  It  was  treated  with  the  utmost  contempt,  one  mem- 
ber saying,  "These  10,000  women  have  about  as  much  influence  as 
that  many  mice."  This  experience  sent  that  eloquent  woman  to 
the  suffrage  platform  for  the  rest  of  her  life.  Mrs.  Avery  urged 
the  committee  to  give  a  favorable  report  on  this  great  petition  as 
the  first  step  toward  making  the  influence  of  the  thousands  of 
women  who  had  signed  it  of  more  value  than  that  of  so  many 
[For  the  address  of  Mrs.  Carrie  Chapman  Catt,  president 
of  the  International  Woman  Suffrage  Alliance,  see  Appendix 
his  chapter. 

U.  S.  Senator  John  F.  Shafroth  of  Colorado,  a  consistent  sup- 
porter of  woman  suffrage  from  the  very  beginning  of  the  move- 
ment for  it  in  his  State  twenty  years  before,  made  an  address  to 
the  committee  which  was  printed  in  a  pamphlet  of  seven  pages 
and  made  a  part  of  the  propaganda  of  the  National  Association. 
Limited  space  permits  only  brief  extracts,  which  give  little  idea 
mpclling  arguments. 

•lent   writer  has  said   that   nil   powers  of  government  are 

'hat  all  n  assumed  and 

all  a^nmed  powers  are  usurp  vers  of  government  by 

VOL.  T 


298  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

men  over  women  are  not  delegated,  because  the  women  never  dele- 
gated such  powers  to  men.  They  are  assumed  then  and,  as  all  as- 
sumed powers  are  usurpations,  the  exercise  of  the  powers  of  gov- 
ernment by  men  over  women  is  usurpation.  How  can  those  who 
refuse  to  give  women  the  right  to  vote  reconcile  their  opinion  with 
the  form  of  government  in  which  they  believe?  What  right  have  I 
to  make  all  the  laws  which  shall  govern  not  only  myself  but  also 
my  wife,  sister  and  mother,  without  giving  to  them  any  voice  in 
determining  the  justice  or  wisdom  of  those  laws?  It  can  only 
be  on  the  assertion  of  an  assumed  or  usurped  right — that  which  we 
have  condemned  as  not  the  source  of  rightful  power.  We  all  re- 
member Lincoln's  declaration  that  "when  the  white  man  governs  him- 
self, that  is  self-government;  but  when  he  governs  himself  and  also 
governs  another  man,  that  is  despotism."  The  exercise  of  any  power 
of  government  not  emanating  from  the  consent  of  the  governed, 
therefore,  is  despotism.  After  men  by  an  assumption  of  power 
have  attached  the  elective  franchise  to  themselves,  is  it  a  just  answer 
to  the  demand  of  women  to  say  that  men  have  concluded  that 
"suffrage  is  a  privilege  which  attaches  neither  to  man  nor  to  woman 
by  nature?"  Have  we  forgotten  the  cry  of  our  forefathers  which 
stirred  the  blood  of  every  patriotic  American,  that  "taxation  without 
representation  is  tyranny?"  Why  is  it  tyranny  to  men  but  not  to 
women?  Is  it  sufficient  to  say  that  "they  are  not  the  only  persons 
taxed  as  property  holders  from  whom  the  ballot  is  withheld,"  when 
the  only  other  persons  from  whom  it  is  permanently  withheld  are 
lunatics,  idiots  and  criminals?  How  would  men  like  such  reasoning 
applied  to  themselves?  .  .  . 

Deprive  any  class  or  nationality  of  men  of  the  elective  franchise 
and  the  detrimental  effect  would  be  felt  immediately.  Their  petitions 
for  legislation  would  no  longer  receive  prompt  and  careful  con- 
sideration and  if  the  proposed  legislation  cnnflicU'd  with  conditions 
favorable  to  a  class  of  voters  it  would  be  almost  impossible  to  get 
a  legislator  or  Congressman  even  to  introduce  such  a  measure.  The 
equal  suffrage  advocates  have  appeared  before  a  committee  of  the 
House  of  Representatives  at  Washington  every  session  for  a  great 
many  years,  begging  for  a  favorable  report.  If  persons  representing 
one-tenth  as  many  voters  had  made  an  appeal  for  some  important 
legislation  affecting  their  rights,  don't  we  know  that  those  same 
Congressmen  would  almost  have  fought  with  each  other  for  the 
privilege  of  writing  a  favorable  report? 

Governor  Shafroth  quoted  election  statistics  which  showed 
conclusively  that  women  in  Colorado  voted  in  about  the  same 
proportion  as  men  and  he  gave  a  long  list  of  progressive  laws 
which  had  been  enacted  through  the  support  of  women.  He  de- 
clared that  in  no  respect  had  the  ideals  of  womanhood  been  low- 
ered and  closed  by  saying :  "The  highest  considerations  of  justice 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN'    CONVENTION    (>t-     1910  299 

and  good  government  demand  equal  suffrage  for  all  women." 
Dr.  Shaw  in  closing  the  hearing  said  in  part : 

I  have  in  my  hand  a  document  which  was  today  sent,  I  believe, 
to  every  Senator  and  Representative,  signed  by  the  ladies  represent- 
ing societies  opposed  to  the  further  extension  of  the  suffrage  to 
women.  Of  those  which  purport  to  be  State  societies,  three  at  least 
are  merely  local  clubs  in  cities.  These  ladies  have  petitioned  this 
honorable  body  and  the  House  of  Representatives  not  to  grant  the 
appeal  of  the  women  who  have  come  here  with  this  very  large 
petition  on  the  ground  that  it  would  be  an  interference  on  your 
part  with  the  rights  which  the  States  have  reserved  to  themselves, 
if  you  were  to  submit  an  amendment  to  the  Federal  Constitution 
giving  full  suffrage  to  women.  ...  I  see  by  this  document  that 
the  great  danger  with  which  you  are  threatened  if  you  do  this 
unjust  thing  is  that  you  admit  into  the  body  politic  a  vast  non- 
fighting  horde  of  people,  a  most  dangerous  class.  Man  suffrage  is 
a  method  adopted,  it  says,  for  the  peaceful  attainment  of  the  will 
of  the  majority,  to  which  the  minority  must  submit. 

If  there  is  anything  which  must  appeal  to  every  sense  of  justice, 
it  is  the  struggle  of  the  industrial  world  to  get  out  from  under  the 
domineering,  military  power.  The  age  in  which  we  live  is  no  longer 
a  militant  age.  Today  it  is  not  so  much  the  question  of  which 
nation  can  produce  the  greatest  number  of  soldiers  as  of  which 
can  produce  the  greatest  number  of  things  the  world  needs  to  buy. 
It  is  a  problem  of  industry  and  into  this  problem  women,  either 
by  force  or  by  desire,  have  come.  ...  In  olden  times  women 
could  control  the  hours  of  their  labor  and  the  conditions  affecting 
their  health  and  the  health  of  their  families;  they  could  regulate  the 
of  the  product  which  they  themselves  produced  in  the  home 
bat  since  men  have  taken  from  it  the  industries,  the  necessity  for 
women  to  protect  themselves  in  the  workshop,  in  the  sweatshop,  in 
the  facton  has  come  about.  Wherever  man  has  taken  woman's 
work  the  woman  must  follow  it  and  she  must  have  the  same  method 
of  protecting  herself  which  man  must  have  and  there  is  no  other 
means  save  through  the  ballot.  .  .  . 

We  have  been  over  forty  years,  a  longer  period  than  the  children 
wandered  through  the  wilderness,  coming  to  this  Capitol 
pleading  for  this  recognition  of  the  principle  that  the  Government 
derive^  its  just  powers  from  the  consent  of  the  governed.  Mr. 
Chairman,  we  ask  that  you  report  our  resolution  favorably  if  you 
can  but  unfavorably  if  you  must;  that  you  report  one  way  or  the 
other,  so  that  the  Senate  may  have  the  chance  to  consider  it. 

The  Chairman:  "In  behalf  of  the  committee  I  desire  to  thank 
the  ladies  for  the  splendid  arguments  they  have  made  and  to  say 
that  we  appreciate  them  most  heartily.  It  is  my  intention  to  call 
the  committee  together  at  a  very  early  date  and  we  will  give  a 


3°°  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

careful  and  intelligent  consideration  to  this  measure,  and,  I  hope, 
make  a  report  on  it." 

Notwithstanding  this  promise  no  further  attention  was  paid 
to  these  logical  and  eloquent  appeals  or  to  the  immense  petition, 
and  no  report  whatever  was  made  by  the  committee. 


All  but  four  of  the  members  of  the  House  Judiciary  Committee 
were  present,  including  the  chairman,  Richard  Wayne  Parker 
(N.  J.),  a  remarkable  attendance,  and  they  showed  much  interest.1 
Mrs.  Florence  Kelley,  second  vice-president  of  the  National  Suf- 
frage Association,  was  in  charge  of  the  speakers  and  the  hearing 
was  opened  by  Representative  A.  W.  Rucker  (Col.),  who  had 
introduced  the  resolution  for  the  Federal  Amendment,  as  also 
had  Representative  F.  W.  Mondell  (Wyo.).  Mrs.  Kelley  called 
attention  to  the  petition  of  404,823  names,  saying :  "Among  those 
who  have  signed  the  petition  are  sixteen  Governors,  a  large  num- 
ber of  Mayors  and  many  State,  county  and  city  officials;  many 
of  the  best-known  instructors  and  writers  on  political  economy 
and  many  presidents  of  colleges  and  universities.  It  includes  the 
names  of  many  Judges  of  Supreme  Courts  and  among  them  the 
Chief  Justice  and  Associate  Justice  of  Hawaii.  It  contains  a 
long  list  of  the  names  of  persons  engaged  in  various  trades  and 
from  those  in  the  thirty-three  States  which  are  classified  are 
7,515  professional  people,  lawyers,  doctors,  clergymen  and  others; 
also  52,603  listed  as  home  keepers." 

Mrs.  Susan  W.  Fitzgerald  (Mass.)  said  in  part:  "I  come  here 
to  speak  for  those  52,000  home  makers  who  signed  the  petition 
to  Congress  asking  for  equal  political  rights  in  this  democracy. 
.  .  .  To  ask  woman  under  our  modern  industrial  conditions  to 
care  adequately  for  her  home  and  family  without  a  right  to 
share  in  the  making  of  the  laws  and  the  electing  of  all  those 
officers  who  are  to  enforce  the  laws  is  like  asking  people  to  make 
bricks  without  straw.  It  cannot  be  done.  We  must  remember 
that  in  the  early  days  of  this  country  a  family  was  practically 
self-supporting  and  independent  of  the  rest  of  the  community; 

1  Names  of  committee:  Present— Representatives  Sterling,  Moon,  Diekema,  Goebel, 
Denby,  Howland,  Nye,  Clayton,  Henry,  Brantley,  Webb  and  Carlin;  absent— Terrell, 
Reid,  Malby,  Higgins. 


NATIONAL    AMERICAN'    CONVENTION    OF    IQIO  3OI 

a  man  and  a  woman  working  together  could  provide  for  their 
family  all  that  was  necessary  for  their  sustenance;  meats,  vege- 
tables, grains,  milk,  eggs,  butter,  cheese,  all  were  home  products. 
They  provided  their  own  lighting  and  controlled  their  own  water 
supply.  The  women  spun  the  thread,  wove  the  cloth,  dyed  it 
and  made  the  garments.  In  every  way,  if  it  was  necessary,  the 
family  could  maintain  its  existence  independent  of  the  cooperation 
of  society  except  in  the  one  matter  of  defense  from  violence. 
None  of  this  is  true  today."  Mrs.  Fitzgerald  took  up  the  ques- 
tions of  food,  drink  and  clothing  as  supplied  at  the  present  time 
and  showed  the  great  need  that  women  should  have  a  voice  in 
the  legislation  that  controls  their  production. 

It  had  been  announced  that  all  of  the  arguments  would  be  made 
along  industrial  lines.  Arthur  E.  Holder,  of  the  legislative  com- 
mittee of  the  American  Federation  of  Labor,  presented  for  the 
record  a  series  of  the  very  positive  resolutions  for  woman  suf- 
frage which  had  been  adopted  by  that  body  at  its  annual  con- 
ventions beginning  with  1904  and  read  the  one  passed  at  Toronto 
in  1909:  'The  best  interests  of  labor  require  the  admission  of 
women  to  full  citizenship  as  a  matter  of  justice  to  them  and  as 
a  necessary  step  toward  insuring  and  raising  the  scale  of  wages 
for  all."  He  closed  a  strong  speech  by  saying:  "We  want  the 
right  of  representation  for  all  the  people,  women  as  well  as  men. 
Women  have  been  disfranchised  in  our  country  long  enough  and 
we  now  ask  for  that  measure  which  will  constitutionally  grant 
the  right  to  vote  to  the  women  of  our  land.  We  believe  that 
women  ought  to  be  free  agents,  free  selectors,  free  voters.  The 
law  is  no  respecter  of  persons.  Women  cannot  shirk  their  re- 
sponsibility because  they  are  women;  neither  should  they  be 
longer  denied  their  normal  citizenship  rights  and  privileges  be- 
cause they  are  women." 

In  a  most  convincing  address  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Schauss,  factory 
inspector  of  Ohio,  said: 

It  seems  almost  superfluous  that  we  should  come  here  pleading 

for  the  vote  when  we  know  it  is  the  only  thing  which  will  give 

the  wage-earning  \v<niian  the  prouniun  that  she  needs  and  should 

.    as    i"  'lay    she   has  absolutely   no   ehanre   beside:    her   brother. 

Although  she  gives  the  same  quality  and  the  same  amount  of  work 

iinand  the  same  wage,  and  why?     Simply  be- 


302  HISTORY   OF   WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

cause  she  is  not  a  recognized  citizen  by  virtue  of  the  ballot.  If 
you  would  go  into  the  factories,  the  mills,  the  mercantile  establish- 
ments and  meet  these  women  and  learn  from  them  the  indignities 
to  which  they  ofttimes  are  subjected  in  order  that  they  may  retain 
their  places  you  would  not  wait  for  any  one  to  come  here  and  argue 
the  question  with  you.  You  would  see  for  yourselves  that  the  only 
remedy  is  to  grant  to  them  that  same  protection  that  you  give  to 
every  man  over  21  years  of  age.  The  girl  so  employed  submits  in  a 
way  to  these  things  because  she  is  thinking  of  the  time  when  her 
factory  clays  will  be  over,  when  she  will  make  a  home  for  husband 
and  children,  and  God  forbid  that  the  time  shall  ever  come  that  our 
girls  will  lose  sight  of  this,  their  greatest  vocation !  But  before  they 
are  competent  to  take  charge  of  the  home  in  every  sense  of  the 
word,  before  they  can  give  to  their  children  all  that  these  should 
have,  they  must  themselves  be  placed  upon  a  basis  of  equality  with 
their  husbands.  .  .  . 

Why  should  I,  a  tax -paying  woman,  be  denied  the  right  by  cast- 
ing my  ballot  to  say  how  these  taxes  that  I  am  paying  shall  be 
expended?  In  the  light  of  progress  and  of  American  civilization, 
we  know  this  cannot  continue.  We  have  great  things  at  stake  in 
our  children.  We  are  trying  to  take  away  that  shadow  which  rests 
upon  these  United  States,  the  shadow  of  child  labor.  It  will  not 
IK-  done  until  the  mothers  have  the  right  to  speak  for  their  children 
through  the  ballot.  We  are  looking  for  the  day  when  we  shall  be 
nl>le  to  stand  shoulder  to  shoulder  with  our  men  and  share  with 
tl ifin  the  burdens  and  responsibilities  of  this  greatest  nation  and 
l)e  able  to  hold  up  our  heads  and  say:  "We  are  on  an  equal  footing 
lie-cause  we  have  men  in  the  United  States  who  recognize  equality 
of  rights." 

Mrs.  Raymond  Robins,  thoroughly  qualified  to  speak  on  this 
question,  said  in  part:  "I  have  the  great  honor  and  privilege  of 
representing,  as  president  of  the  National  Women's  Trade  Union 
League,  something  like  75,000  organized  working  women,  and  I 
believe  all  through  our  country  as  well  as  through  all  the  world 
there  is  a  growing  recognition  of  the  cost  of  our  modern  indus- 
trial conditions  to  women.  These  are  such  that  in  many  thou- 
sands of  instances  the  motherhood  of  our  girls  has  to  be  for- 
feited. No  one  knows  except  those  who  have  made  a  very  inti- 
mate and  careful  study  of  the  present  cost  of  social  and  industrial 
conditions  how  great  that  cost  is.  When  we  demanded  in 
Illinois  the  limiting  of  the  working  hours  for  women  to  ten  a 
day,  many  of  our  women  physicians  brought  forward  facts  of 
great  value  showing  the  tremendous  physical  danger  to  girls  of 
overwork.  At  present  a  very  interesting  and  valuable  investiga- 


NATIONAL    AMKKU'AN    O).\\!  XTION    OF    IQIO  303 

tion  is  going  on,  led  by  some  of  our  -woman  physicians,  showing 
the  evil  result  on  the  second  generation  of  these  industrial  con- 
ditions. .  .  .  These  facts  are  of  national  importance  and  it  is  be- 
cause right  there  is  the  crux  of  the  entire  situation  that  we  women 
are  working  for  the  ballot,  for  the  sake  of  protecting  the  woman- 
hood and  motherhood  of  our  6,000,000  working  women,  I  think 
half  of  them  under  21  years  of  age.  .  .  ." 

Mrs.  Robins  gave  a  number  of  special  instances  and  in  answer 
to  the  question  how  the  ballot  would  remedy  these  evils,  she  said : 
"The  women,  :an  unorganized  group,  get  together  and  take  col- 
lective action  and  they  find  themselves  not  fighting  their  industrial 
battles  in  the  economic  field  but  in  the  political  field  and  the 
weapons  that  are  constantly  used  against  them  with  the  greatest 
success  are  political  weapons.  The  power  of  the  police  and  of 
the  courts  is  used  against  them  in  many  instances  and  whenever 
they  try  to  meet  that  expression  of  political  power,  they  are  handi- 
capped because  there  is  no  force  in  their  hands  to  help  change 
it.  .  .  ." 

In  the  course  of  a  speech  punctuated  with  lively  questions  and 
answers  Mrs.  Upton  said :  "I  represent  the  industry  of  wifehood 
and  housekeeping.  I  spent  many  of  my  childhood  days  in  the  room 
of  this  committee,  my  father  having  been  a  member  of  the  Judi- 
ciary Committee  for  thirteen  years  and  chairman  for  several 
years.  He  was  the  only  one  who  ever  reported  a  bill  favorably 
for  woman  suffrage.  ...  I  want  to  ask  you  to  report  against  us 
if  you  will  not  report  for  us.  Just  tell  the  world  that  we  must 
not  vote  because  we  cannot  fight,  because  it  will  destroy  the 
home,  anything  you  please,  but  break  your  long  years  of  silence. 
Is  it  fair  for  you  not  to  tell  us  why  you  are  opposed  to  us  ?  Women 
are  not  fools ;  on  the  contrary,  they  are  very  intelligent  people  and 
sure  to  be  enfranchised  before  long.  If  this  committee  does  not 
help  some  other  will ;  it  is  going  to  be  done  and  it  is  for  you  to 
decide  whether  your  daughters  will  be  able  to  say  years  from 
now,  'My  father  -was  one  of  the  men  who  helped  get  woman  suf- 
frage!' While  men  of  this  country  have  been  running  after 
dollars  at  a  terrific  rate  in  recent  years  women  have  been  study- 
ing and  preparing  themselves  in  clubs  and  all  sorts  of  organiza- 
for  this  right,  so  that  they  will  be  the  most  intelligent  class — 


304  HISTORY   OF   WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

if  you  call  them  a  class — that  was  ever  enfranchised  in  all  his- 
tory. Are  you  afraid  of  intelligence?  All  we  ask  is  to  let  the 
mother  heart,  the  home  element,  be  expressed  in  the  govern- 
ment. ...  I  beg  of  you  to  let  all  the  world  know  why  the  women 
of  the  United  States,  who  by  hundreds  of  thousands  have  peti- 
tioned you  to  submit  this  amendment,  ought  not  have  at  least 
this  request  considered  and  a  report  on  it  made." 

Miss  Laura  J.  Graddick,  representing  a  labor  union  in  the 
District  of  Columbia,  said  during  an  able  and  earnest  address : 

They  say  that  politics  is  too  corrupt  for  woman  to  enter  the 
field  as  a  voter  but  does  she  not  live  under  a  Government  dominated 
by  politics?  Shame  on  the  manhood  of  our  country  that  our  gov- 
ernment housekeeping  is  so  administered  that  woman  can  not  come 
in  contact  with  it  and  escape  contamination.  ...  If  our  Gov- 
ernment is  built  on  moral  law  it  should  be  clean  enough  for  a 
woman  to  have  a  voice  in  it.  We  assure  you  there  are  no  better 
house-cleaners  than  women  and  the  above  statement  certainly  in- 
dicates the  need  of  women  in  politics.  There  is  no  great  cry  on  the 
part  of  men  because  of  the  contaminating  influences  which  woman 
meets  in  the  business  and  industrial  world.  They  are  not  keeping 
her  out  of  the  various  vocations  of  life  because  of  the  evil  which 
she  might  encounter.  Are  not  sweat-shop  conditions  and  overwork 
and  underpaid  work  evils  far  more  destructive  to  the  physical,  mental 
and  moral  welfare  of  women  than  any  condition  in  which  suffrage 
might  place  them?  Because  of  the  great  economic  and  political 
changes  of  the  last  century  the  working  woman  of  to-day  is  entitled 
to  the  same  rights  accorded  the  working  man  in  the  political  world. 
These  changes  have  taken  her  from  the  home  and  brought  her 
into  business  and  industrial  life,  where  she  has  become  more  and 
more  man's  equal  and  competitor,  leaving  behind  those  conditions 
which  so  long  made  her  dependent  upon  him.  This  has  not  been 
of  her  choosing.  Men,  in  their  pursuit  of  wealth,  have  taken  the 
work  formerly  done  in  the  home,  from  the  spinning  and  weaving 
even  down  to  the  baking  and  laundering,  and  massed  it  in  great 
factories  and  shops.  Instead  of  woman  taking  man's  work,  it  is 
the  reverse  and  he  has  appropriated  to  himself  what  was  long 
supposed  to  be  hers.  Woman  finds  that  what  was  formerly  with 
her  a  work  of  love  is  now  done  under  new  conditions  and  strange 
environments. 

This  experience  in  the  outside  world  is  educating  her,  for  she  is 
studying  conditions.  She  sees  that  she  is  forced  to  compete  with 
those  who  have  full  political  rights  while  she  herself  is  a  political 
nonentity.  She  finds  that  she  must  contend  with  and  protect  her- 
self against  conditions  which  are  more  often  political  than  economic, 
thus  forcing  upon  her  the  conviction  that  she  too  is  entitled  to 
be  a  voter.  She  sees  that  politics,  business  and  industrial  life  gen- 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    19 IO  305 

erally  are  so  united  that  one  affects  the  other  and  that  since  she 
is  a  factor  in  two  she  should  be  granted  the  rights  and  privileges 
of  the  third.  Think  of  the  number  of  women  wage-earners  in  this 
country  who  are  without  political  representation,  there  being  no  men 
in  the  family,  and  at  present  laws  all  made  without  a  woman's  point 
of  view!  .  .  .  The  working  woman  does  not  ask  for  the  ballot 
as  a  panacea  for  all  her  ills.  She  knows  that  it  carries  with  it 
responsibilities  but  all  that  it  is  to  man  it  will  be  and  even  more  to 
woman.  Let  her  remain  man's  inferior  politically  and  unjust  dis- 
criminations against  her  as  a  wage-earner  will  continue,  but  let  her 
become  his  equal  politically  and  she  will  then  be  in  a  position  to  de- 
mand equal  pay  for  equal  work. 

In  a  speech  of  deep  feeling  Miss  Laura  Clay,  president  of  the 
Kentucky  Suffrage  Association,  said  in  part:  "Gentlemen,  when 
I  hear  our  women  making  the  pleas  that  they  have  made,  brought 
up,  as  I  have  been,  to  believe  that  the  manhood  of  the  United 
States  is  the  grandest  in  the  world,  I  ask,  'Shall  we  not  find  any 
members  of  Congress  except  those  who  say,  'Can  you  not  get 
some  one  else  to  protect  you?  Go  to  your  States,  go  anywhere 
but  do  not  come  to  us?'  It  has  been  said  to  me  when  I  have 
spoken  for  childhood,  'You  have  no  child  ?'  And  I  have  answered : 
*Xo,  I  have  no  child,  but  just  as  surely  as  men  in  the  order  of 
nature  are  the  protectors  of  womanhood,  so  surely  in  the  order 
of  nature  women  are  the  protectors  of  childhood.  I  would  dis- 
honor my  womanhood  to  say  that  I  will  not  do  what  I  can  for  a 
child  because  I  have  none  and  I  hope  the  time  will  never  come 
when  women  must  be  ashamed  of  men  because  they  are  not  willing 
to  sacrifice  something  to  take  this  action  for  women.'  Think  of 
it!  Must  we  crawl  on  our  knees  to  ask  you  for  that  which  we 
feel  we  have  a  right  to  demand  ?  You  should  see  that  every  pro- 
tection which  every  lifting  hand  that  it  is  possible  for  manhood 
to  offer  to  womanhood  should  be  extended  and  your  position 
gives  you  a  great  opportunity.  I  urge  that,  as  far  as  your  official 
power  extends,  you  will  show  that  the  manhood  of  the  United 
cs  responds  to  the  pleas  of  the  womanhood  of  the  United 
States." 

The  closing  address  of  Mrs.  Kelley  and  the  many  questions  it 
called  for  from  the  committee  with  her  answers  filled  nearly 
twelve  pages  of  the  printed  re-purl  of  the  hearing.  A  small  part 
only  can  find  space  here. 


306  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

Mr.  Chairman  and  gentlemen,  it  is  sixty  years  last  month  since 
my  father,  Judge  William  D.  Kelley,  became  a  member  of  the  House 
of  Representatives  and  in  those  days  it  took  a  great  deal  of  courage 
for  a  man  to  do  what  he  did  year  after  year — introduce  this  resolu- 
tion which  you  are  considering  to-day.  He  did  it  partly,  I  think, 
out  of  chivalrous  regard  for  Miss  Anthony,  Mrs.  Stanton  and  the 
few  brave  women  who  fifty  years  ago  patiently  came  before  your 
predecessors;  but  very  much  more  he  introduced  that  resolution  be- 
cause he  believed  it  was  essentially  just.  He  saw  in  those  days  the 
beginnings  of  the  industrial  change  in  the  midst  of  which  we  now 
live  and  they  appalled  him.  He  saw  how  difficult  it  had  been  for 
his  widowed  mother  to  get  an  education  for  himself  and  his  sisters, 
and  how  infinitely  difficult  life  was  for  the  whole  great  class  of 
women,  not  only  widows  but  those  who  by  the  circumstances  of  our 
changing  industries  had  been  forced  out  into  the  industrial  market. 
He  believed  they  ought  to  have  the  same  power  to  protect  their  own 
interests  as  had  been  given  to  the  American  workingman  and  which 
he  helped  give  to  the  negro.  .  .  . 

Women  now  do  not  count  in  our  communities  at  all  in  proportion 
to  the  responsibilities  which  they  carry.  One  of  the  gentlemen  has 
asked:  "What  is  the  relation  of  all  this  labor  talk  to  the  ballot?" 
1  will  give  you  some  examples :  I  was  for  four  years  the  head  of 
the  factory  inspectors  of  Illinois.  During  that  time  we  had  an  eight- 
hour  law  enacted  for  the  protection  of  women  and  children  employed 
in  manufacturing  industries.  The  Supreme  Court  held  that  it  was 
contrary  to  the  constitutions  of  the  State  and  of  the  United  States 
for  women  to  be  deprived  of  the  right  to  work  twenty-four  hours 
whenever  it  suited  the  convenience  of  the  employers.  The  court  said 
— and  it  took  9,000  words  to  say  it — that  women  could  not  be  deprived 
of  working  unlimited  hours,  because  they  were  citizens,  although  it 
said  the  term  "citizenship"  was  limited;  the  Court  said  they  could 
not  be  allowed  to  work  underground  in  mines;  they  could  not  be 
allowed  to  work  out  their  taxes  on  the  roads,  as  farmers  do;  they 
could  not  be  called  to  the  militia;  they  could  not  vote  except  for 
school  committees  and  once  in  four  years  for  the  trustees  of  the 
State  University,  but,  with  those  minor  deductions,  they  were  citizens 
and  could  not  be  deprived  of  the  freedom  of  contract. 

The  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  has  proclaimed  that  the 
Judges  of  Illinois  guessed  wrong  on  that  occasion,  that  it  is  not 
contrary  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  to  limit  the  work- 
ing hours  of  women  but  that  it  is  the  obvious  duty  of  every  Legis- 
lature to  do  this  in  the  interest  of  public  health  and  morals.  A  year 
ago,  largely  through  the  efforts  of  Mrs.  Robins,  the  Legislature  tried 
it  again  and  passed  this  time  a  ten-hour  law  for  women.  A  Judge 
was  found  who  held  that  it  was  a  legitimate  object  for  an  injunc- 
tion and  he  enjoined  my  successor,  the  present  factory  inspector, 
and  the  prosecuting  attorney  from  enforcing  this  law.  To-day  under 
that  injunction  the  women  are  again  free  to  work  twenty-four  hours, 
as  they  do  one  day  in  the  week  quite  regularly  in  the  laundries  in 


NATIONAL    AMKKICXX    CONVENTION     OP     H)IO  307 

Chicago,  and  to  work  sixteen  hours  a  day  as  they  do  in  the  stores 
during  the  Christmas  rush,  and  as  they  do  in  the  box  factories  and 
candy  factories.  Yet  the  women  of  Illinois  have  not  had  one  word 
to  say  as  to  the  personnel  of  these  courts  which  decide  what  is  a 
matter  of  life  and  death  for  every  woman  who  is  rushed  into  her 
grave  by  work  in  the  laundries  and  other  sweat  shops  of  that 
State. 

Mrs.  Kelley  gave  some  tragic  instances  of  occurrences  during 
her  eight  years  in  Hull  House  with  Miss  Jane  Addams,  where 
the  working  of  women  overtime  caused  death  and  permanent 
invalidism,  and  continued: 

During  the  fifteen  years  since  that  Illinois  court  so  decided,  the 
miners  who  work  underground  in  sixteen  States,  from  Missouri  to 
Xt-vada  and  from  Montana  to  Texas  and  Arizona,  have  been  able 
to  change  the  constitutions  of  their  States  so  that  they  work  but 
eight  hours  a  day.  They  are  voters,  they  have  power,  they  have 
intelligence  and  organization;  they  obtained  from  the  Supreme  Court 
of  the  United  States  the  famous  decision  of  Holden  vs.  Hardy,  in 
which  it  held  that  it  is  not  only  the  right  but  the  duty  of  the  State 
to  restrict  the  hours  of  those  who  work  underground.  In  Illinois  the 
women  must  have  unlimited  hours  because  they  are  not  voting 
citizens.  .  .  . 

];<>r  twelve  years  a  body  of  influential  women  of  New  York  City 
appeared  before  the  board  of  estimate  and  apportionment  to  ask 
ft*r  the  pitiable  sum  of  $18,000  to  be  appropriated  to  pay  the  sal- 
of  eighteen  inspectors  to  look  after  the  welfare  of  60,000 
women  and  girls  in  retail  stores  but  we  never  got  it.  One  candid 
friend.  Mayor  Van  Wyck,  in  listening  to  our  plea,  told  us  the  whole 
trouble.  Said  he:  "Ladies,  why  do  you  waste  your  time  year  after 
in  coming  before  us  and  asking  for  this  appropriation?  You 
have  not  a  voter  in  your  constituency  and  you  know  it  and  we 
know  it  and  you  know  we  know  it,"  and  they  never  did  give  it  to 
u<.  .  .  . 

A  spirited  discussion  ensued  here  between  Representative 
Robert  I..  I  lenry  (Tex.)  and  Mrs.  Kelley  as  to  whether  Congress 
the  power  to  coerce  a  State  through  a  Federal  Amendment 
into  giving  women  the  right  to  vote.  Representative  Edwin  Y. 
Webb  (N.  C.)  asked  if  the  majority  of  women  wanted  to  vote 
and  she  answered  that  there  was  not  the  slightest  doubt  of  it, 
that  as  reasoning  l>ein;;s  women  could  not  help  desiring  a  full 
share  in  the  Government  under  which  they  live.  Representative 
Goebel  (O.)  said  that  at  any  time  man  might  be  called  on  to 
uphold  the  laws  and  the  Constitution  and  asked:  "Do  you  think 
that  uoinan  ifl  phssically  and  IrnipnaiiK-ntally  fitted  to  give  any 


308  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

return  to  the  Government  for  any  privilege  she  might  have  in  the 
exercise  of  her  right  as  a  citizen?"  Mrs.  Kelley  answered  :  "Yes, 
I  think  we  have  always  done  it.  We  pay  taxes,  we  teach  the 
children  to  obey  the  laws,  we  fill  their  hearts  with  patriotism, 
but  the  principal  thing  is  that  we  furnish  the  army  at  the  risk 
of  our  own  lives.  Every  time  an  army  has  been  called  for  in  the 
United  States  it  has  been  the  sons  of  American  women  on  the 
whole  who  have  carried  the  weapons  and  every  son  has  been  born 
at  the  risk  of  his  mother's  life.  Her  service  is  a  very  much 
greater  contribution  than  the  two  or  three  years  of  the  son's 
carrying  a  gun  or  perhaps  dying  of  typhoid  fever  while  in  the 
service." 

Miss  Clay  could  not  keep  silent  but  asked  if  they  realized  how 
much  the  order  of  society  depended  on  the  teaching  and  the 
restraining  influence  of  -women,  on  their  power  to  maintain 
decency  of  life,  not  alone  by  their  presence  but  also  by  their  high 
ideals  of  law  and  society.  "When  they  are  recognized  as  voting 
citizens,"  she  said,  "their  idea  of  civic  duty  will  reach  a  still  higher 
point  and  they  will  have  power  to  see  that  it  is  enforced."  Mem- 
bers of  the  committee  began  to  bring  forward  the  stock  mis- 
representations about  the  voting  of  women  in  Colorado,  which 
called  Mr.  Rucker  to  his  feet  with  statistics  to  show  that  women 
voted  in  quite  as  large  a  proportion  as  men ;  that,  instead  of  men's 
controlling  the  women's  votes,  women  often  controlled  the  men's; 
that  in  the  hundreds  of  cases  of  election  frauds  only  one  or  two 
women  had  been  implicated;  that  less  than  15  per  cent,  of  the 
so-called  "ostracized"  'women  go  to  the  polls. 

In  closing  Chairman  Parker  said :  "I  wish  to  render  the  thanks 
of  the  committee  for  this  large  and  representative  audience,  which 
is  almost  an  American  Congress.  I  am  all  the  more  pleased  and 
interested  to  find  such  strong  presentations  by  those  whom  I 
might  call,  possibly  without  offense,  'Daughters  of  the  American 
Congress,'  two  of  whom  claim  an  acquaintance  with  this  com- 
mittee that  goes  back  at  least  as  far  as  any  of  us.  I  wish  to  offer 
all  of  you  our  thanks  for  the  earnest  consideration  that  you  seem 
to  have  given  to  the  great  problems,  industrial  and  social,  as  well 
as  those  of  the  family,  which  confront  us  all,  and  in  comparison 
with  which  the  political  powers  and  actions  of  this  country  are 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQIO  309 

but  as  nothing.  Those  who  think  and  work  for  the  good  of  the 
family,  the  home,  the  workshop,  the  farm  and  the  school  are 
those  to  whom  the  American  Congress  always  owes  its  thanks." 

Although  the  speakers  who  addressed  these  committees  repre- 
sented the  very  highest  of  American  womanhood;  although  it 
was  conceded  that  their  arguments  had  never  been  exceeded  in 
logic,  directness  and  force;  although  there  was  no  doubt  that 
they  represented  a  large  proportion  of  the  women  of  the  country 
in  the  homes,  colleges,  professions  and  trades,  yet  this  com- 
mittee, like  that  of  the  Senate,  ignored  the  petitions  and  the 
hearing  completely  and  made  no  report  whatever,  either  favorable 
or  unfavorable. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

NATIONAL  AMERICAN  CONVENTION  OF    19!  I. 

The  national  convention  which  met  in  Louisville,  Ky.,  Oct. 
19-25,  1911,  might  well  be  called  a  "jubilee"  meeting,  for  it  cele- 
brated two  of  the  most  important  victories  yet  won  for  woman 
suffrage  in  the  United  States — the  adoption  of  State  amend- 
ments by  a  majority  of  the  voters  in  Washington  in  November, 
1910,  and  in  California  in  October,  1911,  giving  the  same  fran- 
chise rights  to  women  as  possessed  by  men.1  The  sessions  were 
held  in  the  large  De  Molay  Commandery  Hall  but  it  was  far  too 
small  for  the  evening  audiences.  This  was  a  new  experience  for 
Louisville  but  it  rose  finely  to  the  occasion.  A  message  to  the 
Woman's  Journal  said :  "Enthusiasm  for  equal  suffrage  runs  high 
in  Louisville  this  week  as  women  from  all  parts  of  the  country 
throng  its  spacious  streets  morning,  afternoon  and  evening  for 
the  annual  convention.  .  .  .  Altogether  it  is  a  most  inspiring 

1  Part  of  Call :  Within  the  year  the  State  of  Washington  has  completed  its  work  of 
fully  enfranchising  its  adult  citizens.  Before  the  convention  assembles,  California  will 
no  doubt  have  accepted  the  idea  of  true  democracy.  We  also  rejoice  because  the  Legis- 
latures of  Kansas,  Wisconsin,  Oregon  and  Nevada  have  voted  to  submit  the  question  to 
their  electors.  Many  States,  however,  still  refuse  to  allow  the  voters  to  pass  upon  the 
question  of  giving  political  independence  to  women.  Since  the  purpose  of  the  National 
American  Woman  Suffrage  Association  is  "to  secure  the  right  to  vote  to  women  citizens 
of  the  United  States,"  we  have  called  this  national  convention  of  suffragists.  From 
every  State  will  come  delegates,  who  will  bring  with  them  the  growing  spirit  of  rebellion 
against  injustice.  .  .  . 

We  call  upon  every  public-spirited  woman  to  come  and  help  devise  methods  of  carry- 
ing on  the  fight,  to  strengthen  the  fire  of  revolt,  to  show  by  overwhelming  numbers  and 
determined  earnestness  that  women  will  no  longer  be  satisfied  to  be  treated  with  political 
contempt  by  the  legislators  who  are  supposed  to  represent  them.  .  .  .  Do  your  part  to 
inspire  our  workers  with  courage,  determination,  fervor  and  consecration;  to  arouse  them 
to  put  forth  their  full  strength,  even  to  the  utmost  sacrifice,  to  obtain  universal  recog- 
nition of  the  truth  that  every  adult  citizen  should  have  a  voice  in  the  government  of  a 
free  country. 

ANNA  HOWARD  SHAW,  President. 

CATHARINE  WAUGH   McCuLLocH,   First  Vice-President 

KATE  M.  GORDON,  Second  Vice-President. 

MARY  WARE  DENNETT,  Corresponding  Secretary. 

ELLA  S.  STEWART,  Recording  Secretary. 

JESSIE  ASHLEY,  Treasurer. 

LAURA  CLAY,  )  A  „,«*«. 

ALICE  STONE  BLACKWELH jAl 

310 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQII  3!  I 

and  encouraging  convention  and  we  are  daily  excited  with  news  of 
the  good  prospects  of  more  campaign  States  and  more  victories 
in  the  very  near  future.  .  .  .  We  all  have  votes- for-women  tags 
on  our  baggage,  yellow  badges  and  pins,  California  poppies  and 
six-star  buttons  on  our  dresses  and  coats  and  dainty  votes  for 
women  butterflies  on  our  shoulders,  and  as  we  go  about  in  dozens 
or  scores  or  hundreds  the  onlookers  receive  the  fitting  psycho- 
logical impression  and  we  find  them  thinking  of  us  as  victors  and 
conquerors/' 

The  opening  of  this  convention,  with  Dr.  Anna  Howard  Shaw, 
the  national  president,  in  the  chair,  was  a  proud  moment  for  Miss 
Laura  Clay,  who  was  one  of  the  organizers  of  the  Kentucky 
Filial  Rights  Association  in  1888  and  had  been  continually  its 
president.  In  her  address  of  greeting  she  said : 

\Ye  welcome  you  with  hearts  tender  with  the  remembrance  of 
the  past,  when  two  of  the  great  historic  figures  which  have  made 
t liis   convention   possible  gave   their   labors   to   Kentucky.      In   the 
early  fifties,  Lucy  Stone,  in  the  vigor  and  freshness  of  her  lovely 
youth  and  enthusiasm  for  high  ideals,  spoke  in  the  cities  and  towns 
on  both  sides  of  the  Ohio  River;  and  in  1881  she  held  in  Louisville 
a  convention  of  the  American  Woman  Suffrage  Association.     She 
lished  the  Woman's  Journal,  which  is  now  edited,  with  all  the 
moral  principles  and  polished  literary  ability  which  have  char- 
ged it  throughout,  by  her  daughter,  Alice  Stone  Blackwell,  who 
th  us  today.     In  1879  that  other  heroic  woman,  Susan  B.  An- 
thony, made  a  tour  through  central  Kentucky  and  left  an  enduring 
monument  of  her  visit  in  the  Equal  Rights  Association  of   Rich- 
mond.  Madison  County,  which  has  had  the  longest  continuous  ex- 
re  of  any  woman  suffrage  society  in  the  State.  .  .  . 
\Ye  welcome  you  with  hearts  strong  with  hope  for  the  future. 
\doriotis  victories  that  we  have  had  inspire  us  and  in  all  the 
harbingers  of  hope  we  see  none  greater  than  the  Men's  Leagues  for 
\V"maii  Suffrage.     These  prove  to  us  that  the  men  of  our  country 
arc  preparing  to  extend  equal  political  rights  to  women,  who.  since 
•me  when  this  vast  continent  was  a  wilderness,  have  stood  side 
le  with  them  in  the  heroic  labors  which  have  made  it  blossom 
•lie  rose  with  the  fairest  civilization  the  world  has  ever  known. 
In  the  great  International   Alliance  Congress  at  Stockholm  men  of 
many  nations  formed  themselves  into  a  Suffrage  League,  and  the 
'•ague  of  California  did  grand  service  in  the  glorious  victory 
in  their  State.     This  noble  land  extends  from  California  across  the 
continent  to  Virginia  where  i  ;ue  of  men  has  just  been 

formed.  \Ve  see  in  this  Lvneroiis  cooperation  of  the  men  of  our 
nation  a  better  exposition  of  the  legend  on  Kentucky's  shield,  "United 


312  HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

we  stand,  divided  we  fall,"  when  man  and  woman  shall  clasp  hands 
and  become  a  truer  realization  of  the  vision  of  the  poet  and  the 
patriot. 

Mrs.  Patty  Blackburn  Semple,  president  of  the  Louisville 
Woman's  Club,  in  offering  its  welcome,  said:  "When  the 
Woman's  Club  was  organized  three  subjects  were  tabooed — re- 
ligion, politics  and  woman  suffrage.  We  kept  to  the  resolution 
for  awhile  but  gradually  we  found  that  our  efforts  in  behalf  of 
civic  improvements  and  the  correcting  of  outrageous  abuses  were 
handicapped  at  every  turn  by  politics.  Last  year  an  appeal  came 
to  the  Woman's  Club — to  the  women  of  Louisville — to  take  our 
schools  out  of  politics.  It  was  a  gigantic  fight  but  we  won.  As 
the  climax  of  our  struggle  we  spent  the  greater  part  of  election 
day  at  the  polls  and  I  think  at  the  close  of  that  day  every  one 
of  us  had  exhausted  all  the  joys  of  'indirect  influence,'  which  is 
supposed  to  satisfy  every  craving  of  the  female  heart.  Our  club 
will  be  twenty-one  years  old  in  November,  and — we  want  to  vote ! 
We  will  make  you  most  heartily  welcome  and  most  of  us  will 
also  welcome  the  principles  for  which  you  stand." 

Mrs.  Catharine  Waugh  McCulloch  (Ills.),  first  vice-president 
of  the  National  Association,  in  responding  said :  "Now  we  know 
definitely  that  all  the  things  we  have  heard  about  Kentucky  are 
true;  we  have  met  her  brave  women  and  handsome  colonels. 
While  we  remember  all  the  tradition  of  the  past  we  live  in  the 
present.  Kentucky  is  proud  of  what  her  men  named  Clay  have 
done  in  the  past  but  it  is  a  pleasure  to  us  to  know  that  today  when 
Kentucky  wants  anything  done  she  appeals  to  a  woman  who  is 
either  Clay  by  name  or  Clay  by  blood."  Another  chivalry  is 
coming  into  the  world  besides  that  felt  by  a  strong  man  for  a 
beautiful  woman.  It  is  that  felt  by  strong  women  for  their 
weaker  and  less  fortunate  sisters.  It  is  the  chivalry  foreshadowed 
by  Spenser  in  The  Faerie  Queene,  in  Britomart,  the  noble  knight, 
herself  a  woman,  who  rescued  Amoretta  and  devoted  herself  to 
the  help  of  all  weak  and  helpless  women." 

Assistant  District  Attorney  Omar  E.  Garwood  of  Denver, 
a  founder  and  the  secretary  of  the  Men's  Defense  League,  to 
refute  the  misrepresentations  of  the  practical  working  of  woman 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQII  313 

suffrage  in  Colorado,  was  introduced  and  outlined  its  work.  Mrs. 
Alexander  Pope  Humphrey  was  presented  and  gave  a  cordial 
invitation  to  a  reception  for  the  convention  at  her  home,  True- 
castle,  at  the  close  of  the  afternoon  session,  which  was  as  cor- 
dially accepted.  Mrs.  Ben  Hardin  Helm,  a  sister  of  Mrs.  Abra- 
ham Lincoln,  was  greeted  and  expressed  her  sympathy  with  the 
work  of  the  association. 

After  these  pleasant  ceremonies  at  the  morning  session  the 
convention  immediately  proceeded  to  business  and  listened  to  the 
reports  from  the  various  committees.  That  of  the  new  corre- 
sponding secretary,  Mrs.  Mary  Ware  Dennett,  gave  a  graphic 
illustration  of  the  rapid  increase  in  the  size  and  scope  of  the 
work  in  her  department.  After  describing  the  demands  from 
almost  every  State  and  saying  that  the  correspondence  had  doubled 
during  the  past  year  while  the  output  of  literature  had  tripled, 
she  continued: 

The  correspondence  with  Canada  has  been  verv  interesting  and 
has  sreadilv  increased  and  we  have  sent  a  good  deal  of  literature 
to  British  Columbia,  Ontario  and  Nova  Scotia.  Literature  and  letters 
have  gone  to  Switzerland,  Finland  and  even  Japan,  in  answer  to 
requests,  the  Japanese  correspondent  being  in  the  midst  of  writing 
a  book  on  the  rights  of  women,  because,  as  he  quaintly  put  it,  he 
believed  there  was  "undoubtedly  a  truth  in  it."  We  have  a  steadily 
increasing  stream  of  requests  for  suitable  programs  for  stndv  clubs, 
also  a  sudden  spurt  of  requests  for  suffrage  speakers  from  the  Fed- 
eration of  Women's  Clubs.  The  example  of  the  last  Biennial,  when 
woman  suffrage  appeared  for  the  first  time  on  the  official  program 
of  thr  Federation,  has  precipitated  almost  an  epidemic  of  suffrage 
meetings  in  tho  State  federations  and  local  clubs. 

The  Official  Board  of  the  association  has  made  a  serious  recom- 
mendation to  the  State  officers  to  push  the  plan  of  political  district 
organization  as  the  best  and  most  systematic  and  reliable  way  of 
•'ring  for  tbe  submission  of  a  suffrage  amendment.  A  leaflet 
'nils  of  tbe  plan  has  been  published  and  widelv  dis- 
tributed and  it  has  been  accepted  as  scheduled  or  in  modified  form 
in  ten  States,  in  most  of  which  the  name  Woman  Suffrage  Partv 
has  Wn  adopted,  following  the  example  of  New  York  Citv.  which 
was  •'  to  adapt  the  enrollment  work  long  aero  established  bv 

the  National  Association  to  the  needs  of  modern  political  action. 
The  National  office  prepared  reports  of  the  work  of  the 
:ntion  for  the  meeting  of  the  TT.  S.  National  Council  of  Women 
and  for  t'  ,f  the  International  Suffrage  Alliance  in  Stock- 

holm. We  1  n  exchange  of  propaganda  with  the 

International  Shop  in  London.  At  the  suggestion  of  Mrs.  Carrie 


HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

Chapman  Catt  we  have  cooperated  with  the  Women's  Enfran- 
chisement League  of  Cape  Colony,  South  Africa,  by  asking  a  large 
number  of  American  women  writers  to  send  copies  of  their  books 
to  an  exhibition  and  sale  there  of  women's  work. 

Since  our  last  convention  there  have  been  two  annual  meetings 
of  the  House  of  Governors,  the  first  in  Kentucky,  at  which  Miss 
Laura  Clay  obtained  a  hearing  and  presented  our  cause  in  a  most 
admirable  address;  the  second  in  New  Jersey,  at  which  a  hearing 
was  obtained  for  Dr.  Shaw,  who  was  accorded  every  courtesy  and 
received  with  heartiest  enthusiasm  by  the  Governors  and  after- 
wards by  their  wives.  In  Kentucky  Governor  Wilson  was  largely 
instrumental  in  securing  the  hearing;  in  New  Jersey,  although  the 
governor  is  also  a  Wilson,  he  is  unfortunately  an  "anti,"  but  by 
the  efforts  of  Governor  Shafroth  of  Colorado,  a  place  on  the  pro- 
gram was  made  for  Dr.  Shaw. 

Two  valuable  compilations  have  been  made,  one  showing  how 
many  times  and  when  and  what  sort  of  suffrage  bills  have  been 
introduced  into  Legislatures  in  the  last  ten  years,  and  the  other 
showing  the  exact  procedure  necessary  for  amending  the  constitu- 
tions of  the  various  States.  Under  the  direction  of  Mrs.  Catharine 
Waugh  McCulloch,  our  legal  adviser,  a  series  of  questions  on  the 
legal  status  of  women  has  been  printed  and  sent  with  letters  to  the 
various  States.  The  returns  will  be  published  in  pamphlet  form. 
At  the  suggestion  of  Miss  Clay,  letters  were  sent  to  all  members 
of  Congress  urging  their  effort  to  include  women  as  electors  in  the 
bill  providing  for  the  direct  election  of  U.  S.  Senators.  Copies  of 
Hampton's  Magazine  for  April  were  sent  to  special  lists  of  people 
in  Wisconsin,  Kansas  and  California,  which  contained  Mrs.  Rheta 
Childe  Dorr's  article  on  Colorado  Women  Voters. 

We  have  published  30,000  copies  of  the  "What  to  Do"  leaflet, 
which  have  been  sent  out  gratis,  some  States  applying  for  3,000  at 
once;  California  sent  for  10,000  and  evidently  learned  "What  to  Do" 
effectively.  We  issued  45,000  of  the  little  convention  seals  and  the 
supply  has  hardly  held  out.  The  drawing  for  the  seal  was  the  con- 
tribution of  Miss  Charlotte  Shetter  of  New  Jersey.  Through  the 
equally  generous  cooperation  of  Mrs.  Helen  Hoy  Greeley  of 
New  York  we  have  been  able  to  give  free  of  charge  for  use  on 
letters  13,000  "suffrage  stamps."  Another  bit  of  cooperation  in 
both  labor  and  money  was  that  between  headquarters  and  Mrs.  Ray- 
mond Brown,  president  of  the  Woman  Suffrage  Study  Club,  who 
with  members  of  her  association  addressed  and  sent  to  about  a  thou- 
sand presidents  of  suffrage  clubs  all  over  the  country  two  copies 
of  Miss  Blackwell's  striking  editorial  in  answer  to  Richard  Barry's 
slanderous  statements  about  Colorado,  together  with  a  note  asking 
each  president  to  send  one  copy  to  the  editor  of  the  Ladies'  Home 
Journal,  in  which  Barry's  article  had  appeared,  with  her  own  per- 
sonal protest,  and  the  other  to  the  editor  of  some  paper  in  her 
vicinity.  The  result  was  a  perfect  avalanche  of  protests  to  the  editor 
of  the  unfortunate  magazine. 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQII  315 

The  treasurer's  report  was  divided  between  Mrs.  Harriet  Tay- 
lor Upton,  who  had  resigned  the  office,  and  Miss  Jessie  Ashley, 
her  successor,  and  it  showed  the  receipts  from  all  sources,  Jan- 
uary, 1910,  to  January,  1911,  to  have  been  $43,844;  the  dis- 
bursements, $34,838.  Pledges  were  made  at  this  convention  to 
the  amount  of  $12,251,  including  $1,000  from  Mrs.  George 
Howard  Lewis  of  Buffalo;  $1,000  from  Mrs.  Donald  Hooker  of 
Baltimore,  and  $3,000  by  Dr.  Shaw  from  ?  contributor  not 
named. 

Miss  Agnes  E.  Ryan,  business  manager  of  the  Woman's  Jowr- 
nal,  reported  the  many  changes  made  in  the  paper  during  the 
year  since  it  became  the  official  organ  of  the  association  and  the 
removal  of  its  offices  from  Beacon  Street  to  585  Bolyston  Street 
in  the  building  with  the  Massachusetts  and  Boston  woman  suf- 
frage associations  and  the  New  England  Woman's  Club.  The 
advertising  had  increased  from  $256  a  year  to  $852  and  the 
circulation  from  4,000  to  nearly  15,000.  The  methods  by  which 
the  increase  had  been  obtained  were  described.  The  contract 
with  the  association  was  renewed. 

Miss  Caroline  I.  Reilly  gave  her  first  report  as  chairman  of 
the  Press  Committee  in  the  course  of  which  she  said : 

The  annual  reports  of  the  National  Press  Bureau  formerly  made 

liy  Miss  Elizabeth  J.  Hauser,  who  so  long  and  ably  conducted  this 

:  imcnt,  had  reached  so  high  a  standard  and  the  foundation  laid 

hv  her  was  so  substantial  and  solid  that  it  was  possible  for  us  to 

inert  the  new  conditions  and  increased  volume  of  work  with  sys- 

MC  and   liusiness-like  methods.     Then  came  Mrs.   Ida   ITusted 

Harper,  with  her  literary  ability  and  historical  knowledge,  to  open 

a   new   field    for  suffrage  propaganda   through   the   magazines,   the 

-dicates  and  Sunday  papers  in  the  large  cities.     Thus  you 

will  see  that  when  the  present  chairman  took  charge  of  the  bureau 

it    had   hern   so  splendidly  developed  by  her  predecessors  that  she 

1  only  hard  work  and  plenty  of  it. 

I  hiring  the  eighteen  months  since  the  last  convention  the  records 

that  we  have  written  5,584  letters.    We  are  in  constant  receipt 

of  letters  from  all  over  the  world  written  in  various  languages,  the 

taining    inquiries    regarding   suffrage   methods    in    this 

nd  what  has  been  accomplished  by  our  enfranchised  women. 

We    have    furnished    material    for    one    hundred    magazine 

les,    which    have    appeared    in    various    periodicals.  .  .  .  Our 

list  of  n<  r  syndicates  has  increased  to  nine,  some  of  which 

international,  and  since  the  last  convention  we  have  furnished 


HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

them  1,314  articles,  many  by  special  request.  Every  one  of  these 
syndicates  asked  for  detailed  accounts  of  this  convention,  together 
with  personal  sketches  of  the  officers  and  speakers.  The  Asso- 
ciated Press  has  sent  out  suffrage  news  as  occasion  warranted  and 
has  solicited  our  cooperation.  .  .  .  Last  December  we  resumed 
the  weekly  press  bulletin  and  since  then  we  have  mailed  31,200. 
These  weekly  items  are  regularly  mailed  to  press  chairmen  and 
newspapers  in  forty-one  States,  also  to  Canada,  Alaska  and  Cuba, 
and  every  day  brings  requests  for  more.  A  number  of  monthly 
pamphlets  issued  by  women's  clubs  use  them.  Papers  devoted  to 
the  labor  movement  publish  them  regularly  and  very  often  give 
helpful  suggestions.  The  bureau  is  impressed  with  the  fact  that 
in  future  the  farm  papers  should  receive  serious  consideration. 
.  .  .  One  of  these,  with  a  circulation  of  nearly  400,000  has  offered 
us  space  for  suffrage  articles  to  be  supplied  regularly  and  this 
work  should  be  carefully  looked  after,  especially  in  agricultural  States 
like  Kansas  and  Wisconsin,  where  campaigns  are  now  in  progress. 

We  have  responded  to  fifty  requests  from  schools  and  colleges 
for  information  to  be  utilized  in  debates,  lectures  and  school  maga- 
zines. .  .  .  The  records  show  that  we  have  replied  to  1,214  ad- 
verse editorials  and  letters  in  papers  from  Maine  to  California  and 
secured  space  in  New  York  City  papers  for  2,163  notices  and  articles 
without  any  charge  to  us.  We  have  received  and  read  62,519  clip- 
pings gathered  for  us  by  the  press  clipping  bureau,  0.163  of  them 
cut  from  New  York  papers  alone.  Representatives  of  newspapers 
and  magazines  from  the  following  countries  have  come  to  us  for 
material:  Australia,  Finland,  Alaska,  France,  Germany,  F.ngland, 
Sweden,  Norway.  Japan,  Wales,  Denmark,  Russia,  Italy,  Mexico, 
Spain,  Holland,  Hawaii,  South  America  and  Canada,  as  well  as  from 
nearly  every  State  in  the  Union.  A  number  of  Sunday  papers  in 
the  large  cities  are  devoting  weekly  space  to  suffrage  departments, 
beginning  by  publishing  the  press  items  and  gradually  expanding. 
.  .  .  Some  of  the  more  serious  magazines  have  recently  solicited 
our  cooperation,  notably  the  Literary  Digest  and  the  American  Re- 
view of  Reviews,  whose  political  editor  called  personally  a  few  days 
ago  and  requested  that  we  send  him  regularly  such  suffrage  news  as 
we  may  have  at  hand,  that  the  items  may  be  embodied  in  reports 
of  the  world's  political  news.  Another  important  feature  of  the 
work  of  the  bureau  consists  in  furnishing  material  to  press  chair- 
men and  others  to  be  used  in  answering  attacks  on  suffrage  in  their 
local  papers. 

Miss  Reilly  complimented  the  work  of  the  press  chairmen  in 
the  States,  speaking  especially  of  Mrs.  D.  D.  Terry  of  Little  Rock, 
who  furnished  material  to  seventy-five  papers  in  Arkansas  and 
to  a  syndicate  reaching  the  weekly  papers  of  the  southwest. 

A  conference  was  held  in  the  afternoon  on  the  Proper  Function 
of  the  National  Association,  led  by  Dr.  M.  Carey  Thomas  of 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1 9!  I  317 

Bryn  Mawr  and  Dr.  Anna  E.  Blount  of  Chicago.  The  first  eve- 
ning of  the  convention  was  designated  as  Jubilee  Night  and  Dr. 
Shaw  said  in  beginning  her  president's  address :  "The  eighteen 
months  which  have  elapsed  since  our  last  convention  have  been 
permeated  with  suffrage  activity.  Never  in  an  equal  length  of 
time  has  there  been  such  rapid  progress  in  the  enlistment  of 
recruits  and  the  development  of  active  service.  By  an  aggressive 
out-of-door  campaign  the  message  has  been  carried  to  a  not 
unwilling  people.  Never  was  there  a  more  signal  example  of 
manly  loyalty  to  womanhood  than  in  the  three-to-one  vote  for 
woman  suffrage  in  Washington  in  1910.  Following  close  upon 
it  comes  the  signal  victory  of  California,  where  as  never  before 
were  the  friends  and  foes  of  woman's  freedom  so  equally  lined 
up.  Wherever  vice,  corruption  and  cupidity  held  sway,  there 
the  vote  for  woman  suffrage  was  weak.  Wherever  refinement, 
education,  industry  and  self-respecting  manhood  and  womanhood 
dwelt,  there  the  vote  in  favor  of  women  was  strong.  These  are 
the  battles  in  this  war  for  justice  which  have  been  victorious. 
Others  have  been  and  are  being  fought  at  the  present  time  with 
equal  courage." 

Graphic  accounts  were  given  of  the  successful  campaign  in 
Washington,  where  the  amendment  was  carried  in  every  county, 
by  Mrs.  Caroline  M.  Smith  of  Seattle,  Mrs.  E.  A.  Shores  of 
Tacoma  and  Mrs.  May  Arkwright  Hutton  of  Spokane;  and  of 
the  one  in  California  by  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Lowe  Watson,  president 
of  the  State  Suffrage  Association,  and  J.  H.  Braly,  president  of 
the  Political  Equality  League.  Later  Miss  Frances  Wills  of 
Los  Angeles;  Miss  Florence  Dwight  of  Pasadena;  Mrs.  Mary  E. 
Ring-rose,  Mrs.  Mary  S.  Sperry  of  San  Francisco,  former  State 
president,  and  Mrs.  Rose  French  were  introduced.  Mrs.  Watson 
in  an  eloquent  address  showed  how  their  success  was  the  cul- 
mination of  the  campaign  of  1896  and  the  result  of  the  years  of 
hard  and  constant  work  between  that  time  and  the  present. 

When  Mr.  Braly  began  speaking  he  presented  the  association 
with  the  State  flag  of  California,  saying:  "The  grizzly  bear  is 
the  1  ill  American  beasts.  On  the  tlag,  you  see,  he  has  a 

beautiful  golden  star  above  his  head — the  star  of  hope  that 
our  I'il^rim  fathers  across  the  sea  finally  coming  to  rest 


HISTORY   OF   WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

over  the  Golden  State.  There  that  star  of  hope  and  progress 
and  freedom  hung  for  more  than  sixty  years,  until  Oct.  10,  1911, 
when  it  flamed  forth  with  a  wondrous  brilliancy  and  started  all 
the  bells  of  heaven  ringing."  He  predicted  that  Oregon,  Arizona 
and  Nevada  would  soon  follow  the  example  of  California  and 
said :  "Then  the  star  will  cross  the  Rocky  Mountains  and  in  will 
come  the  States  of  the  Middle  West!"  Continuing  the  story 
the  speaker  said: 

In  January,  1910,  the  last  meeting  of  the  last  suffrage  society 
in  Southern  California  was  held  in  the  parlor  of  the  Angeles  Hotel 
in  the  city  of  Los  Angeles.  The  women  were  discouraged  and 
dispirited.  I  rode  home  alone  in  my  car,  my  heart  weeping  and 
praying  a  prayer  ten  miles  long,  that  being  the  distance  to  my  home 
in  Pasadena.  That  night  I  had  a  vision.  I  saw  in  panorama  a 
future  glory  of  my  beloved  State.  I  saw  well-kept  cities  and  churches 
filled  with  devout  worshippers;  I  saw  thousands  of  bright-faced, 
happy  children  going  to  clean  schoolhouses  and  romping  and  laugh- 
ing in  their  playgrounds.  I  saw,  oh,  so  many  sweet  and  happy 
homes!  I  saw  no  saloons,  no  drunken  men,  no  places  of  vice.  I 
saw  men  and  women,  husbands  and  wives,  going  up  to  the  ballot 
booths,  laughing  and  chatting  as  they  went  and  placing  their  ballots 
in  the  boxes.  Everything  seemed  beautiful.  The  vision  passed  and 
I  said  to  myself,  "There  it  is — the  women  of  California  will  have 
the  ballot  and  the  blessings  and  glory  will  follow." 

Now  we  come  to  the  beginning  of  the  movement  that  has  had 
much  to  do  in  the  enfranchisement  of  the  women  of  California.  I 
trust  you  will  entirely  lose  sight  of  the  speaker  and  see  only  the 
great  cause  away  out  in  the  West.  A  man  sat  in  his  room  one  night 
with  pencil  and  paper  before  him.  He  began  to  write  names  of  big 
men  who  ought  to  take  an  interest  in  the  pending  suffrage  cam- 
paign. He  wrote  down  about  one  hundred  names  and  the  next  day 
started  out  alone  to  see  them.  Then  followed  two  months  of  patient, 
personal  work  and  about  seventy  good  men  and  true  had  signed 
the  league  membership  form,  which  read  as  follows:  "The  under- 
signed hereby  associate  themselves  together  under  the  name  and  style 
of  the  Political  Equality  League  of  California  for  the  purpose  of 
securing  political  equality  and  suffrage  without  distinction  on  ac- 
count of  sex."  On  April  5,  1910,  they  met  around  a  banquet  table 
and  organized  the  league.  Then  followed  earnest,  enthusiastic,  im- 
promptu speaking  by  many  of  the  members.  .  .  . 

Mr.  Braly  told  of  going  to  Washington  to  the  national  con- 
vention, visiting  suffrage  headquarters  in  New  York  and  return- 
ing home  in  June,  when  "immediately  the  league's  Board  of  Gov- 
ernors, consisting  of  nine  men,  met  and  proceeded  to  add  to  it 


NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQII  319 


nine  splendid  women.  Headquarters  were  fitted  up  and  business 
began."  He  described  the  vigorous  work  of  their  Legislative 
Committee  with  the  result  that  every  member  from  the  nine 
southern  counties  went  to  the  Legislature  pledged  to  vote  for 
submitting  a  suffrage  amendment. 

Saturday  morning  was  partly  occupied  by  a  conference  on  How 
to  Reach  the  Uninterested,  in  which  fifteen  members  from  as 
many  States  took  an  animated  part;  and  by  one  on  Propaganda, 
led  by  Mrs.  Grace  Gallatin  Seton  (Conn.)  and  Miss  Mary  Winsor 
(Penn.).  Throughout  all  the  daytime  sessions  valuable  and  in- 
teresting reports  on  the  work  in  the  different  States  were  read. 
The  proposed  new  constitution  was  vigorously  discussed  when- 
ever the  time  permitted.  The  delegation  from  Illinois  came  with 
a  request  that  the  national  headquarters  be  removed  to  Chicago 
but  the  convention  decided  to  have  them  remain  in  New  York. 

The  College  Equal  Suffrage  League  held  a  business  meeting 
in  the  Seelbach  Hotel  at  ten  o'clock  followed  by  a  luncheon  for 
college  and  professional  women.  The  president  of  the  League, 
Dr.  M.  Carey  Thomas,  president  of  Bryn  Mawr  College,  was 
toast  mistress  and  Dr.  Shaw  and  Miss  Jane  Addams  were  guests 
of  honor.  One  especially  enjoyable  feature  was  Miss  Anita  C. 
Whitney's  account  of  the  excellent  work  done  by  the  College 
League  of  California  in  the  recent  campaign.  [For  all  the  above 
California  reports  see  chapter  for  that  State  in  Volume  VI.] 

The  report  of  the  National  Congressional  Committee  by  its 
chairman,  Miss  Emma  M.  Gillett,  a  lawyer  of  Washington,  D.  C., 
showed  a  decided  advance  in  political  work  over  all  preceding 
years.  She  had  placed  on  her  committee  Mrs.  Upton,  Mrs.  Eliza- 
beth Kiiitf  Kllirott  (  Md.),  Miss  Mary  Cray  Peck  (N.  Y.),  Mrs. 
Katharine  Reed  Balentine  (Me.  and  Cal.)  and  Miss  Belle  Kearney 
(Miss.).  State  presidents  were  invited  to  cooperate  and  lists  of 
the  nominees  for  Congress  in  their  Stales  were  sent  to  them. 
The  Democratic  National  Committee  furnished  the  names  of  its 
nominees;  the  Republican  National  Committee  practically  refused 
to  do  so.  Letters  asking  their  opinion  on  woman  suffrage  were 
sent  to  378  Democratic  and  293  Republican  candidates;  135  of 
the  former  and  XX  of  the  latter  answered;  «>3  Democrat^  and  65 
Republican-  wen-  in  favor  of  full  or  partial  Suffrage  for  women; 


32O  HISTORY   OF   WOMAN   SUFFRAGE 

13  of  the  former  and  one  of  the  latter  were  opposed;  29  and 
23  non-committal.  The  letters  received  were  almost  without 
exception  of  a  pleasant  nature.  The  District  Suffrage  Associa- 
tion paid  a  stenographer  and  rent  of  headquarters  for  the  work 
of  sixteen  months.  Contributions  of  only  $214  were  received  for 
it,  $100  from  U.  S.  Senator  Isaac  Stevenson  of  Wisconsin. 

The  report  on  official  endorsements  of  conventions  showed 
the  usual  large  number,  political,  religious,  agricultural,  labor,  etc. 
Mrs.  Dennett  estimated  that  such  endorsements  had  now  been 
given  by  organizations  representing  26,000,000  members. 

Mrs.  Pauline  Steinem,  chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Educa- 
tion, reported  sub-committees  in  sixteen  States  working  for  suit- 
able text  books,  encouraging  the  placing  of  women  on  school 
boards,  organizing  mothers'  and  parents'  clubs,  offering  prizes 
for  essays  on  woman  suffrage,  encouraging  methods  of  self- 
government  in  schools,  etc.  The  chairman  for  New  Jersey  an- 
nounced that  Governor  Woodrow  Wilson  approved  of  School 
suffrage  and  that  State  Senator  Joseph  S.  Frelinghuysen,  presi- 
dent of  the  State  Board  of  Education,  recommended  it  in  his 
last  report. 

College  Women's  Evening,  as  always,  attracted  one  of  the 
largest  audiences  of  the  week.  In  the  course  of  an  address  on 
What  Women  Might  Accomplish  with  the  Franchise,  Miss  Jane 
Addams  said: 

Sydney  Webb  points  out  that  while  the  wages  of  British  working 
men  have  increased  from  50  to  100  per  cent,  during  the  past  sixty 
years  the  wages  of  working  women  have  remained  stationary.  The 
exclusion  from  all  political  rights  of  five  million  working  women 
in  England  is  not  only  a  source  of  industrial  weakness  and  poverty 
to  themselves  but  a  danger  to  English  industry.  Working  women 
can  not  hope  to  hold  their  own  in  industrial  matters  where  their 
interests  may  clash  with  those  of  their  enfranchised  fellow  workers 
or  employers.  They  must  force  an  entrance  into  the  ranks  of 
responsible  citizens,  in  whose  hands  lies  the  solution  to  the  problems 
which  are  at  present  convulsing  the  industrial  world. 

Much  of  the  new  demand  for  political  enfranchisement  arises 
from  a  passionate  desire  to  reform  the  unsatisfactory  and  degrading 
social  conditions  which  are  responsible  for  so  much  wrong  doing. 
The  fate  of  all  the  unfortunate,  the  suffering,  the  criminal,  is  daily 
forced  upon  woman's  attention  in  painful  and  intimate  ways.  It  is 
inevitable  that  humanitarian  women  should  wish  to  vote  concerning 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1 9!  I  321 

all  the  regulations  of  public  charities  which  have  to  do  with  the  care 
of  dependent  children  and  the  Juvenile  Courts,  pensions  to  mothers 
in  distress,  care  of  the  aged  poor,  care  of  the  homeless,  conditions 
of  jails  and  penitentiaries,  gradual  elimination  of  the  social  evil,  ex- 
tended care  of  young  girls,  suppression  of  gambling,  regulation  of 
billboard  advertising  and  other  things. 

Perhaps  the  woman  who  leads  the  domestic  life  is  more  in  need 
of  the  franchise  than  any  other.  One  could  easily  name  the  regula- 
tions of  the  State  that  define  her  status  in  the  community.  Among 
them  are  laws  regulating  marriage  and  divorce,  defining  the  legiti- 
macy of  children,  defining  married  women's  property  rights,  exemp- 
tion and  homestead  laws  which  protect  her  when  her  husband  is 
bankrupt.  Then  there  are  the  laws  regulating  her  functions  as 
mother  to  her  children. 

Dr.  Thomas,  who  presided,  spoke  on  What  Woman  Suffrage 
Means  to  College  Women.  Only  fragmentary  newspaper  re- 
ports are  available  but  she  said  in  beginning :  "We  are  entering 
an  age  of  social  reconstruction  and  general  betterment  and  no 
class  today  are  spending  more  of  their  strength  and  energy  to 
eradicate  the  wrongs  which  have  resulted  from  a  defective  system 
that  denies  woman  her  rights,  than  the  class  of  women  who  have 
received  a  college  education.  These  efforts,  however,  amount 
to  little  as  long  as  the  franchise  is  denied  compared  to  what  is  in 
the  reach  of  possibility.  Our  efforts  have  been  rewarded  to  a 
great  extent  but  until  woman  has  come  into  her  own  and  is  recog- 
nized and  treated  as  a  citizen  of  the  State  on  an  equal  footing 
with  man,  our  work  will  continue  to  be  a  mere  scratching  on 
the  surface.  Between  30  and  40  per  cent,  of  the  college  women 
today  are  supporting  themselves.  It  is  the  educated  woman  who 
is  making  the  fight  for  equality  and  our  hope  lies  in  education, 
the  education  of  both  men  and  women." 

Dr.  Shaw  presided  over  the  Sunday  afternoon  meeting  at 
which  four  notable  addresses  were  made.  Miss  Mary  Johnston's 
subject  was  Wanted,  an  Architect,  and  in  eloquent  words  she 
,ved  how  woman  might  be  developed  physically,  mentally  and 
spiritually,  with  the  conclusion :  "She  can  do  what  she  wills  and 
now  the  thing  above  all  others  to  be  desired  is  that  she  wills  to 
act.  The  time  has  passed  when  indifference  on  her  part  will  be 
tolerated.  Women  must  rouse  themselves  to  action,  the  crying* 
needs  of  the  hour  demand  it.  With  the  ballot  in  our  hands  and 
with  the  will  to  produce  U-ttcr  conditions  our  achievements  will 


HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

be  unsurpassed."  Professor  Sophonisba  Breckinridge,  dean  of 
the  Junior  College  of  Women  in  Chicago  University,  considered 
with  keen  analysis  woman  suffrage  in  its  relation  to  the  interests 
of  the  wage-earning  woman.  The  Rev.  Caroline  Bartlett  Crane 
(Mich.)  presented  A  New  Phase  of  Home  Rule  for  Cities,  say- 
ing in  conclusion :  "Politics  at  its  best  is  a  noble  profession  in 
which  we  earnestly  desire  to  engage.  Woman's  age-long  ex- 
perience in  home-making  and  mothering  of  children  has  fitted 
her  for  politics  just  as  well  as  have  man's  activities  in  trade 
fitted  him." 

Dr.  Shaw  introduced  Dr.  Harvey  W.  Wiley,  Chief  of  the 
Government  Bureau  of  Chemistry,  as  "the  man  who  is  trying  to 
get  us  women  a  fair  chance  to  live,"  and  he  jokingly  answered 
that  in  view  of  the  swift  advance  of  the  woman  suffrage  move- 
ment it  was  a  question  whether  men  would  continue  to  have  a 
chance  to  live.  His  topic  was  Woman's  Influence  in  Public 
Affairs,  "which,"  he  said,  "are  the  summing  up  of  private  af- 
fairs." In  his  address  he  said: 

I  am  not  a  newcomer  myself.  My  first  suffrage  address  was 
made  in  1877.  I  believe  it  is  almost  useless  to  work  on  us  old 
folks.  The  reforms  in  our  politics  and  ethics  must  begin  with  the 
children.  Educate  them  to  the  right  and  justice  of  woman  suffrage 
even  before  they  are  born.  Instill  the  idea  in  them  at  school ;  see 
that  they  get  the  proper  kind  of  an  education.  Women  have  done 
wonders  in  securing  our  splendid  system  of  public  schools.  .  .  . 
Women  have  intellect  enough  and  some  to  spare.  What  we  want 
is  more  ethics.  A  sense  of  justice  and  right  is  just  as  important 
to  this  country  as  intellectual  strength.  Women  have  the  instinct 
of  right.  I  have  never  known  an  organized  body  of  women  to  be 
on  the  wrong  side  of  a  public  question,  although  as  individuals  wo- 
men sometimes  get  the  wrong  point  of  view,  just  as  men  are  prone 
to  do.  I  want  equal  suffrage  because  it  is  right.  I  want  it  also 
because  it  would  have  a  great  effect  on  woman's  influence  in  public 
affairs  and  would  help  powerfully  to  get  the  right  thing  done.  The 
very  fact  that  woman  had  the  vote  would  be  a  restraining  and  ele- 
vating influence.  The  women  have  been  a  tower  of  strength  to 
every  official  in  this  country  who  has  tried  to  do  his  duty.  Take 
the  question  of  pure  food:  I  could  tell  you  by  the  hour  of  the 
support  that  I  have  had  from  women  and  women's  organizations.  I 
should  despair  if  I  thought  that  the  women  did  not  stand  for 
pure  food. 

We  have  in  this  country  problems  which  I  almost  fear  to  face. 
Among  them  is  the  great  problem  of  the  relation  between  the  wage- 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQII  323 

earner  and  the  capitalist;  that  of  the  distribution  of  the  necessities 
of  life;  that  of  the  congestion  in  the  cities  and  depopulation  of  the 
country  districts.  These  and  many  others  will  take  all  the  wisdom 
and  sympathetic  insight  of  men  and  women  together  to  solve  them. 
I  am  glad  that  men  are  to  have  the  help  of  women.  They  are  just 
entering  on  their  career  of  greater  usefulness  in  public  affairs.  With 
the  ballot  in  their  hands  they  will  be  endowed  with  a  power  much 
stronger  than  they  have  ever  had  before  and  they  will  wield  it,  I 
am  sure,  on  the  side  of  right  and  justice. 

Sunday  evening  the  officers  of  the  association  were  "at  home" 
to  delegates,  speakers  and  friends  in  the  parlors  of  the  Hotel 
Seelbach. 

Mrs.  Carrie  Chapman  Catt,  who,  to  the  great  happiness  of 
suffragists  on  several  continents,  had  entirely  recovered  her 
health,  was  now  making  a  trip  around  the  world  in  the  interest 
of  the  International  Woman  Suffrage  Alliance,  of  which  she  was 
president.  At  one  session  a  letter  from  her  was  read,  dated  at 
Kimberly,  South  Africa,  which  was  enthusiastically  received.  It 
said  in  part : 

At  the  very  moment  that  you  will  be  planning  the  work  for  the 
sixty-third  year  of  the  American  suffrage  campaign,  the  suffragists 
of  this  new-east  of  all  nations  will  be  sitting  in  their  first  national 
convention  at  Durban,  the  metropolis  of  Natal.  The  movement  here 
is  young  but  is  wholly  unlike  the  beginnings  of  the  campaigns  in 
England  and  America,  for  our  revered  pioneers  fought  their  battle 
against  the  prejudice  and  intolerance  of  their  time  for  the  women 

e  whole  world.  These  women  are  beginning  at  the  very  point 
where  we  of  the  older  movements  find  ourselves  today.-  The  old- 
time  arguments  are  not  heard  and  here,  as  everywhere,  expediency 
and  political  advantage  are  the  causes  of  opposition. 

No  two  cities  could  be  more  unlike  than  Louisville  and  Durban. 
The  latter  lies  in  a  tropical  country  with  its  buildings  buried  in 
masses  of  luxuriant  and  brilliant  flora,  all  unfamiliar  to  American 
The  delegates  will  look  out  upon  the  placid  waters  of  the 
Indian  Ocean  and  will  ride  to  and  fro  from  their  meetings  in 
rickshas  drawn  by  Zulus  in  the  most  fantastic  dress  imaginable,  the 
chief  feature  being  long  horns  bound  upon  the  head.  In  Louisville 
it  will  be  autumn,  in  Natal  it  will  be  spring.  Yet,  dissimilar  as  are 

cenes  of  these  two  conventions,  the  women  composing  them  will 
be  actuated  by  the  same  motives,  inspired  by  the  same  hopes  and 
working  to  the  same  end.  The  rebellion  fomented  in  that  little 
Seneca  Tails  con  vent  ion  has  overspread  the  wide  earth  and  from 
the  frigid  lands  above  the  North  Polar  ( 'iivle  to  the  most  southerly 
point  of  the  Southern  Temperate  /one.  the  mothers  of  our  race  are 

.ing  to  the  new  (all  to  duty  which  these  new  times  are  uttering. 


324  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

It  is  glorious  to  be  a  suffragist  today,  with  all  the  hard  times  behind 
us  and  certain  victory  before. 

May  wisdom  guide  us  to  do  the  right  thing;  may  love  unite  us; 
may  charity  temper  our  differences  and  may  we  never  forget  the 
obligations  we  owe  the  blessed  pathfinders  of  our  movement  who 
made  the  present  position  of  our  cause  possible ! 

The  election  resulted  in  several  changes  in  the  board  of  officers. 
Dr.  Shaw  was  re-elected.  Mrs.  McCulloch  declined  to  stand  for 
re-election  as  first  vice-president  and  Miss  Gordon  as  second  and 
Miss  Addams  and  Professor  Breckinridge  were  chosen.  For  cor- 
responding secretary  Mrs.  Dennett  was  re-elected.  Mrs.  Stewart 
withdrew  as  recording  secretary  and  Mrs.  Susan  W.  Fitzgerald 
(Mass.)  was  elected.  Miss  Ashley  was  re-elected  treasurer. 
Mrs.  Robert  M.  LaFollette  was  elected  first  auditor  and  Mrs. 
James  Lees  Laidlaw  (N.  Y.)  second.  Later  Mrs.  LaFollette 
declined  to  serve  and  Mrs.  Katharine  Dexter  McCormick  was 
appointed  by  the  board. 

In  all  preceding  conventions  there  had  been  such  unanimity 
in  the  choice  of  officers  that  the  secretary  had  been  able  to  cast 
the  informal  ballot  for  the  election.  This  new  division  of  senti- 
ment was  frequently  illustrated  during  the  meetings  and  indicated 
that  an  element  had  come  into  the  movement,  which,  as  usual 
with  newcomers,  wanted  a  change  to  accord  with  its  ideas.  This 
was  particularly  noticeable  in  the  discussion  of  the  proposed 
new  constitution  but  the  differences  of  opinion  were  peaceably 
adjusted  by  compromise. 

After  the  election  Mrs.  McCormick,  who  had  recently  come 
into  close  touch  with  the  National  Association,  spoke  on  the 
Effect  of  Suffrage  Work  on  Women  Themselves,  saying  in  part : 
"So  much  attention  has  been  given  to  the  growth  and  develop- 
ment of  the  movement  for  woman  suffrage  that  the  effect  on 
the  women  themselves  has  been  lost  sight  of  or  has  been  little 
considered  but  today  it  is  becoming  clear  that  the  cause  of  suf- 
frage is  more  valuable  to  the  individual  woman  than  she  is  to 
the  cause.  The  reason  is  that  this  movement  has  the  great  though 
silent  force  of  evolution  behind  it,  impelling  it  slowly  forward; 
whereas  the  individual  is  largely  dependent  for  her  development 
on  her  own  powers  and  especially  on  those  expressions  of  life 
with  wnich  she  brings  herself  into  contact.  The  woman  suffrage 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQII  325 

movement  offers  the  broadest  field  for  contact  with  life.  It 
offers  cooperation  of  the  most  effective  kind  with  others;  it  offers 
responsibility  in  the  life  of  the  community  and  the  nation;  it 
offers  opportunity  for  the  most  varied  and  far-reaching  service. 
To  come  into  contact  with  this  movement  means  to  some  in- 
dividuals to  enter  a  larger  world  of  thought  than  they  had  known 
before;  to  others  it  means  approaching  the  same  world  in  a  more 
real  and  effective  way.  To  all  it  gives  a  wider  horizon  in  the 

-nition  of  one  fact — that  the  broadest  human  aims  and  the 
highest  human  ideals  are  an  integral  part  of  the  lives  of  women." 
The  report  of  the  Committee  on  Church  Work  by  its  chair- 
man, Mrs.  Mary  E.  Craigie,  (N.  Y.)  began:     "It  is  estimated- 
that  there  is  in  the  United  States  a  total  church  membership 

\'517>317  persons.  It  would  mean  a  great  deal  to  the  woman 
suffrage  cause  if  this  great  organized  force,  representing  the 
most  thoughtful  and  influential  men  and  women  of  every  com- 
munity, could  be  brought  to  endorse  it  and  work  for  it.  The 
experiences  of  this  committee  seem  to  prove  that  in  the  transition 
taking  place  in  the  world  of  religious  thought  this  is  the  most 
propitious  time  to  obtain  such  support."  She  gave  a  resume  of 
the  splendid  work  that  had  been  done  by  the  branch  committees 
in  the  various  States,  the  religious  gatherings  that  had  been  ad- 
dressed, often  resulting  in  the  adoption  of  a  resolution  for  woman 
suffrage,  and  the  hundreds  of  letters  sent  to  ministers  asking  for 
sermons  favorable  to  the  cause,  which  were  many  times  complied 
with.  She  closed  by  saying:  "It  needs  neither  figures  nor  argu- 
ment to  establish  the  fact  that  church  attendance  and  church 

hip  are  in  a  condition  of  decline.  It  is  a  critical  period  in 
the  history  of  the  church,  which  is  changing  from  the  exercise 
of  power  to  the  employment  of  influence,  and  iho  appeals  that  an- 
mming  to  the  churches  are  for  service  from  the  men  and  women 
who  are  their  real  strength.  The  church  is  not  appreciating  the 

irces  that  are  lying  dormant,  when  two-thirds  of  its  mem- 
bership— the  women — are  left  powerless  to  carry  on  the  moral 
and  ^ocial  reform  work,  because,  as  a  disfranchised  class  having 
no  political  status,  they  are  not  counted  as  a  potential  force." 

Miss   Elizabeth   TTpham    Vales    (R.    I.),   chairman,   made   the 
report  on  Presidential  suffrage.     The  report  of  the  Committee 


326  HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

on  Peace  and  Arbitration,  Mrs.  Lucia  Ames  Mead  (Mass.), 
chairman,  spoke  of  the  Ginn  Endowment  of  a  million  dollars 
for  the  World's  Peace  Foundation  and  of  Mr.  Carnegie's  great 
gift  of  ten  million  dollars,  creating  a  fund  to  secure  the  peace 
of  the  world.  It  told  of  the  vast  work  that  was  being  done  for 
peace  by  the  women  in  the  various  States  and  said :  'The  world 
for  the  first  time  has  seen  the  head  of  a  great  government  declare 
that  all  questions  between  nations  can  be  peacefully  settled. 
President  Taft's  noble  effort  to  secure  treaties  with  other  nations, 
to  ensure  arbitration  between  them  of  every  justiciable  question, 
should  command  the  gratitude  of  every  patriotic  woman.  I  had 
hoped  to  felicitate  you  on  the  ratification  of  these  treaties  by  the 
necessary  two-thirds  of  the  Senate,  but  in  chagrin  and  disap- 
pointment I  must  instead  appeal  to  you  to  endeavor  instantly  to 
create  such  public  sentiment  as  shall  result  in  December  in  the 
acceptance  of  the  treaties  without  amendment.  If  they  are  thus 
ratified  they  will  be  secured  not  only  with  Great  Britain  and 
France  but  certainly  Germany,  and  I  have  no  doubt  Japan  and 
most  other  nations  will  agree  to  identical  treaties." 

Miss  Florence  H.  Luscomb  (Mass.)  gave  an  interesting  re- 
port of  the  Sixth  Congress  of  the  International  Woman  Suf- 
frage Alliance  held  in  Stockholm  in  June,  1911.  [See  chapter 
on  the  Alliance.]  Mrs.  Agnes  M.  Jenks,  proxy  for  the  president 
of  the  New  Hampshire  association,  asked  assistance  in  getting 
a  clause  for  woman  suffrage  in  the  new  constitution  to  be  made 
for  that  State.  Conferences  were  held  throughout  the  week  on 
legislative  work,  district  organization,  publicity,  raising  money 
and  other  branches  of  the  vast  activities  of  the  association.  The 
convention  Monday  afternoon  adjourned  early  in  order  that  the 
members  might  enjoy  the  hospitality  of  the  Woman's  Club  of 
Louisville  at  a  "tea"  in  their  attractive  rooms,  and  at  another 
time  take  the  beautiful  Riverside  Drive.  One  evening  was  de- 
voted to  light  entertainment  with  two  suffrage  monologues  by 
Miss  Mar jorie  Benton  Cooke ;  a  suffrage  slide  talk  by  Mrs.  Fitz- 
gerald; a  clever  speech  portraying  the  results  if  women  voted, 
by  Miss  Inez  Milholland  (N.  Y.)  and  the  sparkling  play,  How 
the  Vote  Was  Won,  read  by  Miss  Fola  La  Folette.  A  striking 
address  was  given  one  afternoon  by  Mrs.  T.  P.  O'Connor,  an 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQII  327 

American  woman  but  long  a  resident  of  England  and  Ireland, 
who  took  for  her  subject,  Let  Our  Watchword  be  Unity. 

One  of  the  most  valuable  contributions  to  the  convention  was 
Mrs.  McCulloch's  report  as  Legal  Adviser.  This  was  the  result 
of  a  list  of  forty-four  questions  sent  to  presidents  of  State  suf- 
frage associations,  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Unions,  Fed- 
erations of  Clubs  and  leading  lawyers,  followed  up  by  many 
letters.  One  of  these  questions  related  to  the  guardianship  of 
children,  of  which  she  said: 

The  subject  of  the  guardianship  of  children  could  have  been  treated 
a  century  ago  in  a  few  words.  The  father  of  the  legitimate  child 
his  sole  guardian  and  the  mother  had  no  authority  or  right 
concerning  their  child  except  such  as  the  husband  gratuitously  al- 
lowed her.  She  had,  however,  all  the  duties  which  the  husband 
might  put  upon  her.  This  meant  that  the  husband  decided  about 
the  children's  food,  clothing,  medicine,  school,  church,  home,  asso- 
ciates, punishments,  pleasures  and  tasks  and  that  he  alone  could 
apprentice  a  child,  could  give  him  for  adoption  and  control  his 
wages.  Many  mothers  were  kept  in  happy  ignorance  of  such  unjust 
laws  because  their  husbands  voluntarily  yielded  to  them  much  of 
the  authority  over  the  children  but  this  was  not  so  in  all  families 
and  many  mothers  took  cases  to  Supreme  Courts,  protesting  against 
the  absolute  paternal  power.  When  mothers  learned  what  this 
sole  guardianship  meant  they  urged  legal  changes.  Our  present 
guardianship  laws,  very  few  alike,  show  how  women,  each  group 
alone  in  their  own  States,  have  struggled  to  mitigate  the  severest 
evils  of  sole  fatherly  guardianship,  especially  of  the  child's  person. 
This  to  mothers  was  more  important  than  the  guardianship  of  the 
child's  property. 

Perhaps  the  greatest  suffering  came  from  the  father's  power  to 

deed  or  to  bequeath  the  guardianship  to  a  stranger  and  away  from 

'lother.     Most  of  the  States  now  allow  a  surviving  mother  the 

nmrdianship  of  the  child's  person  with  certain  conditions.     Six 

ive  not  yet  thus  limited  the  father's  power  and  in  those 

where  the  guardianship  is  not  specifically  granted  to  the  surviving 

mother,  the  father's  sole  power  of  guardianship  covers  his  child  even 

unborn. 

The  report  gave  a  thorough  digest  of  these  guardianship  laws 
filling  eight  printed  pages  and  this  and  Mrs.  McCulloch's  digest 
of  other  laws  were  printed  in  the  Woman's  Journal  and  the  Hand- 
book of  the  convention. 

Miss  Alice  Henry  presented  greetings  from  the  National  Wo- 
mens'  Trade  Union  League;  Miss  Caroline  Lowe  from  the 
Women's  National  Committee  of  the  Socialist  Party ;  Mrs.  A.  M. 


328  mSTHKY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

Harrison  from  the  State  Federation  of  Woman's  Clubs;  Mrs. 
Charles  Campbell  of  Toronto  from  the  Canadian  Woman  Suf- 
frage Association;  Mrs.  W.  S.  Stubbs,  wife  of  the  Governor, 
and  Mrs.  William  A.  Johnston,  wife  of  the  Chief  Justice  and 
president  of  the  State  Suffrage  Association,  from  Kansas.  A 
letter  of  love  and  good  wishes  with  regrets  for  her  absence  was 
ordered  sent  to  Mrs.  Catt  and  one  of  affectionate  sympathy  to 
Mrs.  Susan  Look  Avery  (Ky.)  for  the  death  of  her  son,  which 
prevented  her  attendance.  During  the  convention  Mrs.  Lida 
Calvert  Obenchain,  author  of  Aunt  Jane  of  Kentucky,  and  Miss 
Eleanor  Breckenridge,  president  of  the  Texas  Suffrage  Associa- 
tion, were  introduced  and  said  a  few  words.  A  telegram  of 
greeting  was  read  from  Mrs.  Caroline  Meriwether  Goodlett,  a 
founder  of  the  Daughters  of  the  Confederacy. 

The  resolutions  were  presented  by  the  chairman,  Miss  Bertha 
Coover,  corresponding  secretary  of  the  Ohio  Suffrage  Associa- 
tion, the  committee  as  usual  consisting  of  one  member  from  each 
State  delegation.  They  urged  the  ratification  of  the  Arbitration 
Treaties  in  the  form  desired  by  President  Taft;  expressed 
sympathy  with  Finland  in  its  struggle  for  liberty;  endorsed  the 
proposed  Federal  Amendment  for  the  election  of  U.  S.  Senators 
by  popular  vote  and  demanded  that  women  should  have  part  in 
this  vote;  endorsed  the  campaign  for  pure  food  and  drugs; 
called  for  the  same  moral  standard  for  men  and  women  and  the 
same  legal  penalties  for  those  who  transgress  the  moral  law; 
asked  the  Government  to  erect  a  colossal  statue  of  Peace  at  the 
entrance  to  the  Panama  Canal,  and  there  were  others  on  minor 
points.  Greetings  and  appreciation  were  sent  to  "the  justice- 
loving  men  of  Washington  and  California,  whose  example  will 
be  an  inspiration  to  the  men  of  other  States."  Memorial  resolu- 
tions were  adopted  for  prominent  suffragists  who  had  died  during 
the  year,  among  them  Thomas  Wentworth  Higginson,  Dr.  Emily 
Blackwell,  Ellen  C.  Sargent,  William  A.  Keith,  the  artist;  Samuel 
Walter  Foss,  the  poet;  Lillian  M.  Hollister,  Elizabeth  Smith 
Miller,  Eliza  Wright  Osborne  and  Dr.  Annice  Jeffreys  Myers. 

There  was  a  long  resolution  of  thanks  for  the  courtesy  and 
hospitality  received  in  Louisville,  which  included  the  clergymen 


NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQII  329 

who  opened  the  sessions  with  prayer,  the  musicians,  who  gave 
their  services,  the  press  committees,  the  hostesses  and  others.1 
On  the  last  evening  with  a  large  audience  present  Mrs.  Desha 
Breckinridge  spoke  on  The  Prospect  for  Woman  Suffrage  in 
the  South.  "Although  Kentuckians  are  wont  to  boast  that  within 
these  borders  is  the  purest  Anglo-Saxon  blood  now  existing,  the 
spirit  of  their  ancestors  has  departed,"  she  said,  and  continued: 

Since  1838  Kentucky  has  retrograded.  An  effort  to  obtain  School 
suffrage  for  a  larger  class  of  women  has  brought  about  a  reactionary 
ure.  Kentucky  women  at  present  have  no  greater  political 
rights  than  the  women  of  Turkey  —  for  we  have  none  at  all  —  but 
the  action  of  certain  male  politicians  in  defeating  the  School  suffrage 
measure  in  the  last  two  Legislatures  has  really  been  of  advantage 
tr»  the  movement.  It  has  put  not  only  women  but  the  progressive 
men  of  the  State  into  fighting  trim.  .  .  .  The  opposition  of  the 
non-progressive  element  has  made  of  this  "scrap  of  suffrage"  a 
live,  political  issue.  It  is  likely  to  be  carried  in  the  next  Legisla- 
ture by  the  determination  of  the  better  men  of  the  State  even  more 
than  of  the  women,  and  the  fight  made  against  it  has  gone  far  to 
convince  both  that  the  full  franchise  should  be  granted  to  women. 
The  action  of  the  Democratic  party,  when  leadership  in  it  is  resumed 
by  the  best  element,  shows  a  realization  that  the  wishes  of  the  wo- 
men of  the  State  are  to  be  reckoned  with  and  that  the  friendship 
of  the  women,  which  may  he  gained  by  so  simple  an  act  of  justice  in 
their  favor,  is  a  political  asset  of  no  small  importance.  It  is  quite 
•hie  that  the  party  in  Kentucky  and  throughout  the  South  may 
eventually  realize  that  by  advocating  and  securing  suffrage  for  women 
it  may  hind  to  itself  for  many  years  to  come,  through  a  sense  of 
gratitude  and  loyalty,  a  large  number  of  women  voters,  just  as  the 
•;hlican  party  since  the  emancipation  of  the  negro  has  had  with- 
out effort  the  unquestioning  loyalty  of  thousands  of  negro  voters; 
although  the  women  would  never  vote  so  solidly  as  do  the  negroes, 
•hey  would  represent  a  much  more  thoughtful  and  inde- 
pendent body.  .  .  . 

After  showing  what  had  been  the  results  in  the  South  from 
admitting  a  great  body  of  illiterate  voters  she  said  : 

A  conference  of  southern  women  suffragists  at  Memphis  a  few 

ago.  in  asking  for  woman  suffrage  with  an  educational  quali- 

ointed  out  that  there  were  over  600,000  more  white  women 


1  Of  the  pres*  the  Woman's  Journal  said:      "The   Louisville  papers  gave  the  convcn- 
M    and    fair   reports    and    the    Herald   and    Times   had    editorials   declaring   woman 
suffrage    to   be    inevitable.     Colonel    Henry    Watterson    in    the    Courier-  Journal   struggled 
between  a  sincere  desire  to  be  courteous  and  hospitable  to  a  convention  of  distinguished 
women    mrrting  in  his  city  and  an   equally   sincere  belief  that  woman  suffrage  would  be 
*  bad  thing.     A  rousing  editorial  in  favor  of  it  appeared  in  Desha  Brcckinridge's  paper, 
the  LejritKjfnn   J  endtr. 
Ttn.  v 


33O  HISTORY    OF     WOMAN     Sl'FFRAGE 

in  the  southern  States  than  there  were  negroes,  men  and  women 
combined.  If  the  literate  women  of  the  South  were,  enfranchised 
it  would  insure  an  immense  preponderance  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  over 
the  African,  of  the  literate  over  the  illiterate,  and  would  make  legiti- 
mate limitation  of  the  male  suffrage  to  the  literate  easily  possible.  .  .  . 

Conditions  of  life  in  the  South  have  made  and  kept  Southerners 
individualists.  The  southern  man  believes  that  he  should  person- 
ally protect  his  women  folk  and  he  does  it.  He  is  only  now  slowly 
realizing  that,  with  the  coming  of  the  cotton  mills  and  other  manu- 
factories and  with  the  growth  of  the  cities,  there  has  developed  a 
great  body  of  women,  young  girls  and  children  who  either  have  no 
men  folk  to  protect  them  or  whose  men  folk,  because  of  ignorance 
and  economic  weakness,  are  not  able  to  protect  them  against  the 
greed  and  rapacity  of  employers  or  of  vicious  men.  It  is  a  shock 
to  the  pride  of  southern  chivalry  to  find  that  women  are  less  pro- 
tected by  the  laws  in  their  most  sacred  possessions  in  the  southern 
States  than  in  any  other  section  of  the  Union ;  that  the  States  which 
protect  their  women  most  effectively  are  those  in  which  women  have 
been  longest  a  part  of  the  electorate.  .  .  . 

In  the  community  business  of  caring  for  the  sick,  the  incurable, 
the  aged,  the  orphaned,  the  deficient  and  the  helpless,  women  of 
the  South  bear  already  so  important  a  part  that  to  withdraw  them 
from  public  affairs  would  mean  sudden  and  widespread  calamity. 
Women  in  the  South  are  in  politics,  in  the  higher  conception  of  the 
word.  "Politics."  says  P.ernard  Shaw,  "is  not  something  apart  from 
the  home  and  the  babies — it  is  home  and  the  babies."  Women  have 
long  since  gotten  into  politics  in  the  South  in  the  sense  that  they 
have  labored  for  the  passage  and  enforcement  of  legislation  in  the 
interest  of  public  health,  the  betterment  of  schools  and  the  pro- 
tection of  womanhood  and  childhood — for  the  preservation,  in  short, 
"of  home  and  the  babies." 

Mrs.  Emmeline  Pankhurst  of  England,  received  an  ovation 
when  she  rose  to  speak  and  soon  disarmed  prejudice  by  her 
dignified  and  womanly  manner.  She  began  by  pointing  out  the 
fallacy  that  the  women  of  the  United  States  had  so  many  rights 
and  privileges  that  they  did  not  need  the  suffrage  and  in  proof 
she  quoted  existing  laws  and  conditions  that  called  loudly  for  a 
change.  She  then  took  up  the  situation  in  Great  Britain  and 
explained  how  many  years  the  women  had  tried  to  get  the  fran- 
chise by  constitutional  methods  only  to  be  deceived  and  spurned 
by  the  Government.  She  told  how  at  last  a  small  handful  of 
them  started  a  revolution;  how  they  had  grown  into  an  army; 
how  they  had  suffered  imprisonment  and  brutality ;  how  the  suf- 
frage bill  had  again  and  again  passed  the  second  reading  by  im- 
mense majorities  and  the  Government  had  refused  to  let  it  come 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQII  33! 

to  a  final  vote.  "We  asked  Prime  Minister  Asquith  to  give  us 
a  time  for  this,"  she  said.  "For  eight  long  hours  in  a  heavy 
frost  some  of  the  finest  women  in  England  stood  at  the  entrance 
to  the  House  of  Commons  and  waited  humbly  with  petitions  in 
their  hands  for  their  rulers  and  masters  to  condescend  to  re- 
ceive them  but  the  House  adjourned  while  they  stood  there.  The 
next  day,  while  they  waited  again,  there  was  an  assault  by  the 
police,  acting  under  instructions,  that  I  do  not  like  to  dwell  upon 
outside  of  my  own  country." 

Dr.  Shaw  made  the  closing  address,  eloquent  with  hope  and 
courage  for  the  future  and,  as  always,  the  final  blessing  at  the 
convention  as  the  benediction  is  at  church. 

In  summing  up  the  week  the  Woman's  Journal  said:  "Only 
those  who  attended  our  national  convention  at  Louisville  can 
understand  how  really  wonderful  it  was.  For  hospitality,  for 
good  management,  for  beautiful  cooperation  and  self-effacement, 
the  Kentucky  women  set  a  standard  that  will  long  be  remembered 
\vill  be  very  hard  to  equal  in  the  future.  It  made  hard  work- 
easy  and  all  work  a  joy.  The  gratitude  of  the  National  Asso- 
ciation is  theirs  forever.  They  gave  much  to  us,  did  we  give 
anything  to  them?  Here  we  can  only  say  we  trust  that  we  did 
and  accept  with  confidence  what  one  of  the  State's  great  women 
said  many  times :  This  convention  has  done  wonders  for  Ken- 
tucky ;  it  has  surpassed  my  hopes.'  " 


CHAPTER  XII. 

NATIONAL  AMERICAN  CONVENTION  OF   IQI2. 

The  Forty-fourth  annual  convention,  which  met  in  Wither- 
spoon  Building,  Philadelphia,  Nov.  21-26,  1912,  celebrated  three 
important  victories.  At  the  general  election  in  the  early  part 
of  the  month,  Oregon,  Arizona  and  Kansas  had  amended  their 
constitutions  and  conferred  equal  suffrage  on  women  by  large 
majority  votes  and  the  result  in  Michigan  was  still  in  doubt. 
It  was  the  sentiment  of  the  country  that  the  eastward  sweep 
of  the  movement  was  now  fully  under  way.  There  was 
a  new  and  vibrant  tone  in  the  Call  and  in  the  speeches  and  pro- 
ceedings.1 The  Woman's  Journal  said  in  its  account :  "Another 
new  feature  was  the  enormous  crowds  that  turned  out  at  the 
convention.  Evening  after  evening,  in  conservative  Philadelphia, 
ten  or  a  dozen  overflow  meetings  had  to  be  held  for  the  benefit 
of  the  people  who  could  not  possibly  get  into  the  hall.  At  the 
Thanksgiving  service  on  Sunday  afternoon,  not  only  was  the 

1  Part  of  Call:  This  convention  has  big  problems  confronting  it,  interesting,  stimulat- 
ing problems  coincident  with  the  tremendous  expansion  of  our  government,  problems 
worthy  the  indomitable  mettle  of  suffrage  workers;  but  in  spite  of  hard  work,  this  week 
will  be  a  gala  week,  a  compensation  for  all  the  hard,  dull,  gray  work  during  the  past 
year  and  a  stimulus  for  still  harder  work  during  the  year  to  come.  .  .  . 

Let  us  listen  to  our  fellow  workers,  and,  listening  and  sympathizing  with  the  unselfish 
labor  being  carried  on  everywhere,  pledge  ourselves  to  a  flaming  loyalty  to  suffrage  and 
suffragists  that  will  burn  away  all  dross  of  dissension,  all  barriers  to  united  effort.  Let 
us  come  with  high  resolve  that  we  will  never  waver  in  our  effort  to  obtain  the  right  to 
stand  side  by  side  with  the  men  of  this  country  in  the  mortal  struggle  that  shall  bid 
perish  from  this  land  political  corruption,  privilege,  prostitution,  the  industrial  slavery  of 
men,  women  and  children  and  all  exploitation  of  humanity. 

Let  us  come  together,  in  this  autumn  of  1912,  this  unprecedented  year  of  suffrage, 
consecrating  ourselves  anew  on  this,  the  greatest  of  all  battlegrounds  for  democracy,  the 
United  States  of  America. 

ANNA  HOWARD  SHAW,  President. 

JANE  ADDAMS,  First  Vice-President. 

SOPHONISBA   BRECKINRIDGE,    Second  Vice-President. 

MARY  WARE  DENNETT,  Corresponding  Secretary. 

SUSAN  W.  FITZGERALD,  Recording  Secretary. 

JESSIK  ASHLEY,  Treasurer. 

KATHARINE  DEXTER  McCoRMicx, )  A 

TT  _  v  Auditors. 

HARRIET  BURTON  LAIDLAW,  £ 

ALICE  STONE  BLACKWELL,  Editor  of  the  Woman  s  Journal. 
332 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQI2  333 

great  Metropolitan  Opera  House  filled  to  its  capacity  but  for 
blocks  the  street  outside  was  jammed  with  a  seething  crowd, 
eager  to  hear  the  illustrious  speakers.  It  looked  more  like  an 
inauguration  than  like  an  old-fashioned  suffrage  meeting." 

There  was  a  great  out-door  rally  in  Independence  Square  at 
the  beginning,  such  as  had  been  witnessed  many  times  on  this 
historic  spot  conducted  by  men  but  never  before  in  the  hands  of 
women.  Miss  Elizabeth  Freeman  was  manager  of  this  meeting, 
assisted  by  Miss  Jane  Campbell,  the  Rev.  Caroline  Bartlett  Crane, 
Mrs.  Camilla  von  Klenze,  Mrs.  Teresa  Crowley  and  Miss  Flor- 
ence Allen.  From  five  platforms  over  forty  well-known  speakers 
demanded  that  the  principles  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence 
signed  in  the  ancient  hall  close  by  should  be  applied  to  women 
and  that  the  old  bell  should  ring  out  liberty  for  all  and  not  for  half 
the  people.  Mrs.  Otis  Skinner  read  the  Women's  Declaration 
of  Rights,  which  had  been  written  by  Elizabeth  Cady  Stanton, 
Susan  B.  Anthony  and  Matilda  Joslyn  Gage  in  1876  and  pre- 
sented at  the  great  centennial  celebration  in  that  very  square,1 
and  a  little  ceremony  was  held  in  honor  of  Mrs.  Charlotte  Pierce 
of  Philadelphia,  the  only  one  then  living  who  had  signed  it,  with 
a  remembrance  presented  by  Mrs.  Anna  Anthony  Bacon. 

The  convention  was  noteworthy  for  the  large  number  of  dis- 
tinguished speakers  on  its  program.  On  the  opening  afternoon, 
after  a  moment  of  silent  prayer  in  memory  of  Lucretia  Mott, 
the  welcome  of  the  city  was  extended  by  the  widely-known 
"reform"  Mayor  Rudolph  Blankenburg,  who  pointed  out  the 
vast  field  of  municipal  work  for  women  and  expressed  his  firm 
conviction  of  their  need  for  the  suffrage.  He  was  followed  with 
a  greeting  by  Mrs.  Blankenburg,  a  former  president  of  the  State 
Suffrage  Association.  Its  formal  welcome  to  the  delegates  was 
i  by  the  president,  Mrs.  Ellen  H.  Price,  who  said  in  part: 
hope  that  you  will  feel  at  home  in  Pennsylvania,  for  the 
idea  that  has  called  this  organization  into  being — that  divine  pas- 
sion for  human  rights — actuated  the  great  founder  of  our  Com- 
monwealth in  setting  up  his  'holy  experiment  in  government.'' 
After  regretting  that  a  State  founded  on  so  broad  a  conception 
had  nut  applied  it  to  women  Mrs.  Price  said: 

.  .tory   of   Woman    Sulfiatfr,   Volume   III,   j>atjc   ji. 


334  HISTORY   OF   WOMAN   SUFFRAGE 

We  welcome  you  in  the  name  of  William  Penn,  who,  antedating 
the  Declaration  of  Independence  by  nearly  a  century,  enunciated  in 
his  Frame  of  Government  the  truth  that  the  States  of  today  are 
coming  very  rapidly  to  acknowledge:  "Any  Government  is  free  to 
the  people  under  it  when  the  laws  rule  and  the  people  are  a  party  to 
those  laws;  anything  more  than  this  (and  anything  less)  is  oligarchy 
and  confusion."  We  welcome  you  in  the  name  of  our  only  woman 
Governor,  Hannah  Penn,  who,  as  we  are  told,  for  six  years  managed 
the  affairs  of  the  infant  colony  wisely  and  well. 

We  welcome  you  in  the  name  of  the  patriots  who  placed  on  our 
Liberty  Bell  the  injunction,  "Proclaim  Liberty  throughout  the  Land 
to  all  the  Inhabitants  Thereof";  in  the  name  of  those  ancestors 
of  ours  (yours  and  mine)  who  here  gave  up  their  lives  in  that 
struggle  to  establish  the  principle  that  "taxation  without  representa- 
tion is  tyranny"  for  a  nation ;  in  the  name  of  those  uncompromising 
agitators  who  delivered  their  message  of  liberty  even  at  the  risk  of 
life  itself,  till  the  shackles  fell  from  a  race  enslaved;  in  the  name 
of  Lucretia  Mott,  that  gentle,  that  queenly  champion  of  the  down- 
trodden and  oppressed,  that  inspired  preacher  whose  motto,  "Truth 
for  Authority,  not  Authority  for  Truth,"  should  be  the  watchword 
of  every  soul  that  seeks  for  freedom. 

We  welcome  you  in  the  name  of  the  pioneers  in  the  education  of 
women,  of  those  who  gave  us  the  first  Medical  College  for  Women, 
Ann  Preston,  Emily  Cleveland,  Hannah  Longshore,  whose  daughter 
is  here  today — our  honorary  president,  Lucretia  L.  Blankenburg, 
wife  of  the  chief  executive  of  this  city,  to  whose  eloquent  words  of 
welcome  you  have  just  listened;  in  the  name  of  the  first  president 
of  our  State  association,  of  whom  the  poet  Whittier  wrote:  "The 
way  to  make  the  world  anew  is  just  to  grow  as  Mary  Grew."  We 
welcome  you  in  the  name  of  our  national  president,  the  Rev.  Anna 
Howard  Shaw,  who,  although  a  citizen  of  the  world,  comes  back 
to  her  Pennsylvania  home  to  get  fresh  strength  and  courage. 

Mrs.  James  Lees  Laidlaw,  a  national  officer,  made  a  graceful 
response  for  the  association.  Fraternal  greetings  were  given  by 
Mrs.  Barsels,  from  the  Pennsylvania  Woman's  Christian  Temper- 
ance Union;  by  Mrs.  Branstetter  of  Oklahoma  from  the  National 
Socialist  Party ;  by  Mrs.  Campbell  Mclvor  of  Toronto  from  the 
Canadian  Woman  Suffrage  Association  and  later  by  Miss  Leo- 
nora O'Reilly  from  the  New  York  Women's  Trade  Union 
League. 

Miss  Laura  Clay,  chairman  of  the  Membership  Committee, 
announced  the  admission  of  nine  new  societies  to  the  National 
Association.  There  were  308  delegates  in  attendance.  Mrs. 


NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1912  335 

Mary  Ware  Dennett,  corresponding  secretary  and  chairman  of 
the  Literature  Committee,  said  in  the  course  of  her  report : 

We  are  often  asked  at  headquarters  and  by  mail  what  the  na- 
tional headquarters  is  for  and  what  it  does.  The  briefest  answer  that 
can  be  given  is  that  we  furnish  ammunition  for  the  suffrage  fight. 
The  ammunition  is  of  many  sorts,  from  money,  leaflets  and  buttons 
to  historical  data,  slide  lectures  and  advice  on  organization.  .  .  . 
One  decided  advantage  in  making  headquarters  more  useful  to  vis- 
itors has  been  the  enlargement  of  the  main  office.  A  partition  was 
removed  which  gave  us  a  large,  light  room  where  all  our  publications 
are  accessible  for  consultation  or  purchase,  all  the  chief  suffrage 
periodicals  of  the  world  are  on  file,  the  gallery  of  eminent  suffragists 
is  on  exhibition  and  all  the  various  kinds  of  supplies,  like  buttons, 
pennants,  posters,  etc.,  are  shown.  It  serves  as  reference  library 
as  well,  for  beside  the  History  of  Woman  Suffrage,  the  Life  of 
Susan  B.  Anthony  and  the  bound  volumes  of  the  Woman's  Journal, 
there  is  a  collection  of  books  on  interests  allied  to  suffrage,  which 
have  been  selected  and  approved  by  the  board.  These  are  also  on 
sale.  .  .  .  During  the  summer  of  1912  a  questionnaire  was  sent 
to  the  States  and  the  answers  tabulated  and  printed  in  a  folder  show- 
ing conclusively  the  status  of  each  regarding  headquarters,  press, 
membership,  finance,  political  district,  legislative  and  Congressional 
work.  There  is  an  increasing  demand  for  suffrage  facts  rather  than 
for  suffrage  argument.  It  was  in  response  to  this  demand  that  it 
became  necessary  to  appoint  an  editor  for  the  literature  department. 
Fully  half  of  the  publications  needed  revising  and  bringing  up  to 
date  and  new  compilations  of  data  were  urgently  needed.  Mrs. 
Frances  Maule  Bjorkman,  a  trained  newspaper  and  magazine  writer, 
was  chosen  and  has  filled  the  position  admirably. 

Mrs.  Dennett  gave  a  detailed  account  of  the  pamphlets, 
speeches,  leaflets,  plays,  magazine  articles,  etc.,  published  by  the 
association — 250  kinds  of  printed  matter — and  said : 

We  have  published  over  3,000,000  pieces  of  literature  in  this  year 

and  our  total  receipts  from  literature  and  supplies  have  been  $13,000, 

over  the  cost  of  the  printing  and  purchase.     Our  record 

month  was  September,  when  our  receipts  were  more  than  the  entire 

;>ts  for  the  whole  year  of  1909.    If  we  count  our  unsold  stock 

«iii(l  our  uncollected  bills  as  assets,  we  have  a  net  gain  for  the  year 

°f  $3»578.     About  $700  worth  of  literature  has  been  sold  in  the 

office,  the  remainder  having  been  ordered  by  mail. 

Through  the  courtesy  of  the  Illinois  association  and  the  gen- 
erosity oi  Miss  Addanis  and  Miss  Hrcrkinridgr,  who  paid  for  the 

it  ion  for  the  supply  of  literature  was  estab- 

1  at  the  ( 'hira^o  headquarters  in  April.    The  sales  at  this  western 

branch  have  heen  $1,924.     It  would  seem  well  worth  while  to  con- 

this  service  for  western  customers.    Also  for  their  benefit  Mrs. 


336  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

McCormick  made  a  gift  of  a  sample  copy  of  every  one  of  our  new 
publications  to  the  presidents  of  State  associations  in  eighteen  of  the 
western  States,  as  a  means  of  bringing  them  in  closer  touch  with  the 
national  office.  .  .  .  Aside  from  our  own  literature  we  have  been 
grateful  for  a  very  serviceable  congressional  document,  thousands 
of  which  have  been  distributed  in  the  last  few  months,  the  speech 
of  Congressman  Edward  T.  Taylor  of  Colorado.  It  proved  a  suc- 
cessful and  timely  campaign  document  and  we  are  indebted  not  only 
to  Mr.  Taylor  but  to  a  most  efficient  volunteer  worker  in  Washing- 
ton— Mrs.  Helen  H.  Gardener — who  gave  unstinted  personal  service 
in  seeing  that  the  documents  were  obtained  and  franked  when 
needed.  .  .  . 

The  convention  accepted  the  recommendation  of  the  board  that 
it  should  issue  a  monthly  bulletin  of  facts  and  figures  to  be  sent 
to  every  paying  member,  thus  establishing  a  real  bond  between 
the  association  and  its  thousands  of  members.  The  report  of 
the  Press  Bureau  by  its  chairman,  Miss  Caroline  I.  Reilly,  showed 
remarkable  progress  in  public  sentiment  as  expressed  by  the 
newspapers.  It  said  in  part: 

The  winning  of  California  last  year  wrought  so  complete  a  change 
in  the  work  of  the  national  press  bureau  that  it  was  like  taking  up 
an  entirely  new  branch.  Before  that  victory  our  time  was  employed 
in  furnishing  suffrage  arguments,  replying  to  adverse  editorials  and 
letters  published  in  the  newspapers  and  writing  syndicate  articles. 
Now  this  department  has  resolved  itself  into  a  bureau  of  informa- 
tion, news  being  the  one  thing  required.  Each  week  we  send  to  our 
mailing  list  2,000  copies  of  the  press  bulletin,  giving  brief  items 
relative  to  suffrage  activities  the  world  over.  These  go  into  every 
non-suffrage  State  in  the  Union,  to  Canada,  Cuba  and  England, 
and  the  demand  for  them  increases  daily.  Almost  every  mail  brings 
letters  from  newspapers  asking  to  be  placed  on  the  regular  mailing 
list.  .  .  .  Since  the  winning  of  the  four  States  on  November  5, 
newspapers  and  press  associations  from  all  over  the  United  States 
have  written  us  asking  for  help  to  establish  woman  suffrage  depart- 
ments. The  time  has  come  when  our  question  is  a  paying  one  from 
a  publicity  point  of  view,  .  .  . 

We  now  have  twenty  syndicates  on  our  list  and  are  no  longer 
obliged  to  write  the  articles  ourselves  but  simply  furnish  the  in- 
formation which  their  own  writers  work  up.  These  syndicates  are 
both  national  and  international  and  cover  all  of  this  country  as  well 
as  some  foreign  countries.  An  interesting  thing  happened  last  week, 
when  the  representative  of  a  European  press  syndicate  came  and 
said  that  he  had  been  sent  to  America  for  the  sole  purpose  of  re- 
porting the  woman  movement  in  the  United  States,  the  subject  being 
regarded  a  vital  one  by  the  press  of  Europe.  Special  suffrage  editions 
seem  to  be  more  popular  than  almost  anything  else  and  appeals  come 


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NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQI2  337 

to  us  from  all  over  the  Union  to  help  on  them.  .  .  .  During  the 
past  year  we  have  received  and  answered  over  3,000  communications. 
The  Italian  papers  have  been  on  our  mailing  list  for  some  time,  also 
many  French  and  Hebrew  papers.  .  .  .  The  editors  and  associate 
editors  of  twelve  Italian  newspapers  in  New  York  are  enrolled 
in  the  city  suffrage  organization. 

Miss  Alice  Stone  Blackwell  made  an  extended  report  of  the 
I  Toman's  Journal  since  it  became  the  official  organ  of  the  Na- 
tional American  Association  in  June,  1910,  and  had  been  pub- 
lished under  its  auspices.  The  expenses  had  increased  and  funds 
had  not  been  supplied  to  meet  them.  Committees  of  conference 
were  appointed  and  eventually  the  deficit  was  paid  and  the  paper 
was  returned  to  Miss  Blackwell,  who  offered  the  free  use  of  its 
columns  to  the  association.  The  report  of  the  treasurer,  Miss 
Jessie  Ashley,  was  not  encouraging.  Under  the  old  regime  the 
year  always  closed  with  a  balance  in  the  treasury  but  this  indebted- 
ness to  the  Woman's  Journal  left  the  association  $5,000  in  debt.1 
As  its  work  broadened  the  expense  became  heavier  and  the  income 
although  far  larger  than  ever  before  was  not  sufficient.  During 
the  past  year  it  had  contributed  $18,144  to  campaigns  in  eight 
States.  A  very  large  part  of  this  amount  was  paid  by  Dr.  Shaw 
iiuin  a  fund  given  to  her  personally  for  the  purpose  by 
Mrs.  Quincy  A.  Shaw  of  Boston.  At  this  time  and  later  she 
gave  to  Dr.  Shaw  to  be  used  for  campaigns  according  to  her 
judgment  $30,000  and  the  name  of  the  donor  was  not  revealed 
until  after  her  death  in  1917. 

The  first  evening  of  the  convention  was  devoted  to  the  presi- 
dent's address  and  the  stories  of  the  successful  campaigns  for 
suffrage  amendments  at  the  November  elections,  related  by  Mrs. 
William  A.  Johnston  and  Miss  Helen  N.  Eaker  for  Kansas  and 
M.  I..  T.  Hidden  for  Oregon.  No  one  being  present  from 
Arizona  Dr.  Shaw  told  of  the  victory  there.  Mrs.  Clara  B. 
Arthur  and  Mrs.  Huntley  Russell  described  the  situation  in 
Michigan,  where  the  indications  were  that  the  amendment  would 
be  lost  by  fraudulent  returns.  Dr.  Shaw's  speech,  as  usual,  was 
neither  written  nor  stenographic-ally  reported  but  this  float  in- 
igraph  was  found  in  a  newspaper: 

'Later  the  total  deficit  of  $6,000  was  paid  by  Mrs.  Katharine  Dexter  McCoimick 
of  Boston,  an  officer  of  the  National  Association. 


338  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

In  all  times  men  have  entertained  loftier  theories  of  living  than 
they  have  been  able  to  formulate  into  practical  experience.  We 
Americans  call  our  government  a  republic  but  it  is  not  a  republic 
and  never  has  been  one.  A  republic  is  not  a  government  in  which 
one-half  of  the  people  make  the  laws  for  all  of  the  people.  At 
first  the  government  was  a  hierarchy  in  which  only  male  church 
members  could  vote.  In  the  process  of  evolution  the  qualification 
of  church  membership  was  removed  and  the  word  "taxpayer"  sub- 
stituted. Later  that  word  was  stricken  out  and  all  white  men  could 
vote.  Then  followed  the  erasure  of  the  word  "white"  and  now  all 
male  citizens  have  the  ballot.  The  next  measure  is  obvious  and  it 
is  not  a  revolutionary  one  but  the  logical  step  in  the  evolution  of  our 
government.  I  believe  thoroughly  in  democracy,  the  extension  of 
tin.'  franchise  to  all  men,  for  all  have  a  right  to  a  voice  in  the  making 
of  the  laws  that  govern  them,  and  no  nation  has  a  right  to  place 
before  any  of  its  people  an  insuperable  barrier  to  self-government. 
We  would  make  no  outcry  against  an  educational  standard,  the  neces- 
sary age  limit,  a  certain  term  of  residence  in  any  place — in  fact 
there  is  no  regulation  women  would  object  to  that  applied  to  all 
citizens  equally.  I  make  no  criticism  of  the  policy  of  the  country 
in  giving  all  men  the  ballot.  The  men  are  all  right  so  far  as  they 
go — but  they  go  only  half  way.  The  United  States  has  subjected 
its  women  to  the  greatest  political  humiliation  ever  imposed  upon 
the  women  of  any  nation.  German  women  are  governed  by  German 
men ;  French  women  by  French  men,  etc.,  but  American  women  are 
ruled  by  the  men  of  every  country  and  race  in  the  world.  ...  I 
do  not  belong  to  any  political  party  and  I  have  too  much  self-respect 
to  ally  myself  with  any  party  until  my  opinion  is  of  enough  im- 
portance to  be  counted  at  the  polls. 

The  delegates  heard  reports  from  the  chairmen  of  various 
committees — Ways  and  Means,  Dr.  M.  Carey  Thomas;  Enroll- 
ment, Mrs.  Jean  Nelson  Penfield;  Presidential  Suffrage,  Miss 
Elizabeth  Upham  Yates;  Laws  for  Women,  Miss  Mary  Rutter 
Towle  (D.  C).  Mrs.  Lucia  Ames  Mead  made  her  usual  com- 
prehensive report  as  chairman  of  the  Peace  and  Arbitration 
Committee.  Mrs.  Mary  E.  Craigie  in  her  report  of  seven  printed 
pages  on  the  extensive  and  successful  efforts  of  her  Committee 
on  Church  Work  told  of  a  circular  letter  that  had  been  sent 
to  thousands  of  clergymen  throughout  the  country  asking  for  a 
special  sermon  in  support  of  woman  suffrage  on  Mothers'  Day. 
It  pointed  out  that  in  the  vast  moral  and  social  reform  work  of 
the  churches  their  women  members  are  denied  the  weapon  of 
Christian  welfare,  the  ballot,  while  the  forces  of  evil  are  fully 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQI2  339 

enfranchised  and  the  influence  of  the  churches  is  thus  essentially 
weakened. 

Mrs.  William  Kent,  in  her  report  as  chairman  of  the  Con- 
gressional Committee,  said  that  it  had  not  been  necessary  to 
request  members  to  introduce  a  resolution  for  a  Federal  Suffrage 
Amendment  as  six  were  offered  by  as  many  Representatives  of 
their  own  volition.  Senator  Works  of  her  own  State  of  Cali- 
fornia had  been  glad  to  present  it.  She  told  of  the  "hearings" 
before  the  committees  of  the  two  Houses  on  March  13,  when 
the  National  Association  sent  representatives  to  Washington. 
The  preceding  day  a  reception  for  the  speakers  was  given  in  her 
home  and  many  of  the  guests  became  interested  who  had  been 
indifferent.  In  May  the  Congressional  Committee  sent  out  cards 
for  a  "suffrage  tea"  in  her  house  to  the  wives  of  Senators  and 
Representatives;  many  were  present  and  interesting  addresses 
were  made. 

Among  the  resolutions  submitted  by  the  chairman  of  the  com- 
mittee, Mrs.  Raymond  Brown,  and  adopted  were  the  following: 

We  reaffirm  that  our  one  object  and  purpose  is  the  enfranchise- 
ment of  the  women  of  our  country. 

We  call  upon  all  our  members  to  rejoice  at  the  winning  of  the 
ol  vote  by  the  women  of  Kentucky  and  at  the  full  enfranchise- 
ment of  four  more  States,  Kansas,  Oregon,  Arizona  and  Michigan  l ; 
and  in  the  fact  that  at  the  last  election  the  electoral  vote  of  women 
fully  enfranchised  was  nearly  doubled,  and  to  rejoice  that  all  the 
political  parties  are  now  obliged  to  reckon  with  the  growing  power 
of  the  woman  vote;  and  be  it  resolved 

1  hat  this  association  believes  in  the  settlement  of  all  disputes  and 
difficulties,  national  and  international,  by  arbitration  and  judicial 
methods  and  not  by  war. 

That  we  commend  the  action  of  those  State  Federations  of  Wo- 
men's Clubs  which  have  founded  departments  for  the  study  of  polit- 
>my  and  we  congratulate  those  clubs  which  have  endorsed 
movement  to  gain  the  ballot  for  all  women. 

That  \ve  deeply  deplore  the  exploiting  ()f  the  children  of  this  coun- 
try in  our  labor  markets  to  the  detriment  and  danger  of  coming 
gener  that  we  commend  the  action  of  Congress  in  the  crea- 

;d  Children's  I'.ureau  and   President  Taft's  appoint- 
:  of  a  woman,  Miss  Julia  Lathrop,  as  head  of  the  bureau. 
t    we   commend    the    efforts   of    our    National    Government   to 

1  It  was  supposed  at  this  time  that  the  suffrage  amendment  had  been  carried  in 
Michigan  but  the  final  returns  indicated  its  defe.x  My  due  to  fraudulent  voting 

and  counting. 


34°  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

end  the  white  slave  traffic;  that  we  urge  the  passage  in  our  States 
of  more  stringent  laws  for  the  protection  of  women ;  that  we  demand 
the  same  standard  of  morals  for  men  and  women  and  the  same 
penalties  for  transgressors ;  that  we  call  upon  women  everywhere  to 
awake  to  the  dangers  of  the  social  evil  and  to  hasten  the  day  when 
women  shall  vote  and  when  commercialized  vice  shall  be  ex- 
terminated. 

A  unique  feature  of  the  convention  was  Men's  Night,  with 
James  Lees  Laidlaw  of  New  York,  president  of  the  National 
Men's  League  for  Woman  Suffrage  of  20,000  members,  in  the 
chair  and  all  the  speeches  made  by  men.  Miss  Blackwell  said 
editorially  in  the  Woman's  Journal:  "From  the  very  beginning 
of  the  equal  rights  movement  courageous  and  justice-loving  men 
have  stood  by  the  women  and  have  been  invaluable  allies  in  the 
long  fight  that  is  now  nearing  its  triumph  but  never  before  have 
been  actually  organized  to  work  for  the  cause.  Men  old  and 
young,  men  of  the  most  diverse  professions,  parties  and  creeds, 
spoke  with  equal  earnestness  in  behalf  of  equal  rights  for  women.'' 
The  speakers  were  the  Hon.  Frederick  C.  Howe,  Judge  Dim- 
ner  Beeber,  president  of  the  Pennsylvania  League;  A.  S.  G. 
Taylor  of  the  Connecticut  League;  Joseph  Fels,  the  Single  Tax 
leader;  Julian  Kennedy  of  Pittsburgh;  George  Foster  Peabody  of 
New  York;  the  Rev.  Wm.  R.  Lord  of  Massachusetts;  Jesse 
Lynch  Williams,  J.  11.  Braly  of  California  and  Reginald  Wright 
Kauffman.  The  last  named,  whose  recently  published  book,  The 
House  of  Bondage,  had  aroused  the  country  on  the  "white  slave 
traffic,"  discussed  this  question  as  perhaps  it  never  before  had 
been  presented  in  public  and  he  found  a  sympathetic  audience. 

The  Rev.  James  G  rattan  Mythen,  of  the  Prince  of  Peace 
Church,  Walbrook,  Md.,  made  a  strong  demand  for  the  influence 
of  women  in  the  electorate,  in  which  he  said :  " Whatever  wrongs 
the  law  allows  must  not  be  laid  entirely  at  the  door  of  paid 
public  servants  whom  by  the  franchise  we  employ  to  do 
our  public  will.  Where  there  are  criminals  in  public  office  they 
represent  criminals.  They  represent  the  active  criminals  whose 
debased  ballots  put  them  in  office,  and  they  represent  the  passive 
criminals  whose  ballot  was  not. cast  to  keep  them  out!  That  ye 
did  it  not'  merits  as  great  a  condemnation  as  'That  ye  did  it/ 
What  is  needed  in  politics  is  the  reassertion  of  the  moral  ideal, 


NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQI2  34! 

and  as  men  we  know  that  this  moral  ideal  has  been,  is  now  and 
always  will  be  the  possession  of  womankind.  For  this  reason 
men  ought  to  demand  that  women  come  into  the  body  politic 
and  bring  with  them  the  same  moral  standard  that  they  hold  for 
themselves  in  the  home,  in  the  Church,  in  the  hospitals,  in  the 
great  reform  movements  which  are  voiced  by  the  Woman's 
Christian  Temperance  Union  and  all  other  endeavors  for  right- 
eousness that  are  always  championed  by  women." 

This  was  not  the  time  and  place  arranged  for  taking  a  collection 
but  the  enthusiasm  was  so  great  that  Mr.  Fels  started  the  ball 
rolling  and  $2,000  were  quickly  subscribed.  Later  at  the  regular 
collection  the  amount  was  increased  to  $6,908.  Among  the 
largest  pledges  were  those  of  Miss  Kate  Gleason  of  Rochester, 
N.  Y.,  for  $1,200;  Mrs.  Oliver  H.  P.  Belmont,  $1,000;  Mrs. 
Bowen  of  Chicago,  $600;  New  York  State  Association,  $600; 
Pennsylvania  State  Association,  $500;  Miss  Emily  Rowland, 
$300.  The  treasurer,  Miss  Ashley,  stated  that  the  receipts  from 
April  T  to  November  i  had  been  $55,197. 

Or.  Shaw  had  telegraphed  the  congratulations  of  the  associa- 
tion to  the  Governors  of  the  four  victorious  States  and  telegrams 
of  greetings  to  the  convention  were  read  from  Governors  Oswald 
West  of  Oregon:  George  P.  Hunt  of  Arizona;  W.  R.  Stubbs  of 
Kansas:  and  Chase  S.  Osborn  of  Michigan.  Greetings  were 
received  from  Miss  Martina  G.  Kramers  of  Holland,  editor  of 
the  uiternational  suffrage  paper:  the  U.  S.  National  Council  of 
Women,  and  from  Mrs.  Champ  Clark  and  her  sister,  Mrs.  Annie 
Pitzer  of  Colorado,  sent  through  Miss  Nettie  I^ovisa  White  of 
Washington.  Telegrams  of  congratulation  were  sent  to  the 
Slate  presidents,  Mrs.  Abigail  Scott  Duniway  of  Oregon  and 
Mrs.  Frances  W.  Munds  of  Arizona,  and  of  sympathy  to  the 
KVv.  Olympia  Brown  and  Miss  Ada  L.  James  for  the  defeat  in 
Wisconsin. 

It  was  voted  to  continue  the  national  headquarters  in  New 
York.  There  was  a  flurry  of  discussion  over  a  proposed  amend- 
ment to  the  constitution  changing  the  present  method  of  voting, 
which  allowed  the  delegates  present  to  cast  the  entire  number 
otes  to  which  the  Stat»-  W9B  entitled  by  its  paid  membership. 
The  convention  finally  adopted  the  amendment  that  hereafter 


342  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

the  delegates  present  should  cast  only  their  individual  votes.  The 
election  resulted  in  a  change  of  but  two  officers.  Professor  Breck- 
inridge  and  Miss  Ashley  did  not  stand  for  re-election  and  Miss 
Anita  Whitney  of  California  was  chosen  for  second  vice-president 
and  Mrs.  Louise  De  Koven  Bowen  of  Chicago  for  second  auditor. 

A  serious  controversy  arose  during  the  convention  in  regard 
to  the  deviation  of  some  of  the  national  officers  from  the  time- 
honored  custom  of  non-partisanship.  It  had  always  been  the 
unwritten  but  carefully  observed  law  of  the  association  that  no 
member  of  the  board  should  advocate  or  work  for  any  political 
party.  Mrs.  George  Howard  Lewis,  a  veteran  suffragist  of 
Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  sent  a  resolution  to  the  convention  declaring  that 
officers  of  the  association  must  remain  non-partisan  and  Mrs. 
Ida  Husted  Harper  presented  it  and  led  the  contest  for  it.  Dr. 
Shaw  announced  before  it  was  discussed  that  the  board  recom- 
mended that  it  should  not  pass. 

Women  had  taken  a  larger  part  in  the  political  campaign  which 
had  just  ended  than  ever  before  and  one  of  the  officers  and  many 
of  the  delegates  present  had  spoken  and  worked  for  the  Progres- 
sive party  because  of  the  suffrage  plank  in  its  platform.  Other 
members  had  done  the  same  for  the  Socialist  and  Prohibition 
parties  for  a  like  reason.  As  a  result,  while  the  resolution  had 
some  warm  support  it  was  defeated  by  a  vote  of  ten  to  one, 
although  it  applied  only  to  the  officers  and  left  individual  mem- 
bers free.  The  consequences  of  this  vote  soon  began  to  be 
realized  by  the  board  and  the  delegates  and  in  the  official  resolu- 
tions was  one  which  said:  "The  National  American  Suffrage 
Association  reaffirms  the  position  for  which  it  always  has  stood, 
of  being  an  absolutely  non-partisan,  non-sectarian  body."  When 
asked  for  an  interpretation  the  officers  answered  that  "the  asso- 
ciation must  not  declare  officially  for  any  political  party."  l 

One  of  the  most  enjoyable  evenings  of  the  convention  was 
the  one  in  charge  of  the  National  College  Equal  Suffrage  League, 
the  program  consisting  of  a  debate  between  groups  of  clever 
speakers,  each  with  one  or  more  university  degrees,  half  of  them 

1  It  is  a  noteworthy  fact  that  although  woman  suffrage  was  a  leading  issue  in  the 
presidential  campaign  of  1916  no  officer  of  the  National  American  Suffrage  Association 
took  any  public  part  in  it,  although  the  platform  of  each  of  the  parties  contained  a  plank 
endorsing  woman  suffrage. 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQI2  343 

posing  as  anti-suffragists,  with  Dr.  Thomas,  president  of  Bryn 
Mawr  College  and  of  the  league,  in  the  chair.  A  suffrage  meet- 
ing which  touched  high  water  mark  was  that  of  Sunday  after- 
noon, when  the  immense  opera  house  was  filled  to  overflowing 
and  literally  thousands  stood  on  the  outside  in  the  intense  cold 
and  listened  to  speakers  who  were  hastily  sent  out  to  address 
them.  Dr.  Shaw  presided.  The  meeting  was  opened  with  prayer 
by  the  Rt.  Rev.  Philip  Mercer  Rhinelander  and  the  music  was 
rendered  by  the  choir,  under  its  director,  Samuel  J.  Riegel,  with 
the  audience  joining.  An  eloquent  address  was  given,  the 
Democracy  of  Sex  and  Color,  by  Dr.  W.  E.  Burghardt  Du 
Bois,  and  one  by  Miss  Addams  on  the  Communion  of  the 
Ballot,  the  necessity  for  cooperative  work  by  men  and  wom- 
en, in  which  she  said:  "Take  a  still  graver  subject.  Every- 
where vice  regulation  is  coming  up  for  government  action.  The 
white  slave  traffic  is  international  and  it  goes  on  from  city  to 
city.  I  ask  you,  in  the  name  of  common  sense,  is  it  safe  or  wise 
or  sane  to  entrust  to  men  alone  the  dealing  with  this  age-long  evil  ? 
Our  laws  are  superior  to  those  of  most  European  countries.  In 
Kngland,  because  women  have  been  obliged  to  appeal  to  the  pity 
of  men  against  these  evils,  (for  the  appeal  to  chivalry  seems  to 
have  fallen),  there  is  a  disposition  to  divide  into  two  camps,  men 
in  one  and  women  in  the  other.  Any  sex  antagonism  thus 
engendered  arises  because  these  grave  moral  questions  have  not 
been  taken  up  by  men  and  women  together.  By  debarring  women 
from  suffrage,  we  are  failing  to  bring  to  bear  on  these  questions 
that  vast  moral  energy  which  dwells  in  women.  .  .  .  Whenever 
ilu-rc  is  a  great  moral  awakening  it  is  followed  by  an  extension 
of  the  movement  for  women's  rights.  The  first  wave  came  with 
the  anti-slavery  agitation;  the  second  with  the  prohibition  move- 
ment and  Frances  Willard,  and  now  there  is  coming  all  over  the 
world  this  irresistible  movement  of  government  to  take  up  great 

tl  and  industrial  questions." 

The  very  fine  address  of  Miss  Julia  Lathrop,  Chief  of  the 

National  Children's  Bureau,  on  Woman  Suffrage  and  Child  Wel- 

filled  over  five  columns  of  the  Woman's  Journal  and  con- 

•<1  a  sufficient  argument  for  the  enfranchisement  of  women 
if  no  other  ever  had  been  or  should  be  made.     "My  purpose," 


344  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

she  began,  "is  to  show  that  woman  suffrage  is  a  natural  and 
inevitable  step  in  the  march  of  society  forward;  that  instead 
of  being  incompatible  with  child  welfare  it  leads  toward  it  and 
is  indeed  the  next  great  service  to  be  rendered  for  the  welfare 
and  ennoblement  of  the  home.  A  little  more  than  one-third  of 
all  the  people  in  this  country,  something  over  29,500,000  in  actual 
numbers,  are  children  under  the  age  of  fifteen — that  is,  still  in 
a  state  of  tutelage ;  and  it  is  of  unbounded  importance  that  nothing 
be  done  by  the  rest  of  us  which  will  injure  this  budding  growth. 
So  it  is  right  to  judge  in  large  measure  any  proposed  change 
in  our  social  fabric  by  its  probable  effect  on  that  dependent  third 
of  the  race  to  whom  we  are  pledged,  for  whose  succession  it  is 
the  work  of  this  generation  to  prepare.  What  we  propose  is  to 
give  universal  suffrage  to  women." 

Answering  the  question,  "Do  we  propose  a  mad  revolution?" 
she  traced  the  development  in  the  position  of  woman,  every  step 
of  which  was  condemned  at  the  time  as  a  dangerous  innovation. 
"It  was  a  revolution  when  women  were  given  equal  property 
rights  over  their  goods  and  equal  rights  over  their  children," 
she  said.  "We  must  blush  that  there  are  States  in  this  country 
where  that  revolution  is  still  to  be  accomplished.  I  have  heard 
an  old  Illinois  lawyer  describe  the  early  efforts  to  secure  equal 
property  rights  for  women  in  that  State  and  the  constant  objection 
that  such  laws  would  destroy  the  family,  that  there  could  be 
no  harmony  unless  the  ownership  were  all  in  one  person  and  that 
person  the  man.  It  was  feared  then,  as  now,  that  women  would 
become  tyrannical  and  unbearable  if  they  were  allowed  too  much 
independence.  Do  children  suffer  because  their  mothers  own 
property?"  She  pointed  out  the  necessity  for  woman's  political 
influence  on  humanitarian  movements  and  said:  "Suffrage  for 
women  is  not  the  final  word  in  human  freedom  but  it  is  the  next 
step  in  the  onward  march,  because  it  is  the  next  step  in  equalizing 
the  rights  and  balancing  the  duties  of  the  two  types  of  individuals 
who  make  up  the  human  race." 

Miss  Lathrop  showed  the  need  of  legislation  for  all  social 
reforms  and  how  the  experience  of  women  beginning  with 
domestic  duties  carried  them  forward  to  a  sense  of  their  obliga- 
tions in  community  life  and  a  fitness  for  it.  Referring  to  the 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQI2  345 

uneducated  women  she  said :  "The  ignorant  vote  is  not  the  work- 
ing vote.  Working  women  in  great  organized  factories  have  been 
having,  since  they  began  that  work,  an  education  for  the  suf- 
frage. They  are  not  the  ignorant  voters  nor  are  wives  of  work- 
ingmen;  at  least,  they  know  in  part  what  they  need  to  safe- 
guard themselves  and  their  homes.  The  ignorant  vote  is  the 
complacent,  blind  vote  of  men  and  of  the  feminine  'influence' 
that  moves  them,  which  disregards  the  real  problems  of  setting 
safe  and  wholesome  standards  of  life  and  labor  and  education 
and  spends  its  strength  in  looking  backward,  insisting  upon  pre- 
cedents without  seeing  that,  good  and  enduring  as  they  may  be, 
all  precedents  must  be  daily  retranslated  into  the  setting  of  today. 
"\Yomen  must  vote  for  their  own  souls'  good,"  she  said,  "and 
they  must  vote  to  protect  the  family.  The  newer  conception  of 
the  family  is  one  which  depends  upon  giving  to  both  parents  the 
fullest  expression  on  all  those  matters  of  common  concern." 

The  address  closed  with  a  fine  peroration — Pass  on  the  Torch ! 
In  the  evening  the  officers  of  the  association  gave  a  largely  at- 
tended reception  to  delegates  and  friends  in  the  banquet  hall  of 
T  Intel  Walton. 

The  closing  night  of  the  convention  was  one  long  to  be  re- 
membered.    There  was  the  same  vast,   eager  audience:     Dr. 
Shaw  presided  and  on  the  platform  was  the  distinguished  Apostle 
of    Peace,   winner   of  the   Nobel   prize,   Baroness   Bertha  von 
Sultrier,   and  Mrs.   Carrie  Chapman   Catt,   just  returned   from 
«i  two-years'  trip  around  the  world.    The  meeting  was  opened  by 
the  Rt.  "Rev.  James  Henry  Darlington,  bishop  of  central  Penn- 
nia,  whose  brief  address  -was  of  great  value  to  the  cause. 
•  •on.cratulatcd  the  American   people  on  the   fact  that   four 
more  States  had  been  added  to  the  ever-growing  list  of  those 
which  had  given  the  suffrage  to  women  and  he  called  upon  all 
vers  to  notice  that  no  State  which  had  once  voted  in  woman 
suffrage  had  ever  voted  it  out.     Once  in  use,  local  opposition  to 
it  ceased  by  reason  of  the  self-evident  good  results.     He  offered 
-atnlations  to  those  who  were  humble  privates  in  the  ranks 
and  to  the  famous  anr!  brave  leaders  who  organized  the  victories, 
ibethan  and  Victorian  eras  are  the  most  distinguished 
for  philanthropic,  literary  and  economic  advancement  in  the  whole 


HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

history  of  Great  Britain,  though  the  Kings  were  many  and  the 
Queens  were  few  in  the  long  line,"  he  said,  "so  no  man  need 
be  ashamed  to  follow  feminine  leadership  when  it  means  advance- 
ment in  every  good  word  and  work,"  and  he  offered  congratula- 
tions to  little  children  of  the  future  generations  of  this  and  all 
lands.  "When  our  anti-suffrage  sisters  throw  aside  their  com- 
placency and  selfish  ease,"  he  said,  "to  strive  side  by  side  with 
men  to  formulate  and  pass  necessary  laws  to  protect  and  de- 
velop the  bodies,  minds  and  souls  of  our  present  little  children 
and  all  that  are  to  come  through  the  passing  centuries,  then  will 
dawn  a  new  day  for  humanity." 

Brief  addresses  were  made  by  Mrs.  Blankenburg,  Miss  Jane 
Campbell  and  Professor  Breckinridge  of  Chicago  University. 
Miss  Crystal  Eastman  gave  a  graphic  account  of  why  the  amend- 
ment failed  in  Wisconsin  and  Mrs.  Harriet  Taylor  Upton,  State 
president,  told  in  her  inimitable  way  of  the  campaign  that  failed 
in  Ohio.  Baroness  von  Suttner  made  a  magnificent  plea  for  the 
peace  of  the  world  and  asked  for  the  enfranchisement  of  women 
as  an  absolutely  necessary  factor  in  it.  The  dominant  note  of 
Mrs.  Catt's  speech  was  the  great  need  for  political  power  in  the 
hands  of  women  to  combat  the  social  evil,  -which  she  had  found 
intrenched  in  the  governments  of  every  country.  These  last  two 
addresses,  which  carried  thrilling  conviction  to  every  heart,  -were 
made  without  notes  and  not  published. 


From  the  early  days  of  the  National  Suffrage  Association  its 
representatives  had  appeared  before  committees  of  every  Con- 
gress to  ask  for  the  submission  of  an  amendment  to  the  Federal 
Constitution  and  during  many  years  this  "hearing"  took  place 
when  the  annual  convention  met  in  Washington.  As  it  was  to 
be  held  elsewhere  this  year  and  at  a  time  when  the  Congress  was 
not  in  session  a  delegation  of  speakers  had  gone  before  the  com- 
mittees the  preceding  March  by  arrangement  of  Mrs.  William 
Kent,  chairman  of  the  association's  Congressional  Committee. 

At  the  hearing  before  a  joint  committee  of  the  Senate  Judiciary 
and  Senate  Committee  on  Woman  Suffrage  March  13  six  of 
the  members  were  present:  Senators  Overman  (N.  C.)»  chair- 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQI2  347 

man;  Brandegee  (Conn.);  Bourne  (Ore.);  Brown  (Neb.); 
Johnston  (Ala.);  Wetmore  (R.  I.).  Senator  John  D.  Works 
of  California,  who  had  introduced  the  resolution  in  the  Senate, 
presented  Dr.  Anna  Howard  Shaw  as  "one  of  the  best  known 
and  most  distinguished  of  those  connected  with  the  movement 
for  the  enfranchisement  of  women."  As  she  took  charge  of  the 
hearing  she  said  in  part : 

Mr.  Chairman  and  Gentlemen  of  the  Committee,  this  is  the  forty- 
third   year   that   the   women   suffragists   have   been   represented   by 
delegations  appointed  by  the  national  body  to  speak   in  behalf  of 
resolutions  which  have  been  introduced  to  eliminate  from  the  Con- 
stitution of  the  United  States  in  effect  the  word  "male,"  to  eliminate 
all  disqualifications  for  suffrage  on  account  of  sex.     The  desire  of 
;>ur  association  is  not  so  much  to  put  on  record  the  opinions  of  this 
committee  in  regard  to  woman  suffrage  as  to  plead  with  it  to  give 
a  favorable  report,  so  that  the  question  can  come  before  the  Con- 
gress, be  discussed  on  its  merits  and  then  submitted  to  the  various 
r  ratification.    The  Federal  Constitution  guarantees  to  every 
a  republican  form  of  government — that  is,  a  government  in 
which  the  laws  are  enacted  by  representatives  elected  by  the  people — 
and  we  claim  that  it  has  violated  its  own  principle  in  refusing  to 
protect  women  in  their  right  to  select  their  representatives,  so  we 
arc  asking  for  no  more  than  that  the  Constitution  shall  be  carried 
out  by  the  U.  S.  Government.     As  the  president  of  the  National 
Suffrage  Association,  I   stand  here  in  the  place  of  a  woman  who 
-ixty  years  of  her  life  in  advocacy  of  that  grand  principle  for 
which    so   many   of   our  ancestors   died,   Miss   Susan   B.   Anthony. 
There  is  not  a  woman  here  today  who  was  at  the  first  hearing,  nor 
a  woman  alive  today  who  was  among  those  that  struggled  in  the 
ning  for  this  fundamental  right  of  every  citizen.     I  now  in- 
troduce  Mrs.   Susan  Walker  Flt/gcrald   of   Massachusetts.     It  has 
that  women  cannot  fight.      Mrs.    Fitzgerald's    father  was 
'.dmiral  of  the  Navy  and  if  she  can  not  fight  her  father  could. 

Mrs.  Fitzgerald  spoke-  at  length  in  the  interest  of  the  home  and 
the  family,  showing  the  evolution  that  had  taken  place  until  now 
Government   touches   upon   every    phase  of  our   home   life 
and   largely   dictates   its   conditions   while   at    the   same   time   the 
woman    is   held    responsible    for   them   and   is   working   with   her 
hands  tied  behind  her  back  and  she  asks  the  vote  in  order  to  do 
.(.man'-  work  better."     Mrs.  James  Lees  Laidlaw  of  New 
York  heauti  fully  of  tli'  <»f  the  mothers  of  the  rising 

ration    that    their   daughters   should    not    have    to   enter   t he- 
hard  struggle  for  the  suffrage  and  pictured  the  need  for  the  high- 


348  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

est  development  of  the  wt>manly  character.  Mrs.  Elsie  Cole 
Phillips  of  Wisconsin  showed  the  standpoint  of  the  so-called 
working  classes,  saying  in  part : 

The  right  to  vote  is  based  primarily  on  the  democratic  theory 
of  government.  "The  just  powers  of  government  are  derived  from 
the  consent  of  the  governed."  What  does  that  mean?  Does  it 
not  mean  that  there  is  no  class  so  wise,  so  benevolent  that  it  is  fitted 
to  govern  any  other  class?  Does  it  not  mean  that  in  order  to  have 
a  democratic  government  every  adult  in  the  community  must  have 
an  opportunity  to  express  his  opinion  as  to  how  he  wishes  to  be 
governed  and  to  have  that  opinion  counted?  A  vote  is  in  the  last 
analysis  an  expression  of  a  need — either  a  personal  need  known 
to  one  as  an  individual  as  it  can  be  known  to  no  one  else,  or  an 
expression  of  a  need  of  those  in  whom  we  are  interested — sister- 
women  or  children,  for  instance.  The  moment  that  one  admits 
this  concept  of  the  ballot  that  moment  practically  all  of  the  anti- 
suffrage  argument  is  done  away  with.  ...  Is  it  to  strengthen 
the  hands  of  the  strong?  Oh,  no;  it  is  to  put  into  the  hands  of 
the  weak  a  weapon  of  self-protection.  And  who  are  the  weak? 
Those  who  are  economically  handicapped — first  of  all  the  working 
classes  in  their  struggle  for  better  conditions  of  life  and  labor.  And 
who  among  the  workers  are  the  weak?  Wherever  the  men  have 
suffered,  the  women  have  suffered  more. 

But  I  would  also  like  to  point  out  to  you  how  this  affects  the  home- 
keeping  woman,  the  wife  and  mother,  of  the  working  class,  aside 
from  the  wage-earning  woman.  Consider  the  woman  at  home  who 
must  make  both  ends  meet  on  a  small  income.  Who  better  than  she 
knows  whether  or  not  the  cost  of  living  advances  more  rapidly  than 
the  wage  does?  Is  not  that  a  true  statement  in  the  most  practical 
form  of  the  problem  of  the  tariff?  And  who  better  than  she  knows 
what  the  needs  of  the  workers  are  in  the  factories?  Take  the  tene- 
ment-house woman,  the  wife  and  mother  who  is  struggling  to  bring 
up  a  family  under  conditions  which  constantly  make  for  evil.  Who, 
better  than  the  mother  who  has  tried  to  bring  up  six  or  seven  chil- 
dren in  one  room  in  a  dark  tenement  house,  knows  the  needs  of 
a  proper  building?  Who  better  than  the  mother  who  sees  her  hoy 
and  her  girl  playing  in  the  streets  knows  the  need  of  playgrounds? 
Who  better  than  a  mother  knows  what  it  means  to  a  child's  life — 
which  you  men  demand  that  she  as  a  wife  and  a  mother  shall  care 
for  especially — who,  better  than  she,  knows  the  cruel  pressure  that 
comes  to  that  child  from  too  early  labor  in  what  the  U.  S.  census 
report  calls  "gainful  occupations"? 

There  is  a  practical  wisdom  that  comes  out  of  the  pressure  of 
life  and  an  educational  force  in  life  itself  which  very  often  is  more 
efficient  than  that  which  comes  through  textbooks  of  college.  .  .  .  The 
ignorant  vote  that  is  going  to  come  in  when  women  are  enfranchised 
is  that  of  the  leisure-class  woman,  who  has  no  responsibilities  and 
knows  nothing  of  what  life  means  to  the  rest  of  the  world,  who  has 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1 9! 2  349 

absolutely  no  civic  or  social  intelligence.  But,  fortunately  for  us, 
she  is  a  small  percentage  of  the  women  of  this  land,  and  fortunately 
for  the  land  there  is  no  such  rapid  means  of  education  for  her  as  to 
give  her  the  ballot  and  let  her  for  the  first  time  feel  responsibili- 
ties. .  .  . 

Now  the  time  has  come  when  the  home  and  the  State  are  one. 
I -'very  act,  every  duty  of  the  mother  in  the  home  is  affected  by  some- 
thing the  State  does  or  does  not  do,  and  the  only  way  in  which  we 
are  ever  going  to  have  our  national  housekeeping  and  our  national 
child-rearing  done  as  it  should  be  is  by  bringing  into  the  councils  of 
the  State  the  wisdom  of  women. 

James  Lees  Laidlaw  of  New  York  was  introduced  as  president 
of  the  National  Men's  League  for  Woman  Suffrage  and  after 
stating  that  such  leagues  were  being  organized  throughout  the 
country  he  spoke  of  the  great  change  that  had  taken  place  in  the 
status  of  women  and  said : 

Most  important  of  all  is  the  change  of  woman's  position  in  in- 
dustrial, commercial  and  educational  fields.  We  are  all  familiar 
with  the  exodus  of  millions  of  women  from  the  home  into  the  mill 
and  the  factory.  Today  they  may  enter  freely  into  business  either 
as  principal  or  employee.  I  was  astonished  to  hear  reported  at  a 
recent  meeting  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  in  New  York  that  in 
the  commercial  high  schools  of  that  city,  where  a  business  education 
is  given,  S5  per  cent,  of  the  pupils  are  girls.  We  have  today  a 
great  body  of  intelligent  citizens  with  many  interests  in  the  Govern- 
ment besides  their  primary  interests  as  mothers  and  home-keepers. 
1  f  men  are  not  going  to  take  the  next  logical  step  they  have  made 
a  great  mistake  in  going  thus  far.  Why  give  women  property  rights 
if  we  give  them  no  rights  in  making  the  laws  governing  the  control 
and  disposition  of  their  property  and  no  vote  as  to  who  shall  have 

pending  of  tax  money?    Why  give  women  the  right  to  go  into 

iess  or  trades,  either  as  employees  or  employers,  without  the 

right  to  control  the  conditions  surrounding  their  business  or  trades? 

Why  train  women  to  be  better  mothers  and  better  housekeepers  and 

'in  the  right  to  say  what  laws  shall  be  passed  to  protect 

their  children  and  homes?    Why  train  women  to  be  teachers,  lawyers, 

:id  M-irntists  and  say  to  them:     "Now  you  have  assumed 

'tilities,  go  out  into  the  world  and  compete  with  men." 

and  then  handicap  them  by  depriving  them  of  political  expression? 

ien  now  have  the  opportunity  for  equal  mental  development 
will)  men.  Is  it  right  or  is  it  politically  expedient  that  we  should 

vail  onr^clves  of  their  special  knowledge  concerning  those  mat- 

.vliidi  vitally  at'iYct   the  human   race?  .  .  . 

Mrs.  Klla  S.  Stewart,  president  of  the  Illinois  Suffrage  Asso- 

>n   and   member  of   the  national   board,  contrasted  the  old 

or  the  ballot  with  the  modern  demand  for  it  to 


35°  TTTSTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

meet  the  present  intensely  utilitarian  age  and  continued :  "Today 
we  know  that  the  ballot  is  just  a  machine.  In  fact  it  impresses 
us  as  being  something  like  the  long-distance  telephone  which  we 
in  this  scientific  age  have  grown  accustomed  to  use.  We  go  into 
the  polling  booth  and  call  up  central  (the  Government)  and  when 
we  get  the  connection  we  deliver  our  message  with  accuracy  and 
speed  and  then  we  go  about  our  business.  Women  have  been 
encouraged  during  the  past  to  have  opinions  about  governmental 
matters  and  there  is  no  denying  that  we  do  have  opinions.  If 
we  could  submit  to  you  today  the  list  of  bills  which  the  Federa- 
tions of  Women's  Clubs  of  the  various  States  have  endorsed 
and  for  which  they  are  working  you  would  know  that  women 
have  a  large  civic  conscience  and  an  intelligent  appreciation  of 
the  measures  which  affect  both  women  and  the  homes.  They 
have  been  encouraged  to  have  these  opinions  but  to  try  to  in- 
fluence legislation  only  in  indirect  ways.  Today,  being  practical 
and  sfk'iitific,  we  are  asking  ourselves  all  the  time  why  should  we 
be  limited  to  expressing  our  opinion  on  governmental  affairs  in 
our  women's  clubs?  Why  should  we  breathe  them  only  in  the 
prayer  meeting  or  in  the  parlors  of  our  friends  ?  Why  not  directly 
into  the  governmental  ear — the  ballot  box  ?  Why  do  we  not  go 
into  that  long-distance  telephone  booth,  get  connection  with 
central,  and  then  know  that  our  message  has  been  delivered  in 
the  only  place  where  it  is  recorded.  The  Government  makes- 
no  record  whatever  of  the  opinions  which  we  express  in  our 
women's  clubs  and  our  prayer  meetings." 

Mrs.  Caroline  A.  Lowe  of  Kansas  City,  Mo.,  spoke  in  behalf 
of  the  7,000,000  'wage-earning  women  of  the  United  States  from 
the  standpoint  of  one  who  had  earned  her  living  since  she  was 
eighteen  and  declared  that  to  them  the  need  of  the  ballot  was  a 
vital  one.  She  gave  heart-breaking  proofs  of  this  fact  and  said  : 

From  the  standpoint  of  wages  received  we  wage  earners  know 
it  to  1)e  almost  universal  that  the  men  in  the  industries  receive  twice 
the  amount  granted  to  us  although  we  may  be  doing  the  same  work. 
We  work  side  by  side  with  our  brothers ;  we  are  children  of  the 
same  parents,  reared  in  the  same  homes,  educated  in  the  same  schools, 
ride  to  and  fro  on  the  same  early  morning  and  late  evening  cars, 
work  together  the  same  number  of  hours  in  the  same  shops  and  we 
have  equal  need  of  food,  clothing  and  shelter.  But  at  21  years  of 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQI2  35! 

age  our  brothers  are  given  a  powerful  weapon  for  self-defense,  a 
larger  means  for  growth  and  self-expression.  We  working  women, 
because  we  find  our  sex  not  a  source  of  strength  but  a  source  of 
weakness  and  a  greater  opportunity  for  exploitation,  have  even 
greater  need  of  this  weapon  which  is  denied  to  us.  Is  there  any 
justice  underlying  such  a  condition? 

What  of  the  working  girl  and  her  employer?  Why  is  the  ballot 
given  to  him  while  it  is  denied  to  us?  Is  it  for  the  protection  of 
his  property  that  he  may  have  a  voice  in  the  governing  of  his  wealth, 
of  his  stocks  and  bonds  and  merchandise?  The  wealth  of  the  work- 
ing woman  is  far  more  precious  to  the  welfare  of  the  State.  From 
nature's  raw  products  the  working  class  can  readily  replace  all  of 
the  material  wealth  owned  by  the  employing  class  but  the  wealth  of 
the  working  woman  is  the  wealth  of  flesh  and  blood,  of  all  her 
physical,  mental  and  spiritual  powers.  It  is  not  only  the  wealth 
of  today  but  that  of  future  generations  which  is  being  bartered  away 
so  cheaply.  Have  we  no  right  to  a  voice  in  the  disposal  of  our 
wealth,  the  greatest  that  the  world  possesses,  the  priceless  wealth  of 
its  womanhood?  Is  it  not  the  crudest  injustice  that  the  man  whose 
material  wealth  is  a  source  of  strength  and  protection  to  him  and 
nf  power  over  us  should  be  given  the  additional  advantage  of  an 
even  greater  weapon  which  he  can  use  to  perpetuate  our  condition 
of  helpless  subjection?  .  .  .  The  industrial  basis  of  the  life  <>f 
the  woman  has  changed  and  the  political  superstructure  must  be 
adjusted  to  conform  to  it.  This  industrial  change  has  given  to 
woman  a  larger  hori/.on,  a  greater  freedom  of  action  in  the  industrial 
world.  Greater  freedom  and  larger  expression  are  at  hand  for  her 
in  the  political  life.  The  time  is  ripe  for  the  extension  of  the 
franchise  to  women. 

We  do  not  come  before  you  to  beg  of  you  the  granting  of  any 
favor.  We  present  to  you  a  glorious  opportunity  to  place  ycmrselves 
abreast  of  the  current  of  this  great  evolutionary  movement. 

Mrs.  Donald  Hooker  of  Baltimore  gave  striking  instances  of 
the  conditions  in  that  State  regarding  the  social  evil,  of  the 
hundreds  <>f  virtuous  ^irls  who  every  year  are  forced  into  a 
life  of  <diame,  of  the  thousands  <»f  children  who  die  because 
mothers  have  no  voice  in  making  laws  for  their  protection. 
"Tlu-re  was  ttCVCT  a  i^reat  act  of  injustice,"  she  said,  "that  \\as 
not  paid  for  in  human  life  and  happiness.  A  ^reat  act  of  in- 
justice is  bein^  jHTjK'lrated  by  denying  women  the  ritjht  to  vote." 

Mi-s  Leonora  O'K'eilly,  a  leader  aiiiniijj  the  working  women 
of  New  York,  made  an  impassioned  plea  that  carried  conviction. 
"I  have  been  a  v  ner  since  I  \\as  thirteen."  she  said,  "and 

I  know  whereof  I  s|H-ak.  I  \\ant  to  make  von  reali/e  the  li\es 
of  hundreds  ol  i-irls  I  ha\<  o  down  in  this  stniqidc  for 


352  HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

bread.  We  working  women  want  the  ballot  as  our  right.  You 
say  it  is  not  a  right  but  a  privilege.  Then  we  demand  it  as  a 
privilege.  All  women  ought  to  have  it,  wage-earning  women 
must  have  it."  After  plainer  speaking  than  the  .committee  had 
ever  heard  from  a  woman  she  concluded:  "You  may  tell  us 
that  our  place  is  in  the  home.  There  are  8,000,000  of  us  in  these^ 
United  States  who  must  go  out  of  it  to  earn  our  daily  bread 
and  we  come  to  tell  you  that  while  we  are  working  in  the  mills,  the 
mines,  the  factories  and  the  mercantile  houses  we  have  not  the 
protection  that  we  should  have.  You  have  been  making  laws  for 
us  and  the  laws  you  have  made  have  not  been  good  for  us.  Year 
after  year  working  women  have  gone  to  the  Legislature  in  every 
State  and  have  tried  to  tell  their  story  of  need  in  the  same  old 
way.  They  have  gone  believing  in  the  strength  of  the  big 
brother,  believing  that  the  big  brother  could  do  for  them  what 
they  should,  as  citizens,  do  for  themselves.  They  have  seen  time 
after  time  the  power  of  the  big  interests  come  behind  the  big 
brother  and  say  to  him,  'If  you  grant  the  request  of  these  working 
women  you  die  politically/ 

"It  is  because  the  working  women  have  seen  this  that  they 
now  demand  the  ballot.  In  New  York  and  in  every  other  State^ 
we  plead  for  shorter  hours.  When  the  legislators  learn  that 
women  today  in  every  industry  are  being  overspeeded  and  over- 
worked, most  of  them  would,  if  they  dared,  vote  protective  legisla- 
tion. Why  do  they  neglect  the  women?  We  answer,  because 
those  who  have  the  votes  have  the  power  to  take  the  legislator's 
political  ladder  away  from  him,  a  power  that  we,  who  have  no 
votes,  do  not  have.  .  .  .  While  the  doors  of  the  colleges  have 
been  opened  to  the  fortunate  women  of  our  country,  only  one 
woman  in  a  thousand  goes  into  our  colleges,  while  one  woman 
in  five  must  go  into  industry  to  earn  her  living.  And  it  is  for  the 
protection  of  this  one  woman  in  every  five  that  I  speak.  ..." 

Mrs.  Jean  Nelson  Penfield,  chairman  of  the  Woman  Suffrage 
Party  of  New  York  numbering  60,000  members,  said  in  part : 

In  the  few  moments  given  me  I  will  confine  myself  to  the  handi- 
cap women  have  found  disfranchisement  to  be  in  social-service  work. 
It  is  supposed  by  many  that  because  our  so-called  leisure  women  have 
been  able  to  do  so  much  apparently  good  community  betterment 
work  without  the  ballot  we  do  not  need  it.  I  should  like  to  ask 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQI2  353 

you  to  remember  that  the  important  thing  is  not  that  women  succeed 
in  this  kind  of  work  but  that  where  they  do  succeed  it  is  at  tre- 
mendous and  needless  expenditure  of  energy  and  vital  strength 
and  at  the  cost  of  dignity  and  self-respect. 

The  dominant  thought  in  the  world  today  is  that  of  conserva- 
tion; the  tendency  of  the  whole  business  world  is  toward  economy. 
How  to  lessen  the  cost  of  production;  how  to  improve  the  machin- 
ery of  business  so  as  to  reduce  friction — these  are  the  questions 
that  are  being  asked  not  only  in  the  business  world  but  in  the  affairs 
of  state.  No  intelligent  man  in  this  scientific  day  would  try  to  do 
anything  by  an  indirect  and  wasteful  method  if  he  could  accom- 
plish his  purpose  by  a  direct  and  economic  method.  Even  the  brick- 
layer is  taught  how  to  handle  his  bricks  so  that  the  best  results  may 
^•cured  at  the  least  possible  expenditure  of  time  and  energy. 
\\'<>men  alone  seem  to  represent  a  great  body  of  energy,  vitality  and 
talent  which  is  unconserved,  unutilized  and  recklessly  wasted.  If 
a  man  wants  reforms  he  goes  armed  with  a  vote  to  the  ballot  box 
and  even  to  the  Legislature  with  that  power  of  the  vote  behind  him ; 
but  if  women  want  these  things  they  are  asked  to  take  the  long, 
questionable,  roundabout  route  of  personal  influence,  of  petition,  of 
indirection.  Women  have  accomplished  a  great  deal  in  this  way 
but  it  has  required  a  long  time.  .  .  .  Take,  for  instance,  one  class  of 
work — the  establishment  of  manual  training,  domestic  science,  open- 
air  schools,  school  gardens  and  playgrounds — all  once  just  "women's 
notions"  but  now  established  institutions.  Women  have  had  to  found 
and  finance  and  demonstrate  them  before  municipalities  would  have 
anything  to  do  with  them,  but  when  city  or  State  adopts  these  insti- 
tutions the  management  is  immediately  and  entirely  taken  out  of  the 
hands  of  women  and  placed  in  the  hands  of  men.  .  .  . 

.Among  thinking  women  there  is  a  growing  consciousness  of  being 

>tT,  shut  out  from  the  civic  life  in  which  they  have  an  equal  stake 

with  men.     We  ask  you  to  recognize  that  the  time  is  here  for  you 

•ibmit  an  amendment  to  the  States  for  ratification  which  will 

women  the  influence  and  power  of  the  suffrage. 

In  closing  Dr.  Shaw  asked  that  her  association  might  have 

•  printed   copies   for  distribution  and   was  assured   that   it 

mi^ht  have  fifteen  or  twenty  thousand  if  it  desired  them.     She 

al-o  urged  that  the  committee  would  report  the  resolution  to  the 

Senate  for  discussion  and  as  a  third  request  said:     "We  are 

that   men   arc   afraid   to   tyrant   women   suffrage   leM    fearful 

Its  should  come  to  the  Government  and  to  the  women.     We 

for  years  that  Congress  would  appoint  a  committee 

irtical  working  in  the  States  where  it  (" 

— the  of  them      and  we  are  entirely  willing  to  ri-k 

our  case  on  that  investigation.     \Ye  feel  that  its  results  would  be 


354  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

such  that  we  would  not  have  to  come  here  much  longer  and  take 
up  your  time  with  our  arguments  on  the  subject." 

Franklin  W.  Collins  of  Nebraska  spoke  in  opposition,  present- 
ing his  case  in  a  series  of  over  fifty  questions  but  not  attempting 
to  answer  any  of  them.  Among  the  questions  were  these:  If 
woman  by  her  ballot  should  plunge  the  country  into  war,  would 
she  not  be  in  honor  bound  to  fight  by  the  side  of  man?  Will 
the  ballot  in  the  hands  of  women  pour  oil  on  the  troubled  domestic 
waters  ?  Has  not  this  movement  a  strong  tendency  to  encourage 
the  exodus  from  the  land  of  bondage,  otherwise  known  as 
matrimony  and  motherhood  ?  Is  it  not  true  that  every  free-lover, 
socialist,  communist  and  anarchist  the  country  over  is  openly  in 
favor  of  female  suffrage? 

The  National  Association  Opposed  to  Woman  Suffrage  sent 
from  its  bureau  in  New  York  a  letter  of  "earnest  protest"  against 
the  amendment  signed  by  its  president,  Mrs.  Arthur  M.  Dod^v. 
Its  auxiliary  in  the  District  of  Columbia  sent  another  of  greater 
length  signed  by  its  chairman,  Mrs.  Grace  Duffield  Goodwin, 
which  not  only  protested  against  a  Federal  Amendment  but 
against  the  granting  of  woman  suffrage  by  any  method. 


Six  members  of  the  House  of  Representatives  had  introduced 
the  resolution  for  a  Federal  Suffrage  Amendment — Raker  of 
California;  Lafferty  of  Oregon;  Mondell  of  Wyoming;  Berger 
of  Wisconsin;  and  Taylor  and  Rucker  of  Colorado.  The  hear- 
ing before  the  Judiciary  Committee  proved  to  be  of  unusual 
interest.  Sixteen  of  this  large  committee  of  twenty-one  were 
present  and  a  reason  given  for  the  absence  of  the  others.  They 
were  an  imposing  array  as  they  sat  in  a  semi-circle  on  a  raised 
platform.  The  chairman,  Judge  Henry  D.  Clayton  of  Alabama, 
treated  the  speakers  as  if  they  were  his  personal  guests,  assured 
them  of  all  the  time  they  desired  and  at  the  close  of  the  hearing 
was  photographed  -with  Miss  Addams  and  Mrs.  Harper.  Instead 
of  listening  in  a  perfunctory  way  the  members  of  the  committee 
showed  much  interest  and  asked  many  questions.  Miss  Jane 
Addams,  first  vice-president  of  the  National  American  Suffrage 
Association,  presided  and  in  presenting  her  with  words  of  high- 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQI2  355 

est  praise  Representative  Taylor  said  that  all  who  had  introduced 
the  resolution  would  be  pleased  to  speak  in  support  of  it  at  any 
time  and  that  personally  he  wished  to  put  in  the  record  a  state- 
ment of  the  results  of  woman  suffrage  in  Colorado  during  the 
pa^t  eighteen  years  with  a  brief  mention  of  150  of  the  wisest, 
most  humane  and  progressive  laws  in  the  country  for  the  pro- 
tection of  home  and  the  betterment  of  society,  which  the  women 
of  Colorado  had  caused  to  be  put  upon  its  statute  books. 

Miss  Addams  called  the  attention  of  the  committee  to  the  fact 
that  more  than  a  million  women  would  be  eligible  to  vote  for 
the  President  of  the  United  States  in  November.  She  named  the 
countries  where  women  could  vote,  saying:  "America,  far  from 
being  in  the  lead  in  the  universal  application  of  the  principle  that 
every  adult  is  entitled  to  the  ballot,  is  fast  falling  behind  the 
•  if  the  \vorld,"  and  continued: 

As  I  have  been  engaged  for  a  good  many  years  in  various  philan- 
thropic undertakings,  perhaps  you  will  permit  me,  for  only  a  few 
moments,  to  speak  from  my  experience.  A  good  many  women  with 
whom  1  have  been  associated  have  initiated  and  carried  forward 
philanthropic  enterprises  which  were  later  taken  over  by  the  city  and 
thereupon  the  women  have  been  shut  out  from  the  opportunity  to 
do  the  self -same  work  which  they  had  done  up  to  that  time.  In 
Chicago  the  women  for  many  years  supported  school  nurses  who 
rare  of  the  children,  made  them  comfortable  and  kept  them 
from  truancy.  When  the  nurses  were  taken  over  by  the  health 
department  of  the  city  the  same  women  who  had  given  them  their 
support  and  management  were  excluded  from  doing  anything  more, 
and  I  think  Chicago  will  bear  me  out  when  I  say  that  the  nurses 
an  nnt  imw  doing  as  good  work  as  they  did  before  this  happened, 
ild  also  use  the  illustration  of  the  probation  officers  who  are 
attached  to  the  juvenile  court.  For  a  number  of  years  women 
and  supported  these  probation  officers.  Later,  when  the 
-ame  officers,  paid  the  same  salary,  were  taken  over  by  the  county 
and  paid  from  the  county  funds,  the  women  who  had  been  respon- 
sible for  the  initiation  and  be^innin^  of  the  probation  system  and 
for  the  early  management  of  the  Officers,  had  no  more  to  do  with 
iliem  and  at  the  present  moment  the  juvenile  court  has  fallen  behind 
r  position  in  the  juvenile  courts  of  the  world.  I  think  the 
tair  minded  men  of  (  'hica^o  will  admit  that  ii  h'saster  when 

the   women   were  disqualified   by  their  lack  of   the   franchise  to 
for   it.      The   juvenile   court    has    to   do   largely    with   delinquent    and 
dent   children  and  there   is  no  doubt   that   on   the  whole  women 
can    deal    with    such    cases    better    than    men    because    their    natural 
interest,  lie  in  that  direction.      I  could  iM\e  \  <m  mam  nther  examples. 


356  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

...  So  it  seems  fair  to  say  that  if  women  are  to  keep  on  with  the 
work  which  they  have  done  since  the  beginning  of  the  world — to 
continue  with  their  humanitarian  efforts  which  are  so  rapidly  being 
taken  over  into  the  Government,  and  which  when  thus  taken  over 
are  often  not  properly  administered,  women  themselves  must  have 
the  franchise.  .  .  . 

Introducing  Representative  Raker  Miss  Addams  said  smilingly 
that  while  the  women  speakers  were  allowed  ten  minutes  the 
men  were  to  have  but  five.  Judge  Raker  of  California  referred 
to  the  fact  that  he  had  pledged  himself  to  this  Federal  Amend- 
ment when  he  was  first  a  candidate  for  Congress  eight  years 
before  and  said :  "This  matter,  as  it  appears  to  me,  has  passed 
beyond  the  question  of  sentiment ;  it  has  passed  beyond  the 
question  of  advisability;  it  has  passed  beyond  the  question 
of  whether  or  not  -women  ought  to  participate  in  the  vote  for  the 
benefit  of  the  home  or  the  benefit  of  the  State.  As  I  view  it  it 
is  a  clean-cut  question  of  absolute  right  and  upon  that  assumption 
I  base  my  argument — that  we  today  are  depriving  one-half  of 
the  intelligence,  one-half  of  the  ability  of  this  republic  from 
participating  in  public  affairs  and  that  from  the  economic  stand- 
point of  better  laws,  better  homes,  better  government  in  the 
country,  the  city,  the  State  and  the  nation,  we  need  our  wives', 
our  sisters'  and  our  mothers'  votes  and  assistance/' 

"May  I  introduce  one  of  my  own  fellow  townswomen,  Miss 
Mary  E.  McDowell,"  said  Miss  Addams,  "who  has  had  what 
I  may  call  a  distressing  life  in  the  stockyards  district  of  Chicago 
for  many  years,  and  she  will  tell  you  what  she  thinks  of  the 
franchise  for  women."  Miss  McDowell  said  in  part : 

We  are  all  together  very  human,  it  seems  to  me,  both  men  and 
women,  and  it  is  because  we  are  human,  because  this  is  a  human 
proposition  and  not  a  woman  proposition,  that  I  am  glad  to  speak 
lor  it  and  believe  in  it  so  firmly.  Giving  the  vote  to  women  is  not 
simply  a  woman's  question,  it  has  to  do  with  the  man,  the  child 
and  the  home.  Women  have  always  worked  but  within  much  less 
than  a  century  millions  of  women  and  girls  have  been  thrust  out  of 
the  home  into  a  man-made  world  of  industry  and  commerce.  \\V 
know  that  in  the  United  States  over  5,500,000,  according  to  the 
census  of  1900,  are  bread  winners.  ...  Do  we  not  see  that  the  work- 
ing women  must  be  given  every  safeguard  that  workingmen  have 
and  now  as  they  stand  side  by  side  with  men  in  the  factory  and  shop 
they  must  stand  with  them  politically?  The  ballot  may  be  but  a 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQI2  357 

small  bit  of  tbe  machinery  that  is  to  lift  the  mass  of  wage-earning 
women  up  to  a  higher  plane  of  self-respect  and  self -protection  but 
will  it  not  add  the  balance  of  power  so  much  needed  by  the  work- 
ingmen  in  their  struggle  for  protective  legislation,  which  will  in  the 
end  be  shared  by  the  women?  Today  women  are  cheap,  unskilled 
labor  and  will  be  until  organization  and  technical  training  and  the 
responsibility  of  the  vote  in  their  hands  develop  a  consciousness 
of  their  social  value.  .  .  . 

Tbe  vote  and  all  that  it  implies  will  awaken  this  sense  of  value. 
It  will  give  to  the  wage-earning  woman  a  new  status  in  industry, 
for  men  will  help  to  educate  her  when  she  is  a  political  as  well 
as  an  industrial  co-worker.  As  man  gave  strength  to  the  developing 
of  the  institution  of  the  home  so  woman  must  be  given  the  oppor- 
tunity to  help  man  humanize  the  State.  This  can  be  done  only 
when  she  has  the  ballot  and  shares  the  responsibility. 

Representative  A.  W.  Lafferty  of  Oregon  said  in  his  brief 
five  minutes :  "I  believe  it  is  not  only  practicable  but  that  it  would 
be  profitable  to  the  United  States  to  extend  equal  suffrage  to 
men  and  women.  We  have  had  here  this  morning  a  practical 
demonstration  of  the  ability  of  the  women  of  this  country  to 
participate  intelligently  in  the  discussion  of  public  questions.  I 
think  that  we  could  not  make  a  mistake  in  placing  the  ballot  in 
the  hand  that  rocks  the  cradle.  Having  only  the  best  interests 
of  this  republic  at  heart,  I  believe  it  would  be  a  good  thing  if 
fifty  of  the  mothers  of  this  country  were  in  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives today  and  I  wish  that  at  least  twenty-five  of  them 
were  in  the  Senate.  You  should  consider,  as  lawyers,  as  states- 
men and  as  historians  that  in  the  history  of  the  civilized  world 
in  monarchies  women  have  participated  in  the  Government ;  it 
shame  that  in  a  republic  like  ours,  the  best  form  of  govern- 
ment that  has  ever  yet  been  established,  women  can  not,  under 
tbe  present  law.  actively  participate  in  it." 

The  address  which  Representative  Edward  T.  Taylor  put  into 

the  Congressional  Record  on  this  occasion  was  also  printed  in  a 

pamphlet  of  forty  pages  and  until  the  end  of  the  movement  for 

an  suffrage  was  a  standard  document  for  distribution  by 

the  National  Association.    He  said  in  tbe  introduction: 

1   want   to  recite  in  a  plain,  conversational  way   some  of  my  • 

rind  individual  observatio-  ling  over 

of  thirty  years  of  public  life,  during  nearly  nineteen  years  of  which 
we  have  had  equal  suffrage  in  Colorado.  .  .  . 


HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

When  I  came  to  Congress  I  did  not  realize  and  I  have  not  yet 
been  able  fully  to  understand  the  deep-seated  prejudice,  bias  and 
even  vindictiveness  against  woman  suffrage  and  the  astounding 
amount  of  misinformation  there  is  everywhere  here  in  the  East  con- 
cerning its  practical  operation.  I  have  been  equally  amazed  and 
indignant  at  the  many  brazen  assertions  I  have  seen  in  the  papers 
and  heard  that  are  perfectly  absurd  and  without  the  slightest  founda- 
tion in  fact,  and  I  have  had  many  heated  discussions  on  the  subject 
during  the  past  three  years.  When  I  hear  men  and  women  who 
have  never  spent  a  week  and  most  of  them  not  an  hour  in  an  equal 
suffrage  State  attempt  to  discuss  the  subject  from  the  standpoint 
of  their  own  preconceived  prejudices  and  idle  impressions,  I  feel  like 
saying:  "May  the  Lord  forgive  them  for  they  know  not  what  they 
do."  Let  me  say  to  them  and  to  my  colleagues  in  the  House  that  it 
will  not  be  ten  years  before  the  women  of  this  country  from  the 
Pacific  to  the  Atlantic  will  have  the  just  and  equal  rights  of  Ameri- 
can citizenship.1 

Since  coming  here  I  have  been  frequently  asked  by  friends  what 
we  think  of  woman  suffrage  in  Colorado,  and  when  I  tell  them  that 
it  is  an  unqualified  success  and  that  I  doubt  if  even  five  per  cent,  of 
tin-  people  of  the  State  would  vote  to  repeal  it,  they  ask  me  what 
it  has  accomplished.  I  believe  it  is  generally  conceded  by  enlightened 
people  that  the  laws  of  a  State  are  a  true  index  of  its  degree  of 
civilization.  I  will,  therefore,  give  a  brief  catalogue  of  some  of  the 
most  important  of  the  150  legislative  measures  that  have  been  either 
introduced  by  the  women  or  at  the  request  of  the  various  women's 
organizations  and  enacted  into  law. 

Then  followed  under  the  head  of  different  years,  beginning 
with  1893,  that  in  which  women  were  enfranchised,  a  roster  of 
Colorado's  unequalled  laws.  These  were  followed  by  a  complete 
analysis  of  the  practical  working  of  woman  suffrage  during  the 
past  eighteen  years,  with  comprehensive  answers  to  all  the  stereo- 
typed questions  and  objections. 

Several  who  had  addressed  the  Senate  Committee  came  over 
to  the  House  office  building  and  spoke  to  the  Judiciary  Com- 
mittee. Mrs.  William  Kent,  wife  of  a  Representative  from 
California,  was  introduced  by  Miss  Addams  as  one  who  was 
not  a  member  of  the  House  but  was  eligible.  In  the  course  of 
a  winning  speech  she  said :  "The  United  States  is  committed  to 
a  democratic  form  of  government,  a  government  by  the  people. 
Those  who  do  not  believe  in  the  ideals  of  democracy  are  the  only 
ones  who  can  consistently  oppose  woman  suffrage.  The  hope  of 
democracy  is  in  education.  There  is  food  for  thought  in  the 

1  It  was  eight  and  a  half  years. 


NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQI2  359 

fact  that  the  early  education  of  all  the  citizens  is  now  administered 
by  a  class  who  have  no  vote.  .  .  .  Our  recent  California  Legis- 
lature when  it  submitted  the  amendments  which  were  to  be 
referred  to  the  voters  on  October  10  did  a  very  sensible  and 
intelligent  thing.  Speeches  for  and  against  each  one  of  these 
amendments  were  published  in  a  little  pamphlet  which  was  sent 
to  every  voter.  One  man — and  he  was  a  good  man,  too — who 
argued  against  woman  suffrage  said  that  women  should  not  de- 
scc-ud  into  the  dirty  mire  of  politics,  that  the  vote  would  be  of 
no  value  to  them.  In  the  same  speech  he  said  that  the  women 
should  teach  their  sous  the  sacred  duties  of  citizens  and  to  hold 
the  ballot  as  the  most  precious  inheritance  of  every  American 
hoy.  Can  we  really  bring  up  our  sons  with  a  clear  sense  of  the 
civic  responsibility  which  we  ourselves  have  not?  We  believe 
that  our  children  need  what  we  shall  learn  in  becoming  voters 
and  that  the  State  needs  what  we  have  learned  in  being  mothers 
and  home  makers." 

"May  I  present  next,"  said  Miss  Addams,  "Mrs.  Ida  Husted 
1  larper,  of  New  York?  She  has  been  before  other  Congressional 
committees  with  Miss  Susan  B.  Anthony,  who  for  so  many  years 
came  here  to  present  this  cause.  Mrs.  Harper  has  written  a 
•ry  of  the  equal  suffrage  movement  and  a  very  fine  biography 
of  Miss  Anthony  and  it  is  with  special  pleasure  that  I  present 
her.  She  will  make  the  constitutional  argument." 

Mrs.  Harper  said  in  beginning :    "This  argument  shall  be  based 
entirely  on  the  Federal  Constitution  and  the  only  authorities  cited 
will  be  the  utterances  of  two  Presidents  of  the  United  States 
•within   the  past  month."     She   then  quoted   from   speeches  of 
<Ient   Taft   and   former  President  Roosevelt  extolling  the 
•itution  as  guaranteeing  self-government  to  all  the  people 
with  the  right  to  change  it  when  this  seems  necessary,  and  she 
showed  the  utter  fallacy  of  this  statement  when  applied  to  women. 
In  cl  tid:   "I  orty-thrce  years  in  asking  Congress  for 

this  amendment  of  the  Kcderal  Constitution  to  enfranchise  women 
they  have  followed  an  entirely  legal  and  constitutional  method  of 
procedure,  which  has  been  so  absolutely  barren  of  results  that 
in  the  pa-t  nineteen  years  the  committees  have  made  no  report 
•whatever,  cither  favorable  or  unfavorable.  How  much  longer 


360  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

do  you  expect  women  to  treat  with  respect  National  and  State 
constitutions  and  legislative  bodies  that  stand  thus  an  impenetra- 
ble barrier  between  them  and  their  rights  as  citizens  of  the  United 
States  ?"  A  long  colloquy  followed  which  began : 

The  Chairman:  The  committee  will  be  very  glad  to  have  you 
extend  your  remarks  to  answer  a  question  propounded  by  Mr.  Little- 
ton awhile  ago.  I  wish  to  say  that  this  committee,  during  my  service 
on  it,  has  always  been  met  with  this  proposition  when  this  amend- 
ment was  proposed,  that  the  States  already  have  the  authority  to 
confer  suffrage  upon  women,  and,  therefore,  why  is  it  necessary 
for  women  to  wait  for  an  amendment  to  the  Federal  Constitution 
when  they  can  now  go  to  the  States  and  obtain  this  right  to  vote, 
just  as  the  women  of  California  did  last  year? 

Mrs.  Harper:  Mr.  Chairman,  the  women  are  not  waiting;  they 
are  keeping  right  on  with  their  efforts  to  get  the  suffrage  from  the 
States.  They  began  in  1867  with  their  State  campaigns  and  have 
continued  them  ever  since,  but  in  sending  the  women  to  the  States 
you  require  them  to  make  forty-eight  campaigns  and  to  go  to  the 
individual  electors  to  get  permission  to  vote.  After  the  Civil  War 
the  Republican  party  with  all  its  power  and  with  only  the  north- 
ern States  voting,  was  never  able  to  get  the  suffrage  for  the  negroes. 
The  leaders  went  to  State  after  State,  even  to  Kansas,  with  its  record 
for  freeing  the  negroes,  and  every  State  turned  down  the  proposi- 
tion to  give  them  suffrage.  I  doubt  if  the  individual  voters  of 
many  States  would  give  the  suffrage  to  any  new  class,  even  of  men. 
The  capitalists  would  not  let  the  working  people  vote  if  they  could 
help  it,  and  the  working  people  would  not  let  the  capitalists  vote; 
Catholics  would  not  enfranchise  the  Protestants  and  the  Protestants 
would  not  give  the  vote  to  Catholics.  You  impose  upon  us  an  in- 
tolerable condition  when  you  send  us  to  the  individual  voters.  What 
man  on  this  committee  would  like  to  submit  his  electoral  rights  to 
the  voters  of  New  York  City,  for  instance,  representing  as  they 
do  every  nationality  in  the  world?  If  we  could  secure  this  amend- 
ment to  the  Federal  Constitution,  then  we  could  deal  with  the 
Legislatures,  with  the  selected  men  in  each  State,  instead  of  the  great 
conglomerate  of  voters  that  we  have  in  this  country,  such  as  does 
not  exist  in  any  other. 

The  Chairman:  Rut  if  one  of  these  suffrage  resolutions  should  be 
favorably  reported  and  both  Houses  of  Congress  should  pass  it  of 
course  it  would  be  referred  to  the  States  and  then  before  it  became 
a  law  it  would  have  to  have  their  approval. 

Mrs.  Harper:  Only  of  the  Legislatures,  not  the  individual  voters. 

The  Chairman :  You  use  an  expression  which  a  member  of  the  com- 
mittee has  asked  me  to  have  you  explain — "conglomerate  of  voters," 
which  you  said  does  not  exist  elsewhere.  The  desire  is  to  know 
to  whom  you  refer. 

Mrs.  Harper:  I  mean  no  disrespect  to  the  great  body  of  electors 


NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQI2  361 

in  the  United  States  but  in  every  other  country  the  voters  are  the 
people  of  its  own  nationality.  In  no  other  would  the  question  have 
o  to  the  nationalities  of  the  whole  world  as  it  would  in  our 
country.  For  instance,  we  have  to  submit  our  question  to  the  negro 
and  to  the  Indian  men,  when  we  go  to  the  individual  voters,  and 
to  the  native-born  Chinese  and  to  all  those  men  from  southern 
Europe  who  are  trained  in  the  idea  of  woman's  inferiority.  You  put 
upon  us  conditions  which  are  not  put  upon  women  anywhere  in  the 
world  outside  the  United  States. 

Mr.  Littleton  (N.  Y.)  :  You  would  have  to  convince  every  legis- 
lator of  the  fact  that  this  amendment  to  the  National  Constitution 
ou^ht  to  be  adopted.     If  you  could  convince  the  Legislatures  of 
-fourths  of  the  States  you  could  get  three- fourths  of  them  to 
r  the  suffrage  itself. 

Mrs.  Harper:  They  could  only  grant  it  to  the  extent  of  sending 
the  individual  voters,  while  if  this  amendment  were  submitted 
Digress  and  the  Legislatures  endorsed  it  we  would  never  have 
to  deal  with  the  individual  voters.     We  would  not  have  to  con- 
vince every  legislator  but  only  a  majority. 

Mr.  Higgins  (Conn.)  :  In  other  words,  as  I  understand  you,  you 
have  more  confidence  in  the  Legislatures  than  in  the  composite 
citizenship. 

Mrs.  Harper:  The  composite  male  citizenship,  you  mean.  We 
suppose,  of  course,  that  the  Legislatures  represent  the  picked  men 
of  the  community,  its  intelligence,  its  judgment,  the  best  that  the 
country  has.  That  is  the  supposition. 

The  Chairman:  That  supposition  applies  to  Congress  also,  does  it? 
.  Harper:  In  a  larger  degree. 

Representative  Victor  L.  Berger  of  Wisconsin,  who  was  out 
of  the  city,  sent  a  statement  which  Miss  Addams  requested  Mrs. 
Elsie  Cole  Phillips  of  Wisconsin  to  read  to  the  committee.  It 
said  in  part: 

\Yoman  suffrage  is  a  necessity  from  both  a  political  and  an  eco- 
nomic standpoint.    We  can  never  have  democratic  rule  until  we  let 
.omen  vote.    We  can  never  have  real  freedom  until  the  women 
are  free.    Women  are  now  citizens  in  all  but  the  main  expression 
'izenship— the  exercise  of  the  vote.     They  need  this  power  to 
1  out  and  complete  their  citizenship.  ...  In  political  matters  they 
much  the  same  interests  that  we  men  have.     In  State  and 
•ial  issues  their  interests  differ  little,  if  at  all,  from  ours.     In 
municipal  questions  they  have  an  even  interest  than  we  have. 

All  the  complex  questions  of  housing,  schooling,  policing,  sanitation 

•ilinrly  the  interests  of  women  as  the 
of  children.     Women  need  and  must 
which  to  protect  their  interests  in  these  political 
and  administrative  questions. 

The  economic  argument  for  woman  suffrage  is  yet  stronger.    Eco- 


.V>~'  IIISTOKY    OK    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

nomics  plays  an  increasingly  important  part  in  the  lives  of  us  all 
and  political  power  is  absolutely  necessary  to  obtain  for  women 
the  possibility  of  decent  conditions  of  living.  The  low  pay  and  the 
hard  conditions  of  working  women  are  largely  due  to  their  disen- 
franchisement.  Skilled  women  who  do  the  same  work  as  men  for 
lower  pay  could  enforce,  with  the  ballot,  an  equal  wage  rate. 

The  ideal  woman  of  the  man  of  past  generations  (and  especially 
of  the  Germans)  was  the  housewife,  the  woman  who  could  wash, 
cook,  scrub,  knit  stockings,  make  dresses  for  herself  and  her  chil- 
dren and  take  good  care  of  the  house.  That  ideal  has  become 
impossible.  Those  good  old  days,  if  ever  they  were  good,  are  gone 
forever.  .  .  .  Moreover,  then  the  woman  was  supported  by  her  father 
first  and  later  by  her  husband.  The  situation  is  entirely  different 
now.  The  woman  has  to  go  to  work  often  when  she  is  no  more 
than  fourteen  years  old.  She  surely  has  to  go  to  work  sometime 
if  she  belongs  to  the  working  class.  She  must  make  her  own  living 
in  the  factory,  the  store,  the  office,  the  schoolroom.  She  must  work 
to  support  herself  and  often  her  family.  The  economic  basis  of  the 
life  of  woman  has  changed  and  therefore  the  basis  of  the  argument 
that  she  should  not  vote  tecause  she  ought  to  stay  at  home  and 
take  care  of  her  family  has  been  destroyed.  She  cannot  stay  at 
home  whether  she  wants  to  or  not.  She  has  acquired  the  economic 
functions  of  the  man  and  she  ought  also  to  acquire  the  franchise. 

Mr.  Berger  called  attention  to  the  fact  that  "the  Socialist  party 
ever  since  its  origin  had  been  steadfastly  for  woman  suffrage 
and  put  this  demand  of  prime  importance  in  all  its  platforms 
everywhere."  Representative  Littleton  made  a  persistent  effort 
to  ally  woman  suffrage  with  Socialism,  saying  that  he  "had 
noticed  the  identity  during  the  past  two  years"  and  Mrs.  Harper 
answered :  "I  wish  to  remind  Mr.  Littleton  that  the  Socialist 
party  is  the  only  one  which  declares  for  woman  suffrage  and 
thereby  gives  -women  an  opportunity  to  come  out  and  stand  by  it. 
The  Democratic  and  Republican  parties  do  not  stand  for  woman 
suffrage  and  that  is  why  there  seem  to  be  more  Socialist  women 
than  Republican  or  Democratic  women.  If  the  two  old  parties 
will  declare  for  woman  suffrage,  then  the  women  in  general  will 
show  their  colors." 

Miss  Ella  C.  Brehaut,  member  of  the  executive  committee  of 
the  District  Anti-Suffrage  Association,  stated  that  she  also  repre- 
sented the  National  organization  and  when  questioned  by  Repre- 
sentative Sterling  as  to  the  size  of  its  membership  answered :  "It 
is  too  new  for  us  to  know  the  figures."  Miss  Brehaut's  address 
filled  six  printed  pages  of  the  stenographic  report  and  was  an 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQI2  363 

attempt  to  refute  all  the  favorable  arguments  that  had  been  made 
and  to  show  that  not  only  were  the  suffrage  leaders  Socialists 
but  "free  lovers"  as  well.  "Conservative  women  can  see  nothing 
but  danger  in  woman  suffrage,"  she  concluded.  Mrs.  Julia  T. 
Waterman,  of  the  District  association,  sent  to  be  put  in  the 
report  a  statement  which  filled  ten  pages  of  fine  print,  a  full 
summary  of  the  objections  to  woman  suffrage  as  expressed  in 
speeches,  articles  and  documents  of  various  kinds,  with  quota- 
tions from  prominent  opponents  in  the  United  States  and  Great 
Britain.  It  was  a  very  complete  presentation  of  the  question. 

Miss  Addams  in  closing  urged  the  appointment  of  a  commis- 
sion by  Congress  to  make  a  thorough  investigation  in  the  States 
where  woman  suffrage  was  established  and  the  chairman  answered 
that  "the  committee  would  probably  wish  to  take  this  matter 
under  advisement  in  executive  session."  She  thanked  him  for 
their  courtesy  and  asked  if  the  National  Suffrage  Association 
nii^ht  have  10,000  copies  of  the  hearing  for  distribution.  This 
request  was  cheerfully  granted  by  the  committee  and  the  chair- 
man offered  to  "frank"  them  as  a  public  document.  [Later  the 
committee  increased  the  number  to  16,000.] 

Apparently  the  matter  never  was  considered,  as  no  report, 
•rable  or  unfavorable,  ever  was  made  by  either  committee. 
In  so  far  as  bringing  the  Federal  Amendment  before  Senate  or 
House  for  action  was  concerned  the  hearings  might  as  well  never 
have  taken  place,  but  26,000  franked  copies  of  the  splendid  argu- 
ments before  the  two  committees  went  forth  to  accomplish  the 
mission  of  educating  public  sentiment. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

NATIONAL  AMERICAN  CONVENTION   OF 

The  Forty -fifth  annual  convention  of  the  National  American 
Suffrage  Association  met  in  Washington,  November  29-  Decem- 
ber 5,  1913,  in  response  to  the  Call  of  the  Official  Board.1  The 
first  day  and  evening  were  given  to  meetings  of  the  board  and  com- 
mittees, so  that  the  convention  really  opened  with  a  mass  meeting 
in  Columbia  Theater  Sunday  afternoon  at  3  o'clock  and  it  was 
cordially  welcomed  by  District  Commissioner  Newman.  Dr. 
Shaw  presided  and  a  large  and  interested  audience  heard  addresses 
by  Miss  Jane  Addams,  State  Senator  Helen  Ring  Robinson  of 
Colorado,  Miss  Margaret  Hinchey,  a  laundry  worker,  and  Miss 
Rose  Winslow,  a  stocking  weaver  of  New  York;  Miss  Mary 
Anderson,  member  of  the  executive  board  of  the  National  Boot 
and  Shoemakers'  Union,  and  others.  It  was  a  comparatively 
new  thing  to  have  women  wage-earners  on  the  woman  suffrage 

1Call:  For  the  forty-fifth  time  in  its  history  the  National  American  Woman  Suffrage 
Association  summons  its  members  together  in  council.  By  thus  assembling,  one  more 
united  step  toward  the  final  emancipation  of  the  women  of  this  country  is  made  prac- 
ticable. .  .  .  To  the  wise  and  courageous,  to  those  not  fearful  of  the  changes  demanded 
by  the  vital  needs  of  growing  humanity,  this  Call  will  have  two  meanings:  first,  it  will 
speak  of  loyalty  to  work  and  to  comrade  workers;  of  large  undertakings  worthily  begun 
and  to  be  worthily  finished;  of  the  stimulus  of  difficulty;  of  joy  in  the  exercise  of  talents 
and  strength;  of  the  self-control  and  ability  required  for  cooperation. 

Second,  it  will  express — like  other  summons  of  women  to  women  throughout  the  ages — 
the  need  not  alone  for  counsel  and  comfort  but  also  for  the  preservation  of  all  they  hold 
most  high — for  that  to  which  they  gladly  give  their  lives.  It  will  speak  of  the  struggle 
for  development  which  individual  women  have  made;  of  the  opportunities  they  have  won 
for  each  other;  of  the  unequivocal  demand  for  the  best,  to  which  the  few  have  led  the 
many.  .  .  . 

To  you  who  grasp  the  underlying  meaning  of  this  struggle;  to  you  who  know  your- 
selves akin  to  those  who  have  preceded  and  to  those  who  will  follow;  to  you  who  are 
daily  making  this  ideal  a  reality,  this  Call  is  sent. 

ANNA  HOWARD  SHAW,  President. 

JANE  ADDAMS,  Vice-President. 

CHARLOTTE  ANITA  WHITNEY,  Second  Vice-President. 

MARY  WARE  DENNETT,  Executive  Secretary. 

SUSAN  WALKER  FITZGERALD,  Recording  Secretary. 

KATHARINE   DEXTER   McCoRMiCK,  Treasurer. 

HARRIET  BURTON  LAIDLAW,    ) 

LOUISE  DEKOVEN  BOWEN. 

364 


NATIONAL  AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1913  365 

platform  and  their  speeches  made  a  deep  impression,  as  that  of 
Miss  Hinchey,  for  instance,  who  said  in  part: 

\Yhen  we  went  to  Albany  to  ask  for  votes  one  member  of  the 
Legislature  told  us  that  a  woman's  place  was  at  home.  Another 
said  he  had  too  much  respect  and  admiration  for  women  to  see  them 
at  the  polls.  Another  went  back  to  Ancient  Rome  and  told  a  story 
about  Cornelia  and  her  jewels — her  children.  Yet  in  the  laundries 
women  were  working  seventeen  and  eighteen  hours  a  day,  stand- 
ing over  heavy  machines  for  $3  and  $3.50  a  week.  Six  dollars  a 
week  is  the  average  wage  of  working  women  in  the  United  States. 
How  can  a  woman  live  an  honorable  life  on  such  a  sum?  Is  it  any 
wonder  that  so  many  of  our  little  sisters  are  in  the  gutter?  When 
we  strike  for  more  pay  we  are  clubbed  by  the  police  and  by  thugs 
hired  by  our  employers,  and  in  the  courts  our  word  is  not  taken 
and  we  are  sent  to  prison.  This  is  the  respect  and  admiration 
shown  to  working  girls  in  practice.  I  want  to  tell  you  about  Cornelia 
as  we  find  her  case  today.  The  agent  of  the  Child  Labor  Society 
made  an  investigation  in  the  tenements  and  found  mothers  with 
their  small  children  sitting  and  standing  around  them — standing  when 
they  were  too  small  to  see  the  top  of  the  table  otherwise.  They  were 
working  by  a  kerosene  lamp  and  breathing  its  odor  and  they  were 
all  making  artificial  forget-me-nots.  It  takes  1,620  pieces  of  ma- 
terial to  make  a  gross  of  forget-me-nots  and  the  profit  is  only  a 
few  cents. 

Four  years  ago  30,000  shirtwaist  girls  went  on  strike  and  when 
we  went  to  Mayor  McClellan  to  ask  permission  for  them  to  have 
a  parade  he  said :  "Thirty  thousand  women  are  of  no  account  to  me." 
If  they  had  been  30,000  women  with  votes  would  he  have  said  that? 
We  have  in  New  York  14,000  women  over  sixty-five  years  old  who 
rk  or  starve.  What  is  done  with  them  when  their  bones 
give  out  and  they  cannot  work  any  more?  The  police  gather  them 

nd  you  may  then  see  in  jail,  scrubbing  hard,  rough  concrete 

floors  that  make  their  knees  bleed — women  who  have  committed  no 

crime  hut  being  old  and  poor.     Don't  take  my  word  for  it  but  send 

a  committee  to  1'lackwell's  Island  or  the  Tombs  and  see  for  your- 

a  few  Old  Ladies'  Homes  but  with  most  of  them 

uld  take  a  piece  of  red  tape  as  long  as  from  here  to  New  York 
to  get  in.     Give  us  a  square  deal  so  that  we  may  take  care  of 

!ves. 

Miss  Addams  devoted  her  address  to  the  great  change  that 
was  taking  place  in  the  conception  of  politics.  She  called  atten- 
tion to  the  practical  investigations  which  were  being  made  in  the 
education  of  children,  in  immigration,  in  criminology,  in  indus- 
trial conditions,  and  said :  "This  whole  new  social  work  can  be 
translated  into  political  action,  and,  with  this,  politics  will  be 
transformed  and  women  will  naturally  have  a  share  in  it."  She 


HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

called  attention  to  the  pioneer  days  in  various  countries  where 
women  bore  a  full  part  in  their  hardships  and  to  the  revolutions 
in  older  countries  where  women  fought  by  the  side  of  the  men, 
"and  yet,"  she  said,  "when  popular  governments  are  established, 
women  for  considerations  of  expediency  are  left  out.  .  .  .  But 
in  the  final  program  for  social  problems  men  and  women  will  solve 
them  together  with  ballots  in  the  hands  of  both."  Senator  Robin- 
son gave  a  keen  and  comprehensive  account  of  Women  as  Legis- 
lators. The  officers  of  the  association  held  the  usual  Sunday 
evening  reception  to  delegates  and  friends  at  Hotel  Bellevue. 

The  456  delegates,  the  largest  number  ever  present  at  a  con- 
vention, representing  34  States,  were  officially  greeted  Monday 
afternoon  by  Mrs.  Nina  Allender,  president  of  the  District  of 
Columbia  Association,  and  Miss  Alice  Paul,  chairman  of  the 
National  Congressional  Committee.  Mrs.  Pattie  Ruffner  Jacobs, 
president  of  the  Alabama  Suffrage  Association,  responded  in  be- 
half of  the  national  body.  The  excellent  arrangements  for  the 
convention  had  been  made  by  the  new  Congressional  Committee : 
Miss  Paul,  chairman ;  Miss  Lucy  Burns,  Mrs.  Mary  Beard,  Mrs. 
Lawrence  Lewis  and  Mrs.  Crystal  Eastman  Benedict,  who 
raised  the  funds  for  all  its  expenses,  including  those  of  the  na- 
tional officers,  and  secured  hospitality  for  the  delegates.  The 
report  of  the  corresponding  secretary,  Mrs.  Mary  Ware  Dennett, 
described  the  granting  of  woman  suffrage  by  the  Territorial 
Legislature  of  Alaska  the  preceding  January  and  said:  "The 
bulk  of  suffrage  legislation  this  year  is  quite  unprecedented.  Bills 
were  introduced  in  twenty-five  Legislatures  and  in  the  U.  S. 
Congress;  bills  were  passed  by  ten  Legislatures  and  received 
record-breaking  votes  in  seven  others,  and  for  the  second  time 
in  history  there  has  been  a  favorable  report  from  the  Woman 
Suffrage  Committee  of  the  U.  S.  Senate.  It  continued : 

There  are  three  suffrage  decisions  on  record  for  the  year  just 
passed — victory  in  Alaska  and  Illinois  by  act  of  the  Legislature  and 
temporary  defeat  in  Michigan  by  vote  of  the  electorate.  There  are 
four  actual  campaign  States  where  the  amendment  will  be  submitted 
to  the  voters  next  autumn,  Nevada  (where  the  bill  has  passed  two 
Legislatures),  Montana,  North  and  South  Dakota;  and  there  are 
three  other  States  where  initiative  petitions  are  now  in  circulation 
and  if  the  requisite  number  of  signers  is  secured  the  amendment 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1913  367 

will  be  submitted  next  autumn,  Ohio,  Nebraska  and  Missouri.  Then 
there  are  three  half-way  campaign  States  where  the  amendment  has 
passed  one  Legislature  and  must  pass  again,  in  which  case  the  deci- 
sion will  be  made  by  the  voters  in  1915 — New  York,  Pennsyl- 
vania and  Iowa,  in  the  first  two  of  which  the  amendment  has  the 
very  promising  advantage  of  having  been  endorsed  by  all  parties. 

The  full  number  of  twelve  delegates  and  twelve  alternates  went 
from  the  National  Association  to  the  Congress  of  the  International 
Alliance  in  Budapest  last  June,  and  there  were  many  more  appli- 
cants. .  .  .  During  the  year  the  national  president,  Dr.  Shaw,  has 
spoken  at  many  large  meetings  in  New  Hampshire,  Nebraska,  New 
York,  Pennsylvania,  Virginia,  Florida,  Missouri,  Kansas,  New  Jer- 
sey, Maryland,  Massachusetts,  Connecticut  and  Michigan.  She  also 
spoke  in  England,  Holland,  Germany,  Austria  and  Hungary. 

A  mass  meeting  was  held  under  the  auspices  of  the  association 
in  Carnegie  Hall,  New  York,  where  the  international  president, 
Mrs.  Catt,  and  all  but  one  of  the  national  officers  made  addresses. 
Every  ticket  was  sold  and  a  good  sum  of  money  was  raised.  The 
headquarters  cooperated  with  the  New  York  local  societies  in  the 
big  suffrage  benefit  at  the  Metropolitan  Opera  House  the  night 
before  the  May  parade,  where  a  beautiful  pageant  was  given  and 
Theodore  Roosevelt  spoke.  There  was  a  capacity  audience  and  many 
people  were  turned  away.  The  headquarters  have  taken  part  so  far 
as  possible  in  all  the  suffrage  parades ;  that  of  March  3,  in  Wash- 
ington; those  of  May  and  November  in  New  York  and  Brooklyn; 
that  of  October  in  Newark,  New  Jersey.  The  association  was  rep- 
resented at  the  annual  meeting  of  the  House  of  Governors  in  Rich- 
mond, Va.,  last  December  by  Mrs.  Lila  Mead  Valentine,  the  State 
president,  and  Miss  Mary  Johnston,  whose  admirable  speech  was 
published  in  pamphlet  form  by  our  literature  department. 

The  association  has  cooperated  as  fully  as  was  possible  with  the 
Congressional  Committee  in  all  its  most  creditable  year's  work.  This 
committee  is  unique  in  that  its  original  members  volunteered  to  give 
their  services  and  to  raise  all  the  funds  for  the  work  themselves. 
Their  singlemindedness  and  devotion  have  been  remarkable  and  the 
whole  movement  in  the  country  has  been  wonderfully  furthered  by 
<-ries  of  important  events  which  have  taken  place  in  Washing- 
ton, beginning  with  the  great  parade  the  day  before  the  inaugura- 
tion of  the  President.  Several  of  the  national  officers  have  made 
al  trips  to  Washington  to  assist  at  these  various  events — the 
March  parade,  the  Senate  hearing,  the  April  7th  deputation  to  Con- 
,  the  July  3 ist  Senate  demonstration  and  the  Conference  of 
Women  Voters  in  August.  An  automobile  trip  was  made  from 
headquarters  the  last  week  in  July,  with  outdoor  meetings  held  all 
the  way  to  Washington,  to  join  the  other  "pilgrims"  who  came  from 
all  over  the  country.  Mrs.  Rheta  Childe  Dorr,  Miss  Helen  Todd, 
Mrs.  Frances  Maule  Bjorkman  and  the  corresponding  secretary 
were  the  speakers  for  the  trip. 

Petitions   to  Congress  were  circulated,  special  letters  on  behalf 


368  HISTORY   OF   WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

of  the  association  were  sent  to  the  members  of  the  Senate  Committee 
before  the  report  was  made,  and  to  the  Rules  Committee  urging  the 
appointment  of  a  Woman  Suffrage  Committee  for  the  House.  Miss 
Elinor  Byrns,  assisted  by  another  lawyer,  Miss  Helen  Ranlett,  has 
made  a  chart  of  the  legislation  in  the  suffrage  States  since  the  women 
have  been  enfranchised.  A  collection  of  all  the  State  constitutions 
has  been  made  with  the  sections  bearing  on  amendments  and  the 
qualifications  for  voting  marked  and  indexed. 

The  following  telegram  was  sent  by  the  National  Board  April  4 
to  Premier  Asquith :  "We  urge  that  the  British  Government  frankly 
acknowledge  its  responsibility  for  the  present  intolerable  situation 
and  remove  it  by  introducing  immediately  an  emergency  franchise 
measure." 

The  report  of  Miss  Byrns,  chairman  of  the  Press  Committee, 
which  filled  eight  printed  pages,  showed  the  usual  vast  amount 
of  press  work,  as  described  in  other  chapters.  "There  now 
exists/'  she  said,  "a  most  remarkable  and  unprecedented  demand 
for  information  about  suffragists  and  suffrage  events.  We  are 
'news'  as  we  have  never  been  before.  Moreover,  we  are  not 
only  amusing  and  sometimes  picturesque  but  we  are  of  real  in- 
tellectual and  political  interest."  Mrs.  Bjorkman,  editor  and 
secretary  of  the  Literature  Committee,  devoted  a  full  report  of 
ten  pages  to  the  recent  and  widely  varied  publications  of  the  asso- 
ciation, to  the  vastly  increasing  demands  for  these,  which  could 
not  be  entirely  met,  and  to  the  pressing  need  for  a  properly 
equipped  research  bureau.  The  report  of  Miss  Jeannette  Rankin 
(Mont),  field  secretary,  told  of  a  year  of  unremitting  work  under 
four  heads:  legislative,  visiting  of  States,  work  with  the  Con- 
gressional Committee  and  special  work  in  campaign  States.  Dela- 
ware, Florida,  Tennessee,  Alabama,  Missouri,  Nebraska  and 
South  Dakota  were  visited.  She  travelled  by  automobile  from 
Montana  to  Washington  City  with  petitions  for  the  Federal 
Amendment,  stopping  at  thirty-three  places  for  meetings,  and 
two  weeks  were  given  to  interviewing  Senators.  Among  the 
campaign  States  three  weeks  were  spent  in  Saginaw,  Michigan ; 
organizing  the  city  into  wards  and  precincts;  five  in  North  Da- 
kota and  the  rest  of  the  time  in  Montana,  organizing,  arranging 
work  at  State  and  county  fairs,  visiting  State  Central  Committees 
and  State  Federations  of  Women's  Clubs. 

Among  the  recommendations  presented  from  the  board  and 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1913  369 

adopted  were  two  of  prime  importance:  i.  That  in  order  that 
the  convention  may  give  its  support  to  the  Federal  Amendment 
before  Congress,  it  shall  instruct  the  affiliated  organizations  to 
carry  on  as  active  a  campaign  as  possible  in  their  respective  States 
and  to  see  that  all  candidates  for  Congress  be  pledged  to  woman 
suffrage  before  the  next  election.  2.  That  the  convention  en- 
dorse the  Suffrage  School  as  a  method  of  work  and  the  National 
Association  offer  to  organize  and  send  out  a  traveling  school  when 
requested  by  six  or  more  States,  provided  they  agree  to  share 
the  expense.  To  the  Official  Board  was  referred  the  question 
of  appointing  a  committee  to  devise  and  put  into  operation  a 
scheme  for  establishing  more  definite  connection  between  the 
enfranchised  women  of  the  States  and  the  National  Association. 
After  all  the  years  of  patient  effort  to  persuade  Legislatures  to 
grant  Presidential  suffrage  to  women  under  the  inspiration  of 
Henry  B.  Blackwell,  chairman  of  the  committee,  his  successor, 
Miss  Elizabeth  Upham  Yates,  could  announce  the  first  success 
and  she  emphasized  the  important  bearing  which  this  and  others 
would  have  on  securing  a  Federal  Amendment.  Her  report  said : 

The  extraordinary  victory  in  Illinois  has  emphasized  the  fact,  not 
duly  apprehended  hitherto,  that  State  Legislatures  have  power  to 
grant  Presidential  suffrage  to  women.  No  man  derives  his  right 
to  vote  for  presidential  electors  from  the  constitution  of  his  State 
but  the  U.  S.  Constitution  delegates  the  power  and  duty  to  qualify 
citizens  to  vote  for  them  to  the  Legislatures,  in  the  first  section  of 
Article  II,  in  these  words:  "Each  State  shall  appoint  in  such  manner 
as  the  Legislature  thereof  may  direct  a  number  of  electors  equal  to 
the  whole  number  of  Senators  and  Representatives  to  which  the 
State  may  be  entitled  in  Congress."  Probably  U.  S.  Senator  George 
F.  Hoar  was  the  first  to  discover  that  this  power  given  to  Legislatures 
involved  the  possibility  of  the  enfranchisement  of  women  for  presi- 

:al  electors. 

The  conspicuous  position  that  women  suddenly  attained  in  Ameri- 
can ;  ;i  1912  was  due  to  the  fact  that  in  six  States  women 
able  to  determine  the  choice  of  thirty-seven  presidential  electors. 
The  large  interests  involved  in  a  presidential  administration,  amniu; 
which  are  300,000  offices  of  honor  and  emolument,  cause  keen  politi- 
•nccrn  from  the  fact  that  women  voters  may  hold  the  balance 

in  a  close  election.    The  whole  number  of  electoral 

in  the  nine  States  where  women  now  have  full  suffrage  is  fifty-four. 

re   attained    by   campaigns    for   const itntional   amendments 

;   outlay  of   time  and   treasure.     Simply  by  act  of 

Legislature,  Illinois  has  added  twenty-nine  to  the  list,  an  increase 


37O  TTTSTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

of  over  thirty-three  per  cent.,  thus  bringing  an  incalculable  influence 
and  power  into  the  arena  of  national  politics.  .  .  . 

Mrs.  Mary  E.  Craigie  made  her  usual  report  of  the  excellent 
work  done  by  her  Church  Committee.  She  gave  a  list  of  the 
Catholic  clergy  who  had  declared  in  favor  of  woman  suffrage 
and  told  of  the  cordial  assent  by  those  of  other  denominations 
to  include  it  in  their  sermons  on  Mother's  Day.  She  named  some 
of  the  many  questions  of  social  reform  to  which  pulpits  were 
freely  opened — temperance,  child  labor,  pure  food,  the  white 
slave  traffic  and  others — and  asked :  "Why  does  not  woman  suf- 
frage, the  reform  that  would  bring  two-thirds  more  power  to  all 
such  movements,  receive  the  same  cooperation  and  support  from 
the  churches?  The  answer  plainly  is:  Because  of  the  apathy  of 
women  in  demanding  it." 

The  changing  character  of  the  national  suffrage  conventions  is 
illustrated  by  the  reports  in  the  Woman's  Journal,  whose  editors 
had  for  a  generation  collected  and  preserved  in  its  pages  the  un- 
surpassed addresses  which  had  delighted  audiences  and  inspired 
workers.  As  the  practical  work  of  the  association  increased  and 
spread  throughout  the  different  States,  more  and  more  of  the 
time  of  the  conventions  had  to  be  given  to  reports  and  details 
of  business  and  the  number  of  speeches  constantly  lessened.  The 
first  evening  of  the  convention  was  devoted  to  the  victory  in 
Illinois,  with  delightful  addresses  by  Mrs.  Catharine  Waugh 
McCulloch,  long  the  State  president,  who  twenty  years  before 
had  discovered  the  loophole  in  the  Illinois  constitution  by  which 
the  Legislature  itself  could  grant  a  large  measure  of  suffrage  to 
women  and  had  tried  to  obtain  the  law  that  had  just  been  gained ; 
by  Mrs.  Ella  S.  Stewart,  another  president,  who  had  carried  on 
this  -work;  and  by  Mesdames  Ruth  Hanna  McCormick,  Grace 
Wilbur  Trout,  Antoinette  Funk  and  Elizabeth  K.  Booth,  the 
famous  quartette  of  younger  workers,  who  had  finally  succeeded 
with  a  progressive  Legislature.  As  there  was  no  representative 
from  far-off  Alaska,  Dr.  Shaw  told  how  its  Legislature  had  given 
full  suffrage  to  women.  [See  Illinois  and  Alaska  chapters.] 
Miss  Lucy  Burns  gave  a  clear  analysis  of  the  situation  in  regard 
to  the  Federal  Suffrage  Amendment  and  the  evening  closed  with 
one  of  Dr.  Shaw's  piquant  addresses,  which  began :  "I  know  the 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQI3  371 

objections  to  woman  suffrage  but  I  have  never  met  any  one  who 
pretended  to  know  any  reasons  against  it,"  and  she  closed  with  a 
flash  of  the  humor  for  which  she  was  noted : 

By  some  objectors  women  are  supposed  to  be  unfit  to  vote  because 
they  are  hysterical  and  emotional  and  of  course  men  would  not  like 
to  have  emotion  enter  into  a  political  campaign.  They  want  to 
cut  out  all  emotion  and  so  they  would  like  to  cut  us  out.  I  had 
heard  so  much  about  our  emotionalism  that  I  went  to  the  last 
Democratic  national  convention,  held  at  Baltimore,  to  observe  the 
calm  repose  of  the  male  politicians.  I  saw  some  men  take  a  picture 
of  one  gentleman  whom  they  wanted  elected  and  it  was  so  big  they 
had  to  walk  sidewise  as  they  carried  it  forward ;  they  were  followed 
by  hundreds  of  other  men  screaming  and  yelling,  shouting  and  sing- 
ing the  "Houn'  Dawg";  then,  when  there  was  a  lull,  another  set 
of  men  would  start  forward  under  another  man's  picture,  not  to  be 
outdone  by  the  "Houn'  Dawg"  melody,  whooping  and  howling  still 
louder.  I  saw  men  jump  up  on  the  seats  and  throw  their  hats  in 
the  air  and  shout:  "What's  the  matter  with  Champ  Clark?"  Then, 
when  those  hats  came  down,  other  men  would  kick  them  back  into 
the.  air,  shouting  at  the  top  of  their  voices :  "He's  all  right ! !"  Then 
I  heard  others  howling  for  "Underwood,  Underwood,  first,  last  and 
all  the  time ! !"  No  hysteria  about  it — just  patriotic  loyalty,  splendid 
manly  devotion  to  principle.  And  so  they  went  on  and  on  until 

lock  in  the  morning — the  whole  night  long.  I  saw  men  jump 
ii])  on  their  seats  and  jump  down  again  and  run  around  in  a  ring. 

A  two  men  run  towards  another  man  to  hug  him  both  at  once 
and  they  split  his  coat  up  the  middle  of  his  back  and  sent  him  spin- 
ning around  like  a  wheel.  All  this  with  the  perfect  poise  of  the  legal 
male  mind  in  politics ! 

I  have  been  to  many  women's  conventions  in  my  day  but  I  never 

a  woman  leap  up  on  a  chair  and  take  off  her  bonnet  and  toss 
it  up  in  the  air  and  shout:  "What's  the  matter  with"  somebody.  I 

r  saw  a  woman  knock  another  woman's  bonnet  off  her  head  as 
she  screamed:  "She's  all  right!"  I  never  heard  a  body  of  women 
whooping  and  yelling  for  five  minutes  when  somebody's  name  was 
mentioned  in  the  convention.  But  we  are  willing  to  admit  that  we 
are  emotional.  I  have  actually  seen  women  si  and  up  and  wave  their 
handkerchiefs.  1  have  even  seen  them  take  hold  of  hands  and  sing, 
"BleM  IK-  the  tie  that  hinds."  Nobody  denies  that  women  are  excita- 
ble. Still,  when  I  hear  how  emotional  and  how  excitable  we  are, 

:mt  help  seeing  in  my  mind's  eye  the  line  repose  and  dignity  of 
this  Baltimore  and  other  political  conventions  1  have  attended! 

One  evening  session  was  devoted  to  Women  and  Children  ami 
the  Courts.  Mrs.  Joseph  T.  Bowen  of  Chicago  presided  and 
made  a  stirring  plea  for  better  conditions  in  the  courts  of  the 
large  She  told  of  the  outrageous  treatment  of  women  ami 


372  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

urged  the  need  of  women  police,  women  judges  and  women  jurors. 
"From  the  time  of  the  arrest  of  a  woman  to  the  final  disposition 
of  her  case,"  Mrs.  Bowen  said,  "she  is  handicapped  by  being 
in  charge  of  and  surrounded  by  men,  who  cannot  be  expected  to 
be  as  understanding  and  considerate  as  those  of  her  own  sex. 
The  police  stations  in  most  of  our  cities  are  not  fit  for  human 
beings."  Judge  of  the  Juvenile  Court  Julian  Mack  of  Chicago 
described  its  methods  and  their  results;  and  Justice  Harry  Olsen 
of  the  Court  of  Domestic  Relations  and  the  Court  of  Morals, 
gave  an  illuminating  address  on  its  functions  and  their  results; 
Miss  Maude  Miner  of  New  York  spoke  from  experience  of  the 
Women's  Night  Court  and  the  Work  of  a  Probation  Officer.  The 
delegates  were  deeply  moved  and  determined  to  investigate  and 
improve  the  conditions  in  their  own  localities. 

There  had  for  some  time  been  need  of  revising  the  constitution 
to  meet  new  requirements  and  a  revision  committee  had  been 
appointed  the  preceding  year  with  Mrs.  Catt  chairman,  but  as 
she  had  been  in  Europe  her  place  had  been  taken  by  Miss  Caro- 
line   Ruutz-Rees     (Conn.),    who    was    assisted    by    attorneys 
Helen  Hoy  Greeley   and  Jessie  Ashley.     The   discussion  was 
as  long  and  earnest  as  if  the  fate  of  nations  were  involved  but 
the  principal  changes   adopted  concerned  representation,   dues, 
assessments,  methods  of  election  and  similar  details.    The  report 
of  Mrs.   Katharine  Dexter  McCormick,  treasurer,  showed  the 
total  receipts  of  the  year  to  be  $42,723 ;  disbursements,  $42,542 ; 
balance  on  hand  from  preceding  year,  $2,874.    A  carefully  pre- 
pared "budget"  of  $42,000  was  presented  to  the  convention  and 
quickly  oversubscribed.     The  legal  adviser,  Miss  Mary  Rutter 
Towle  (D.  C.),  reported  two  lawsuits  in  progress  to  secure  lega- 
cies that  had  been  left  the  association,  the  usual  fate  that  attended 
similar  bequests.     The  literature  had  become  so  large  a  feature 
that  it  was  decided  to  form  a  company  to  publish  it.    Mrs.  Ray- 
mond Brown,  president  of  the  New  York  State  Suffrage  Asso- 
ciation, proposed  a  corporation  with  a  capital  stock  of  $50,000, 
of  which  $26,000  should  be  held  by  the  National  American  Asso- 
ciation, the  rest  sold  at  $10  a  share.     The  first  $10,000  were  at 
once  subscribed  and  later  the  Woman  Suffrage  Publishing  Com- 
pany was  organized  with  Mrs.  Cyrus  W.  Field  president. 


NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQI3  373 

The  election  took  place  under  the  new  primary  system  and  re- 
quired two  days  for  completion.  The  only  change  was  the  elect- 
ing- of  Mrs.  Desha  Breckinridge  second  and  Miss  Ruutz-Rees 
third  vice-presidents.  The  majorities  for  most  of  the  officers 
were  very  large.  The  report  of  the  delegates  to  the  International 
Woman  Suffrage  Alliance  in  Budapest  was  made  by  Mrs.  Anna 
O.  Weeks  (N.  Y.).  The  demand  for  congressional  documents, 
hearings,  speeches,  etc.,  had  become  so  extensive  that  Mrs.  Helen 
H.  Gardener  (D.  C.)  had  been  appointed  to  report  in  regard  to 
it  and  she  shed  a  good  deal  of  light  on  the  subject.  She  showed 
that  some  documents  are  free  for  distribution  and  some  have  to 
be  paid  for.  Hearings  are  usually  limited  to  a  small  number  but 
the  committee  strains  a  point  for  those  on  woman  suffrage  and 
prints  about  10,000,  which  may  be  had  without  charge.  If  a 
member  is  kind  enough  to  "frank"  them  nothing  else  must  be  put 
in  the  envelope  under  penalty  of  a  $300  fine.  If  more  are  wanted 
they  must  be  ordered  in  5,000  lots  and  a  member  can  get  a  reduced 
rate,  but,  while  he  is  always  willing  to  pay  the  Government  for 
printing  his  speech,  those  who  want  it  for  their  own  purposes 
should  send  the  money  for  it.  The  speech  of  Representative 
Kdward  T.  Taylor  of  Colorado  in  1912  was  cited  as  an  example, 
of  which  the  suffragists  circulated  300,000  copies. 

The  resolutions  presented  by  Mrs.  Helen  Brewster  Owens 
(X.  Y.),  chairman,  were  brief  and  to  the  point.  They  called  on 
the  Senate  to  pass  immediately  the  joint  resolution  proposing 
an  amendment  to  the  National  Constitution,  which  had  been 
rably  reported:  they  urged  President  Wilson  to  adopt  the 
submission  of  this  amendment  as  an  administration  measure  and 
to  recommend  it  in  his  Message:  they  urged  the  Rules  Committee 
of  the  House  of  Representatives  to  report  favorably  the  propo- 
sition to  create  a  Committee  on  Woman  Suffrage;  and  they  de- 
manded legislation  by  Congress  to  protect  the  nationality  of 
American  women  who  married  aliens. 

Strong  pressure  had  been  made  on  the  President  to  mention 
woman   suffrage  in  his  Message,  his  first  to  a  regular  se^ 
of  ("  hut  it  wns  delivered  on  Tuesday,  December  2,  with 

no  reference  whatever  to  the  subject.      At  the  meeting  of  the 
convention  that  evening  Dr.  Shaw  said  with  the  ni.-miu  -M  app- 


374  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

of  the  audience  :  "President  Wilson  had  the  opportunity  of  speak- 
ing a  word  which  might  ultimately  lead  to  the  enfranchisement 
of  a  large  part  of  the  citizens  of  the  United  States.  Even  Lin- 
coln, who  by  a  word  freed  a  race,  had  not  such  an  opportunity 
to  release  from  bonds  one-half  of  the  human  family.  I  feel  that 
I  must  make  this  statement  as  broad  as  it  is  for  the  reason  that 
we  at  Budapest  this  year  realized  as  never  before  that  woman- 
kind throughout  the  world  looked  to  this  country  to  blaze  the 
way  for  the  extension  of  universal  suffrage  in  every  quarter  of 
the  globe.  President  Wilson  has  missed  the  one  thing  that  might 
have  made  it  possible  for  him  never  to  be  forgotten.  I  am  saying 
this  on  behalf  of  myself  and  my  fellow  officers." 

The  next  morning  Mrs.  Ruth  Hanna  McCormick,  a  clever 
politician  like  her  father,  Mark  Hanna,  offered  the  following 
motion:  "Since  President  Wilson  omitted  all  mention  of  woman 
suffrage  in  his  Message  yesterday,  and  since  he  has  announced 
that  he  will  send  several  other  messages  to  Congress  outlining  the 
measures  which  the  administration  will  support,  I  move  that 
this  convention  wait  upon  the  President  in  order  to  lay  before 
him  the  importance  of  the  woman  suffrage  question  and  urge  him 
to  make  it  an  administration  measure  and  to  send  immediately 
to  Congress  the  recommendation  that  it  proceed  with  this  meas- 
ure before  any  other.  I  also  move  that  a  committee  of  two  be 
appointed  to  make  the  arrangements  with  the  President. "  The 
motion  was  unanimously  carried  and  the  Chair  appointed  Mrs. 
McCormick  (Ills.)  and  Mrs.  Breckinridge  (Ky.)  to  arrange 
for  the  interview  and  for  a  committee  of  fifty-five,  representing 
all  the  associations  auxiliary  to  the  National,  to  wait  upon  the 
President  at  his  pleasure.  To  finish  the  story  here — he  expressed 
entire  willingness  to  receive  them  but  was  not  well  enough  to 
do  so  during  the  convention.  Nearly  a  hundred  of  the  delegates 
waited  until  the  next  Monday,  December  8,  when  they  met  in  the 
rooms  of  their  Congressional  Committee,  a  few  blocks  from  the 
White  House  and  marched  two  by  two  to  the  executive  offices, 
attracting  much  attention,  as  this  was  the  first  time  a  President 
had  ever  received  a  woman  suffrage  delegation  officially.1  He 

1  The  first  delegation  received  by  President  Wilson  after  bis  inauguration  was  a  group 
of  eight  or  ten  suffragists.  It  was  arranged  by  Miss  Alice  Paul,  chairman  of  the  Con- 
gressional Committee  of  the  National  Suffrage  Association.  They  stated  their  case  in  a 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQI3  375 

met  them  cordially  and  gave  them  as  much  time  as  they  desired. 
Dr.  Shaw  spoke  as  follows : 

As  president  of  the  National  Suffrage  Association  I  have  come 
with  this  delegation,  authorized  by  the  association,  to  present  to  you 
the  object  for  which  we  are  organized — to  secure  equal  suffrage 
for  the  women  citizens  of  the  United  States.  We  have  made  these 
pilgrimages  to  Washington  for  many,  many  years  and  committees 
have  received  us  with  graciousness  and  have  listened  to  our  argu- 
ments, but  the  difficulty  is  that  they  have  not  permitted  our  claims 
{<>  come  before  Congress,  so  that  body  itself  might  act  upon  them. 
Our  wish  is  that  we  may  have  a  national  constitutional  amendment, 
enfranchising  the  women  citizens  and  preventing  the  States  from 
depriving  them  of  representation  in  the  Government.  Since  the 
Judiciary  Committee  has  not  reported  our  measure  for  many  years 
and  has  not  given  the  House  an  opportunity  to  discuss  it  we  have 
asked  that  a  special  committee  shall  be  appointed  to  consider  it.  The 
te  some  years  ago  did  appoint  a  special  committee  and  our 
question  has  been  referred  to  it.  We  have  appeared  before  it  this 
year  and  it  has  again  reported  favorably.  We  hope  that  the  adminis- 
tration of  which  you  are  the  head  may  use  its  influence  to  bring 
the  matter  before  the  Senate  and  House. 

We  ask  your  assistance  in  one  of  two  ways  or  in  any  other  way 
which  may  appeal  to  your  judgment:  First  of  all  that  you  shall 
send  a  special  message  to  Congress  to  submit  to  the  Legislatures 
of  the  States  an  amendment  to  the  National  Constitution  enfranchis- 
ing women  citizens  of  the  United  States;  if,  however,  this  does 
••ppcal  to  you,  we  ask  that  you  will  use  the  administration's 
influence  on  the  Rules  Committee  to  recommend  the  appointment 
in  tlie  Lower  House  of  a  committee  corresponding  with  the  Suffrage 
Committee  in  the  Upper  House,  one  which  will  have  leisure  to 
consider  our  subject  and  report  on  it. 

\\V  appeal  to  yon  in  behalf  of  the  women  citizens  of  the  country. 

Many  of  them  have  cast  their  ballots  for  the  President  already  and 

an  influence  in  the  Government;  many  are  very  eager  to  take 

an  equal  part  and  they  appreciate  the  just  manner  in  which  since 

ynur    administration    began    you    have    weighed    public    questions. 

•:ng  your  splendid  stand  on  (lie  liberties  and  rights  of  the 

peal  to  you  because  we  believe  you  will  bring  to  ours 

that  i  it  of  justice  which  you  have  manifested  toward  other 

•  issues. 

The  President  gave  close  attention  and  in  his  answer  seemed 
to  weigh  every  word  carefully : 

I   want  you  ladiVs.  if   I   ran  make  it   clear  to  you.  to  realize  just 
my  pr<  i.ition  is.     Whenever  I  walk  abroad  I  realize 

few  words  and  quoted  freely  from  hi*  book.  The  New  Freedom.     The  President  was  rery 
courteous  but  his  attitude  was  one  of  amused  curiosity. 


HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

that  I  am  not  a  free  man ;  I  am  under  arrest.  I  am  so  carefully 
and  admirably  guarded  that  I  have  not  even  the  privilege  of  walk- 
ing the  streets  alone.  That  is,  as  it  were,  typical  of  my  present 
transference — from  being  an  individual,  free  to  express  his  mind 
on  any  and  every  subject,  to  being  an  official  of  a  great  government 
and  incidentally,  or  so  it  falls  out  under  the  system  of  government, 
the  spokesman  of  a  party.  I  set  myself  this  very  strict  rule  when 
I  was  Governor  of  New  Jersey  and  have  followed  and  shall  follow 
it  as  President — that  I  am  not  at  liberty  to  urge  upon  Congress 
in  messages  policies  which  have  not  had  the  organic  consideration 
of  those  for  whom  I  am  spokesman.  In  other  words  I  have  not 
yet  presented  to  any  Legislature  my  private  views  on  any  subject 
and  I  never  shall,  because  I  conceive  it  to  be  part  of  the  whole 
process  of  government  that  I  shall  be  spokesman  for  somebody,  not 
for  myself.  To  speak  for  myself  would  be  an  impertinence.  When 
I  speak  for  myself  I  am  an  individual;  when  I  am  spokesman  of 
an  organic  body,  I  am  a  representative.  For  that  reason,  you  see, 
I  am  by  my  own  principles  shut  out,  in  the  language  of  the  street, 
from  "starting  anything."  I  have  to  confine  myself  to  those  things 
which  have  been  embodied  as  promises  to  the  people  at  an  election. 
That  is  the  strict  rule  I  set  for  myself. 

I  want  to  say  that  with  regard  to  all  other  matters  I  am  not 
only  glad  to  be  consulted  by  my  colleagues  in  the  two  Houses  but  I 
hope  they  will  often  pay  me  the  compliment  of  consulting  me  when 
they  want  to  know  my  opinion  on  any  subject.  One  member  of 
the  Rules  Committee  did  come  to  me  and  ask  me  what  I  thought 
about  this  sucr^estion  of  yours  of  appointing  a  Special  Committee 
for  the  consideration  of  woman  suffrage  and  I  told  him  that  I  thought 
it  was  a  proper  thing  to  do.  So  that,  so  far  as  my  personal  advice 
has  been  asked  by  a  single  member  of  the  committee  it  has  been 
given  to  that  effect.  I  wanted  to  tell  YOU  this  to  show  that  I  am 
strictly  living  up  to  my  principles.  When  my  private  opinion  is 
asked  by  those  who  are  cooperating  with  me,  I  am  most  glad  to  give 
it,  but  I  am  not  at  liberty  until  I  speak  for  somebody  besides  myself 
to  urge  legislation  upon  the  Congress. 

The  following  conversation  then  took  place :  "May  I  ask  you 
a  question?"  said  Dr.  Shaw.  "Since  we  are  not  members  of  any 
political  party,  who  is  going  to  speak  for  us — there  is  no  one 
to  speak  for  us—  "I  realize  that,"  interjected  the  President, 

" unless  we  speak  for  ourselves?"     "And  you  do  that  very 

admirably,"  rejoined  Mr.  Wilson.  A  general  laugh  broke  up  the 
somewhat  solemn  occasion  and  as  the  delegates  went  away  Dr. 
Shaw  said  exultingly :  "He  is  in  favor  of  a  House  Woman  Suf- 
frage Committee  and  that  was  our  chief  object  in  coming  to 
see  him." 


NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQI3  377 

An  interesting  evening's  program  had  been  prepared  under  the 
auspices  of  the  National  Men's  League  for  Woman  Suffrage 
with  addresses  by  seven  or  eight  Senators  and  Representatives, 
all  staunch  supporters  of  the  "cause,"  but  all  were  prevented  from 
coining  by  one  reason  or  another  except  Representatives  J.  W. 
Bryan  of  Washington  and  Victor  Murdock  of  Kansas.  They 
made  up  for  all  failures,  however,  by  their  strong  arguments. 
James  T.ees  Laidlaxv  of  New  York,  president  of  the  league,  gave  a 
dignified,  earnest  address  and  the  Hon.  Gifford  Pinchot  made  a 
logical  and  unanswerable  demand  for  the  enfranchisement  or 
women  because  of  the  nation's  great  need  for  their  votes. 

\n  excellent  report  was  presented  at  this  time  by  Miss  Alice 
Paul,  chairman  of  the  Congressional  Committee.  From  the  found- 
ing of  the  National  Association  in  1869  prominent  representa- 
tives had  appeared  before  committees  of  every  Congress  and 
during  many  winters  Miss  Susan  B.  Anthony  had  remained  in 
Washington  until  she  obtained  a  report  from  these  committees, 
but  after  she  ceased  to  do  this,  although  the  hearings  were  still 
granted,  nobody  made  it  an  especial  business  to  see  that  the  com- 
mittees made  reports  and  so  none  was  made  and  action  by  Con- 
gress seemed  very  remote.  In  1910,  when  the  movement  en- 
tered a  new  era,  the  association  appointed  a  special  Congressional 
Committee  to  look  after  this  matter.  By  the  time  of  the  con- 
vention of  TOTT  the  two  great  victories  in  Washington  and 
California  had  been  gained  and  the  prospect  of  a  Federal  Amend- 
ment began  to  grow  brighter.  A  large  committee  was  appointed 
consisting  chiefly  of  the  wives  of  Senators  and  Representatives 
with  Mrs.  William  Kent  ( Calif.)  chairman.  No  busier  women 
could  have  been  selected  and  bevond  making  excellent  arrange- 
ments for  the  hearings,  the  committee  was  not  active.  Tn  1012, 
when  Kan^ns,  Oregon  and  Arizona  enfranchised  women,  the 
whole  country  awoke  to  the  fact  that  the  turning  point  had  been 
reached  and  universal  woman  suffrage  through  an  amendment  to 
VrVrnl  Constitution  was  inevitable. 

At  this  time  Mis*  Paul  and  Mi*s  Burns  returned  from  Fng- 
land.  where  they  had  been  studying  and  doing  social  welfare  work 
and  had  been  caught  in  the  maelstrom  of  the  "militant"  suffrage 
movement,  then  at  its  height.  Both  had  taken  part  in  demonstra- 


37$  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

tions  before  the  House  of  Commons  and  been  sent  to  prison 
and  they  came  back  to  the  United  States  filled  with  zeal  to  inaugu- 
rate a  campaign  of  "militancy"  here.  The  idea  was  coldly  received 
by  the  suffrage  leaders  and  they  modified  it  to  the  extent  of  asking 
the  National  Association  to  cooperate  in  organizing  a  great  suf- 
frage parade  to  take  place  in  Washington  the  day  before  the 
inauguration  of  Woodrow  Wilson.  Dr.  Shaw  had  seen  and 
taken  part  in  such  parades  in  London  and  was  favorably  inclined 
to  the  project.  She  put  Miss  Paul  at  the  head  of  the  Congres- 
sional Committee  with  power  to  choose  the  other  members  to  or- 
ganize the  parade,  with  the  proviso  that  they  must  themselves 
raise  all  the  money  for  it  but  they  could  have  the  authority  of 
the  National  Association  letterheads.  Headquarters  were  opened 
in  a  basement  on  F  Street  near  the  New  Willard  Hotel  in  Wash- 
ington. They  displayed  astonishing  executive  ability,  gathered 
about  them  a  small  army  of  women  and  during  the  next  twelve 
months  raised  $27,378,  the  larger  part  of  it  in  Washington  and 
most  of  the  remainder  in  Philadelphia.  The  parade  was  long, 
beautiful  and  impressive,  women  from  many  States  participating. 
The  report  of  the  Congressional  Committee  presented  to  the  con- 
vention by  Miss  Paul  slightly  condensed,  read  as  follows : 
Work  for  Federal  Amendment : 

Headquarters  were  opened  in  Washington,  Jan.  2,  1913. 

Hearings  were  arranged  before  the  Woman  Suffrage  Committee 
of  the  Senate ;  before  the  Rules  Committee  of  the  House,  when  mem- 
bers of  the  National  Council  of  Women  Voters  were  the  speakers; 
before  the  Rules  Committee  during  the  present  convention. 

Processions:  March  3,  when  from  8,000  to  10,000  women  par- 
ticipated; April  7,  when  women  from  congressional  districts  went 
to  Congress  with  petitions  and  resolutions;  July  31,  when  an  auto- 
mobile procession  met  the  "pilgrims"  at  the  end  of  their  "hike"  and 
escorted  them  through  the  streets  of  Washington  to  the  Senate. 
This  procession  was  headed  by  an  automobile  in  which  rode  several 
of  the  Suffrage  Committee  of  the  Senate. 

Pilgrimages  coming  from  all  parts  of  the  country  and  extending 
over  the  month  of  July  were  organized,  about  twelve.  These  all 
ended  in  Washington  on  July  31,  when  approximately  200,000  signa- 
tures to  petitions  were  presented  to  the  Senate. 

Deputations:  Three  deputations  to  the  President  were  organized 
immediately  preceding  the  calling  of  the  special  session  of  Con- 
gress in  order  to  ask  him  to  give  the  administration  support  to  the 
suffrage  amendment  during  the  special  session.  One  of  these  was 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1913  379 

from  the  National  Association,  one  from  the  College  Suffrage  League 
and  one  from  the  National  Council  of  Women  Voters.  On  Novem- 
ber 17  a  fourth  deputation,  composed  of  seventy-three  women  from 
New  Jersey,  was  sent  to  the  President  to  urge  him  to  take  up  the 
amendment  during  the  regular  session  of  Congress. 

Local  arrangements  were  made  for  the  conventions  of  the  Na- 
tional Council  of  Women  Voters  and  the  convention  of  the  National 
American  Woman  Suffrage  Association. 

A  campaign  under  a  salaried  organizer  was  conducted  through 
the  resort  regions  of  New  Jersey,  Long  Island  and  Rhode  Island 
during  July,  August  and  September;  and  one  through  New  Jersey, 
Delaware  and  Maryland  during  July.  A  month's  campaign  was  car- 
ried on  in  North  Carolina.  On  September  I  permanent  headquar- 
ters were  opened  in  Wilmington  in  charge  of  a  salaried  organizer 
and  since  that  time  a  vigorous  campaign  has  been  carried  on  in 
Delaware  in  the  attempt  to  influence  the  attitude  of  the  Senators 
and  Representatives  from  that  State. 

A  salaried  press  chairman  has  been  employed  throughout  the  year, 
who  has  furnished  daily  press  copy  to  the  local  papers,  to  the  Wash- 
ington correspondents  of  the  various  papers  throughout  the  country 
and  to  all  of  the  telegraphic  bureaus  in  Washington.  Approximately 
120,000  pieces  of  literature  have  been  printed  and  distributed.  A 
weekly  paper  under  the  editorship  of  Mrs.  Rheta  Childe  Dorr  was 
established  on  November  15.  This  now  has  a  paid  circulation  of 
about  1,200  and  is  self-supporting  from  its  advertisements. 

A  Men's  League  was  organized,  General  Anson  Mills,  U.  S.  A., 
being  the  temporary  and  Dr.  Harvey  W.  Wiley  the  permanent  chair- 
man. A  large  number  of  Congressmen  are  members. 

Eight  theater  meetings,  exclusive  of  those  during  this  convention, 

have  been  held  in  Washington.     Smaller  meetings  both  indoor  and 

out  have  been  held  almost  daily  and  frequently  as  many  as  five 

;i  a  day.    A  tableau  was  presented  on  the  Treasury  steps  at  the 

the  suffrage  procession  of  March  3  under  the  direction  of 

Hazel  Mackaye.    A  suffrage  play  was  given,  also  two  banquets. 

•  -pi inn  and  a  luncheon,  and  a  benefit  and  a  luncheon  were  given 

f<>r  the  purpose  of  raising  funds. 

A  '  M  in  two  special  cars  went  to  New  York  for  the  pro- 

:'>n  of    May  3.     An  even  larger  delegation   went  to    Baltimore 

for  the  ]>r«ression  of  May  31.     The  ]  n  in  Washington  was 

<•(]   in   Baltimore  for  the  benefit   of  one  of  the  sufl'r.T 
<-s  there.    A  week's  campaign  was  conducted  in  the  four  southern 
Maryland  prior  to  the  primary  election,  at  the  request  of 
one  of  the  State's  societies. 

The  Congressional  Union  was  formed  during  the  latter  part  of 
ril  and  now  numbers  over  a  thousand  members. 

Congressional  Work. 

Senate   and   House    Joint   Resolution    Number    One    for   Federal 
Amendment  introduced  in  Congress  April  7,  1913. 


380  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

Woman  Suffrage  Committee  of  Senate  voted  on  May  14  to  report 
the  resolution  favorably  and  did  so  unanimously,  one  not  voting. 
On  July  31  twenty-two  Senators  spoke  in  favor  of  the  resolution 
and  three  against  it.  On  September  18  Senator  Andrieus  Jones 
(N.  M.)  spoke  in  favor  and  asked  for  immediate  action.  On  the 
same  day  Senator  Henry  F.  Ashurst  (Ariz.)  announced  on  the  floor 
of  the  Senate  that  he  would  press  the  measure  to  a  vote  at  the 
earliest  possible  moment. 

Three  resolutions  were  introduced  in  the  House  for  the  creation 
of  a  Woman  Suffrage  Committee  and  referred  to  the  Rules  Com- 
mittee and  are  still  before  it. 

The  amendment  resolution  is  awaiting  third  reading  in  the  Senate 
and  is  before  the  Judiciary  Committee  of  the  House. 

The  action  of  the  Senate  was  due  to  the  fact  that  under  the 
new  administration  a  committee  had  been  appointed  which  was 
favorable  to  woman  suffrage  instead  of  one  opposed  as  hereto- 
fore, with  a  chairman,  Senator  Charles  S.  Thomas  of  Colorado, 
who  had  helped  the  women  of  his  own  State  to  secure  the  suf- 
frage twenty  years  before.  The  resolutions  in  the  Lower  House 
were  introduced  by  old  and  tried  friends  and  the  association's 
new  Congressional  Committee  had  arranged  hearings,  brought 
pressure  to  bear  on  members  and  not  permitted  them  to  forget 
or  ignore  the  question.  Miss  Agnes  E.  Ryan,  business  manager 
of  the  Woman s  Journal,  said  in  her  account:  "The  convention 
received  the  report  with  enthusiastic  applause,  giving  three  cheers 
and  rising  to  its  feet  to  show  its  appreciation." 

This  report  was  signed  by  Miss  Paul  as  "chairman  of  the  Con- 
gressional Committee  and  president  of  the  Congressional  Union" 
and  she  said  at  the  beginning  that  it  was  impossible  to  separate 
the  work  of  the  two.  At  its  conclusion  Mrs.  Catt  moved  that  the 
part  of  the  report  as  from  the  Congressional  Committee  be  ac- 
cepted, which  was  done  by  the  convention.  She  then  asked  what 
was  the  relation  between  the  two  and  why,  if  this  was  a  regular 
committee  of  the  National  American  Association,  no  appropria- 
tion had  been  made  for  its  work  during  the  coming  year  and 
why  there  was  no  statement  in  the  treasurer's  report  of  its 
expenditures  during  the  past  year.  It  developed  that  the  com- 
mittee had  raised  and  expended  its  own  funds,  which  had  not 
passed  through  the  national  treasury,  and  that  the  Congressional 
Union  was  a  society  formed  the  preceding  April  to  assist  the  work 


NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1913  381 

of  the  committee.  It  was  moved  by  Mrs.  Catt  and  carried  that  the 
convention  request  the  Official  Board  to  continue  the  Congres- 
sional Committee  and  to  cooperate  -with  it  in  such  a  way  as  to 
remove  further  causes  of  embarrassment  to  the  association.  The 
motion  was  amended  that  the  board  should  appropriate  what 
money  could  be  spared  for  the  work  of  this  committee.1 

The  movement  for  woman  suffrage  was  now  so  plainly  center- 
ing in  Congress,  which  had  been  the  goal  for  over  forty  years, 
that  there  was  a  widespread  feeling  that  the  national  headquar- 
ters should  be  established  in  Washington.  Mrs.  Oliver  H.  P. 
Belmont,  a  delegate  from  New  York,  through  whose  generosity 
it  had  been  possible  to  take  them  to  that  city  in  1909,  offered  a 
motion  that  they  now  be  removed  to  Washington.  She  had 
given  notice  of  this  action  the  preceding  day  and  the  opponents 
were  prepared.  A  motion  to  lay  it  on  the  table  was  quickly  made 
and  all  discussion  cut  off.  The  opposition  of  the  national  officers 
was  so  apparent  that  many  delegates  hesitated  to  express  their 
convictions  for  the  affirmative  but  nevertheless  the  vote  stood  134 
.  and  169  noes. 

The  National  Association  had  now  so  many  auxiliaries  and 
so  much  work  was  being  done  in  all  the  States  that  the  day  ses- 
sions were  largely  consumed  in  hearing  reports  from  them  and 
the  usual  conferences  and  symposiums  were  almost  crowded  off 
the  program.  For  the  first  time  Hawaii  took  her  place  among  the 
auxiliaries,  a  suffrage  society  having  been  formed  there  during 

1  When   the  board   met  after   the   convention   it   was  disclosed   that   the   Congressional 

Union,  instead  of  being  merely  a  local  society  to  assist  the  committee  in  its  efforts  with 

Congress,   as  Miss   Paul  had  said,   was  a  national   organization   to   work   for   the    Federal 

Amendment.     That  is,  it  was  to  duplicate  the  work  which  the   National  Association   had 

been  formed  to  do  in   1869  and  had  brought  to  its  present  advanced  stage.     The  associa- 

letterheads  had  been  used  fur  this  purpose  and  persons  from  all  parts  of  the  country 

bad  sent  their  names  and  money,  many   supposing  they   were  assisting  the  National  Asso- 

>s   Paul   had  been  obtaining   names  for   membership   in   the    Union  during  all 

the  sessions  of  the  convention.     The  board  decided  that  there  must  be  complete  separation 

of  the  work  of   the  committee   and   the   Union;   that   the  same  person  could   not  be  at  the 

bead  of  both  and  that  the  plans  of  the  Union  must  be  regularly  submitted  to  the   board. 

Miss   Paul    refused    to   accept    these    conditions  and    she   was   at   once    relieved    from    the 

chairmanship    of    the    Congressional    Committee    and    the    other    members    resigned.     The 

ted  as  a  separate  organization.     Another  committee  was  appointed  by  the 

il   American    Association   consisting   of    Mrs.    Kuth    Hanna    McCormick,    chairman; 

Mrs.   Antoinette    Funk,    Mrs.    Sherman    Booth,   all    of    Illinois,    Mrs.    Desba    Breckinridge 

:»-ner   (D.  C.),    Mrs.    H.   Edward   Dreier   (N.   Y.),  Mr*.  James 

r    (Calif.).     Headquarters  were   opined   in   the    Muiisey    Building,    Washington,   with 
the  Illinois  women   in  charge. 


32  HISTORY   OF   WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

the  year.  At  one  of  the  morning  sessions  U.  S.  Senator  Moses 
E.  Clapp  of  Minnesota  was  presented  to  the  convention  and 
extended  a  pressing  invitation  to  hold  its  next  meeting  in  St. 
Paul.  Later  this  invitation  was  repeated  in  a  cordial  invitation 
from  Governor  Adolph  O.  Eberhard.  At  another  morning  ses- 
sion Representative  Kenneth  McKellar  of  Tennessee  addressed 
the  convention  and  invited  it  to  meet  in  Chattanooga  the  next  year. 
The  last  evening  there  was  not  standing  room  in  the  large  theater. 
Miss  Harriet  May  Mills,  president  of  the  New  York  State  Suf- 
frage Association,  took  for  her  subject  A  Prophecy  Fulfilled  and 
gave  convincing  reasons  for  believing  that  the  successful  end  of 
the  long  contest  was  near.  Mrs.  Katharine  Houghton  Hepburn 
made  a  strong  arraignment  of  Commercialized  Vice,  using  her 
own  city  of  Hartford,  Conn.,  for  an  example.  Mrs.  Catt  gave 
the  last  address,  a  comprehensive  review  of  the  advanced  posi- 
tion that  had  been  attained  by  women  and  the  great  responsibili- 
ties it  had  brought.  Dr.  Shaw,  who  presided,  spoke  the  final 
inspiring  words. 

A  delightful  ending  of  the  week  was  the  reception  the  last 
afternoon  in  the  hospitable  home  of  Senator  and  Mrs.  Robert  M. 
LaFollette.  Three  members  of  the  Cabinet  were  among  the 
guests,  Secretaries  Lane,  Houston  and  Daniels.  Those  in  the 
receiving  line  were :  Senator  and  Mrs.  LaFollette,  Dr.  Shaw  and 
Mrs.  Catt;  also  Mrs.  Franklin  K.  Lane,  Mrs.  Josephus  Daniels, 
Mrs.  Albert  Sidney  Burleson,  Mrs.  David  Franklin  Houston, 
Mrs.  Miles  Poindexter,  Mrs.  Reed  Smoot,  Mrs.  Victor  Murdock, 
Mrs.  Wm.  L.  LaFollette,  Mrs.  J.  W.  Bryan,  Mrs.  John  E. 
Raker,  Mrs.  James  A.  Frear,  Mrs.  Henry  T.  Rainey,  Mrs.  Albert 
B.  Cummins,  Mrs.  John  D.  Works  and  Mrs.  William  Kent,  all 
members  of  the  Cabinet  and  Congressional  circles,  and  the  hus- 
bands of  most  of  them  were  present.  To  the  older  members  of 
the  association  it  recalled  the  conventions  of  olden  times  when 
even  the  wives  of  members  of  Congress,  with  a  few  rare  excep- 
tions, feared  to  attend  the  social  functions  lest  it  might  injure 
the  political  status  of  their  husbands. 


The  Senate  committee  of  the  Sixty-third  Congress  had  already 
granted  three  hearings  on  woman  suffrage  during  its  extra  ses- 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQI3  383 

sion:  on  April  10,  1913,  to  representatives  of  the  Anti-Suffrage 
Association ;  on  April  2 1  to  those  of  the  Federal  Women's  Equal- 
ity Association  and  on  April  26  to  those  of  the  National  Ameri- 
can Suffrage  Association.  This  new  committee,  which  the  advo- 
cates of  the  Federal  Suffrage  Amendment  will  always  remember 
with  deep  appreciation  for  its  firm  and  favorable  action,  con- 
sisted of  the  following  Senators:  Charles  S.  Thomas  (Colo.), 
chairman;  Robert  L.  Owen  (Okla.)  ;  Henry  F.  Ashurst  (Ariz.)  ; 
Joseph  E.  Ransdell  (La.);  Henry  P.  Hollis  (N.  H.)  ;  George 
Sutherland  (Utah)  ;  Wesley  L.  Jones  (Wash.)  ;  Moses  E.  Clapp 
(Minn.)  ;  Thomas  B.  Catron  (N.  M.).  The  last  named  was  an 
opponent  of  woman  suffrage  by  any  method  and  was  the  only 
member  who  did  not  sign  the  favorable  report.  Senator  Rans- 
dell at  first  said  that  he  had  an  open  mind  but  he  soon  placed 
himself  on  the  suffrage  side,  signed  the  report  and  later  voted 
several  times  in  favor  of  the  amendment. 

The  immediate  object  of  the  National  American  Association 
at  the  present  moment  was  to  secure  a  Committee  on  Woman 
Suffrage  in  the  Lower  House  such  as  had  long  existed  in  the 
Senate.  A  resolution  to  create  such  a  committee  had  been  intro- 
duced April  7  by  Edward  T.  Taylor  (Colo.)  and  referred  to  the 
Committee  on  Rules.  The  hearing  at  the  regular  session  during 
this  convention,  therefore,  was  before  this  committee,  which 
would  have  to  recommend  the  Woman  Suffrage  Committee  to 
the  House,  and  it  was  set  for  10:30  A.M.,  December  3.  As  soon 
as  the  application  was  made  the  National  Anti-Suffrage  Associa- 
tion also  asked  to  be  heard,  and  Chairman  Henry,  who  -was  op- 
posed to  the  proposed  new  committee  and  to  woman  suffrage, 
announced  that  he  proposed  to  allow  both  sides  all  the  time  they 
wanted.  The  leaders  of  the  National  Suffrage  Association  stated 
that  they  would  ask  for  only  the  usual  two  hours  and  would  not 
discuss  the  general  question  of  woman  suffrage  but  only  the  need 
of  a  special  committee.  Their  arguments  were  concluded  at  the 
morning  session.  The  "antis"  began  after  luncheon  with  massed 
forces  and  talked  the  entire  aftenio.  m  and  all  of  the  next  day 
and  part  of  the  third,  covering  the  whole  subject  of  woman  suf- 
e,  with  the  appointment  of  the  emnmittce  only  one  feature 
of  it.  Several  of  their  niei  I  consumed  nearly  an  hour 


384  HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

each  and  were  repeatedly  requested  by  the  chairman  to  face  the 
committee  instead  of  the  audience,  which  filled  the  largest  room  in 
the  House  office  building.  The  first  morning  all  of  the  committee 
were  present  but  they  gradually  dwindled  until  during  the  latter 
part  of  the  "antis'  "  arguments  only  two  or  three  were  in  their 
seats,  not  including  the  chairman.1  Only  limited  extracts  of  the 
speeches  are  possible.  Dr.  Shaw  presided  and  said : 

Our  purpose  in  coming  before  you  this  morning  is  not  to  make 
any  attempt  whatever  to  convert  the  members  of  the  Rules  Com- 
mittee, if  they  should  need  converting,  to  the  democratic  principle 
of  the  right  of  the  people  to  have  a  voice  in  their  own  government. 
It  is  to  ask  you  to  appoint  a  committee  in  the  House  on  woman 
suffrage,  which  corresponds  with  the  one  in  the  Senate,  in  order 
that  we  may  have  hearings  before  a  committee  which  is  not  so  bur- 
dened with  other  business  as  is  the  Committee  on  the  Judiciary.  .  .  . 
It  seems  to  the  women  of  the  United  States  that  a  question  of  so 
much  importance  that  the  parliaments  of  Europe  feel  under  obliga- 
tions to  discuss  and  act  upon  it,  is  at  least  of  sufficient  importance 
in  this  great  republic  of  ours  for  the  committee  which  has  it  under 
consideration  to  take  time  for  a  report.  Year  after  year  we  have 
asked  the  Judiciary  Committee  not  that  they  should  believe  in  woman 
suffrage  or  express  any  opinion  on  it  but  only  to  report  the  measure 
either  favorably  or  unfavorably  so  as  to  bring  it  before  the  House, 
in  order  that  the  representatives  of  the  men  of  this  country  might 
be  able  to  consider  it,  but  thus  far  it  has  been  impossible  to  secure 
any  sort  of  a  report.  .  .  . 

Mrs.  Helen  H.  Gardener  (D.  C),  after  showing  that  woman 
suffrage  was  a  mere  side  issue  with  the  Judiciary  Committee  and 
that  it  would  be  busier  than  ever  the  coming  session,  said :  "Those 
of  us  who  live  here  and  have  known  Congress  from  our  child- 
hood know  that  an  outside  matter  has  less  chance  to  get  any  real 
consideration  by  such  a  committee  under  such  conditions  than 
the  proverbial  rich  man  has  of  entering  the  kingdom  of  heaven.1' 
She  pointed  out  that  over  one-fifth  of  the  Senate  and  one-seventh 
of  the  House  were  elected  by  the  votes  of  women  and  continued : 

You  will  remember  that  there  is  a  committee  on  Indian  Affairs. 
Are  the  Indians  more  important  than  the  women  of  America?  They 
did  not  always  have  a  special  committee,  they  used  to  be  a  mere 
incident,  as  we  now  are.  They  used  to  be  under  the  War  Depart- 

»  Robert  L.  Henry  (Tex.),  Chairman;  Edward  W.  Pou  (N.  C.) ;  Thomas  W.  Hardwick 
(Ga.);  Finis  J.  Garrett  (Tenn.);  Martin  D.  Foster  (Ills,);  James  C.  Cantrill  (Ky.); 
Henry  W.  Goldfogle  (N.  Y.);  Philip  P.  Campbell  (Kans.) ;  Irvine  L.  Lenroot  (Wis.); 
Edwin  A.  Merritt,  Jr.  (N.  Y.);  M.  Clyde  Kelly  (Penn.). 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQI3  385 

ment  and  so  long  as  this  was  the  case  nobody  ever  doubted  for  an 
instant  that  the  "only  good  Indian  was  a  dead  Indian" — just  as 
under  the  incidental  administration  of  the  Judiciary  Committee  it 
is  not  doubted  by  some  that  the  only  good  woman  is  a  voteless  woman. 
When  the  Indians  secured  a  committee  of  their  own  they  began  to 
get  schools,  lands  in  severalty  and  the  general  status  of  human 
beings.  ...  It  became  the  duty  of  that  committee  to  investigate  the 
real  conditions,  the  needs,  the  grievances  and  the  best  methods  of 
promoting  the  interests  of  the  Indians.  That  was  the  beginning  of 
the  end  of  Indian  wars ;  the  first  hope  of  a  possibility — previously 
sneered  at — of  making  real  and  useful  citizens  of  this  race  of  men 
who  now  have  Representatives  in  Congress.  It  was  precisely  the 
same  with  our  island  possessions,  only  in  this  case  we  had  profited 
by  our  experience  with  Indian  and  labor  problems,  and  it  did  not 
take  so  long  to  realize  that  a  committee  whose  duty  it  should  be 
to  utilize,  develop  and  conserve  the  best  interests  of  these  new  charges 
of  our  Government  and  to  develop  them  toward  citizenship  as  rap- 
idly as  possible  was  the  safe  and  sane  method  of  procedure.  .  .  . 

We  want  such  a  committee  on  woman  suffrage  in  the  House.  We 
do  not  ask  you  to  appoint  a  partisan  committee  but  only  one  open- 
minded  and  honest,  which  will  really  investigate  and  understand  the 
question,  its  workings  where  it  is  in  effect — a  committee  which  will 
not  accept  wild  statements  as  facts,  which  will  hear  and  weigh  that 
which  comes  from  the  side  of  progress  and  change  as  well  as  that 
which  is  static  or  reactionary.  .  .  .  The  recommendation  that  we 
such  a  committee  does  not  in  any  way  commit  you  to  the  adop- 
tion of  a  belief  in  the  principle  of  self-government  for  women.  This 
is  not  much  to  ask  and  it  is  not  much  to  give,  nor  will  it  be  needed 
fur  very  many  more  years. 

Mrs.  Ida  Hasted  Harper  was  introduced  as  one  of  the  authors 
he  four-volume  History  of  Woman  Suffrage  and  the  biog- 
rapher of  Susan  B.  Anthony  and  began :  'This  is  not  the  time  or 
place  to  enter  into  an  argument  on  the  merits  or  demerits  of 
an  suffrage  and  we  shall  use  the  valuable  hours  you- have  so 
graciously  accorded  us  simply  to  ask  that  you  will  give  us  a 
mittee  of  our  very  own,  before  which  we  may  feel  that  \ve 
have  a  ri^ht  to  discuss  this  question.     In  making  this  request  we 
you  to  decide,  fir-t,  whether  the  issue  of  woman  suffrage  is 
ciently  national  in  its  character  to  justify  a  special  committee 
•••ml,  whether  it  has  been  so  fairly  treated 
he  committee  which  has  had  it  in  charge  for  forty-four 
that  another  is  not  necessary;  and.  third,  whether  justice  requires 

hould  come  under  the  juri-dietum  oi  "ess." 

The    natio-  i    the    woman    suffrage    movement    was 


386  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

sketched  and  then  the  question  asked :  "Has  the  treatment  of  this 
subject  by  the  committee  to  which  it  has  always  been  referred 
been  such  as  to  warrant  a  continuance  of  this  custom?"  which  she 
answered  by  saying: 

The  National  Woman  Suffrage  Association  was  formed  in  1869 
for  the  express  purpose  of  obtaining  an  amendment  to  the  Federal 
Constitution.  Its  representatives  went  before  the  congressional  com- 
mittees that  year  and  have  continued  to  do  so  at  each  new  Congress 
since  that  time,  never  having  been  refused  a  hearing.  At  the  begin- 
ning of  1882  both  Senate  and  House  created  special  Woman  Suffrage 
Committees.  The  Senate  has  continuously  maintained  this  com- 
mittee, but  in  1884  the  House  declined  to  renew  it  by  a  vote  of 
124  nays,  85  yeas;  112  not  voting.  The  debate  was  long  and  heated 
and  almost  wholly  on  the  question  of  woman  suffrage  itself.  Thence- 
forth the  women  appeared  before  the  House  Judiciary  Committee, 
which,  although  busy  and  overworked,  had  always  a  good  representa- 
tion present  and  was  respectful  and  often  cordial. 

The  ablest  women  this  country  has  produced  have  appeared  be- 
fore this  committee.  .  .  .  Repeatedly  the  eminent  members  of  this 
Judiciary  Committee  have  said  that  no  hearings  before  them  were 
conducted  with  such  dignity  and  ability  as  those  of  the  advocates  of 
woman  suffrage.  And  what  is  the  result?  Six  reports  in  forty- 
four  years  and  five  of  these  untavorable !  Does  the  record  end  here? 
No ;  for  there  has  been  no  report  of  any  kind  since  1894.  For  the 
last  twenty  years  the  women  of  this  nation  have  made  an  annual 
pilgrimage  to  Washington  to  plead  their  cause  before  a  committee 
which  has  forgotten  their  existence  as  soon  as  they  were  out  of  sight. 
.  .  .  Gentlemen  of  the  Committee  on  Rules,  will  you  not  give  to 
women  a  committee  of  their  own  that  will  not  ignore  them  for  half 
a  century?  .  .  . 

The  entire  status  of  woman  has  changed  since  the  Federal  Consti- 
tution was  framed,  and  ethical  and  social  questions  have  entered  into 
politics  which  could  not  have  been  foreseen.  It  is  inevitable  that  this 
Constitution  must  occasionally  be  amended  to  meet  new  conditions, 
while  leaving  its  fundamental  and  vital  provisions  undisturbed.  The 
advocates  of  woman  suffrage  believe  that  it  should  now  be  changed 
so  as  to  give  a  voice  in  governmental  affairs  to  a  half  of  the  people 
which  has  become  an  important  factor  in  the  public  life  of  the  nation. 
By  the  only  means  now  available  the  half  which  possesses  the  ballot 
has  the  absolute  authority  over  its  further  extension  and  no  ruling 
class  likes  to  divide  its  power.  State  rights  are  desirable  to  a  very 
large  extent  when  all  the  people  of  the  State  have  a  voice,  but  it  is 
not  in  harmony  with  the  spirit  of  our  republic  that  one  half  of  the 
citizens  of  a  State  should  have  complete  power  over  the  political 
liberty  of  the  other  half. 

Instance  after  instance  was  given  from  different  States  show- 
ing how  this  power  had  been  abused  after  the  women  had  strug- 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1913 

gled  long  and  heroically  for  even  a  partial  franchise  and  the 
speaker  concluded:  "Women  have  been  defeated  over  twenty 
times  in  the  strongest  campaigns  they  were  able  to  make  for 
full-suffrage  amendments  to  State  constitutions.  From  1896 
to  1910  they  were  not  once  successful.  Sometimes  they  were 
sold  out  by  the  party  'machines'  at  the  last  moment;  sometimes 
they  were  counted  out  after  they  had  really  secured  a  majority; 
but,  whatever  the  reason,  they  lost.  The  victories  of  the  last 
three  years  may  be  cited  as  evidence  that  henceforth  they  will 
succeed.  Those  victories  were  largely  due  to  political  conditions 
which  do  not  exist  in  many  other  States  and  against  them  must 
be  set  the  crushing  defeats  these  same  years  in  Ohio,  Wisconsin 
and  Michigan,  -where  the  woman  suffrage  amendment  was  fought 
by  every  vicious  interest  which  menaces  the  body  politic.  .  .  ." 

Miss  Jane  Addams  was  presented  by  Dr.  Shaw  as  one  who  did 
not  need  to  be  introduced  to  any  civilized  being,  "not  because  of 
any  political  agitation  by  her  but  for  the  service  she  has  rendered 
humanity,  one  which  is  distinctly  woman's  service,  and  she  long 
ago  came  to  realize  that  it  was  impossible  to  do  this  work  as  it 
should  be  done  unless  she  and  the  women  associated  with  her 
had  the  ballot."  Miss  Addams  referred  to  a  committee  hearing 
once  before  when  she  was  able  to  give  but  one  precedent  for 
the  jurisdiction  of  Congress  over  the  franchise — the  I5th 
Amendment — but  now,  she  said,  she  could  give  nine  more.  She 
cited  the  case  of  the  Indians,  the  Confederate  soldiers,  foreigners 
who  fought  in  the  Civil  War,  naturalized  foreigners,  Federal 
prisoners,  American  women  marrying  aliens,  election  of  U.  S. 
Senators,  etc.  Each  point  brought  questions  or  objections  from 
the  committee  and  the  discussion  was  very  interesting. 

Members  of  the  committee  asked  Dr.  Shaw  if  the  association 
:ld  be  willing  to  have  the  matter  of  a  Federal  Suffrage  Amend- 
ment referred  to  the  Committee  on  Election  of  President,  Vice- 
President  and  Representatives  in  Congress  but  after  consultation 
with  members  of  her  board  it  was  decided  to  stand  for  a  special 
committee.  Mrs.  Desha  Breckinridge  was  introduced  as  the  great 
granddaughter  of  Henry  Clay  and  in  the  course  of  a  speech  worthy 
of  her  ancestry  she  recalled  the  early  history  of  Kentucky,  the 
part  of  her  grandfather  in  preserving  the  Union,  the  fact  that 


388  HISTORY   OF   WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

the  State  had  not  maintained  its  prestige  and  that  if  this  was  to 
be  regained  the  women  must  be  permitted  to  help  and  said : 

I  do  not  feel  that  I  am  doing  any  injustice  to  the  men  of  my  State 
in  asking  this  Federal  Amendment,  in  asking  the  help  of  the  Con- 
gress of  the  United  States.  Some  years  ago,  after  we  had  worked 
for  our  School-suffrage  law  at  three  sessions  of  the  Legislature  and 
had  at  last  gotten  it  past  the  House  and  up  to  the  Senate,  only  three 
days  before  adjournment  a  letter  was  sent  to  the  members  by  the 
German- American  Alliance,  calling  upon  the  men  of  Kentucky  to 
protect  the  homes  and  womanhood  of  the  State  by  defeating  it  and 
saying  that  the  Alliance  believed  the  home  was  the  sphere  for  women. 
When  we  investigated  we  found  that  the  German- American  Alliance 
was  the  brewers'  alliance,  with  headquarters  at  Louisville.  ...  I 
would  suggest  to  the  men  of  this  committee,  who  1  understand  are 
mostly  southern,  that  if  they  object  to  having  the  suffrage  for  women 
forced  upon  them  by  the  U.  S.  Government,  there  is  still  time  in  which 
they  may  go  home  and  get  it  for  their  women  in  the  States. 

Representative  John  E.  Raker  (Calif.),  speaking  with  a  full 
knowledge  of  the  inner  machinery  of  Congress,  brushed  aside  all 
objections,  showed  that  it  was  the  custom  to  appoint  special  com- 
mittees for  special  subjects,  stood  up  against  the  heckling  of  the 
Rules  Committee  and  put  the  necessity  for  this  desired  committee 
beyond  argument.  Dr.  Shaw  joined  him  in  refuting  the  reit- 
erated charge  that  the  suffragists  would  insist  on  having  it  com- 
posed entirely  of  their  supporters.  Mrs.  Mary  Beard  (N.  Y.) 
addressed  the  committee  as  Democrats  and  from  the  standpoint  of 
party  expediency  with  such  a  knowledge  of  politics  as  they  never 
had  met  in  a  woman.  She  said  in  a  scathing  arraignment : 

This  committee  is  composed  of  thirteen  men  and  seven  constitute 
the  deciding  vote  on  our  appeal  for  the  Woman  Suffrage  Committee. 
These  seven  belong  to  the  majority,  the  Democratic  party.  One  of 
them  comes  from  a  partial  suffrage  State,  Illinois,  and  another 
from  a  campaign  State,  New  York,  where  the  Legislature  has  de- 
clared in  favor  of  submitting  this  question  to  the  voters.  I  shall, 
therefore,  limit  my  examination  to  the  remaining  five  gentlemen 
whose  point  of  view  will  in  all  probability  decide  the  women's  des- 
tiny in  the  House  of  Representatives  at  least  for  the  moment.  These 
five  all  represent  one  section  of  the  country  and  my  analysis  of  them 
is  made  in  the  hope  that  they  will  take  a  national  point  of  view 
and  help  us  obliterate  sectional  feeling.  Who  are  you  that  hesitate 
to  promote,  if  you  do  not  actually  obstruct  this  Federal  Amend- 
ment ?  In  looking  over  various  public  records  I  find  that  the  honored 
chairman  of  this  committee  holds  his  strategic  position  as  a  result 
of  the  will  expressed  at  the  polls  of  7,623  men.  Opposite  his  name 


NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQI3  389 

should  he  written:  "No  opposition."  Another  of  the  five  comes 
here  through  the  vote  of  13,906  men.  Another  is  sent  by  the  very 
small  group  of  6.474  men,  and  the  remaining  two  represent  respec- 
tively 18,000  and  16,000  men.  The  total  vote  behind  all  five  of 
these  gentlemen  is  63,570.  These  63,570  voters,  therefore,  have  the 
decision  of  this  momentous  question.  .  .  . 

You  know  the  fight  that  you  Democratic  men  put  up  against 
the  combination  by  the  Committee  on  Rules  under  the  leadership 
of  Speaker  Cannon  and  you  led  that  fight  against  the  domination 
of  the  committee  over  the  House.  You  are  today  in  this  same  posi- 
tion of  political  power.  Can  you  consistently  oppose  now  the  things 
for  which  you  fought  so  bitterly  a  short  time  ago?  We  know  how 
rapidly  you  have  appointed  committees  when  changed  economic  con- 
ditions demanded  it.  I  have  here  the  report  of  the  Committee  on 
the  Judiciary  for  the  special  session,  showing  what  work  it  did, 
many  sittings  it  held,  which  proves  conclusively  that  it  has  not 
time  for  the  consideration  of  our  question.  .  .  . 

This  part  of  the  hearing  closed  with  the  address  of  Mrs.  Carrie 
Chapman  Catt,  who  was  introduced  as  president  of  the  Inter- 
national Woman  Suffrage  Alliance,  representing  the  organized 
womanhood  of  twenty-six  nations.  She  said  in  the  course  of  her 
address: 

A  few  weeks  ago  a  dispatch  was  sent  out  from  Washington,  say- 
ing that  the  Judiciary  Committee  for  the  next  year  was  going  to  he 
more  overworked  than  ever  before.  Tt  was  accompanied  by  a  letter 
from  the  President  to  Mr.  Clayton,  begging  him  to  continue  as  chair- 
man of  that  committee  and  to  withdraw  from  his  candidacy  for  the 
Senate  from  Alabama  because  this  committee  was  going  to  do  more 
work  than  it  had  ever  been  required  to  do  before.  He  called  atten- 
tion to  the  fact  that  the  Ways  and  Means  Committee  had  been  obliged 
to  work  driv  and  night,  sometimes  spending  the  whole  night  on  their 
particular  business,  and  he  warned  Mr.  Clayton  that  this  might  be 

tation  of  the  Judiciary  Committee  in  this  coming  Con 

\Vhen  tin-  committee  has  only  worked  during  the  flay,  we  suffragists 

not   been   able   to  rrrt    the  attention  which   we  think  our  cause 

and    with    this    additional    work    it    is    quite    impossible    to 

<-t    more   attention    than    we   have    had    in    the   past.      Since    the 

n  was  offered  that  possibly  our  l>ns;  lit   rfn  before 

•ions  Committee,  the  information  has  come  tint   the   Presi- 

'•'.n   for  presidential  primary  legislation   will  mnkr  tin's  com- 

mitt*  -ie  this  com?-  i.  .  .  .  We  pride  our- 

'•ut  while  the  Judiriarv  Tommi'ltcc  has  been 
to  report  our  m  -id   brinir  it   before  the   lion 

f    womrr  LS    been    •  <1    bv 

the    Imperial   Parliament';  of   twr1  intries.     This  has 

been  done  in   fact   within  the  past  two  ye 


39°  HISTORY   OF   WOMAN   SUFFRAGE 

Mrs.  Catt  gave  particulars  from  each  and  said  the  only  ones 
where  it  had  not  been  discussed  were  those  of  Germany,  Austria, 
Turkey  and  the  United  States.  This  assertion  stung  the  com- 
mittee and  Representative  Hardwick  (Ga.)  asked  if  there  was 
not  the  wide  difference  that  in  this  country  State  laws  reached 
the  suffrage  while  in  others  the  Parliament  regulated  the  vote, 
and  she  answered:  "Of  course  there  is  that  difference  but  I  wish 
to  add  my  opinion  to  that  of  Miss  Addams,  that  while  the 
States  have  the  right  to  extend  the  vote  it  is  the  most  outrageously 
unfair  process  through  which  any  class  of  unenfranchised  citi- 
zens of  any  land  have  ever  been  called  upon  to  obtain  their  en- 
franchisement and  that  is  the  reason  why  we  come  to  Congress. 
The  overwhelming  majority  of  the  men  of  this  country  have  not 
secured  their  suffrage  by  any  vote  at  the  polls  in  the  States.  The 
only  class  that  I  have  ever  been  able  to  find  in  our  history  so 
enfranchised  are  the  working  men  in  the  original  thirteen  colonies, 
and  they  got  the  vote  by  the  process  long  ago  when  the  popula- 
tion was  exceedingly  small.  There  are  more  men  today  voting 
on  the  basis  of  their  citizenship  under  naturalization  than  for 
any  other  reason  and  yet  our  State  constitutions  compel  us  to  go 
to  these  men  and  ask  our  vote  at  their  hands.  They  say  whether 
the  women  who  have  been  born  and  bred  here  and  educated  in 
our  schools  shall  have  the  vote.  We  believe  we  have  the  right 
to  have  our  question  considered  by  Congress  and  that  is  why  we 
ask  for  a  special  committee." 

A  spirited  discussion  followed  in  which  the  I5th  Amend- 
ment played  a  part  and  Mr.  Hardwick  said  all  the  women  had  to 
do  in  order  to  vote  was  to  add  the  word  "sex"  to  it  and  Dr.  Shaw 
answered:  "This  would  require  a  constitutional  amendment  and 
what  we  are  asking  is  such  an  amendment  to  our  National  Con- 
stitution, which  shall  forbid  the  States  to  deprive  women  citizens 
of  the  right  which  it  grants  to  every  man  born  in  the  United 
States  and  to  every  man  imported  from  any  country  under  the 
light  of  the  sun.  No  nation  has  subjected  its  women  to  the 
humiliating  position  occupied  by  those  of  this  nation  today.  There 
is  no  race  which  is  not  represented  in  the  citizenship  of  this 
country  and  these  citizens  are  made  the  governing  power  which 
determines  the  destinies  of  our  women.  While  women  are  dis- 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1913  391 

franchisee!  in  Germany,  yet  German  women  are  governed  by  Ger- 
man men;  French  women  are  governed  by  Frenchmen;  in  all 
the  nations  of  Europe  where  women  are  disfranchised  it  is  by 
the  men  of  their  own  nation  but  in  the  United  States  men  of 
every  race  may  go  to  the  polls  and  vote  that  American-born  women 
may  not  have  a  voice  in  their  own  government.  Therefore  we 
claim  that  it  is  the  business  of  the  Government  to  protect  women 
citizens  in  this  right  of  suffrage  as  it  protects  men  citizens,  and 
AVC  ask  for  this  committee  because  we  believe  that  if  our  question 
can  be  brought  before  Congress  and  discussed  freely,  it  will  be 
submitted  to  the  Legislatures  and  decided  favorably." 

Two  anti-suffrage  associations  were  represented,  the  National, 
headed  by  its  president,  Mrs.  Arthur  M.  Dodge  of  New  York, 
and  the  Guidon  Club,  headed  by  its  president,  Mrs.  William  Force 
Scott  of  New  York.  Mrs.  Dodge  presented  as  speakers  Miss 
Alice  Hill  Chittenden  and  Miss  Minnie  Bronson  (N.  Y.),  Mrs. 
Robert  Garrett  (Md.),  Miss  Emily  P.  Bissell  (Del.),  Mrs.  A. 
/.  George  (Mass.),  Miss  Annie  Bock  (Calif.),  Mrs.  O.  D.  Oli- 
phant  (N.  J.),  Miss  Ella  Dorsey  (D.  C),  Mrs.  R.  C.  Talbot  and 
Miss  Lucy  Price  (O.),  Miss  Eliza  Armstrong,  Miss  Emmeline 
Pitt  and  Miss  Julia  Harding  (Penn.),  Miss  Alice  Edith  Abell, 
president  "Wage-earners'  Anti-Suffrage  League"  (N.  Y.) ; 
Everett  P.  Wheeler  and  Charles  L.  Underbill,  representing  the 
Men's  Anti-Suffrage  Leagues  of  New  York  and  of  Massachusetts. 
Letters  were  read  from  Miss  Elizabeth  McCracken  (Mass.)  and 
Arthur  Pyle  (Minn.).  Mrs.  Scott  introduced  as  speakers  Dr. 
and  Mrs.  Rossiter  Johnson  and  John  C.  Ten  Eyck  of  New  York. 
Representative  J.  Thomas  Heflin  (Ala.)  spoke  over  an  hour  on 
his  own  initiative. 

As  the  anti-suffragists  had  entirely  disregarded  the  agreement 
to  confine  the  hearing  to  the  purpose  of  obtaining  a  special 
committee  and  had  covered  the  whole  field  of  woman  suffrage 
itself,  the  Committee  on  Rules  willingly  granted  time  for  a  re- 
buttal. Miss  Alice  Stone  Blackwell  (Mass.),  editor  of  the 
Woman's  Journal,  was  selected  as  the  principal  speaker  because 
of  her  extensive  knowledge  of  the  subject  and  another  large 
audience  assembled  for  the  fifth  time,  both  suffragists  and  oppo- 


3Q2  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

nents.     Mrs.  Catharine  Waugh  McCulloch  (Ills.)  presided  and 
Miss  Blackwell  said  in  beginning: 

Gentlemen  of  the  committee,  it  is  difficult  in  a  short  time  to  re- 
view the  arguments  that  have  been  made  during  nine  or  ten  hours, 
therefore  I  shall  take  up  only  the  most  important  points.  The  argu- 
ment has  been  made  over  and  over  that  you  ought  not  appoint  this 
committee  because  there  is  not  a  sufficient  public  demand  and  because 
the  number  of  women  who  oppose  suffrage  is  greater  than  the  num- 
ber who  favor  it.  It  is  an  actual  fact  that  we  represent  a  very  much 
larger  number.  The  opponents  say  that  only  8  per  cent,  of  the 
women  of  this  country  favor  suffrage.  They  have  no  authority  for 
this,  nobody  knows  how  many  there  are,  but  it  is  a  fact  that  less 
than  one  per  cent,  of  the  women  of  the  United  States  have  expressed 
any  objection  to  equal  suffrage.  The  anti-suffragists  claim  to  be 
organized  in  seventeen  States.  The  suffragists  are  organized  in 
forty-seven:  the  only  State  without  an  organization  is  New  Mexico. 
The  anti-suffrage  movement  maintains  only  three  periodicals — two 
monthlies  and  one  quarterly.  The  suffrage  movement  maintains 
seven  weekly  papers,  one  fortnightly  and  four  or  five  monthlies. 

In  every  State  where  petitions  for  suffrage  and  remonstrances 
against  it  have  been  sent  to  the  Legislature,  the  petitioners  have 
always  outnumbered  the  remonstrants  and  generally  by  50  or  TOO 
to  one.  At  the  time  of  the  last  New  York  constitutional  convention 
as  far  back  as  1804  the  suffragists  obtained  more  than  300,000  indi- 
vidual signatures  to  their  petitions.  Suppose  only  one-half  of  those 
were  women,  that  would  make  150,000.  At  the  same  time  the  anti- 
suffragists  obtained  only  15,000,  men  and  women.  In  Chicago,  a 
few  years  aero.  104  organizations,  with  an  aggregate  membership 
of  more  than  100,000  women,  petitioned  for  a  municipal  woman- 
suffrage  clause  in  the  new  city  charter,  while  only  one  small  organi- 
zation of  women  petitioned  against  it.  ... 

One  of  the  opposing  speakers  claimed  that  the  majority  of  the 
grangers  were  opposed  to  suffrage.  The  National  Grange  passes 
a  strong  resolution  in  favor  of  woman  suffrage  everv  year  and  a 
long  list  of  State  granges  have  done  the  same.  Individual  working 
women  have  appeared  before  this  committee  and  have  said  that  they 
believed  that  the  majority  of  working  women  were  opposed  to  suf- 
frage, but  all  the  great  organizations  of  working  men  and  working 
women  have  repeatedly  passed  strong  resolutions  in  favor  of  it. 

We  have  been  told  that  all  kinds  of  terrible  things  will  happen  if 
suffrage  is  granted.  With  the  exception  of  Illinois,  every  State  that 
has  adopted  it  borders  directly  upon  some  State  which  has  it.  If.  as 
has  been  claimed  here,  homes  were  broken  up  and  made  desolate, 
if  husbands  found  that  their  wives  were  neglecting  their  home  duties 
and  their  children,  it  is  not  likely  that  suffrage  would  spread  from 
the  State  which  first  adopted  it  to  one  adjoining  State  after  another. 
You  have  had  one  California  woman  here  who  claimed  that  woman 
suffrage  there  does  not  work  well.  California  adopted  the  initiative 


NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQI3  393 

and  referendum  at  the  same  time  with  woman  suffrage.  The  "antis" 
immediately  started  an  initiative  petition  for  the  repeal  of  woman 
suffrage.  They  said  that  80  per  cent,  of  the  women  of  California 
were  opposed  to  it  and  that  they  would  repeal  it.  Both  men  and 
women  were  eligible  to  sign  the  repeal  petitions;  but  out  of  the 

783  men  and  women  they  failed  to  get  the  32,000  signatures 
--ary.  Tt  has  been  asserted  that  the  women  in  all  the  equal 
suffrage  States  would  like  to  repeal  it.  In  any  one  of  these  States- 
tin  \  could  repeal  it  if  they  wished  to.  A  great  effort  was  made 
by  the  editor  of  the  Ladies'  Home  Journal  to  find  Colorado  women 
who  would  express  themselves  against  it  and  the  fact  that  he  wanted 
adverse  opinions  was  widely  announced  in  the  papers.  Out  of  the 
more  than  200.000  women  he  succeeded  in  finding  only  nineteen 
wlm  said  they  did  not  think  much  of  woman  suffrage  and  of  these 

e  said  it  had  not  done  any  harm. 

A  few  years  ago  Mrs.  Julia  Ward  Howe  took  a  census  of  all  the 
ministers  of  four  leading  denominations  in  the  four  oldest  suffrage 
States — Wyoming.  Colorado,  Utah  and  Idaho — and  of  all  the  edi- 

nsking  them  whether  the  results  of  woman  suffrage  were  good 
or  bad.  She  received  624  answers,  of  which  62  were  unfavorable, 
j6  undecided  and  516  in  favor.  The  answers  from  the  editors  were 
favorable  more  than  8  to  i :  those  from  the  Episcopal  clergymen 
more  than  2  to  I  ;  from  the  Baptist.  7  to  I ;  from  the  Congregational- 
ists  about  8  to  T  ;  from  the  Methodists  more  than  10  to  I ;  and  from 
the  Presbyterians  more  than  II  to  I. 

Miss  Blackwell  disproved  thoroughly  the  charges  made  by  the 
opposition  disparaging  to  the  laws  for  working  women  in  the 
equal  suffrage  States  and  many  other  charges,  giving  full  proof 
of  the  accuracy  of  her  statements.  The  committee  asked  her 
many  questions  and  gave  her  leave  to  print  as  much  of  her  argu- 
ment as  she  wished.  Her  carefully  prepared  data  filled  thirty-five 

fine  print  in  the  published  hearing. 

James  Lees  Laidlaw  (N.  Y.),  president  of  the  National  Men's 
rue  for  Woman  Suffrage,  showed  that  the  attitude  of  the 
opponents  expressed  a  distrust  of  democracy.     He  refuted  many 
of  their  assertions,  among  them  the  one  that  U.  S.  Senator  John 
D.  Works  (Calif.)  had  declared  woman  suffrage  a  failure  in  that 
State.     He  read  a  letter  received   from  the   Senator  the  pre- 
g  day  as  follows:  "I  did  not  make  any  statement  anywhere 
that  woman  suffrage  in  California  has  proved  a  failure.     Such  a 
nt  out  over  the  country  but  it  was  entirely  with- 
out foundation  nnd  wns  based  on  a  false  headline  in  a  newspaper 
not  borne  out  by  the  quotation   from  my  speech  even  in  that 

VOL.   V 


394  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

paper.  You  may  say  for  me  that  the  statement  is  wholly  without 
foundation  and  that  woman  suffrage  has  not  proved  to  be  a  fail- 
ure in  my  State." 

Mrs.  McCulloch  referred  to  the  "poor,  misguided  working  girl" 
among  the  "antis"  who  said  wage-earning  women  didn't  want  the 
vote  and  asked  Miss  Rose  Winslow,  a  prominent  working  woman, 
to  read  the  resolution  demanding  the  suffrage  which  was  passed 
by  the  National  Women's  Trade  Union  League.  She  did  so 
and  in  a  few  sentences  scored  one  of  the  flowery  anti-suffrage 
speakers,  saying:  "I  have  not  had  any  choice  as  to  whether  I 
should  walk  on  the  Bowery  or  on  Fifth  Avenue,  because  I  walk 
nowhere  in  the  sunshine.  I  am  one  of  the  millions  of  women  who 
work  in  the  shadow  of  these  women  of  whom  men  speak  as 
though  they  are  the  only  ones  in  the  country,  in  order  that  they 
may  parade  the  avenue  in  all  the  beauty  and  glory  of  everything 
brought  from  all  over  the  world  for  their  decoration,  but  I  do 
not  come  with  merely  my  personal  opinion  and  experience.  I 
have  the  opinion  of  the  organized  working  women  of  America 
in  convention  assembled.  These  women  represent  all  the  trades 
that  women  work  at  in  the  United  States  and  they  have  passed 
this  resolution  demanding  the  ballot  without  a  dissenting  \> 

Mrs.  Emma  S.  South,  wife  of  former  Representative  Oliver 
South  of  Illinois,  said  the  opponents  had  given  alleged  facts 
that  would  require  weeks  of  investigation  to  prove  or  disprove. 
She  answered  their  favorite  assertion  that  women  had  more  in- 
fluence without  the  vote  by  convincing  illustrations  of  what  the 
women  of  Chicago  had  been  able  to  accomplish  with  even  their 
partial  suffrage,  retaining  Mrs.  Ella  Flagg  Young  as  superin- 
tendent of  schools,  for  instance.  She  showed  how  in  the  appoint- 
ment of  the  new  school  board  the  fact  that  their  power  had  been 
dcubled  and  trebled  by  the  recently  granted  Municipal  vote  was 
ifest.  Mrs.  William  Kent,  after  showing  why  the  women 
of  California  had  asked  for  the  ballot,  gave  her  time  to  Miss 
Helen  Todd,  who  said  in  the  course  of  an  impassioned  speech: 
"My  conversion  to  suffrage  came  through  six  years  of  work  as 
factory  inspector  in  Illinois.  I  have  always  thought  that  the  rea- 
s<  MI  there  could  be  such  a  thing  as  women  'antis'  was  simply  that 
the  -creen  of  ignorance  and  the  comfort  and  protection  of  home 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1913  395 

were  so  thrown  around  them  that  they  never  had  to  face  the 
realities.  ...  No  one  can  go,  as  I  have  gone,  through  the  fac- 
tories of  a  great  State  and  see  the  suffering  just  of  the  children 
and  not  want  the  women  who  create  human  life  to  have  the 
power  to  protect  that  life." 

Mrs.  Ella  S.  Stewart  (Ills.),  Mrs.  John  Rogers,  Jr.  (N.  Y.), 
Mrs.  Katharine  Houghton  Hepburn  (Conn.),  Mrs.  Ida  Porter 
Boyer    (Perm.)    and  Mrs.   Harriet  Taylor  Upton    (O.)    spoke 
briefly  but  strongly  and  an  effective  letter  was  read  from  Miss 
Constance  Leupp  (D.  C.).    The  women  present  from  the  South 
were  deeply  incensed  at  the  long,  opposing  speech  of  Representa- 
tive Heflin,  who  claimed  to  represent  the  women  of  that  section, 
and  he  was  severely  answered  by  Mrs.  Pattie  Ruffner  Jacobs, 
Mrs.  Oscar  Hundley  and  Mrs.  Felix  Baldwin  of  his  own  State; 
Mrs.  S.  D.  Meehan  of  Louisiana;  Mrs.  L.  Crozier  French  and 
Miss  Catharine  J.  Wester  of  Tennessee  and  Mrs.  Lulu  Loveland 
Shepherd  of  Utah,  formerly  of  Tennessee.     Mrs.  Harper  cited 
the  three  classes  enfranchised  since  the  founding  of  the  Govern- 
ment, the  working  men,  the  negroes  and  the  Indians,  and  said: 
'There  was  never  any  question  as  to  whether  they  would  improve 
things  or  hurt  things ;  now,  in  the  President's  Message,  he  asks 
you  to  bring  in  the  Porto  Rican  men.    Are  you  going  to  do  this 
because  you  think  they  are  needed  in  the  electorate  and  because 
they  will  make  conditions  better?    We  women  are  the  only  class 
who  have  ever  asked  for  suffrage  in  this  country  to  whom  all  these 
objections  have  been  made  and  in  regard  to  whom  all  these  fears 
have  been  expressed.    There  is  not  a  class  of  voters  in  the  United 
States  today  which  has  lifted  one  finger  to  get  the  ballot,  yet 
the  women  of  this  country  have  been  struggling  sixty-five  years 
for  the  right  to  a  voice  in  the  Government.     You  must  admit 
that  they  are  the  best-equipped  class  that  have  ever  asked  this 
privilege  and  yet  you  have  kept  them  out.    All  we  ask  of  you  is 
to  make  it  a  little  less  hard  than  it  has  been  by  giving  us  a  com- 
mittee from  whom  we  can  get  some  consideration." 

Mrs.  Frank  W.   Mondell,  wife  of  the  Representative   from 

Wyoming,  said  in  the  course  of  a  very  comprehensive  address: 

do  not  desire  to  base  our  request  for  the  appointment  of  a 

Committee  on  Woman  Suffrage  solely  on  the  proposition  that  the 


HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

subject  is  one  of  greater  importance  than  those  included  -within 
the  jurisdiction  of  many  committees  of  the  House  but  rather  on 
the  ground  that  it  has  never,  so  far  as  my  recollection  and  infor- 
mation go,  failed  to  provide  by  general  or  special  committee  for 
the  study  and  consideration  of  any  vitally  important  question 
that  has  arisen  in  the  growth  and  development  of  the  nation."  A 
review  of  the  different  committees  was  made  and  she  concluded : 
"We  do  not  ask  or  expect  a  committee  constituted  to  represent 
our  views  but  we  ask  for  one  whose  special  duty  it  shall  be  to 
consider  the  question.  We  feel  that  -we  are  only  asking  the  House 
of  Representatives  to  follow  its  usual  rule  and  procedure." 

Mr.  Mondell  closed  the  hearing  with  a  sarcastic  review  of  the 
objections  made  by  the  opponents  during  which  he  said :  "I  had 
the  privilege  and  pleasure  of  listening  to  the  exceedingly  strong 
and  forceful  argument  in  favor  of  woman  suffrage  made  this 
morning  by  the  gentleman  from  Alabama,  or  was  it  intended  for 
an  argument  against  it  ?  I  think,  taking  it  as  a  whole,  that  it  was 
the  most  conclusive  argument  I  have  ever  heard  in  favor  of  it. 
.  .  .  We  have  a  committee  whose  business  it  is  to  inquire  how 
much  further  we  should  extend  the  franchise  to  the  little  brown 
brother  over  in  the  Philippines,  some  six  or  seven  millions  of  him, 
and  the  President  considers  that  a  sufficiently  important  matter 
to  refer  to  it  in  his  Message.  I  hope  it  was  through  forgetful- 
ness  and  not  deliberate  intent  that  he  seemed  to  fail  to  realize 
that  it  is  of  vastly  less  importance  than  the  question  of  granting 
the  franchise  to  the  mothers,  wives  and  sisters  among  the  95,000,- 
ooo  of  the  folks  here  in  the  United  States."  Mr.  Mondell  ridi- 
culed the  sentimental  effusion  of  Mr.  Heflin  and  his  solicitude  lest 
the  harmony  of  family  life  might  be  disturbed  and  said:  "If  the 
testimony  of  one  who  speaks  from  experience  is  worth  while  I 
can  say  with  full  realization  that  it  is  a  sweeping  statement: 
In  twenty-seven  years'  wide  knowledge  of  a  people  where  woman 
suffrage  prevails  I  have  never  known  a  solitary  case  where  a 
difference  of  political  opinion  resulted  in  family  quarrels  or  mis- 
understanding, not  a  single  one.  .  .  .  Are  -we  to  understand  that 
men  elsewhere — in  Alabama,  for  instance — are  less  considerate 
than  with  us  and  that  they  would  make  trouble  if  their  women 
folks  did  not  vote  as  they  wanted  them  to?  ...  The  exercise  of 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQI3  397 

the  franchise  is  a  privilege  and  a  right  but  above  and  beyond  the 
question  of  right  or  privilege  stands  the  fact  that  as  time  goes  on 
and  we  are  attempting  to  meet  wisely  the  multitude  of  questions 
that  arise  in  government,  many  of  them  social  and  economic,  we 
need  the  assistance  of  the  best  half  of  mankind." 


The  Rules  Committee  met  January  24,  1914,  -with  eight  of  the 
fourteen  members  present  and  Mr.  Lenroot  moved  to  report 
favorably  the  resolution  for  a  Woman  Suffrage  Committee.  Rep- 
resentatives Foster  (Ills.),  Campbell  (Kans.)  and  Kelly  (Penn.) 
joined  him;  Representatives  Hardwick  (Ga.),  Pou  (N.  C.), 
Cantrill  (Ky.)  and  Garrett  (Tenn.)  opposed.  Mr.  Lenroot  then 
moved  to  report  it  without  recommendation  and  there  was  a  tie 
vote.  Enough  signatures  were  secured  for  the  calling  of  a  Demo- 
cratic caucus  on  February  3  but  just  before  it  convened  a  meet- 
ing of  Democrats  was  held  in  the  office  of  Representative  Oscar 
J.  Underwood  (Ala.)  and  it  was  decided  by  a  vote  of  123  to  55 
that  suffrage  was  a  State  and  not  a  Federal  question  and  no 
further  action  on  a  special  committee  was  taken. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

NATIONAL  AMERICAN  CONVENTION  OF  1914. 

The  Forty-sixth  annual  convention  of  the  National  American 
Woman  Suffrage  Association  had  the  honor  and  privilege  of 
holding  its  sessions  in  Representatives'  Hall  at  the  State  Capitol 
in  Nashville,  Tenn.,  Nov.  12-17,  I9I4.1  Dr.  Anna  Howard 
Shaw  was  in  the  chair  and  it  was  officially  and  cordially  welcomed 
in  the  name  of  the  city  by  Mayor  Hilary  Howse;  of  the  State 
Suffrage  Association  by  its  president,  Mrs.  L.  Crozier-French, 
and  of  the  Nashville  Equal  Suffrage  League  by  the  president,  Mrs. 
Guilford  Dudley.  As  Dr.  Shaw  rose  to  respond  she  was  pre- 
sented by  Miss  Louise  Lindsey,  vice-regent  of  the  Ladies'  Hermi- 
tage Association,  with  a  gavel  made  from  the  wood  of  a  hickory 
tree  planted  by  General  Jackson  at  the  Hermitage,  his  home. 

1  Part  of  Call:  Our  task  will  be  to  formulate  judgment  on  those  great  issues  of  the 
day  which  nearly  concern  women;  to  choose  the  leaders  who  during  the  coming  year  are 
to  guide  the  fortunes  of  our  cause;  and  finally,  to  deliberate  how  the  whole  national  body 
may  on  the  one  hand  best  give  aid  and  succor  to  the  States  working  for  their  own 
enfranchisement  and  on  the  other  press  for  federal  action  in  behalf  of  the  women  of  the 
nation  at  large.  .  .  . 

Since  the  last  convention  met  all  the  horror  of  a  great  war  has  fallen  upon  the 
civilized  world.  The  hearts  of  thousands  of  women  have  been  torn  by  the  death  and 
wounds  of  those  they  bore,  of  those  they  love,  yet  never  has  their  will  and  power  to 
help  been  greater,  never  man's  need  of  such  help  been  more  clearly  seen.  We,  who  are 
spared  the  anguish  of  war,  well  understand  that  as  weight  is  given  in  the  world's  affairs 
to  the  voice  of  women,  moved  as  men  are  not  by  all  the  tragic  waste  of  battles,  the 
chances  of  such  slaughter  must  perpetually  diminish.  Now  is  the  time  when  all  things 
point  to  the  violence  that  rules  the  world,  now  is  the  very  time  to  press  our  claim  to  a 
share  in  the  guidance  of  our  country's  fortunes,  to  urge  that  woman's  vision  must  second 
and  ratify  that  of  man.  Let  us  then  in  convention  assembled  kindle  with  the  thought 
that,  as  we  consider  methods  for  the  political  enfranchisement  of  our  sex,  our  wider  pur- 
pose is  to  free  women  and  to  enable  their  conception  of  life  in  all  its  aspects  to  find 
expression.  .  .  .  Let  us  set  a  fresh  seal  upon  the  great  new  loyalty  of  woman  to  woman; 
let  our  response  be  felt  in  the  deep  tide  of  fellowship  and  understanding  among  all 
women  which  today  is  rising  around  the  world. 

ANNA  HOWARD  SHAW,  President. 

JANK  ADDAMS,  First  Vice-President. 

MADELINE    BRECKINRIDGE,    Second    Vice-President. 

CAROLINE  RUUTZ-REES,  Third  Vice-President. 

SUSAN    WALKER   FITZGERALD,    Recording   Secretary. 

KATHARINE  DEXTER  MCCORMICK,  Treasurer. 

HARRIET  BURTON  LAIDLAW,    ) 

LOUISE  DEKOVEN  BOWEN,      \  Aud 

398 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1914  399 

She  spoke  of  memories  which  made  Nashville  dear  to  the  whole 
country;  referred  to  the  merry  barbecue  which  had  been  held 
for  their  entertainment  the  preceding  day  "at  the  old  mansion  of 
that  great  Democrat,  Andrew  Jackson,"  and  continued : 

When  his  Honor  the  Mayor  spoke  of  the  hope  that  if  women 
entered  into  the  political  life  of  our  country  conditions  would  be 
made  better,  I  forgot  the  North  and  turned  back  in  memory  to  the 
great  South,  where  no  stronger  argument  in  favor  of  our  cause  can 
be  found  than  the  women  themselves.  It  is  not  the  men  who  have 
made  this  nation  what  it  is,  it  is  the  men  and  the  women,  and  in 
no  part  of  it  have  women  contributed  more  than  in  the  South.  When 
we  look  back  over  its  past  history;  when  we  see  the  land  barren, 
the  desolation  everywhere;  when  we  see  the  homes  left  destitute  and 
the  women  prostrate  by  the  graves  of  their  dead;  when  we  realize 
that  the  men  were  nearly  all  swept  away — we  know  that  the  power 
which  kept  the  South  steadfast,  which  held  the  homes  together, 
which  cherished  the  traditions,  which  made  the  South  what  it  is 
today  was  the  loyalty,  the  patriotism,  the  unconquerable  courage  and 
the  devotion  of  Southern  women  in  that  hour  of  darkness  and 
despair.  Had  it  not  been  for  the  new  spirit  of  action  born  of  the 
necessity  of  the  times  in  the  character  of  Southern  women  to  inspire 
Southern  men  with  hope  and  courage,  desolation  would  still  be  over 
the  South.  They  evolved  from  within  themselves  a  power  which 
no  one  knows  that  women  possess  until  some  hour  of  extreme  trial 
calls  it  forth.  Never  has  there  been  a  test  of  human  endurance 
and  wisdom  to  which  women  have  not  responded  and  become 
the  inspiration  and  the  strength  of  manhood.  If  any  women  of 
this  nation  have  ever  bought  their  freedom  and  paid  a  dear  price 
for  it,  it  is  the  women  of  the  Southland. 

I  cannot  see  how  any  man  who  calls  himself  a  Democrat  can  fail 
to  recognize  that  the  fundamental  principle  of  democracy  is  the 
right  of  the  citizen  to  a  voice  in  the  government  under  which  that 
citizen  lives;  much  less  can  I  understand  how  any  southern  man 
can  look  unmoved  into  the  face  of  southern  women  knowing  that 
they  are  branded  as  no  other  body  of  intelligent  people  in  this  country 
are — by  disfranchisement — that  they  are  deprived  of  that  one  symbol 
of  power  which  elevates  the  citizens  of  a  democracy  out  of  the 
of  the  defective  and  unfit.  The  only  way  men  can  redeem 
themselves,  the  only  way  they  can  be  honest  American  citizens  and 
Democrats  is  to  stand  by  the  fundamental  principle  of  democracy — 
that  "Governments  derive  their  just  powers  from  the  consent  of 
the  governed" — "governed"  women  as  well  as  "governed"  men. 
When  Nashville  and  Tennessee  and  the  South  and  the  North  and 
the  East  and  the  West  shall  stand  on  this  basic  principle  of  just 
government,  then  we  shall  have  a  republic,  a  government  of  the 
people,  by  the  people  and  for  the  people. 

At  the  close  of  the  address  this  resolution  was  enthusiastically 


4OO  HISTORY   OF   WOMAN   SUFFRAGE 

adopted :  "The  National  American  Woman  Suffrage  Association 
in  convention  assembled  hereby  expresses  its  heartfelt  thanks  and 
deep  appreciation  to  our  national  president,  Dr.  Anna  Howard 
Shaw,  for  her  devoted  and  unremitting  work  for  woman  suf- 
frage and  for  this  association  during  the  past  year;  for  her 
splendid  services  in  the  campaigns  which  did  so  much  to  lead 
to  victory  two  States ;  for  her  willingness  to  stand  for  re-election 
in  order  that  she  may  lead  us  to  new  victories  in  the  coming  year/' 

Greetings  were  brought  from  the  recently  formed  National 
Suffrage  Association  of  Canada  by  Miss  Ida  E.  Campbell,  who 
said  that  although  it  was  only  eight  months  old  it  represented 
many  affiliated  societies  in  all  the  Provinces.  She  spoke  of  the 
splendid  war  work  that  was  being  done  by  women  and  said: 
"Our  national  president,  Mrs.  L.  A.  Hamilton  of  Toronto,  is 
at  the  head  of  the  relief  work  in  that  city  and  the  feeling  is  general 
that  the  patriotic  activities  of  the  suffragists  are  doing  much  to 
enhance  the  cause  of  woman  suffrage  in  the  eyes  of  the  Canadian 
public.1  May  we  now  express  the  hope  that  when  the  war  is 
over  we  may  welcome  many  of  our  American  sisters  to  what  we 
have  been  looking  forward  to — our  first  Canadian  National  Suf- 
frage Convention.  Canada  salutes  you."  Greetings  were  read 
from  the  Colorado  State  Federation  of  Women's  Clubs  and  were 
presented  from  the  Southern  States  Woman  Suffrage  Conference 
by  its  president,  Miss  Kate  M.  Gordon  (La.). 

The  large  hall  was  crowded  at  the  first  evening  meeting  and  the 
convention  was  formally  welcomed  by  Governor  B.  W.  Hooper, 
who  said  in  the  course  of  his  address: 

It  is  highly  appropriate  that  your  progressive  movement  should 
unfurl  its  banners  in  this,  the  most  progressive  State  in  the  South. 
Our  people  are  not  swift  in  their  pursuit  of  strange  doctrines,  but 
they  are  as  a  rule  open  to  conviction  and  tolerant  of  differences 
of  opinion.  Whatever  may  be  our  views  of  the  necessity  and 
efficacy  of  woman  suffrage  most  of  us  have  sense  enough  to  know 
that  it  is  surely  coming  in  every  State  in  the  republic.  .  .  .  When  it 
comes  to  Tennessee  I  trust  that  there  will  be  no  faltering  compro- 
mise, giving  only  the  limited  right  to  vote  in  the  election  of  certain 
classes  of  officials.  The  suffrage,  if  granted  at  all,  should  not  be 
grudgingly  given  but  should  be  the  complete  and  comprehensive 
right  to  participate  in  all  elections.  When  suffrage  comes  to  the 

» Complete,  universal  suffrage  was  conferred  by  the  Parliament  in  1917. 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1914  4OI 

women  of  Tennessee  I  shall  derive  one  substantial  pleasure  from  it 
if  I  am  still  living,  the  joy  and  exultation  of  my  little  daughter, 
who  has  been  a  pronounced  and  persistent  suffragist  since  she  was 
nine  years  old.  She  has  taken  a  keen  and  intelligent  interest  in  all 
of  my  struggles,  has  rejoiced  in  the  hour  of  my  victory  and  wept 
in  the  hour  of  my  defeat.  She  is  the  connecting  link  between  me 
and  the  woman  suffrage  cause. 

In  behalf  of  all  the  good  people  of  Tennessee,  I  extend  greetings 
to  your  great  association  and  express  the  hope  that  your  sojourn 
in  the  historic  Volunteer  State  may  be  filled  with  pleasure  and  profit 
to  each  and  every  member  of  your  convention. 

The  Governor's  daughter  was  introduced  to  the  convention  and 
it  settled  itself  in  anticipation  of  the  stones  of  the  campaigns  for 
woman  suffrage  amendments  which  had  ended  with  the  general 
election  the  preceding  week,  in  some  of  them  with  victory,  in 
others  with  defeat.  Miss  Anne  Martin,  president  of  the  Nevada 
Suffrage  Association,  was  heartily  applauded  as  she  told  of  the 
triumph  in  her  State,  saying: 

The  suffrage  victory  in  Nevada  means  not  only  a  solid  equal 
suffrage  West  and  another  step  toward  equal  suffrage  for  the  United 
States  but  a  triumph  for  better  government  in  Nevada.     It  is  the 
most  "male"  State  in  America,  perhaps  in  the  world.     The  census 
jio  shows  that  there  are  two  men  to  every  woman.    Law,  cus- 
tom, social  life  are  more  nearly  man-made  than  those  of  any  other 
country  ;  consequently  Nevada  needs  the  help  of  her  women  to  modify 
law,  custom  and  social  life,  the  help  of  those  women  whose  pioneer 
mothers  stood  shoulder  to  shoulder  with  the  men  in  building  up  a 
great  commonwealth  out  of  a  wilderness.     Owing  to  the  transitory 
character  of  many  of  the  industries,  such  as  the  construction  of  irri- 
ii  works,   railway  construction  and  mining,   there  are  nearly 
times  as  many  unattached  men  living  outside  of  home  influences 
:iere  are  married  women  in  the  State. 

The  male  population  is  over  50  per  cent,  transient;  the  popula- 
tion of  women  is  only  20  per  cent,  transient,  as  they  have  permanent 
•ations  on  the  farms  and  in  the  schools.    The  argument  of  the 
^uffragists  that  "the  women  do  not  want  it"  was  answered  by  a 
-to-house  canvass  throughout  the  counties  of   the  State'.      In 
many  of  them  at  least  90  per  cent,  of  the  women  enrolled  them 
-   in   favor  of   equal   siifl'rntjc  and   their   signatures  are  on   tile 
at  the  headquarters  of  the  Nevada  Kqual  Franchise  Society.     The 
out  of  a  voting  population  of  only  20,000  a  majority  of 
3,400  votes  w;  •<>  give  women  the  franchise  shows  not  only  that 

the  State  were  just  and  fair-minded  but  that  they  must 
have  instinctively  felt  the  need  of  women's  help.  .  .  . 

The  story  of  victory  for  Montana  was  related  by  Miss  Mary 


4O2  HISTORY   OF   WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

Stewart,  as  the  president,  Miss  Jeannette  Rankin,  had  been  de- 
tained to  prevent  a  tampering  with  the  election  returns,  but  she 
afterwards  arrived  and  was  enthusiastically  welcomed.  Mrs. 
Clara  Darrow,  president  of  the  North  Dakota  association,  gave 
an  account  of  how  the  amendment  had  been  lost  in  that  State 
through  political  tricks.  Mrs.  Draper  Smith,  president  of  the 
Nebraska  association,  gave  a  report  on  the  loss  of  that  State 
and  paid  tribute  to  William  Jennings  Bryan,  who  had  made  six- 
teen strong  speeches  for  it.  Mrs.  Walter  McNab  Miller,  presi- 
dent of  the  Missouri  association,  told  of  the  effort  through  the 
hot  summer  to  get  the  necessary  38,000  signatures  to  an  initia- 
tive petition,  after  the  Legislature  had  refused  to  submit  the 
amendment,  and  the  tactics  used  to  defeat  it  at  the  polls.  Her 
mention  of  the  name  of  Champ  Clark,  Speaker  of  the  National 
House  of  Representatives,  who  had  recently  declared  for  woman 
suffrage,  was  applauded.  As  Mrs.  Harriet  Taylor  Upton,  presi- 
dent of  the  Ohio  Suffrage  Association,  was  not  at  the  conven- 
tion, the  loss  of  the  amendment  in  that  State  was  described  by 
Mrs.  Myron  Vorce.  [See  State  chapters.] 

The  evening  closed  with  the  president's  address.  The  report 
said :  Dr.  Shaw  declared  she  had  some  sympathy  for  the  anti- 
suffragists,  as  they  were  bound  to  lose.  "When  the  campaign 
for  woman  suffrage  was  begun, "  she  said,  "the  'antis'  had  all 
of  the  earth  and  the  suffragists  had  only  hope  of  heaven  but 
now  many  nations  of  the  world  and  half  of  the  United  States  have 
been  converted  to  the  cause  of  votes  for  women."  She  ridi- 
culed the  arguments  of  the  anti-suffragists  and  said :  "Until  you 
grant  the  right  of  a  vote  to  all  persons,  you  haven't  a  democracy 
— you  have  an  aristocracy  and  the  worst  of  all — an  aristocracy 
of  sex.  Soon  the  divine  right  of  sex  here  will  be  as  obsolete  as 
the  divine  right  of  Kings  in  Europe."  Answering  the  argument 
that  if  women  have  the  ballot  they  ought  also  to  have  the  musket, 
Dr.  Shaw  said  in  telling  of  the  sufferings  of  the  women  during 
the  war:  "It  is  said  that  300,000  of  the  flower  of  Europe's 
manhood  have  been  killed  in  the  last  nine  weeks  of  the  war.  I 
can't  grasp  the  thought  of  that  many  dead  men  but  I  can  look 
into  the  face  of  one  dead  soldier  and  know  that  he  had  a  mother. 
If  this  woman  had  escaped  death  at  childbirth  she  had  watched 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1914  403 

over  him  day  by  day  until  she  had  to  look  up  into  the  eyes  of  her 
boy.  And  then  that  boy  was  called  by  his  country  and  soon  he 
was  dead — he  was  in  the  happy  peace  of  glory  and  she  was  facing 
the  empty  years  of  agony.  Then  they  ask  what  a  woman  knows 
about  war!  .  .  .  The  very  flower  of  a  country  perishes  in  a  war, 
leaving  the  maimed  and  diseased  to  father  the  children  of  future 
generations.  Women  ought  to  have  the  ballot  during  war  and 
during  peace,  for  we  know  that  if  they  had  had  it  in  all  countries 
this  war  would  not  have  occurred." 

The  report  of  Mrs.  Mary  Ware  Dennett,  corresponding  and 
executive  secretary,  covered  much  of  the  work  of  the  National 
Association  during  1914,  which  was  more  extensive  probably 
than  in  any  preceding  year  in  its  history.  It  said  in  part : 

This  year  has  completely  broken  all  records  in  the  number  of 
campaign  States — seven  in  all.  In  four  of  them — Nevada,  Montana, 
North  and  South  Dakota — the  amendment  was  submitted  by  legis- 
lative act;  in  three — Nebraska,  Missouri  and  Ohio — by  initiative 
petition.  It  is  noteworthy  that  in  all  of  the  last  the  suffragists  con- 
sider the  work  of  securing  the  requisite  number  of  signatures, 
although  it  was  exceedingly  arduous,  an  invaluable  asset  to  the  cam- 
paign, each  signer  being  practically  guaranteed  to  vote  right  on  the 
amendment  itself.  In  Ohio,  Nevada,  Montana  and  South  Dakota, 
only  a  simple  majority  vote  on  the  amendment  is  necessary  to  pass 
it,  hut  in  Nebraska  35  per  cent,  of  all  the  votes  cast  at  the  election 
is  required  and  in  North  Dakota  and  Missouri  a  majority  of  all  the 
\ctcs  cast. 

The  year  1914  has  been  what  suffragists  call  an  "off  year,"  since 
most  of  the  State  Legislatures  meet  biennially  in  the  odd  years. 
Nevertheless,  what  acts  of  Legislatures  there  have  been  are  of  the 
greatest  significance.    Those  of  Massachusetts  and  New  Jersey  sub- 
mitted the  suffrage  amendment  by  overwhelming  votes  and  in  both 
9  the  suffragists  are  confident  of  the  approval  of   the   1915 
-  futures,  which  is  necessary  before  final  submission  to  the  voters. 
An  amendment  was  introduced  into  the  Legislatures  of  eight  others. 
The  national  legislative  record  shows  that  never  before  has  the  Con- 
gressional atmosphere  been  so  thoroughly  permeated  with  woman 
rage.     The  anxiety  of  -<>nie  members  of  Congress  to  show  that 
d    right    with   their    rnnstinients   on    the   question   and   the 
agiiitv  nf  others  in  side  Mepping  every  posnhlc  necessity  for  meet 

.   have  unerringly   indicated  that  they  all   rerogni/e   the 
that  the  time  has  come  when  national  politics  must  reckon  with 
woman  suffrage. 

All  tin  year  there  has  been  the  most  hearty  cooperation 

<>nal   headquarters   and    the   Washington    and    Or 
offices  of  our  Congressional  Committee.  ...  It  is  impossible  to  men- 


404  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

tion  this  committee  without  expressing  on  behalf  of  the  officers  of 
the  association  a  most  thorough  appreciation  of  the  service  of  its 
chairman,  Mrs.  Medill  McCormick,  who  has  not  only  given  money 
generously  to  the  work  but  has  added  what  is  more  valuable  still — 
steady,  hard,  personal  labor,  coupled  with  an  indefatigable  good 
humor,  frequently  under  most  trying  circumstances.  .  .  . 

The  new  State  associations  formed  and  the  many  suffrage 
organizations  applying  for  affiliated  or  auxiliary  membership 
were  named  and  an  account  was  given  of  the  large  sums  of 
money,  the  vast  amount  of  literature  and  the  many  workers 
supplied  to  the  seven  State  campaigns  of  the  year.  These  facts 
and  the  other  activities  of  the  association  were  related  in  part 
as  follows: 

Miss  Harriet  Grim  of  Wisconsin  was  sent  by  request  to  North 
Dakota  to  cover  the  series  of  Chautauqua  meetings  in  June  and  July. 
Miss  Katharine  Devereux  Blake  of  New  York  offered  her  services 
lor  only  expenses  for  a  month  of  campaign  work  in  July.  Hurried 
arrangements  were  made  by  telegram  and  as  the  promptest,  most 
urgent  pleas  came  from  Montana,  it  won  her,  although  later  she 
did  some  work  in  North  Dakota  also.  Miss  Shaw's  special  fund 
was  the  backing  which  provided  for  both  tours.  Miss  Blake  made 
the  wonderful  record  of  obtaining  from  the  collections  at  her  meet- 
ings enough  to  cover  all  her  travelling  and  living  expenses.  Miss 
Shaw's  fund,1  which  has  often  seemed  like  the  miraculous  pitcher, 
also  provided  part  of  the  expense  of  sending  Mrs.  Jennie  Wells 
Wentworth  to  Ohio  and  Mrs.  Laura  Gregg  Cannon  to  Nevada. 
Miss  Acldams  has  contributed  several  weeks  of  campaigning  and  Dr. 
Shaw  herself  has  made  an  itinerary,  giving  ten  days  to  each  of  the 
campaign  States,  starting  August  27  and  ending  with  Election 
1  )ay 

Another  noteworthy  feature  of  the  year's  work  was  the  estab- 
lishment of  Woman's  Independence  Day  on  the  first  Saturday  of 
May,  initiated  by  Mrs.  McCormick  and  phenomenally  successful. 
There  was  a  wonderful  response  to  the  ringing  call  sent  out  by  the 
National  Board  to  all  the  suffragists  of  the  country  to  meet  together 
in  every  city  and  town  at  a  given  time  and  sing  a  suffrage  hymn, 
declare  their  faith,  pass  a  resolution  and  have  a  speech.  A  woman's 
version  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence  was  prepared  for  the 
occasion  and  President  Wilson  was  asked  by  Dr.  Shaw  to  proclaim 
the  day  a  legal  holiday  to  be  celebrated  in  recognition  of  the  right 
and  necessity  that  the  women  of  the  United  States  should  become 
citizens  in  fact  as  well  as  in  name.  The  President  did  not  heed 
Dr.  Shaw's  request  but  the  women  of  the  country  did.  Not  a  State 

1  For  a  number  of  years  Mrs.  Quincy  A.  Shaw  of  Boston  gave  Dr.  Shaw  a  fund  for 
campaign  work. 


NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF     1914  405 

was   silent,   not   even   the   equal   suffrage   States,   and   many   added 
parades  and  other  events  to  the  regular  program. 

The  story  was  told  of  the  National  Junior  Suffrage  Corps  to 
enroll  the  young  people,  the  idea  of  Miss  Caroline  Ruutz-Rees 
(Conn.)  :  of  the  large  amount  of  Congressional  documents  dis- 
tributed,  among  them  1,000  copies  of  the  speech  of  Senator 
FTcnry  F.  Ashurst  (Ariz.)  before  the  Senate  on  the  Federal 
Amendment,  presented  by  him ;  the  travelling  schools  organized ; 
lists  prepared  of  many  thousand  active  members  and  an  infinite 
variety  of  details.  Mrs.  Dennett  had  severed  her  connection  with 
the  association  the  preceding  September  after  four  years'  in- 
valuable service. 

Mrs.  Dennett  made  also  the  report  of  the  Literature  Committee, 
whose  duties  had  now  been  merged  in  the  National  Woman  Suf- 
frage Publishing  Co.  The  latter  reported  through  its  chairman, 
Mrs.  Cyrus  W.  Field.  The  greatly  needed  Data  Department  had 
been  established  under  the  cooperation  of  Miss  Elinor  Byrns, 
chairman  also  of  the  Press  Department;  Mrs.  Frances  Maule 
Bjorkman  and  Mrs.  Dennett.  The  volunteer  services  of  Miss 
Helen  Raulett,  like  Miss  Byrns  a  lawyer,  had  been  obtained,  and 
while  its  great  need  and  possibilities  had  been  demonstrated  it 
was  evident  that  it  must  be  put  on  a  paid,  business  basis  to  be 
effective.  Miss  Byrns  gave  an  interesting  account  of  the  ramifica- 
tions of  the  Press  and  Publicity  Department  and  its  important 
accomplishments.  "In  my  opinion,"  she  said,  "it  is  almost  im- 

ible  to  have  suffrage  news  given  out  successfully  by  any  one 
who  is  not  an  earnest  suffragist.  Knowledge  of  publicity  does 
not  make  up  for  the  lack  of  conviction  and  enthusiasm,"  and  she 

•  this  instance:  "A  few  months  ago  a  writer  for  one  of  the 
Xew  York  newspapers — the  worst  'anti'  paper  we  have — tele- 
phoned me,  saying,  'I  have  been  told  to  write  an  editorial  on  the 
menace  of  woman  suffrage.  Can  you  help  me?'  I  said,  'Yes,  I 
can  prove  to  you  that  the  majority  of  the  presidential  electors  in 

^  may  represent  equal  suffrage  States  and  that  in  all  proba- 
bility every  political  party  will  have  to  endorse  woman  suffrage 
before  that  time.     What  could  be  worse  than  that?'     He  at 
with   me  and   hi^   editorial  ba^-cd   on   the    farts-   Dr.    Shaw  and    I 
him  has  been  a  most  su  ]  rampa^M  document  for  us." 


406  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

Among  other  valuable  suggestions  Miss  Byrns  said:  "While 
there  are  some  editors  who  give  us  space  because  they  have  to— 
that  is  because  we  are  always  doing  something  'different'  and 
making  news  which  cannot  be  ignored — there  are  perhaps  even 
more  who  have  a  real  interest  in  the  suffrage  movement  and  are 
therefore  eager  to  give  us  all  the  space  which  the  business  de- 
partment of  their  paper  permits.  And,  by  the  way,  one  of  the 
most  valuable  kinds  of  press  work  is  that  which  can  be  done 
by  every  suffragist  individually.  Newspaper  and  magazine  offices 
are  most  sensitive  to  the  praise  and  blame  of  readers.  Suffrage 
departments  are  sometimes  stopped  because  no  readers  write  their 
approval.  Individual  newspaper  policies,  belittling  or  perverting 
the  suffrage  issue,  are  sometimes  persisted  in  because  no  readers 
write  their  disapproval.  It  is  discouraging  to  an  editor  when  a 
reader  writes  a  letter  complaining  of  one  opposing  news  item  or 
one  cartoon  although  she  has  ignored  everything  which  has  been 
printed  in  favor  of  suffrage." 

Miss  Jane  Thompson,  field  secretary,  told  of  the  8,000  miles 
she  had  travelled  in  the  campaign  States  since  early  in  April; 
of  her  experiences  pleasant  and  unpleasant;  of  the  excellent  op- 
portunities it  had  afforded  of  establishing  thorough  understand- 
ing and  cordial  relations  between  the  National  Association  and 
the  States.  She  spoke  of  the  long  and  arduous  work  of  the 
national  president  and  presented  the  following  expression  of 
loyalty  and  appreciation  from  those  who  had  conducted  the  cam- 
paigns in  Ohio,  Missouri,  Nebraska,  North  Dakota,  Montana 
and  Nevada: 

To  Dr.  Anna  Howard  Shaw: 

When  service  of  the  highest  type  has  been  faithfully  and  loyally 
rendered  it  is  the  pleasure  of  those  most  benefited  by  that  service 
to  express,  though  inadequately,  their  deep  appreciation.  We,  the 
representatives  of  the  Campaign  States,  feel  that  to  you  we  owe 
much  for  the  splendid  way  in  which  you  and  your  Executive  Board 
stood  by  us  in  our  efforts,  but  even  more  do  we  appreciate  your 
personal  labor,  your  untiring,  beautiful  spirit.  Always  ready  to 
meet  whatever  situation  arose,  regardless  of  fatigue,  you  encouraged 
the  believers,  braced  up  the  uncertain  and  converted  the  unbelieving. 
Your  service,  in  our  estimation,  is  invaluable  and  cannot  be  dispensed 
with. 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQI4  407 

The  legal  adviser  announced  the  settlement  at  last  of  the  be- 
quest of  Mrs.  Sarah  J.  McCall  of  Ohio,  including  100  shares 
of  Cincinnati  Street  Railway  stock,  worth  from  $5,000  to  $6,000, 
and  $705  interest ;  also  the  receipt  of  a  legacy  of  $4,750,  after 
the  inheritance  tax  was  paid,  from  former  U.  S.  Senator  Thomas 
\Y.  Palmer  of  Michigan. 

Miss  Elizabeth  Yates  said  in  her  report  on  Presidential  suf- 
frage: "The  favorable  decision  the  past  year  by  the  Supreme 
Court  of  Illinois  leaves  no  room  for  any  further  contention  re- 
garding its  constitutionality.  It  can  be  granted  by  any  Legislature 
by  a  bare  majority  vote  and  this  can  be  obtained  by  many  States 
that  could  not  secure  the  large  vote  necessary  to  submit  a  con- 
stitutional amendment  for  full  suffrage."  She  strongly  urged 
that  any  State  contemplating  a  campaign  for  full  suffrage  should 
first  secure  the  Presidential  franchise.  In  her  usual  excellent 
report  on  Church  Work,  Mrs.  Mary  E.  Craigie  told  of  her  visits 
to  the  Methodist  Ministerial  Associations  of  Atlanta,  Tampa 
and  New  Orleans  with  most  gratifying  results,  as  a  friendly 
spirit  towards  woman  suffrage  was  developed  and  the  last  named 
recommended  the  General  Conference  to  give  laity  rights  to 
women.  In  cooperation  with  Dr.  Nina  Wilson  Dewey,  her  chair- 
man for  Iowa,  arrangements  were  made  during  the  Mississippi 
Valley  Conference  in  Des  Moines  with  the  clergymen  of  eighteen 
Protestant  churches  to  have  their  pulpits  filled  at  some  service  on 
Sunday  by  women  delegates  and  the  combined  audiences  by 
actual  count  numbered  6,000.  Four  thousand  copies  of  the  annual 
letter  asking  for  a  mention  of  the  need  of  women's  influence  in 
affairs  in  their  Mothers'  Day  sermons  were  sent  to  as  many 
clergymen. 

One  of  the  most  valuable  sessions  was  Voters'  Evening,  under 

Auspices  of  the  National  Men's  League,  with  its  president, 

James  Lees  Laidlaw  (N.  Y.)  in  the  chair.    The  opening  address 

made  by  U.  S.  Senator  Luke  Lea  (Term.),  -who  received 

a  great  ovation  when  he  began  and  the  audience  rose  with  cheers 

and  waving  handkerchiefs  when  he   finished.     He  said  in  the 

course  of  his  speech  : 

I  am  embarrassed  l>y  not  knowing  how  to  address  this  distinguished 
audience.  .  .  .  Much  as  I  regret  it  I  must  address  you  as  "my  dis- 


4O8  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

franchisee!  friends,"  who,  in  spite  of  your  learning,  your  cultivation 
and  your  intelligence,  under  our  enlightened  and  progressive  civiliza- 
tion occupy  the  same  political  plane  as  insane  persons,  idiots,  infants 
and  others  laboring  under  disabilities.  To  say  I  regret  to  be  forced 
to  address  you  thus  is  no  mere  lip  service,  contradictory  of  real 
sentiment  and  conviction,  for  I  was  one  of  the  three  Southern  Sena- 
tors who  were  sufficiently  impressed  with  the  absolute  necessity  of 
woman  suffrage  to  step  beyond  the  sacred  portals  of  State  rights 
and  vote  for  the  amendment  to  the  constitution  of  the  United  States, 
removing  from  the  electoral  franchise  the  limitation  of  sex,  and  I  am 
glad  to  have  an  opportunity  to  express  the  reasons  for  my  faith. 

These  two  twofold :  First,  the  wholesome  effect  upon  our  Govern- 
ment of  extending  the  privilege  of  voting  to  women;  and  second, 
the  far-reaching  results  upon  womanhood  of  granting  this  right. 
The  first  reason  is  justified  by  the  statement  which  will  be  conceded 
by  all,  even  the  "antis,"  that  an  overwhelming  majority  of  women 
are  good  rather  than  bad  and  have  the  highest  ideals  of  govern- 
ment and  politics.  Therefore,  to  give  the  right  to  vote  to  this  class 
is  to  increase  overwhelmingly  the  number  of  good  voters  and  to 
multiply  the  number  of  citizens  with  these  highest  ideals. 

In  answer  to  this,  some  "anti,"  who,  by  her  opposition  to  woman 
sit  finite,  pleads  guilty  to  the  threadbare  charge  that  women  have 
not  sufficient  intelligence  to  vote,  comes  forward  and  says :  "But  the 
good  women  won't  vote ;  only  the  bad  women  will  exercise  the  privi- 
lege." This  argument  is  answered  by  the  contrary  experience  in 
Stales  where  women  vote.  Tf  woman  suffrage  only  increased  the 
number  of  bad  voters,  then  instead  of  spreading  like  a  prairie  fire 
from  coast  to  coast  it  would  lie  repealed  in  the  States  where  it 
was  originally  tried  as  an  experiment.  The  results  in  the  States 
where  the  franchise  has  been  granted  are  an  absolute  and  irrefutable 
argument  in  favor  of  national  woman  suffrage.  In  these  States  it 
has  removed  the  polling  places  from  the  dives  to  the  churches  and 
has  opened  more  schools  and  closed  more  saloons  than  all  other 
political  movements  combined.  The  ideals  of  government  and  thfc 
standard  of  right  and  wrong  by  which  public  officials  are  measured 
have  been  raised  without  lowering  one  iota  the  standard  of  mother- 
hood, of  wifehood  and  of  womanhood,  a  standard  of  which  every 
woman  is  proud  and  which  every  man  reverences  and  worships.  .  .  . 

Other  speakers  were  President  H.  S.  Barker  of  the  University 
of  Kentucky;  R.  A.  McDowell  (Ky.),  the  Hon.  Leon  Locke 
(La.),  Miss  S.  Grace  Nicholas  of  Chicago,  and  Charles  T. 
Hallinan,  vice-president  of  the  league.  A  branch  of  the  Men's 
National  League  was  formed  during  the  convention  by  about 
thirty  prominent  men,  with  John  Bell  Keble,  dean  of  the  Vander- 
bilt  Law  School,  as  temporary  chairman. 

Delegates  to  these  national  conventions  now  felt  less  need  of 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION   OF    IQI4  409 

oratorical  eloquence  and  more  of  practical  knowledge  of  the  work 
which  was  under  way  that  they  might  carry  back  with  them  to 
their  own  States.  One  evening  was  profitably  spent  in  listening 
to  short  speeches  by  Miss  Alice  Stone  Blackwell  on  the  work 
of  the  National  Association;  Mrs.  Antoinette  Funk  on  that  of  the 
Congressional  Committee;  Mrs.  Raymond  Brown,  president  of 
the  New  York  association,  on  the  unusual  and  spectacular  cam- 
paign now  under  way  in  that  State;  Miss  Hannah  J.  Patterson 
on  the  preparatory  campaign  in  Pennsylvania ;  Mrs.  Maud  Wood 
Park,  secretary  of  the  Boston  Equal  Suffrage  Association,  and 
Mrs.  Teresa  A.  Crowley  on  the  coming  campaign  in  Massa- 
chusetts: Mrs.  Lillian  J.  Feickert,  president  of  the  State  asso- 
ciation, on  that  of  New  Jersey.  In  all  of  these  States  amend- 
ments had  been  submitted  for  1915.  Miss  Rankin  told  the  wel- 
come story  of  the  Montana  victory. 

The  mass  meeting  on  Sunday  afternoon  was  one  of  the  largest 
ever  assembled  in  Ryman  Auditorium,  all  the  standing  room 
occupied  and  many  turned  from  the  doors.  The  audience  repre- 
sented every  station  in  life  and  the  large  number  of  men  was 
noticeable.  Dr.  Shaw  presided  and  paid  a  splendid  tribute  to  the 
people  of  Nashville.  Miss  Jane  Addams  took  for  a  text  her 
visit  to  the  historic  home  of  Andrew  Jackson,  which,  she  said, 
had  caused  her  to  think  of  the  great  part  the  men  of  the  South 
had  in  shaping  the  policies  of  the  early  government  of  the  States, 
and  how  Chief  Justice  John  Marshall,  a  southern  man,  had  welded 
them  together  into  an  unconquerable  whole.  She  referred  to  the 
way  in  which  women  had  borne  their  part  and  asked  why  the  men 
were  so  progressive  in  those  early  days  and  yet  so  reactionary 
now,  when  women  asked  that  they  should  make  another  experi- 
ment in  popular  government.  Miss  Rose  Schneiderman,  presi- 
dent of  the  New  York  City  Women's  Trade  Union,  spoke  on 
the  Industrial  Woman's  Need  of  the  Vote,  telling  of  the  800,000 
\\orkinc:  women  in  New  York  State,  the  low  wages  of  many,  the 
unjust  conditions.  "Do  you  talk  of  chivalry?"  she  exclaimed, 
women  who  work  will  tell  you  that  we  have  no  chivalry 
shown  us  in  industry  and  we  will  also  tell  you  that  we  go  home 
with  half  the  wages  that  men  get.  These  same  men  who  tell 
us  we  are  angels  send  vice  commissioners  to  investigate  why  girls 


4IO  HISTORY    OK    \VOM\\    SUFFRAGE 

go  wrong.     I  should  think  a  glance  at  the  pay-roll  would  give 
them  the  answer." 

Miss  Rosika  Schwiinmer  of  Budapest,  who  had  come  with  a 
petition  to  President  Wilson  from  the  women  of  fifteen  countries 
that  were  at  war  to  use  his  influence  to  bring  about  peace,  made 
an  eloquent  and  impassioned  address.  A  storm  of  applause 
greeted  her  appeal  to  the  men  of  this  country  to  avoid  the 
catastrophe  of  war  in  the  future  by  granting  the  vote  to  women, 
who  would  always  use  it  for  peace.  Mrs.  Desha  Breckinridge, 
president  of  the  Kentucky  Equal  Rights  Association,  one  of  the 
most  brilliant  and  forceful  of  the  suffrage  speakers,  took  for  a 
subject  The  South  Needs  her  Women.  "Do  not  call  upon  the 
women  of  the  South  to  help  you  solve  your  cotton  problems  while 
you  are  using  up  the  children  of  women  in  the  cotton  mills,"  she 
said.  "Women  must  have  the  ballot  to  cope  with  all  the  hard 
conditions  of  life.  When  we  think  of  war  and  patriotism  we 
think  of  men.  We  forget  the  little  army  of  women  that  always 
follow  in  the  wake  of  the  big  armies  and  brave  the  bullets  and 
the  fearful  conditions  of  warfare  that  they  may  become  minister- 
ing angels  on  the  battlefields;  the  Florence  Nightingales  who 
undergo  the  hardships  to  nurse  the  wounded.  We  are  also  likely 
to  forget  the  large  army  that  stays  behind,  the  women  on  whom 
the  hardships  of  war  fall  heavily,  those  who  must  endure  the 
sorrow  and  waiting.  Is  it  fair  to  say  woman  shall  have  no  part 
in  the  every-day  affairs  of  life  when  she  must  bear  so  much  in 
war?" 

The  program  closed  with  an  address  by  Mrs.  Kate  Waller 
Barrett  on  The  Attitude  toward  Woman  Suffrage  of  the  Inter- 
national Council  of  Women,  of  which  she  was  an  officer.  She 
described  its  quinquennial  meeting  in  Rome  the  preceding  May, 
shortly  before  the  breaking  out  of  the  war,  and  said  the  desire 
for  the  suffrage  was  the  connecting  link  between  the  women 
of  all  nations.  She  declared  that  the  safety  of  the  country  de- 
pended on  women's  having  a  vote  in  the  administration  of  all 
that  concerned  the  welfare  of  men  as  well  as  of  women  and 
children.  In  the  evening  the  officers,  delegates  and  visitors  were 
entertained  by  Mrs.  Benjamin  F.  Wilson  at  her  beautiful  home, 
Wilmor  Manor. 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQI4  411 

This  convention  of  1914  will  be  always  noted  for  the  long  con- 
troversy over  what  was  known  as  the  Sha froth  National  Suf- 
frage Amendment.  It  occupied  all  or  a  part  of  several  sessions 
and  the  Woman  s  Journal  said :  "The  greatest  emphasis  of  the 
convention  was  laid  on  the  work  in  Congress ;  this  was  true  even 
to  the  extent  of  cutting  short  discussion  of  State  methods.  The 
story  of  the  year's  work  in  the  different  States  for  both  full  and 
Presidential  suffrage  had  to  be  abruptly  dismissed."  A  new 
Congressional  Committee  had  been  appointed  on  January  i,  con- 
sisting of  Mrs.  Medill  McCormick,  Mrs.  Antoinette  Funk  and 
Mrs.  Sherman  M.  Booth,  of  Illinois,  Mrs.  Breckinridge  (Ky.), 
Mrs.  Mary  C.  C.  Bradford  (Colo.)  ;  Mrs.  John  Tucker  (Cal.)  ; 
Mrs.  Edward  Dreier  (N.  Y.)  ;  Mrs.  Helen  H.  Gardener  (D.  C). 
Mrs.  Dreier  resigned ;  Mrs.  Gardener  was  largely  prevented  from 
serving  by  illness  and  absence.  Other  members  were  too  far 
away  for  active  work  and  the  headquarters  in  Washington  were 
in  charge  of  the  three  comparatively  young,  energetic  women 
from  Illinois,  who  had  shown  such  remarkable  political  acumen 
in  getting  the  Presidential  suffrage  bill  through  the  Legislature 
of  that  State  and  were  leaders  in  the  Progressive  party.  The 
remarkable  report  of  the  committee's  work  presented  by  the 
chairman,  Mrs.  McCormick,  including  her  report  as  chairman 
of  the  Campaign  Committee,  filled  45  pages  of  the  printed  Hand- 
book of  the  convention.  It  contained  a  full  account  of  the  action 
on  woman  suffrage  in  both  houses  of  the  63rd  Congress,  names 
and  votes  of  members,  committee  hearings,  Senate  debate,  record 
of  speeches,  statistics  and  information  such  as  was  never  before 
presented  to  a  suffrage  convention,  and  showed  an  amount  of 
committee  work  accomplished  almost  equal  to  that  which  had 
done  in  all  preceding  sessions  of  Congress  combined.1  It 
clear  that  for  the  first  time  the  attempt  to  secure  action  by 
;ress  on  woman  suffrage  was  being  made  in  political  fashion, 
which  was  the  proper  way,  but  unfortunately  it  showed  also  that 
the  Federal  Amendment,  which  had  been  the  principal  object  of 
National  Association  for  the  past  forty-four  years,  wa<  in 
flanker  of  being  replaced  with  one  of  a  totally  different  char- 

1  A  portion  of  this  report  is  in  the  chapter  on  the   Federal   Suffrage  Amendment. 


412  HISTORY   OF   WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

acter.  Space  can  be  given  for  only  enough  of  Mrs.  McCormick's 
exceedingly  clever  presentation  of  this  proposed  amendment  to 
make  the  matter  fully  understood. 

I  assumed  the  responsibility  as  chairman  early  in  January,  1914, 
and  after  opening  our  headquarters  in  the  Munsey  Building  at 
Washington,  D.  C,  divided  the  committee's  work  into  three  depart- 
ments— Lobby,  Publicity  and  Organization.  The  lobby  and  publicity 
were  continued  from  the  Washington  office  and  an  organization 
office  was  opened  in  Chicago  during  the  latter  part  of  January,  as  it 
was  decided  that  Chicago  was  much  better  situated  geographically 
to  carry  on  the  program  of  this  department. 

As  Congress  was  in  session  it  was  necessary  for  us  to  concen- 
trate our  attention  on  our  lobby  at  the  Capitol  and  to  determine  as 
quickly  as  possible  both  our  policy  to  be  adopted  and  the  wisest 
method  of  legislative  procedure.  In  order  to  facilitate  this  work 
Mrs.  Booth  and  I  joined  Mrs.  Funk  in  Washington,  and,  dividing 
our  duties,  we  proceeded  to  investigate  the  temper  of  Congress. 
What  was  known  in  the  present  Congress  as  the  Bristow-Mondcll 
resolution  had  been  reported  out  favorably  by  the  Standing  Com- 
mittee on  Suffrage  in  the  Senate  and,  if  we  desired,  could  be  placed 
as  unfinished  business  on  the  calendar,  which  would  result  in  a 
discussion  terminating  in  a  vote. 

The  situation  in  the  House  of  Representatives  was  not  so  favor- 
able. It  has  no  suffrage  committee  and  the  Mondell  amendment 
was  in  the  Judiciary.  As  that  committee  was  composed  of  men  if 
not  actually  opposed  at  least  indifferent  there  did  not  seem  to  be 
any  immediate  chance  of  action.  We  discovered  very  soon,  however, 
that  the  Congressional  Union  was  circulating  a  petition  among  the 
Democrats  requesting  them  to  caucus  on  the  subject  of  establishing  a 
Suffrage  Standing  Committee.  The  members  of  your  Congressional 
Committee  felt  this  to  be  a  great  mistake.  It  gave  the  Democratic 
party  a  splendid  opportunity  to  commit  themselves  as  opposed  to 
woman  suffrage,  using  their  State's  rights  doctrine  as  a  reason  for 
their  action.  We  discussed  it  with  the  members  of  the  Congres- 
sional Union,  who  were  convinced  they  were  right  in  putting  the 
Democratic  party  on  record  for  or  against  suffrage,  and  it  developed 
during  our  discussion  that  their  policy  of  holding  this  party  respon- 
sible, as  the  party  in  power,  was  to  be  put  into  action  at  once  and 
announced  as  soon  as  the  Democrats  had  voted  in  caucus.  Know- 
ing that  this  policy  was  diametrically  opposed  to  that  of  the  National 
Association,  which  has  always  been  non-partisan — to  hold  the  indi- 
vidual and  not  the  party  responsible — we  tried  desperately  hard  to 
block  the  petition  and  avoid  the  Democratic  caucus  at  that  time,  but 
as  the  Congressional  Union  had  a  lobby  of  forty  women  against  our 
three,  it  was  impossible  for  us  to  head  it  off.  The  party  caucused 
and  not  only  voted  against  a  Standing  Committee  on  Suffrage  but 
Mr.  Heflin  of  Alabama  amended  the  resolution  before  the  caucus 
so  that  the  members  were  enabled  to  vote  on  February  3  by  123  to 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQI4  413 

55  that  woman  suffrage  was  a  question  to  be  determined  by  the 
States  and  not  by  the  national  government. 

It  was  now  necessary  for  us  to  make  a  complete  canvass  of  both 
Houses  of  Congress,  to  tabulate  the  records  of  the  men,  in  so  far  as 
we  were  able  to  secure  the  information,  and  to  determine  at  the 
earliest  possible  moment  whether  or  not  it  was  advisable  to  bring 
the  Bristow  amendment  to  a  vote  in  the  Senate.  .  .  .  My  first  call 
on  Senator  Borah  of  Idaho,  who  is  a  personal  friend,  a  suf- 
fragist, and  has  the  advantage  of  being  a  progressive  Republican 
from  an  equal  suffrage  State.  "I  cannot  vote  for  this  amend- 
ment," he  said,  "and  want  you  to  understand  my  reasons  for  tak- 
ing such  a  stand.  I  do  not  believe  the  suffragists  realize  what  they 
are  doing  to  the  women  of  the  South  if  they  force  upon  them  uni- 
versal suffrage  before  they  are  ready  for  it.  The  race  question 
is  one  of  the  most  serious  before  the  country  today  and  the  women 
must  help  solve  it  before  they  can  take  on  greater  responsibilities. 
I  am  also  a  strong  conservationist  and  entertain  a  State's  rights  atti- 
tude of  mind  on  both  these  questions." 

Mrs.  McCormick  then  called  on  Senator  Burton  of  Ohio,  whom 
she  described  as  "a  reactionary  Republican" ;  Senator  Johnson  of 
Maine  and  Senator  Saulsbury  of  Delaware,  "strong  States'  rights 
Democrats,"  and  she  gathered  the  impression  that  the  new  amend- 
ment which  her  Congressional  Committee  had  in  mind  would  have 
a  better  chance  than  the  original,  to  which  the  Congressional 
Union  had  given  the  name  Susan  B.  Anthony  Amendment.  The 
following  men  agreed  to  serve  on  the  Advisory  Committee  in 
the  Senate:  Borah  of  Idaho;  Bristow  of  Kansas;  Shafroth  and 
Thomas  of  Colorado;  Owen  of  Oklahoma;  Clapp  of  Minnesota; 
Smoot  of  Utah ;  Kern  of  Indiana;  Lea  of  Tennessee  and  Ashurst 
of  Arizona.  "They  unanimously  agreed  with  us,"  she  said,  "that 
it  would  be  of  great  educational  value  to  have  the  question 
brought  up  before  the  Senate  during  the  present  session,  as 
there  had  never  been  a  debate  on  the  question  of  woman  suffrage 
in  Congress."  l 

Mrs.  Mc( 'ormirk  t»»ld  how  the  amendment  bad  Urn  put  on 
the  calendar  as  unfinished  business  and  discussed  daily  at  2  o'clock 
for  ten  days  until  the  vote  was  taken  March  19,  1914,  when  it 
received  35  ayes,  34  noes,  a  majority  but  not  the  necessary  two- 
thirds.  A  change  of  n  votes  would  have  carried  it  and  more 

1  The    Federal    Suffrage   Amendment    had    been    thoroughly    debated    and    voted    on    in 
the  Senate  in   1887;  the  question  of  woman  suffrage  itself  discussed  in    1866,    1881-3-4-5  (> 
ill  in   tin     I  1883  and    1890  and  briefly   in    Ixxli 

houses  at  other  times. 


414  HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

than  half  of  the  absentees  were  known  to  be  in  favor  but  these 
facts  did  not  give  her  any  faith  in  the  amendment.  * 'During  the 
canvassing  of  the  Senate,"  she  said,  "we  were  more  and  more 
impressed  with  the  necessity  of  meeting  the  State's  rights  argu- 
ment and  felt  more  and  more  keenly  the  barrier  of  the  State 
constitutions  in  advancing  our  cause.  An  analysis  of  these  con- 
stitutions proved  most  illuminating  and  in  arguing  with  the 
Senators  upon  this  point  they  constantly  reiterated  the  general 
idea  of  submitting  this  question,  as  well  as  other  big  national 
questions,  to  the  decision  of  the  people.  We  also  discovered  at 
this  time  that  there  -were  seven  or  eight  different  ^amendments 
before  Congress  on  the  woman  suffrage  question.  For  example, 
there  is  a  bill  giving  us  the  right  to  vote  for  Presidential  electors. 
There  is  another  bill  giving  us  the  right  to  vote  for  Senators  and 
Congressmen,  etc.  .  .  .*  A  general  canvass  of  the  Lower  House 
and  also  the  action  of  the  Democratic  caucus  convinced  us  in  an 
even  more  pronounced  way  that  we  are  blocked  by  the  State's 
rights  doctrine."  The  report  continued: 

It  was  at  this  time  that  Mrs.  Funk,  Mrs.  Booth  and  myself 
interpreted  our  duty  as  a  committee  to  mean  that  we  were  appointed 
not  only  for  the  purpose  of  national  propaganda  and  for  the  pro- 
motion of  the  Bristow  amendment  but  that  our  duty  was  a  more 
extensive  one  and  required  us  to  meet  whatever  political  emergency 
might  arise  during  our  term  of  office.  We,  therefore,  set  about  to 
originate  a  new  form  of  amendment  to  the  U.  S.  Constitution 
which  would  meet  the  State's  rights  argument,  if  such  a  thing  were 
possible.  As  Mrs.  Funk  is  a  lawyer,  Mrs.  Booth  and  I  agreed  that 
it  was  most  important  for  her  to  draw  up  such  an  amendment.  This 
was  done ;  it  was  submitted  to  several  lawyers,  to  our  Advisory  Com- 
mittees of  Senate  and  House;  to  an  able  constitutional  lawyer  in 
Washington,  to  Judge  William  J.  Calhoun,  of  Chicago,  a  lawyer  of 
international  reputation,  and  to  Judge  Hiram  Gilbert,  one  of  the 
best  constitutional  lawyers  in  Illinois.  We  accepted  Judge  Gilbert's 
rewording  and  then  sent  it  on  to  the  Progressive  party's  legislative 

1  Instead  of  seven  or  eight  amendments  there  was  only  one  and  never  had  been  but 
one — the  old,  original  amendment  introduced  by  Senator  A.  A.  Sargent  (Calif.)  in  1878. 
There  was  and  long  had  been  one  "bill"  advocated,  the  one  to  give  women  so-called 
"federal"  suffrage,  the  right  to  vote  for  Senators  and  Representatives,  but  it  had  never 
been  reported  out  of  committee.  There  was  no  bill  before  Congress  to  give  women  the 
right  to  vote  for  Presidential  electors  and  there  was  no  other  bill  proposed.  It  was  of 
course  the  "State's  rights  argument"  that  had  been  the  continuous  barrier  to  the  Federal 
Suffrage  Amendment  ever  since  it  was  first  introduced  but  the  favorable  attitude  of  a 
majority  of  the  Senators  showed  how  much  progress  had  been  made  in  meeting  that 
argument. 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQI4  415 

bureau  in  New  York,  where  it  was  endorsed  by  their  corps  of  lawyers, 
who  draft  all  their  bills. 

The  amendment  was  at  this  time  discussed  with  our  Advisory 
Committee  in  the  Senate  and  met  not  only  with  their  approval  as 
an  amendment  but  they  considered  it  a  very  shrewd  political  move 
on  the  part  of  our  organization.  At  the  next  meeting  of  the  Na- 
tional Suffrage  Board  I  presented  the  amendment,  and,  after  nearly 
two  months'  consideration  and  discussion  with  some  of  the  leading 
suffragists  of  the  country,  they  voted  unanimously  endorsing  it  and 
instructing  us  to  have  it  introduced  whenever  we  though  it  advisable. 
This  action  was  taken  by  the  National  Board  about  two  weeks  be- 
fore the  vote  came  up  in  the  Senate.  Not  wishing  in  any  way  to 
interfere  with  the  Bristow  amendment,  we  did  not  discuss  even  the 
idea  of  this  one  with  any  other  member  of  Congress  excepting  of 
course  our  Advisory  Committees.1 

Senator  John  F.  Shafroth  of  Colorado,  at  the  request  of  Mrs. 
McCormick's  committee,  introduced  the  new  measure,  which  took 
his  name,  and  it  was  favorably  reported  to  the  Senate  by  Senator 
Owen  of  Oklahoma  in  May.  At  this  Nashville  convention  it 
was  for  the  first  time  brought  before  the  association.  In  her 
report  Mrs.  McCormick  thus  described  the  hearing  which  had 
been  held  before  the  House  Judiciary  Committee  March  3: 

The  hearing  was  just  at  the  time  of  the  big  blizzard  and  our 
^peakers  were  stormbound,  so  that  when  we  appeared  before  the 
committee  there  were  only  Mrs.  Funk,  Mrs.  Booth  and  myself  to 
represent  the  National  Association,  and,  as  Mrs.  Booth  was  not  pre- 
pared to  speak  and  I  was  chairman  for  the  time  given  our  committee, 
it  left  Mrs.  Funk  as  our  only  speaker.  We  had  discussed  the  night 
before  the  hearing  the  possible  phases  of  the  suffrage  question  Airs. 
Funk  could  use  in  her  speech  that  would  be  new  to  the  Judiciary 
(  ommittee.  As  an  organization  we  have  been  conducting  hearings 

1  On  the  contrary  at  a  public  hearing  before  the  Judiciary  Committee  of  the  Lower 
House  on  March  3,  Mrs.  Funk  referred  several  times  to  sm-h  an  amendment  and  stated 
that  she  represented  an  association  of  462,000  women.  She  intimated  that  she  km-w  the 
old  amendment  could  not  pass  and  that  another  might  be  introduced,  which,  it  was  li»p<  >!. 
would  be  more  acceptable.  The  vote  was  not  taken  in  tin-  S<  nate  till  March  19. 
while  the  newspapers  gave  to  the  suffragists  of  the  country  their  first  knowledge  of  the 
new  amendment  and  vigorous  protests  soon  followed,  especially  from  the  older  leaders  of 
the  movement.  The  Woman's  Journal  of  March  28  said  editorially:  "It  is  felt  by  many 
that  before  the  Congressional  Committee  in::  \\liolly  new  measure,  winch  had 

never  been  sanctioned  or  even  considered  by   the   National  Association,   it  ought   to   have 
been  submitted  to  the   National   Kxccutive  Couiu  il." 

As  soon  as  the  Senate  had  voted  on  the  original  amendment,  Senator  Hristow,  at  the 
request  of  the  Congressional  Uni<>  <l  it  was  i> 

nator   Thomas    B.    Catron    of    New    M<  :.     Senator    I'.ristow    in 

re-introducing   it   said  of   tlx     Sliafroth   meaM  :  >c  and 

referendum   amendment    than    a    woman   suffrage   :•  i  cation 

of  woman  suffrage  rest  ditrctly  upon  it .-  and  be  in. 

and    referendum." 


41 6  HISTORY   OF   WOMAN   SUFFRAGE 

before  this  committee  for  over  forty  years,  and,  as  many  of  its 
members  have  served  several  terms,  they  are  as  familiar  as  we  are 
with  the  suffrage  arguments.  We,  therefore,  decided  to  be  per- 
fectly frank  with  the  committee  and  draw  to  their  attention  the 
fact  that  they  possessed  the  power,  if  they  wished  to  exercise  it, 
to  suggest  to  Congress  some  other  form  of  legislation  than  had 
been  presented  to  them.  Mrs.  Funk  made  this  statement  to  them 
and  said  that  in  interviewing  the  members  of  the  Judiciary  Com- 
mittee individually  we  found  that  they  were  convinced  that  woman 
suffrage  was  a  question  which  was  growing  so  rapidly  throughout 
the  country  that  it  would  only  be  a  short  time  before  the  women 
would  succeed  in  gaining  their  political  freedom,  but  that  as  a  com- 
mittee, and  because  there  was  a  majority  of  Democrats  on  it,  they 
did  not  feel  that  they  were  able  to  report  the  Mondell  amendment  in 
any  form.1 

Mrs.  McCormick  then  called  on  Mrs.  Funk  to  present  the 
Shafroth-Palmer  Amendment,  which  had  been  introduced  in  the 
House  by  A.  Mitchell  Palmer  (Penn.),  and  the  argument  for 
it.  The  amendment  read  as  follows : 

Whenever  any  number  of  legal  voters  of  any  State  to  a  number 
exceeding  8  per  cent,  of  the  number  of  legal  voters  at  the  last 
preceding  general  election  held  in  such  State,  shall  petition  for  the 
submission  to  the  legal  voters  of  said  State  of  the  question  whether 
women  shall  have  equal  rights  with  men  in  respect  to  voting  at  all 
elections  to  be  held  in  such  State,  such  question  shall  be  so  submitted, 
and  if  a  majority  of  the  legal  voters  of  the  State  voting  on  the  ques- 
tion shall  vote  in  favor  of  granting  to  women  such  equal  rights,  the 
same  shall  thereupon  be  deemed  established,  anything  in  the  consti- 
tution or  laws  of  such  State  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding. 

In  beginning  her  carefully  prepared  "brief"  Mrs.  Funk  said : 

This  amendment  to  the  U.  S.  Constitution  must  pass  both 
branches  of  the  national  Congress  by  a  two-thirds  vote  and  be 
ratified  by  a  majority  vote  of  three-fourths  of  the  State  Legislatures 
before  it  becomes  a  law.  So  far  it  is  identical  with  the  Bristow- 
Mondell  amendment.  The  difference  between  the  two  is  that  after 
the  latter  amendment  has  passed  three-fourths  of  the  State  Legisla- 
tures it  completely  enfranchises  the  women.  The  Shafroth-Palmer 
amendment,  after  it  has  passed  three-fourths  of  the  State  Legisla- 
tures, enables  8  per  cent,  of  the  voters  of  a  State  to  bring  the  suffrage 
question  up  for  the  consideration  of  the  voters  at  the  next  general 
election.  Such  a  petition  may  be  filed  at  any  time,  not  only  once  but 
indefinitely,  until  suffrage  is  won,  and  a  majority  of  those  voting 

1  This  amendment  had  been  reported  by  the  Judiciary  Committee  on  the  9th  of  May 
preceding  this  report  "without  recommendation"  and  a  strong  effort  was  being  made  by 
its  supporters  to  bring  it  before  the  House  for  debate.  The  Rules  Committee  sent  it  to 
the  House  on  December  12,  1914. 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQI4  417 

on  the  question  is  sufficient  to  carry  the  measure.  In  other  words, 
every  State  where  the  women  are  not  at  present  enfranchised  may 
be  a  campaign  State  every  year.  If  the  male  voters  are  obliged 
to  hear  the  woman  suffrage  question  agitated  and  discussed  at  a 
perennial  campaign,  how  long  will  it  be  before,  in  desperation  and 
self-defense,  they  will  vote  in  favor  of  it? 

Now,  why  is  the  Shafroth-Palmer  amendment  easier  to  pass 
Congress  than  the  Bristow-Mondell  amendment?  First  of  all  it 
shifts  the  responsibility  of  actually  enfranchising  the  women  from 
the  Senators  and  Representatives  to  the  people  of  their  respective 
States.  Second,  the  State's  rights  doctrine  is  the  one  objection 
raised  to  every  federal  issue  that  comes  before  Congress.  It  is 
primarily  the  greatest  obstacle  to  federal  legislation  on  any  subject 
and  is  recognized  as  a  valid  objection  by  the  members  of  Congress 
and  particularly  those  from  the  North,  who  feel  that  they  owe  to 
the  members  of  the  South  the  justice  of  refraining  from  interference 
in  matters  vital  to  the  South.  .  .  . 

Third,  the  Democratic  party  is  committed  to  the  initiative  and 
referendum  but  not  to  woman  suffrage.  .  .  .  The  President  has  en- 
dorsed the  initiative  and  referendum  and  has  fully  convinced  himself 
of  its  merit.  .  .  .  We  are  asking  the  Democratic  party  to  give  us, 
the  women  of  the  country,  the  initiative  and  referendum  on  the  ques- 
tion of  whether  or  not  we  shall  be  allowed  to  vote,  and  no  State  can 
have  this  question  forced  upon  it  or  even  settled  until  a  majority 
of  the  voters  of  the  State  cast  their  ballots  in  favor  of  it. 

The  difficulties  connected  with  the  old  amendment  both  in 
Congress  and  in  many  States  were  described  and  the  case  of 
New  York  was  cited  among  others: 

If  the  matter  of  suffrage  is  submitted  to  the  State  of  New  York 

•  1 5  and  does  not  carry,  under  the  New  York  constitution  it  can- 

c^ain  be  submitted  for  two  years.    Meantime  all  the  energy  that 

lid  be  expended  in  directly  educating  the  people  must  again  be 

•  ying  to  get  a  majority  vote  in  two  successive  Legislatures. 

the  opinion  of  one  of  the  great  suffrage  leaders  in  New  York, 

-sed  to  me,  that  if  the  amendment  does  not  carry  in   i<H5 

•oople  will  not  have  an  opportunity  to  vote  upon  it  for  another 

r  twenty  years.1 

The    early   passage   of    the    Sliaf roth- Palmer   amendment    would 

the   State  constitutional  barrier   and   leave    for   the   State 

'i/.ation  only  the  work  of  ratification  of  this  amendment,  which 

rity  vote  in  both  hranchcs  of  the  Legislature. 

is  able  to  shift  the  responsibility  to  the  voters 

ate.    He  is  not  voting  directly  on  t  ion  himself — only 

stion  to  the  people.     You  ran  readily  see  that  here 

c  proposed  State  amendment  f.iilcrl  in  New  York  in  1915,  was  submitted  again  by 
the  Legislatures  of  1916  and  1917,  voted  on  in  November,  1017,  and  adopted  by  an 
immense  majority. 


4l8  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

again  this  amendment  is  easier  to  ratify  in  the  Legislatures  than  the 
Bristow-Mondell  would  be,  because  in  the  ratification  of  the  latter 
the  legislators  are  practically  casting  the  final  vote  on  the  enfranchise- 
ment of  the  women  all  over  the  country.  .  .  .  The  simultaneous  con- 
sideration of  suffrage  in  every  State  at  the  same  time  would  give 
overwhelming  accumulative  impetus  to  the  movement  and  would 
increase  suffrage  activity  inestimably.  The  fact  that  the  national 
Congress  had  taken  any  action  whatsoever  in  regard  to  the  suffrage 
question  would  stamp  it  as  a  national  issue,  and  I  very  much  doubt 
whether  the  Democratic  and  Republican  parties  would  be  able  to 
decline  to  put  a  suffrage  plank  in  their  national  platforms. 

This  ended  Mrs.  Funk's  statement  and  Mrs.  McCormick  con- 
tinued: "In  dividing  up  the  work  of  the  lobby  Mrs.  Sherman 
undertook  to  card  catalogue  Congress  by  the  same  method  which 
she  used  so  successfully  in  the  Illinois  Legislature  and  a  list  of 
members  was  prepared  who  should  be  defeated  on  their  record  in 
Congress.  Arthur  Dunn,  who  had  been  a  Washington  newspaper 
correspondent  for  thirty  years,  was  put  at  the  head  of  the  pub- 
licity bureau  and  proved  to  be  of  inestimable  value  because  of 
his  personal  acquaintance  with  every  member  of  Congress." 
Charles  T.  Hallinan,  also  an  experienced  newspaper  man,  had 
been  made  chairman  of  the  press  bureau  and  in  his  report  to  the 
convention  told  of  the  introduction  of  the  latest  methods  of 
publicity  work  and  the  signal  success  they  had  achieved.  A 
Chicago  office  had  been  opened  for  organization  and  a  system 
established  of  thorough  congressional  district  work,  a  detailed 
account  of  which  filled  half  a  dozen  pages  of  the  printed  Minutes. 
Miss  Lillie  Glenn  and  Miss  Lavinia  Engle  had  been  appointed  field 
organizers  and  a  number  of  States  were  canvassed,  speeches  made 
indoors  and  out  in  scores  of  counties,  women's  societies  visited 
and  many  suffrage  clubs  formed.  Every  kind  of  transportation 
was  used,  from  muleback  to  automobiles,  and  many  hardships 
were  encountered.  The  report  closed  with  several  pages  of  valu- 
able suggestions  for  what  would  be  a  thorough  political  cam- 
paign if  carried  out.  Mrs.  McCormick  also  gave  an  interesting 
report  of  her  chairmanship  of  another  committee,  saying : 

Early  in  the  summer  of  1914  Mrs.  Desha  Breckinridge  advanced 
the  valuable  idea  of  a  special  campaign  commitee  to  be  appointed 
by  the  National  Board  for  the  purpose  of  giving  aid  to  the  cam- 
paign States  by  establishing  a  speakers'  bureau  for  their  benefit  and 
devising  means  for  raising  necessary  funds,  which  the  National 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQI4  419 

Board  approved.  My  indorsement  would  have  been  less  enthusiastic 
could  I  have  foreseen  that  I  would  be  selected  as  chairman.  A 
special  finance  committee  was  appointed,  Mrs.  Stanley  McCormick, 
chairman ;  Miss  Addams,  treasurer,  and  I,  secretary.  Miss  Ethel 
M.  Smith,  of  Washington,  D.  C,  spent  her  vacation  establishing 
a  speakers'  bureau  in  the  Chicago  headquarters  and  it  has  been 
conducted  by  Mrs.  Josephine  Conger- Kanecko.  As  many  national 
speakers  have  been  routed  through  the  campaign  States  as  our 
finances  would  permit.  We  were  faced  with  the  discouraging  fact 
that  to  do  really  active  campaign  service  we  would  need  a  fund  of 
not  less  than  $50,000  and  we  had  less  than  $13,000.  We  collected 
and  distributed  in  cash  a  less  amount  than  would  be  used  on  the 
campaign  of  a  city  alderman  in  an  off  year. 

The  plan  of  self-sacrifice  day  had  been  suggested  to  Mrs.  Breckin- 
ridge  by  a  Wisconsin  suffragist  and  adopted  by  the  National  Board 
and  a  general  appeal  went  out  to  the  women  of  America  to  sacrifice 
.something  in  aid  of  suffrage  and  contribute  the  amount  to  the  gen- 
eral fund  for  use  in  the  campaign  States.     [$9,854  were  realized.] 
Mrs.  Funk,  while  walking  through  the  Capitol  one  day,  observed 
a  bride  with  much  gold  jewelry  in  evidence  and  expressed  the  wish 
that  a  little  of  the  gold  used  for  personal  ornament  might  find  its 
way  into  a  treasure  chest  to  be  sold  for  the  campaign  States  and 
so  the  idea  of  the  "melting  pot"  was  suggested.  .  .  .  The  plan  was 
endorsed  and  put  into  operation  as  follows :  A  carefully  selected  list 
of  names  of  women  was  taken  from  among  the  various  suffrage 
organizations,  colleges,  churches,  etc.    These  women  received  a  letter 
asking  for  a  contribution  to  the  melting  pot  and  further  urging  them 
to  accept  a  sub-committeeship,  making  themselves  responsible  for 
soliciting  from  at  least  six  people  a  contribution  and  keeping  track 
of  this  group  until  their  possibilities  had  been  exhausted.    The  names 
of  these  persons  were  carefully  scanned  by  the  general  committee 
and  two  or  three  out  of  each  group  of  six  were  asked  to  go  at  the 
of  a  further  sub-committee  and  so  something  not  unlike  an 
ss  chain  was  created.    Although  this  was  put  into  effect  hastily 
and  during  the  intense  heat  of  a  Washington  summer,  it  was  an 
•nous  success  and  now  at  the  close  of  the  campaign  contributions 
till  coming  in  and  we  consider  that  the  top  soil  of  melting  pot 
as  not  been  scratched.      [$2,73^  were  reali/:e<l.| 

Mrs.  Funk's  report  of  her  campaign  work  was  an  excellent 
showing  of  the  situation  which  the  suffragists  faced  in   State 
ipaigns  and  had  done  from  the  beginning: 

»m  the  time  I  left  Washington  August  25,  until  I  returned  to 

ago  October  27,  I  covered  approximately  8,000  miles.     After 

speaking  three  days  in  Indiana,  where  the  suffragists  were  straining 

:  ve  to  secure  a  constitutional  convention,   1   spent  two  days 

o  and  then  started  into  the  western  States.     My  first  three 

were  spent  in  <  Jinaha,  and,  although  my  original  itinerary  con- 


42O  HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

templated  my  coming  to  Nebraska  for  the  last  ten  days  of  the  cam- 
paign, this  was  afterwards  changed  and  I  went  back  to  Montana 
a  second  time,  so  my  observations  regarding  Nebraska  refer  to 
Omaha  alone.  Here  existed  an  almost  unbelievable  condition  of 
opposition.  The  brewers  had  come  openly  into  the  field  against  us 
and  the  brewing  interests  are  connected  with  many  of  the  big  finan- 
cial ventures  in  that  city.  Bankers,  merchants,  tailors  and  other  busi- 
ness men  whose  wives  were  in  suffrage  were  brazenly  warned  that 
the  brewing  deposits  would  be  withdrawn  from  banks,  that  patron- 
age would  be  taken  away  from  merchants  and  tradespeople — even 
doctors  were  threatened  with  the  loss  of  their  clientele  if  their  wives 
continued  actively  in  the  campaign.  The  result  was  a  paralysis  of 
action  among  many  women  who  would  naturally  have  been  leaders 
and  supporters  of  the  work.  Mrs.  Draper  Smith  was  doing  all  that 
was  humanly  possible  under  the  circumstances  to  stem  the  tide  of 
opposition,  but  money  for  publicity  and  organizing  and  many  speakers 
seemed  to  be  a  necessity.  Upon  my  report  to  Mrs.  McCormick  all 
extra  aid  possible  was  given. 

My  trip  to  South  Dakota  was  interesting  in  the  extreme.  It  and 
North  Dakota  are  agricultural  States,  the  cities  are  small  and  far 
apart,  the  villages  are  scattered  over  vast  areas.  By  far  the  larger 
percentage  of  population  dwells  in  the  country  on  farms  and  ranches. 
The  two  Dakotas  are  almost  pioneer  States  even  now,  but  they  pre- 
sent the  highest  degree  of  educational  advantage  and  of  general 
literacy  perhaps  in  the  whole  United  States.  Their  laws  are  gen- 
erally good  and  for  that  reason  there  appears  to  be  much  apathy 
on  the  part  of  both  men  and  women  regarding  suffrage.  The  States 
are  prosperous  and  the  people  have  not  felt  to  any  extent  the  pinch 
of  wrong  political  conditions.  The  great  problem  was  to  reach  the 
people  and  make  them  think,  as  when  they  think  at  all  upon  the 
subject  they  are  apt  to  think  right.  I  am  convinced  that  whatever 
the  vote  against  the  suffrage  amendment  may  have  been  in  North 
Dakota  it  was  the  result  of  indifference  and  lack  of  special  informa- 
tion and  not  to  any  extent  real  opposition. 

I  believed  from  what  I  could  learn  in  South  Dakota  the  liquor 
interests  were  making  their  last  fight  for  State  control  and  about 
the  time  I  arrived  Mrs.  Pyle  had  ascertained  that  a  large  amount 
of  money  was  being  used  to  subsidize  the  State  press,  and  simul- 
taneously the  literary  efforts  of  the  anti-suffragists,  which  have 
appeared  throughout  the  press  during  the  last  year,  came  out  in  the 
leading  papers,  and  anti-suffrage  ladies  at  $100  a  week  and  expenses 
appeared  on  the  platform  of  the  principal  towns  and  cities.  During 
my  campaign  there  I  spoke  wherever  possible  out-of-doors,  even 
though  meetings  were  arranged  for  me  in  halls,  courthouses  and 
churches.  I  found  that  the  small  audiences  which  would  assemble 
in  these  places  were  made  up  of  women  and  men  already  interested 
and  that  the  uninstructed  voter  would  only  listen  when  you  caught 
him  on  the  street.  I  spent  the  week  of  the  State  fair  at  Huron  with 
Mrs.  Pyle  and  witnessed  a  wonderful  demonstration  of  activity.  As 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1914  421 

high  as  50,000  people  a  day  were  in  attendance  and  the  grounds 
were  covered  with  our  yellow  banners.  Every  prize-winning  ani- 
mal, every  racing  sulky,  automobile  and  motorcycle  carried  our  pen- 
nants. Twenty  thousand  yellow  badges  were  given  away  in  one 
day.  The  squaws  from  the  reservation  did  their  native  dances  wav- 
iiffrage  banners,  and  the  snake  charmer  on  the  midway  carried 
a  Votes  for  Women  pennant  while  an  enormous  serpent  coiled 
around  her  body.  I  spoke  during  the  fair  four  and  five  times  a 
day  and  held  street  meetings  downtown  in  the  evening.  When  not 
thus  engaged  I  assisted  Mrs.  Pyle  and  her  committee  in  distributing 
thousands  of  pieces  of  literature  and  was  amazed  at  the  eagerness 
nf  the  people  to  receive  them.  We  investigated  the  fair  grounds 

c  how  much  was  thrown  away  and  found  almost  none. 
In  North  Dakota  Mrs.  Darrow  had  asked  me  to  go  into  the  untilled 
suffrage  field.     In  many  places  they  had  never  heard  a  suffrage 
address  nor  had  a  suffrage  meeting  ever  been  held.     I  zigzagged 
s  from  the  southeast  to  the  northwest  corners  and  in  Minot  was 
arrested  for  making  a  street  speech.    There  was  no  law  that  I  could 
discover  against  my  speaking  in  the  street  and  I  was  convinced  and 
am  still  that  it  was  the  result  of  the  petty  tyranny  of  town  officials 
unfavorable  to  women.     A  fine  of  $5  imposed  upon  me  by  the  jus- 
tice of  the  peace  was  remitted  by  him.     I   spent  twelve  days  in 
Montana,   travelling  about   2,000  miles,   and   found   more   general 
interest  than   in  any  other   State.     With   118,000  voters   scattered 
over  the  third  largest  State  in  the  Union,  with  many  contending 
elements,  with  an  acute  labor  situation,  with  the  political  control  of 
the  State  vested  very  largely  in  one  great  corporation,  there  was 
plenty  to  occupy  the  attention  of  a  suffragist  worker.    Miss  Rankin's 
organization  work  had  been  carried  to  a  high  degree  of  efficiency  by 
the  most  strenuous  endeavor  on  her  part.    The  Amalgamated  Copper 
pany,  striving  to  defeat  the  workmen's  compensation  act,  had 
d  hands  with   the  liquor  interests,  working  to  defeat  woman 
suffrage,  and  had  put  on  the  petticoat  and  bonnet  of  the  organized 
le  anti-suffragists.    I  spoke  to  thousands  of  people  all  over  the 
and  while  on  the  surface  all  appeared  well,  there  was  an  undcr- 
of  fierce  opposition  that  could  be  felt  but  that  can  not  be  esti- 
1  until  the  votes  are  counted.    [The  State  was  carried  by  3,714.] 
ada  was  like  a  story  in  a  book — a  big,  little  State,  with  80.000 
d  T^.OOO  voters,  and  so  thoroughly  was  it  organized  by 
-tin  that  I  believe  she  could  address  every  voter  by  his  first 
.    I  felt  like  a  fifth  wheel.    All  the  work  appeared  to  be  fin: 

:de  to  season  by  the  time  I  arrived  and  I  was  in  the 
unenviable  petition   of   being1   sandwiched    between    Dr.    Shaw,   who 

!  Miss  Addams.  who  immedintely  followed 
1  went  over  the  desert,  however,  and  into  mines,  and  spoke  in 

that   wound  up  with  a  supper  and 
ic  away  with   the  certainty  that    Miss    MnrhY 

in    her    inside   pocket, 
by  3,678.]     On  this  trip  T  learned  of  hun- 


422  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

dreds  of  thousands  of  pieces  of  literature  sent  out  by  our  entertain- 
ing friend,  the  Hon.  Tom  Heflin  of  Alabama.  I  know  now  why  it 
was  that  all  last  winter  he  jumped  up  in  Congress  every  few  minutes 
and  read  into  the  Congressional  Record  something  about  the  horror 
of  women  voting.  He  had  a  long  business  head  and  he  was  thriftily 
saving  postage  on  anti-suffrage  literature  in  the  interest  of  the 
"societv  opposed,"  of  the  liquor  interests,  of  organized  crime  and 
of  all  those  forces  that  have  taken  arms  against  us. 

The  convention  was  deeply  appreciative  of  the  arduous  and 
extensive  work  that  has  been  done  by  the  Congressional  Com- 
mittee but  there  was  intense  dissatisfaction  with  the  so-called 
Sha froth  Amendment,  which  had  been  freely  discussed  in  the 
Woman's  Journal  for  the  last  eight  or  nine  months.1  The  de- 
bate in  the  convention  consumed  several  sessions  and  more  bitter- 
ness was  shown  than  ever  before  at  one  of  these  annual  meet- 
ings. The  Official  Board  having  endorsed  the  amendment  felt 
obliged  to  stand  by  it,  but  to  most  of  those  delegates  who  had 
been  in  the  movement  for  years  it  meant  the  abandonment  of 
the  object  for  which  the  association  had  been  formed  and  for 
which  all  the  founders,  the  pioneer  workers  and  those  down  to 
the  present  day,  had  devoted  their  best  efforts.  Dr.  Shaw  was 
the  only  member  of  the  board  who  had  been  many  years  con- 
nected with  the  association,  and,  while  her  judgment  was  op- 
posed to  the  new  amendment,  she  yielded  to  the  earnest  pleas 
of  her  younger  colleagues  and  the  optimistic  members  of  the  Con- 
gressional Committee  that  it  should  have  a  fair  trial.  Miss 
Blackwell,  editor  of  the  Wmnan's  Journal,  strongly  endorsed  it 
and  gave  it  the  support  of  her  paper  in  many  long,  earnest  edi- 
torials. She  also  granted  columns  of  space  to  vigorous  argu- 
ments on  both  sides  by  suffragists  throughout  the  countrv.2  The 
question  had  been  before  the  State  associations  for  the  last  seven 
or  eight  months. 

»The  first  week  in  the  preceding  April  the  Mississippi  Valley  Conference,  composed  of 
the  Middle  and  some  of  the  Western  and  Southern  States,  met  in  Des  Moines  and  thirty- 
five  prominent  delegates  signed  a  telegram  to  the  Official  Board  of  the  National  American 
Association,  asking  it  "to  instruct  its  Congressional  Committee  not  to  push  the  Shafroth 
Amendment  nor  ask  for  its  report  from  the  Senate  Committee";  also  "to  ask  the  Senate 
Committee  not  to  report  this  amendment  until  so  requested  by  the  national  suffrage  con- 
vention." This  was  not  official  action  but  tKey  signed  as  individuals,  among  them  the 
presidents  of  the  Iowa,  Minnesota,  Wisconsin,  Illinois,  Indiana,  Ohio  and  Louisiana  State 
associations  and  officers  from  other  States. 

*  Some  of  the  arguments  may  be  found  in  the  Appendix.  An  examination  of  the 
file  of  the  Journal  will  show  that  ninety-nine  per  cent,  of  the  writers  were  opposed 
to  the  amendment. 


NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQI4  423 

Mrs.  Mary  Ware  Dennett,  corresponding  secretary  of  the 
National  American  Association,  wrote  to  the  State  presidents 
the  first  week  in  May,  1914:  "Strange  as  it  may  seem,  we 
find  that  quite  a  number  of  the  members  of  our  association  have 
gotten  the  impression  that  the  introduction  of  the  Shafroth 
amendment  means  the  abandoning  of  the  old  amendment  which 
been  introduced  into  Congress  for  forty  years  or  more,  and 
which,  as  you  know,  has  now  been  re-introduced  and  at  this 
session  will  be  called  the  Bristow-Mondell  amendment.  Nothing 
could  be  further  from  the  truth.  The  reason  for  the  introduction 
of  the  Shafroth  amendment  is  to  hasten  the  day  when  the  passage 
of  the  Bristow-Mondell  amendment  will  become  a  possibility. 
.  .  .  Both  amendments  are  before  Congress  but  only  the  new  one 
stands  any  chance  of  being  acted  upon  before  adjournment.1 
We  stand  by  the  old  one  as  a  matter  of  principle;  we  push  for 
the  new  one  as  a  matter  of  immediate  practical  politics  and  to 
further  the  passage  of  the  old  one."  Mrs.  Dennett  also  vigor- 
ously advocated  the  new  amendment  in  the  Woman's  Journal. 

At  the  opening  of  the  second  session  of  the  convention  devoted 
to  the  subject  Mrs.  Harriot  Stanton  Blatch  moved  that  the 
Shafroth  amendment  be  not  proceeded  with  in  the  next  Congress 
and  it  was  seconded.  Instantly  Mrs.  Raymond  Brown,  president 
of  the  New  York  State  Association,  offered  as  a  substitute  resolu- 
tion :  "It  is  the  sense  of  this  convention  that  the  policy  of  the 
National  American  Woman  Suffrage  Association  shall  be  to 
support  by  every  means  within  its  power,  in  the  future  as  in  the 
past,  the  amendment  known  as  the  Susan  B.  Anthony  amend- 
ment; and  further  that  we  support  such  other  legislation  as  the 
National  Board  may  authorize  and  initiate  to  the  end  that  the 
i  I>.  Anthony  resolution  become  a  law."  2  After  the  clis- 

1  The  old  amendment  had  been  voted  on  in  the  Senate  March  19  and  obtained  a 
majority  but  not  the  required  two-thirds.  It  had  been  reported  without  recommendation 
by  the  House  Judiciary,  which  had  not  acted  on  the  new  one.  The  latter  had  been  intro- 
duced in  the  Senate  and  the  former  re  introduced. 

•The  orik'inal  measure  had  always  been  called  the  Sixteenth  Amendment  until  the 
adoption  of  the  Income  Tax  and  Direct  Election  of  Senators  Amendments  in  1913.  The 
ssional  Union,  organized  that  year,  gave  it  the  name  Susan  B.  Anthony  Amendment 
and  for  awhile  it  was  thus  referred  to  by  some  members  of  the  National  American  Asso- 
ciation. The  relatives  and  friends  of  Mrs.  Stanton  rightly  objected  to  this  name,  as  she 
had  been  equally  associated  with  it  from  the  beginning,  and  all  the  pioneer  workers  had 
been  its  staunch  supporters.  The  old  association  soon  adopted  the  title,  Federal  Suffrage 
Amendment 


HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

cussion  had  lasted  for  hours,  with  the  administration  supporting 
this  resolution,  a  motion  to  strike  out  the  words  "and  further" 
and  all  that  followed  was  lost  and  it  was  carried  by  a  vote  of 
194  to  loo.1 

The  next  day  an  informal  conference  was  held  at  which  Miss 
Laura  Clay  and  Mrs.  Sallie  Clay  Bennett  explained  a  bill  for 
Federal  Suffrage,  which  they,  with  others,  had  long  advocated, 
to  enable  women  to  vote  for  U.  S.  Senators  and  Representatives. 
Congress  had  the  power  to  enact  such  a  law  by  a  simple  majority 
vote  of  both  houses.  The  association  for  many  years  had  had 
a  standing  committee  on  the  subject,  which  was  finally  dropped 
because  it  was  believed  that  the  law  could  not  possibly  be  ob- 
tained. It  found  much  favor  at  this  convention,  which  instructed 
the  Congressional  Committee  to  "investigate  and  promote  the 
right  of  women  to  vote  for  U.  S.  Senators,  Representatives  and 
Presidential  Electors  through  action  of  Congress." 

There  was  spirited  discussion  of  the  Congressional  Commit- 
tee's plan  for  "blacklisting"  candidates  for  Congress  whose  record 
on  woman  suffrage  was  objectionable  and  it  finally  resulted  in 
the  passing  of  a  resolution  that  this  could  be  done  only  when 
approved  by  the  majority  of  the  societies  in  the  State  concerned. 
It  was  decided  that  the  Congressional  Committee  should  send  out 
information  and  suggestions  for  congressional  work  but  that 
the  State  associations  should  determine  how  this  material  should 
be  used  and  that  when  the  majority  of  them  in  a  State  could  not 
agree  upon  some  plan  of  cooperation  the  Congressional  Com- 
mittee should  not  work  in  said  State. 

The  feeling  aroused  by  the  discussion  of  the  Shafroth  amend- 
ment was  manifested  in  the  election,  where  315  delegates  were 
entitled  to  vote  and  283  votes  were  cast.  Dr.  Shaw  received  192 
for  president  and  the  rest  were  blank,  as  even  delegates  who 
opposed  this  amendment  would  not  vote  against  her.  Miss  Jane 
Addams  declined  to  serve  longer  as  vice-president  and  reluctantly 
consented  to  her  election  as  honorary  vice-president  but  resigned 
before  the  close  of  the  convention,  as  she  felt  that  she  could  not 

1  At  the  first  board  meeting  after  the  convention  Mrs.  McCormiclc  was  re-appointed 
chairman  of  the  Congressional  Committee  with  power  to  select  its  other  members  and 
Mrs.  Funk  was  re-appointed  vice-chairman. 


NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1914  425 

be  responsible  for  actions  in  which  she  had  practically  no  part. 
Mrs.  Desha  Breckinridge  of  Kentucky  was  re-elected  second  vice- 
president  without  opposition  but  resigned  soon  afterwards,  al- 
though not  because  of  any  disagreement  with  the  policy  of  the 
hoard.  Mrs.  Katharine  Dexter  McCormick  of  New  York  re- 
ceived 173  votes  for  first  vice-president  and  Miss  Jean  Gordon 
of  New  Orleans  107.  Dr.  Katharine  Bement  Davis  of  New  York 
made  third  vice-president  without  opposition,  nor  was  there 
any  to  Mrs.  Orton  H.  Clark  of  Michigan  for  corresponding 
secretary.  For  recording  secretary  Mrs.  Susan  W.  Fitzgerald 
of  Massachusetts  received  166  votes  and  Miss  Anne  Martin 
of  Nevada  115.  Mrs.  Henry  Wade  Rogers  of  New  York  was 
almost  unanimously  chosen  for  treasurer  and  Mrs.  Walter  Mc- 
Xab  Miller  of  Missouri  for  first  auditor.  For  second  auditor 
Mrs.  Medill  McCormick  of  Chicago  received  177  votes  and  Miss 
Zona  Gale  of  New  York  103.  Later  Mrs.  Nellie  Nugent  Somer- 
villc  of  Mississippi  was  appointed  in  place  of  Mrs.  Breckinridge. 
The  new  board  finally  included  only  two  members  of  the  old  one 
besides  Dr.  Shaw — Mrs.  McCormick  and  Mrs.  Fitzgerald. 

The  present  convention  was  declared  by  resolution  to  have 
been  "one  of  the  greatest  and  most  delightful  meetings  in  the 
•  ry  of  the  organization,"  and  a  long  list  of  thanks  was  ex- 
tended "to  the  city  of  Nashville  for  its  broad  and  generous  hos- 
pitality and  for  special  courtesies."     The  Tennessee  Equal  Suf- 
c  Association  gave  a  dinner,  with  Mrs.  L.  Crozier  French, 
it-  president,  as  toast-mistress;  the  Women's  Press  Club  had  a 
luncheon  for  the  visiting  press  representatives  and  the  College 
nen's  League  one  for  its  delegates.     It  was  a  relief  from 
the  tension  of  the  week  to  have  the  last  evening  of  the  conven- 
devoted  to  entertainment.    Miss  Zona  Gale  read  a  charming 
unpublished  story,  Friendship  Village;  a  musical  program  was 
by  the  Fiske  Jubilee  Singers  and  the  convention  closed  with 
narkable  moving  picture  play,  Your  Girl  and  Mine,  an  offer- 
to  the  a^  'ii  by  Mr<    Medill  McCormick.1 
The  treasurer's  report  showed  receipts  for  the  year  of  $67,312 

»Mrs.  McCormtclc  spent  a  large  amount  of  time  and  money  on  this  play,  hoping  it 
would  yield  a  good  revenue  to  the  association,  but  the  arrangement  with  the  Film  Cor- 
poration proved  impossible  and  it  finally  had  to  be  abandon 


426  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

and  expenditures  $59,232.  In  addition  a  special  fund  for  the 
"campaign"  States  had  been  subscribed  of  $12,586,  of  which 
$11,020  had  been  spent.  Mrs.  Medill  McCormick  had  made  a 
personal  contribution  of  $6,217  to  the  publicity  work  of  the 
Washington  and  Chicago  headquarters.  Pledges  of  $7,500  were 
made  by  the  convention. 

The  committee  of  which  Mrs.  Frances  E.  Burns  (Mich.)  was 
chairman  reported  resolutions  that  urged  the  U.  S.  Senate  and 
House  of  Representatives  to  take  up  at  once  the  amendments 
now  pending  in  Congress  for  the  enfranchisement  of  women; 
demanded  equal  pay  for  equal  -work  and  legislation  to  protect 
the  nationality  of  American  women  who  married  foreigners. 
They  re-affirmed  the  association's  past  policy  of  non-partisanship 
and  declared  that  "the  National  American  Woman  Suffrage  Asso- 
ciation is  absolutely  opposed  to  holding  any  political  party  re- 
sponsible for  the  opinions  and  acts  of  its  individual  members,  or 
holding  any  individual  public  official  or  candidate  responsible 
for  the  action  of  his  party  majority  on  the  question  of  woman 
suffrage."  Of  the  European  war  now  in  its  fourth  month,  the 
resolutions  said : 

WHEREAS:  It  is  our  conviction  that  had  the  women  of  the  coun- 
tries of  Europe,  with  their  deep  instinct  of  motherhood  and  desire 
for  the  conservation  of  life,  possessed  a  voice  in  the  councils  of 
their  governments,  this  deplorable  war  would  never  have  1>een  allowed 
to  occur;  therefore,  be  it 

RESOLVED:  That  the  National  American  \Voinan  Suffrage  Associa- 
tion, in  convention  assembled,  does  herchy  affirm  the  obligation  of 
peace  and  good  will  toward  all  men  and  further  demands  the  inclu- 
sion of  women  in  the  government  of  nations  of  which  they  are  a 
part,  whose  citizens  they  hear  and  rear  and  whose  peace  their 
political  liberty  would  help  to  secure  and  maintain. 

RESOLVED:  That  we  commend  the  efforts  of  President  Wilson  to 
obtain  peace.  Sympathizing  deeply  with  the  plea  of  the  women  of 
fifteen  nations,  we  ask  the  President  of  the  United  States  and  the 
representatives  of  all  the  other  neutral  nations  to  use  their  best 
endeavors  to  bring  about  a  lasting  peace  founded  upon  democracy 
and  world-wide  disarmament. 

As  the  national  convention  for  1914  would  meet  in  Nashville 
it  was  necessary  to  have  a  special  delegation  attend  the  "hearing'' 
in  Washington  which  always  was  held  at  the  first  session  of  a 


NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1914  427 

new  Congress.  The  officers  of  the  Congressional  Union  ar- 
ranged for  one  before  the  House  Judiciary  Committee  for  March 
3,  and,  as  it  was  not  likely  that  a  second  would  be  granted,  Mrs. 
Medill  McCormick,  Mrs.  Antoinette  Funk  and  Mrs.  Sherman 
Booth  represented  the  National  American  Association  at  this 
one,  as  members  of  its  Congressional  Committee.  Mrs.  Funk 
was  the  speaker  and  the  main  points  of  her  address  are  included 
in  Mrs.  McCormick's  report  in  this  chapter.  In  effect  it  prepared 
the  way  for  the  new  measure  afterwards  called  the  Sha froth 
Amendment  and  she  began  by  saying:  "Ours  is  the  oldest  na- 
tional suffrage  association  in  the  United  States.  It  has  been  in 
existence  over  fifty  years  and  comprises  a  membership  of  462,000 
enrolled  -women  in  the  non-suffrage  States.  In  addition  to  these 
I  speak  this  morning  in  behalf  of  the  4,000,000  women  voters 
in  the  ten  equal  suffrage  States."  Further  on  she  said :  "Gentle- 
men, the  dearest  wish  of  our  hearts  would  be  fulfilled  if  you 
would  enfranchise  the  women.  I  know  pretty  much  whether  you 
are  going  to  or  not  and  you  know  that  I  know."  The  committee 
asked  her  a  number  of  questions  and  she  concluded:  "We  feel 
that  this  question  could  at  least  safely  go  to  the  people.  It  might 
be  submitted  by  petition  of  the  voters.  In  addition  let  me  make 
this  point  along  the  line  of  the  States'  rights  argument :  You  see, 
a  Legislature  per  sc  has  no  right;  it  is  nothing;  it  has  no  privilege 
—the  privilege  is  all  in  the  people  themselves,  and  you  could  not 
say  it  would  be  contrary  to  the  rights  of  the  people  in  the  State 
to  take  down  an  obstacle  that  was  built  up  in  front  of  them.  So, 
in  view  of  the  action  of  the  Democratic  caucus  in  the  House,  we 
think  you  can  at  least  do  this  much  for  us;  you  can  take  down 
this  obstacle — State  Legislatures." 

The  Federal  Women's  Equality  Association  also  had  asked 
for  a  portion  of  the  time  and  its  corresponding  secretary,  Mrs. 

a  Bewick  Colby  of  Washington  and  Portland,   Ore.,  had 

charge  of  it.     Although  this  association  -was  organized  twelve 

n  before  for  the  special  purpose  of  obtaining  a  bill  enabling 

.'•n  to  vote  for  Senators  and   Representatives,   it  spon^' 
in  the  present  Congress  the  same  measure  which  the  old  asso- 
ciation had  introduced  for  the  past  thirty-five  years  and  on  this 


428  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

occasion  its  speakers  discussed  only  the  amendment.  Mrs.  Colby 
introduced  first  Representative  Frank  W.  Mondell  of  Wyoming, 
who  always  was  ready  to  champion  the  cause  of  woman  suffrage 
for  every  organization.  He  made  the  point  among  others  that 
"as  State  after  State  grants  the  franchise  to  women  the  condition 
is  reached  where  its  denial  in  other  States  deprives  American 
citizens  of  a  sacred  right  if  they  have  moved  from  one  common- 
•wealth  to  another."  "Our  Federal  Union,"  he  said,  "will  be 
more  firmly  cemented  the  nearer  we  come  to  the  point  where 
qualifications  for  this  right  of  citizenship  are  the  same  in  all 
States."  In  Mrs.  Colby's  comprehensive  address  she  said: 

It  may  l>e  news  to  some  of  you  that  we  have  had  12  reports 
on  the  woman  suffrage  amendment  from  committees  of  Congress. 
In  1869  tne  fifst  hearing  was  given  on  woman  suffrage  and  from 
that  time  to  the  present  every  Congress  has  had  one.  .  .  . 

Never  were  there  such  splendid  women  in  the  records  of  time  as 
those  who  have  stood  for  the  rights  of  their  sex  and  the  rights  of 
humanity.  .  .  .  All  those  women  passed  on  without  being  allowed 
to  enter  the  promised  land  and  for  every  one  of  them  one  hundred 
sprang  up  for  whom  the  doors  of  opportunity  and  education  had 
been  opened  by  the  efforts  of  those  pioneer  women.  Now  these  also 
are  coming  to  gray  hairs  and  weariness,  but  f<.r  every  one  of  these 
bund  reds  there  are  a  .thousand  of  the  2oth  century  insisting  that  this 
question  shall  be  settled  now  mid  not  be  passed  on  to  the  children  of 
tomorrow  to  hamper  and  limit  them,  to  exhaust  and  consume  their 
energy  and  ability. 

I  was  present  at  the  last  hearing  where  Mrs.  Stanton  spoke  before 
a  Judiciary  Committee,  and  she  said:  "I  have  stood  before  this  com- 
mittee for  thirty  years,  may  I  be  allowed  to  sit  now?"  .  .  .  Miss 
Anthony  before  a  committee  in  1884  said:  "This  method  of  settling 
the  matter  by  the  Legislatures  is  just  as  much  in  the  line  of  State's 
rights  as  is  that  of  the  popular  vote.  The  one  question  before 
you  is:  Will  you  insist  that  a  majority  of  the  individual  men  of  every 
State  must  be  converted  before  its  women  shall  have  the  power 
to  vote,  or  will  you  allow  the  matter  to  be  settled  by  the  repre- 
sentative men  in  the  Legislatures  of  the  several  States?  We  are  not 
appealing  from  the  States  to  the  nation.  We  are  appealing  to  the 
States,  but  to  the  picked  men  of  those  States  instead  of  to  the 
masses."  She  used  to  say  when  John  Morrissey.  champion  of  the 
prize  ring,  was  in  the  New  York  Legislature,  that  it  was  bad  enough 
to  go  and  ask  him  to  give  her  her  birthright  but  it  was  infinitely  worse 
to  go  down  into  the  slums  and  ask  his  constituents.  .  .  . 

Mrs.  Colby  closed  with  an  extract  from  one  of  Mrs.  Stanton's 
eloquent  speeches  before  the  Judiciary  Committee  and  submitted 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQI4  429 

a  valuable  summary  of  Congressional  hearings  and  reports  on 
•woman  suffrage  from  1869  to  1914. 

Mrs.  Glendower  Evans  of  Boston  presided  over  the  hearing 
for  the  Congressional  Union  and  introduced  as  the  first  speaker 
Mrs.  Crystal  Eastman  Benedict  (N.  Y.)  who  said  in  part: 

When  we  go  to  the  voters  of  a  campaign  State  to  ask  them  to 
vote  "yes"  on  a  woman  suffrage  amendment,  we  go  as  petitioners 
with  smiles  and  arguments  and  unwearied  patience.  We  tell  them 
over  and  over  again  the  same  well  established  truths;  that  it  is 
the  essence  of  democracy  that  all  classes  of  people  should  have  the 
power  of  protection  in  their  own  hands ;  that  women  are  people 
and  that  they  have  special  interests  which  need  representation  in 
politics;  that  where  women  have  the  right  to  vote  they  vote  in  the 
same  proportion  as  men;  that  on  the  whole  their  influence  in  gov- 
ernment has  been  decidedly  ^ood  and  absolutely  no  evils  can  be 
traced  to  that  influence.  In  short,  we  reason  and  plead  with  them, 
try  to  touch  their  sense  of  honor,  their  sense  of  justice,  their  reason, 
whatever  noble  human  quality  they  possess. 

That  is  one  way  of  getting  woman  suffrage  in  the  United  States, 
a  long,  laborious  and  very  costly  way.  We  have  now  achieved  it  in 
nine  States  and  are  a  political  power,  and  the  time  has  come  for  us 
to  compel  this  great  reform  by  the  simple,  direct,  American  method 
of  amending  the  Federal  Constitution.  Our  argument  is  not  one  of 
justice  or  democracy  or  fair  play — it  is  one  of  political  expediency. 
Our  plea  is  simply  that  you  look  at  the  little  suffrage  map.  That 
triumphant,  threatening  army  of  white  States  crowding  rapidly  east- 
ward toward  the  center  of  population  is  the  sum  and  substance  of 
our  argument.  It  represents  4,000,000  women  voters.  Do  you  want 
to  put  your.-clvcs  in  the  very  delicate  position  of  going  to  those 
women  next  fall  for  endorsement  and  re-election  after  having  refused 
to  report  a  woman  suffrage  amendment  out  of  committee  for 

i  on  tlie  floor  of  the  House? 

You  mi^ht  say,  "Why  do  you  select  this  Democratic  administra- 
tion for  your  demand?     This  is  the-  first  time  in  eighteen  years  that 
been   in  control  of  the.  ( iovernment.     We  are  doing 
our  i lu*  people  what  they  want;  we  are  trying  to  live 

•  )  our  platform   pledges;   we   think   we  are  doin^  pretty  well. 
\Ylr.  in  finharra>siiu;  us   with   this   very   troublesome  ques- 

.  .  I  answer  that  if  this  Congress  adjourns  without  taking 
•i    on    the   woman    suffrage   amendment    it   will    he   because   the 
tely  dodged  the  ISSUC.      I -".very  woman  voter  will  know 
;ith    that    the    woman    voter    will    stand    by   us. 
have  lowered  the  tariff;  we  have 

v   bank-  avoided   Wnr  with    Mexico."  and 

VMU  have  done  these  tilings,   but   vou   have 

r  in  thi>  State.     She  asked 

d    d<m<  '.dit    which    I    possess    and 


43O  HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

which  you  are  asking  me  to  exercise  in  your  favor.  It  was  in  your 
power  to  extend  this  right  to  her  and  you  refused,  and  after  this 
you  come  to  me  and  ask  me  for  my  vote,  but  I  shall  show  you 
that  we  stand  together  on  this  question,  my  sister  and  I." 

Several  of  the  committee  made  caustic  remarks  about  trying 
to  hold  the  Democrats  responsible  after  the  Republicans  had 
ignored  them  during  all  the  past  years.  Mrs.  Evans  then  in- 
troduced Mary  (Mrs.  Charles  R.)  Beard,  wife  of  the  well- 
known  professor  in  Columbia  University.  Her  address  in  the 
stenographic  report  of  the  hearing  filled  seven  closely  printed 
pages,  an  able  review  of  the  Democratic  party's  record  in  regard 
to  Federal  legislation.  It  was  the  most  complete  expose  of  the 
fallacy  of  the  Democratic  contention  that  this  party  stood  for 
State's  rights  as  opposed  to  Federal  rights  ever  made  at  a  hearing 
in  behalf  of  woman  suffrage  and  is  most  inadequately  represented 
by  quotations.  In  the  course  of  it  she  said: 

Did  Thomas  Jefferson  and  James  Madison,  founders  of  the  Demo- 
cratic party,  rend  the  air  with  cries  of  State's  rights  against  Fed- 
eral usurpation  when  the  Federalists  chartered  the  first  United  States 
bank  in  1/91,  and  when  the  Federalist  Court,  under  the  leader- 
ship of  John  Marshall,  rendered  one  ringing  nationalist  decision 
after  another  upholding  the  rights  of  the  nation  against  the  claims 
of  tin*  States?  Jefferson,  as  President,  acquired  the  Louisiana  Ter- 
ritory in  what  he  admitted  was  an  open  violation  of  the  Federal 
C '(institution;  and  the  same  James  Madison  who  opposed  the  Fed- 
eralist bank  in  1790  as  a  violation  of  the  Constitution  and  State 
rights,  cheerfully  signed  the  bill  rechartering  that  bank  when  it  be- 
came useful  to  the  fiscal  interests  of  the  Democratic  party.  Jefferson 
was  ready  to  nullify  the  alien  and  sedition  laws  and  the  Constitu- 
tion of  the  United  States  in  the  Kentucky  resolutions  of  1798.  The 
very  Federalists  who  fought  him  in  that  day  and  denounced  him  as 
a  traitor  and  nullifier  lived  to  proclaim  and  practice  doctrines  of 
nullification  in  behalf  of  State's  rights  during  the  War  of  1812. 

In  the  administration  of  Jefferson  the  Federal  Government  began 
the  construction  of  the  great  national  road  without  any  express 
authority  from  the  Constitution  and  notwithstanding  the  fact  that 
the  construction  of  highways  was  admittedly  a  State  matter.  .  .  .  On 
August  24,  1912,  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  then  controlled 
by  the  Democratic  party,  voted  $5,000,000  for  the  construction  of 
experimental  and  rural-delivery  routes  and  to  aid  the  States  in 
highway  construction.  From  high  in  the  councils  of  that  party 
we  now  have  the  advocacy  of  national  ownership  of  railways,  tele- 
graph and  telephone  lines. 

In  the  early  days  of  the  republic  the  Democratic  party  protested 
even  in  armed  insurrection  in  Pennsylvania  against  the  inquisitorial 


NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1914  43! 

excise  tax,  which,  to  use  the  language  of  that  day,  "penetrated  a 
sphere  of  taxation  reserved  to  the  State."  Today  this  party  has 
placed  upon  the  statute  books  the  most  inquisitorial  tax  ever  laid 
in  the  history  of  our  country  by  the  act  of  April  9,  1912 — a  tax  on 
white  phosphorus  matches,  not  for  the  purpose  of  raising  revenues, 
for  which  the  taxing  power  is  conferred,  but  admittedly  for  the 
purpose  of  destroying  an  industry  which  it  could  not  touch  other- 
wise. The  match  industry  was  found  to  be  injurious  to  a  few  hun- 
dred workingmen,  women  and  children.  The  Democratic  party 
wisely  and  justly  cast  to  the  four  winds  all  talk  about  the  rights 
of  States,  made  the  match  business  a  national  affair  and  destroyed 
its  dangerous  features.  Men  and  women  all  over  the  country  rcse 
up  and  pronounced  it  a  noble  achievement.  Republicans  joined  with 
the  Democrats  in  claiming  the  honor  of  that  great  humane  service. 

I  have  not  yet  finished  with  this  tattered  shibboleth.  The  State 
had  the  right  to  nullify  Federal  law  in  1798,  so  Jefferson  taught 
and  Kentucky  practiced.  Half  a  century  elapsed ;  the  State  of  Wis- 
consin, rock-ribbed  Republican,  nullified  the  fugitive  slave  law  and 
in  its  pronunciamento  of  nullification  quoted  the  very  words  which 
Jefferson  used  in  1798.  A  Democratic  Supreme  Court  at  Wash- 
ington, presided  over  by  Chief  Justice  Taney,  the  arch  apostle  of 
State  rights,  answered  Wisconsin  in  the  very  language  of  the  Fed- 
eralists of  1/98,  whom  Jefferson  despised  and  condemned:  "The 
-titution  and  laws  of  the  United  States  are  supreme,  and  the 
Supreme  Court  is  the  only  and  final  arbiter  of  disputes  between  the 
State  and  National  Governments." 

A  few  more  years  elapsed.  South  Carolina  declared  the  right 
of  the  State  to  nullify  and  Wisconsin  answered  on  the  field  of  battle: 
"The  Constitution  and  laws  of  the  National  Government  are  supreme, 
so  help  us  God!''  ...  At  the  close  of  that  ever  to  be  regretted  war 
the  nation  wrote  into  the  Constitution  the  I4th  and  I5th  Amend- 
ments, their  fundamental  principle  that  the  suffrage  is  a  national 
matter.  Those  amendments  were  intended  to  establish  forever  adult 
male  suffrage.  .  .  . 

Mrs.  Beard  then  presented  for  the  record  a  thorough  synopsis 
of  the  proceedings  in  relation  to  the  franchise  of  the  convention 
that  framed  the  U.  S.  Constitution,  -which  showed,  she  declared, 
that  it  would  have  made  a  national  suffrage  qualification  if  the 
members  could  have  agreed  on  one.  "In  all  the  great  federa- 
tions of  the  world,"  she  said,  "Germany,  Canada,  Australia,  suf- 
frage is  regarded  as  a  national  question,"  and  continued:  "If 
respect  for  the  great  and  wise  who  have  viewed  suffrage  as  a 
nal  matter  did  not  compel  us  so  to  regard  it,  the  plain 
dictates  of  common  sense  would  do  so.  We  are  all  ruled  by  the 
made  1>y  Congress,  from  Maine  to  California;  we  must  all 


432  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

obey  them  equally  -whether  we  like  them  or  not.  We  are  taxed 
under  them ;  we  travel  according  to  rules  laid  down  by  the  Inter- 
state Commerce  Commission  under  the  Interstate  Commerce 
law;  the  remaining  national  resources  are  to  be  conserved  by 
Congress ;  whether  we  have  peace  or  war  depends  upon  Congress. 
Is  it  of  no  concern  who  compose  Congress,  who  vote  for  mem- 
bers of  Congress  and  for  the  President?" 

It  was  shown  by  Mrs.  Beard  how  closely  national  and  State 
policies  were  interwoven;  that  the  submission  of  this  amend- 
ment would  take  it  to  the  State  Legislatures  for  a  final  decision ; 
how  with  woman  suffrage  in  nine  States  there  was  a  much  greater 
demand  for  it  than  there  was  for  the  one  changing  the  method 
of  electing  U.  S.  Senators;  how  the  plank  in  the  national 
platform  adopted  in  Baltimore  exempting  American  ships  in 
coastwise  trade  from  Panama  canal  tolls  was  now  before  the 
Democrats  in  Congress  for  repudiation;  how  another  plank  de- 
manded State  action  on  presidential  primaries  and  President 
Wilson  called  for  a  national  law.  Now  a  Democratic  Congress 
refused  to  submit  a  national  suffrage  amendment  because  the 
platform  did  not  ask  for  it!  She  concluded:  "No,  gentlemen, 
you  can  not  answer  us  by  shaking  in  our  faces  that  tatterdemalion 
of  a  State's  rights  scarecrow.  ...  It  is  a  travesty  upon  our  rea- 
soning faculties  to  suppose  that  we  can  not  put  two  and  two 
together.  It  is  underestimating  our  strength  and  our  financial 
resources  to  suppose  that  we  can  not  place  these  plain  facts  in  the 
hands  of  15,000,000  voters,  including  over  3,000,000  women.  To 
take  away  from  the  States  the  right  to  determine  how  Presiden- 
tial electors  shall  be  chosen  is  upholding  the  Constitution  and  the 
previous  rights  of  the  States;  but  to  submit  to  the  States  an 
amendment  permitting  them  to  decide  for  themselves  whether 
they  want  woman  suffrage  for  the  nation  is  a  violent  usurpation 
of  State's  rights !  We  can  not  follow  your  logic." 

Dr.  Cora  Smith  King  of  Seattle,  who  had  so  large  a  part  in 
obtaining  equal  suffrage  in  Washington,  said: 

I  am  a  voter  like  yourselves;  I  am  eligible  to  become  a  member 
of  Congress,  like  any  one  of  you.  However,  I  do  not  stand  before 
you  as  one  voter  only  but  to  remind  you  that  there  are  nearly 
4,000,000  women  voters  in  the  United  States  today.  I  represent 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQI4  433 

an  organization  called  the  National  Council  of  Women  Voters,  organ- 
ized in  every  one  of  the  States  where  women  vote  on  equal  terms 
with  men.  These  States,  as  you  know,  are  Wyoming,  Colorado, 
Utah,  Idaho,  Washington,  California,  Oregon,  Kansas,  and  Arizona. 
There  are  three  objects  of  the  Council:  One  is  to  educate  ourselves 
in  the  exercise  of  our  citizenship;  the  second  is  to  aid  in  our  own 
States  where  we  vote  in  putting  upon  the  statute  books  laws  benefi- 
cial to  men  and  women,  children  and  the  home ;  and  our  third  object 
is  the  one  which  brings  me  here  this  morning — to  aid  in  the  further 

ision  of  suffrage  to  women. 

The  members  of  your  committee  from  the  latest  equal  suffrage 
States  will  bear  me  out  in  saying  that  there  are  thousands  of  women 
rs  who  have  not  yet  made  their  party  alignment.  I  desire  to 
call  attention  to  these  many  thousands  who  have  only  recently  won 
the  battle  which  they  have  fought  so  earnestly — as  I  have  done  from 
the  time  that  I  attained  my  majority  and  have  not  yet  forgotten  what 
it  cost — and  who  have  their  ears  attuned  to  the  plea  of  their  sisters 
in  the  other  States.  I  remind  you,  gentlemen,  that  they  may  not 
prove  unheeding  when  requested  to  vote  for  the  men  who  are  favor- 
able to  the  further  extension  of  suffrage.  I  trust  that  this  present 
committee  will  not  justify  the  charge  of  being  a  graveyard  for  many 
suffrage  bills.  I  warn  you  that  ghosts  may  walk. 

Mrs.  William  Kent,  wife  of  Representative  Kent  of  California, 
spoke  briefly,  telling  how  the  suffrage  societies  there  became 
civic  leagues  after  the  vote  was  won  and  stood  solidly  back  of 
seventeen  bills  relating  to  the  welfare  of  the  State  and  the  home 
and  the  influence  they  were  able  to  exert  because  of  having  the 
franchise.  She  urged  the  committee  to  submit  the  amendment 
and  spare  women  the  further  drudgery  of  State  campaigns  and 

red  them  that  the  women  would  not  stop  until  the  last  one 
was  enfranchised.  Representative  Joseph  R.  Knowland  of  Cali- 
fornia gave  earnest  testimony  in  favor  of  the  practical  working 
of  woman  suffrage  in  that  State  saying:  "For  years  we  heard 
the  same  arguments  against  equal  rights  for  women  as  we  hear 

v  but  we  have  tried  it  and  many  who  were  most  bitterly 

are  now  glad  that  California  lias  given  the  franchise  to 

women.     It  has  proved  an  unqualified  success.     What  I  desire 

mpress  upon  this  committee  is  that  even  though  you  may 
oppose  the  amendment  it  is  your  duty  to  report  it  in  order  that 

y  member  of  the  House  may  have  an  opportunity  to  register 

vote  for  or  it." 

Donald  Hooker  of  Baltimore  pointed  out   the  iujn 


434  HISTORY  OF  WOMAN  SUFFRAGE 

of  permitting  women  to  vote  in  California,  for  instance,  and 
holding  them  disfranchised  when  they  crossed  the  State  boundary 
line,  and  asked  the  committee  to  put  themselves  in  the  place  of 
citizens  so  discriminated  against.  Mrs.  Evans  closed  the  hearing 
in  an  interesting  speech  but  as  she  could  not  resist  eulogizing 
President  Wilson  she  was  assailed  by  a  storm  of  questions  and 
remarks  from  the  Republican  members  of  the  committee  as  to 
his  attitude  on  woman  suffrage,  while  her  support  of  the  Demo- 
cratic party  brought  protests  from  the  members  of  the  Con- 
gressional Union. 

Mrs.  McCormick  closed  for  her  side  by  saying:  "Mr.  Chair- 
man, I  simply  want  to  clear  up  what  may  be  a  little  confused  in 
your  mind  in  regard  to  the  difference  in  the  policy  in  the  two 
organizations  represented  here  today.  I  represent  the  National 
American  Woman  Suffrage  Association,  and,  as  we  have  stated 
over  and  over  again,  it  has  enrolled  more  than  462,000  women, 
organized  in  every  non-suffrage  State  in  the  country.  Our 
policy,  which  is  adopted  by  our  annual  convention,  is  strictly 
non-partisan.  We  do  not  hold  any  party  responsible  for  the 
passage  of  this  amendment.  We  are  organizing  all  over  the 
country,  using  the  congressional  district  as  our  limit,  in  order 
to  educate  the  constituents  of  you  gentlemen  in  regard  to  the 
great  need  to  enfranchise  women  and  we  do  not  hold  the  policy 
which  is  adopted  by  the  smaller  organization,  the  Congressional 
Union." 

This  brought  the  members  of  the  Judiciary  Committee  into 
action  again  and  they  persisted  in  knowing  the  size  of  the  Con- 
gressional Union  until  Mrs.  Benedict  answered :  "Our  immedi- 
ate membership  is  not  our  strong  point."  Mr.  Webb  of  North 
Carolina  repeated  the  question  why  the  Republican  party,  which 
was  in  power  sixteen  years,  was  not  held  responsible  for  not  re- 
porting the  amendment  and  she  replied  that  it  was  not  until  after 
the  elections  of  1912  that  the  women  were  in  a  position  to  hold 
any  party  responsible. 

Mrs.  Frances  Dilopoulo  spoke  for  a  moment.  Miss  Janet 
Richards  (D.  C.)  called  the  attention  of  the  committee  to  the 
etymology  of  the  word  democracy — demos,  people;  kratein,  to 
rule — rule  of  the  people — and  asked :  "If  women  must  pay  taxes 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1914  435 

and  must  abide  by  the  law,  how  can  the  suffrage  be  denied  to 
them  in  a  true  democracy?'*  She  spoke  of  her  personal  study 
of  the  question  in  Finland  and  the  Scandinavian  countries  where 
women  are  enfranchised.  Dr.  Clara  W.  McNaughton  (D.  C.)» 
vice-president  of  the  Federal  Women's  Equality  Association,  in 
closing  stated  that  they  had  a  tent  on  the  field  of  Gettysburg 
during  its  5Oth  anniversary  and  found  the  old  soldiers  almost  to  a 
man  in  favor  of  woman  suffrage.  Mrs.  Evans  filed  a  carefully  pre- 
pared paper,  State  versus  Federal  Action  on  Woman  Suffrage. 
Mrs.  Helen  H.  Gardener  (D.  C.),  officially  connected  -with  the 
National  American  Association,  submitted  to  the  committees  a 
comprehensive  "brief"  on  the  case  which  said  in  part: 

In  a  published  statement  yesterday  the  Secretary  of  State,  Wil- 
liam Jennings  Bryan,  used  these  simple,  direct,  easily  understood 
words:  "All  believers  in  a  republic  accept  the  doctrine  that  the  gov- 
ernment must  derive  its  just  powers  from  the  consent  of  the  gov- 
erned and  the  President  gives  every  legitimate  encouragement  to 
those  who  represent  this  idea  while  he  discourages  those  who  attempt 
to  overthrow  or*ignore  the  principles  of  popular  government." 

I  am  sure  that  all  of  us  hope  and  want  to  believe  that  this  latest 
pronouncement  given  out  officially  as  from  the  leading  Cabinet  officer 
intended  to  be  accepted  at  home  as  well  as  abroad  as  literally 
and  absolutely  true  and  not  a  mere  bit  of  spectacular  oratory.     But 
if   it   is   true,   then   not  one  of   you  gentlemen   who  has   it  in  his 
to  oppose  woman  suffrage  is  a  believer  in  our  form  of  gov- 
ernment; not  one  of  you  is  loyal  to  the  flag;  not  one  of  you  is  a 
true  American.     You  do  not  allow  us  women  to  give  our  consent, 
re  governed.     You  are  not  sitting  in  Congress  justly  and 
Mr.  Bryan  and  the  President  do  not  believe  that  you  are — none  of 
t  those  who  are  from  woman  suffrage  States — or  else  that 
il    statement   is   mere   oratory   for   foreign   consumption.     He 
that    the    President   discourages   those   who   attempt   to   over- 
throw or  even  to  "ignore"  this  principle  of  popular  government.    We 
are   more   than   glad   to   believe   that    Mr.    P.ryan    is   correct   in   this 
plain   statement,   for  then  we  will  know  that  a  number  of  you  will 
!  deal  of  "discouragement'1  at   the  hands  of  the   Presi- 
dent,   and    that    those   of   you    who    stand    with    us   and   vote   for   us 
will    •  four   sure   reward    from  him.   in   that   "every   legitimate 

t"    will    IK-    yours,    and    also,    incidentally,    ours.      We 
overdue.    Up  to  the  present  time  we  have  not 
•hat  either  the  President  or  the  Seen  tary  of   State-  cjnite   fully 
there   is   a   good  deal  of  belated  eiioniragenient   due 
d   quite   a    limitless   supply   of    di  meiit    due    tlmse    who 

ignore"  all  semblance  of  a  belief  in  the  right 
Ml    to   gr  .  nit    to   their   own   government.      I 


43^  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SHFFRAGE 

glad  to  have  so  high  an  authority  that  the  good  time  is  not  only 
coming  hut  that  it  has  at  last  arrived — and  through  the  Democratic 
party ! 

Again,  in  this  simple,  plain,  seemingly  frank  statement  of  the 
Secretary  of  State,  he  says :  .  .  .  "Nothing  will  be  encouraged  away 
from  home  that  is  forbidden  here."  Yet,  away  from  home,  he  says, 
the  fixed  foreign  policy  is  that  "the  people  shall  have  such  officers  as 
they  desire,"  and  that  these  officers  must  have  "the  consent  of  the 
governed."  That  is  precisely  what  we  women  demand.  Are  the 
Mexican  peons  more  to  our  Government  than  are  the  women  of 
America?  If  the  Mexican  officials  must  be  disciplined,  unless  they 
are  ready  to  admit  that  "the  consent  of  the  governed  must  be 
obtained"  before  there  can  be  a  legitimate  government  which  we 
can  recognize,  how  it  is  possible  for  you  and  for  the  President 
and  for  the  State  Department  absolutely  to  ignore  or  refuse  the 
same  ethical  and  political  principle  here  at  home  for  one-half  of  all 
the  people,  who  form  what  you  call  and  hold  up  to  the  world  as 
a  republic? 

No  one  who  lives,  who  ever  lived,  who  ever  will  live  understands 
or  really  accepts  and  believes  in  a  republic  which  denies  to  women 
the  right  of  consent  by  their  ballots  to  that  government.  Such  a 
position  is  unthinkable  and  the  time  has  come  when  an  aristocracy 
of  sex  must  give  place  to  a  real  republic  or  the  absurdity  of  the 
position,  as  it  exists,  will  make  us  the  laughing  stock  of  the  world. 
Let  us  either  stop  our  pretence  before  the  nations  of  the  earth  of 
being  a  republic  and  having  "equality  before  the  law"  or  else  let  us 
become  the  republic  that  we  pretend  to  be. 

This  concluded  the  hearing  for  the  suffrage  associations  and 
as  the  "antis"  also  had  asked  for  one  they  occupied  the  after- 
noon. Airs.  Arthur  M.  Dodge,  the  president  of  the  Na- 
tional Association  Opposed  to  Woman  Suffrage,  said  in  open  in  j; 
the  discussion:  "We  begin  to  hear  from  all  over  the  country 
a  very  decided  demand  for  help.  The  women  are  beginning  to 
be  frightened.  They  are  frightened  at  exactly  the  same  sort 
of  thing  by  which  the  suffragists  try  to  frighten  you  men- 
noise — so  that  in  many  States  women  are  beginning  to  organize 
for  the  first  time  against  suffrage.  We  are  here  today  rather 
against  our  wishes.  We  did  not  want  to  bother  you  men  again 
because  the  matter  has  been  pretty  well  settled  for  this  session 
of  Congress  at  least.  But  the  suffragists  had  demanded  a  hear- 
ing of  you  gentlemen,  and  so  we  asked  you  to  hear  us,  and  you 
have  very  courteously  extended  to  us  that  privilege.  We  are 
here  to  represent  the  majority  of  women  still  quiet  but  not  going 


NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF     1914  437 

to  be  quiet  very  much  longer.  .  .  ."  Mrs.  Dodge  made  an  analysis 
of  the  number  of  enfranchised  women  to  show  that  the  parties 
had  nothing  to  fear  and  said  in  closing:  "I  wish  to  say  that  the 
suffragists  who  make  these  threats  are  not  representing  the  women 
of  the  country.  It  is  the  women  of  the  country  whom  we  try  to 
represent  and  we  have  tried  for  several  years  against  the  noisy, 
in>istent  and  persistent  demands  of  a  group." 

The  other  women  speakers  were  Mrs.  Henry  White,  member 
ie  executive  committee  of  the  Massachusetts  Association; 
Miss  Alice  Hill  Chittenden,  president  of  the  New  York  Asso- 
ciation; Miss  Marjorie  Dorman,  secretary  of  the  Women  Wage- 
earners'  Anti-Suffrage  League  of  New  York  City1 ;  Mrs.  O.  D. 
Oliphant  of  New  Jersey,  who  was  not  able  to  reach  Washington 
but  whose  paper  on  Feminism  was  put  into  the  report;  Miss 
Minnie  Bronson,  secretary  of  the  National  Association.  Miss 
i son's  address,  which  was  largely  statistical,  called  out  many 
questions  from  the  suffrage  members  of  the  committee.  She 
said  the  association  had  approximately  100,000  members.2 

The  first  of  the  men  speakers  against  the  amendment  was  J.  N. 

Matthews  (N.  J.)  who  began  by  saying  it  would  be  difficult  for 

him  to  put  aside  his  Democratic  partisanship  even  for  a  moment. 

He  was  soon  involved  in  a  wrangle  with  the  committee  which 

:pied  over  half  of  the  space  filled  by  his  speech  in  the  report. 

was  true  also  of  the  speech  of  Representative  Thomas  J. 

Heflin  (Ala.) i  which  ended  with  a  long  poem  entitled  The  Only 

•ierat5on,  beginning:     "There's  no  earthly  use  in  prating  of 

ving  grace."     Mrs.  Dodge  had  scored  the  suffragists 

for  having  more  than  one  association  but  delegates  from  three 

of  the  "antis"  v  cut  at  this  hearing,  the  Guidon  Society 

k  City,  represented  by  a  New  York  lawyer,  John  R. 

Don  Passos,  who  stated  that  he  represented  also  the  Man  Suf- 

>sociation.     FIc  filed  a  "brief"  of  its  president,  Everett  P. 

1  The  most  persistent  efforts  of  the  suffragists  never  succeeded  in  locating  this  league. 
•   the  request  of  the  committee  the  exact  figures  were  furnished  later  and  showed  a 
membership  of   105,000,  of  whom  85,600  lived  in  the  five  non-suffrage  States  of  Connec- 
Massachiisctts.  New  York,  New  Jersey  and  Pennsylvania.     Of  the  remaining 
n-suffrage  State*  of  New  Hampshire,  Rhode  Island  and  Ohio  had  11.5- 
and    6,500    were    divided    among    other    non-suffrage    States    and    the    Disti 
Columbia.     Not   one   member   was   reported   from    States   where   the    franchise   had    been 
given  to  women,  although  it  was  a  stock  argument  of  the  "antis"  that  it  had  been  forced 
on  them  and  they  would  gladly  get  rid 


HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

Wheeler,  a  Democratic  New  York  lawyer,  entitled  Home  Rule. 
As  was  the  case  with  the  other  men  speakers  most  of  his  time 
was  taken  up  by  the  "heckling"  of  the  committee  and  his  answers. 
In  the  latter  he  said  that  woman  suffrage  sooner  or  later  would 
have  a  tendency  to  destroy  the  home,  hurt  the  social  and  moral 
standard  of  women  and  "convert  them  into  beasts." 

Dr.  Mary  Walker  spoke  ten  minutes  at  her  own  request,  scor- 
ing the  suffragists  and  saying  that  women  already  had  the  right 
to  vote  under  the  National  Constitution.  Mrs.  Evans  closed  the 
hearing. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

NATIONAL  AMERICAN   CONVENTION  OF   1915. 

The  Forty-seventh  annual  convention  of  the  association  was 
held  Dec.  14-19,  1915,  in  Washington,  the  scene  of  many 
which  had  preceded  it,  with  546  accredited  delegates,  the  largest 
number  on  record.  The  one  of  the  preceding  year  had  left  many 
of  the  members  in  a  pessimistic  frame  of  mind  but  this  had  en- 
tirely disappeared  and  never  were  there  so  much  hope  and  optim- 
ism.1 The  Federal  Amendment  had  for  the  first  time  been 
debated  and  voted  on  in  the  House  of  Representatives,  receiving 
noes,  174  ayes,  a  satisfactory  result  for  the  first  trial.  Al- 
though in  November,  1915,  four  of  the  most  populous  States — 
Massachusetts,  New  York,  New  Jersey  and  Pennsylvania — had 
defeated  suffrage  amendments  yet  a  million-and-a-quarter  of 
men  had  voted  in  favor.  These  were  all  Republican  States  and 
vet  had  given  a  larger  vote  for  woman  suffrage  than  for  the 

II:   In  the  long  years  of  work  for  equal  suffrage  none  has  been  so  crowded  with 

self-sacrificing   labor   for   the    cause   as  this   one   and    no   year   so    significant   of   its   early 

ultimate  triumph.     As  we  issue  this  Call  four  great  campaigns  for  equal  suffrage  are  in 

<s  in  four  eastern   States.     Thousands  of  women   are  working  with  voice  and  pen 

ns  of  thousands  are  contributing  in  time  and  money  to  win  political    freedom   for 

women  in  these  States.     Other  States  are  rapidly  preparing  for  active  campaigns  in   1916. 

At   the  same  time  the   National  Association  is  putting  forth  the  strongest  efforts  to  win 

nation-wide  suffrage  through  the  passage  of  its  historic  Amendment  to  the  Constitution  of 

ted  States. 

\Ve  shall  come  together  at  this,  our  forty-seventh  annual  convention,  larger  in  numbers, 
more  united  in  spirit  and  effort,  more  assured  of  early  success  than  ever  before.  .  .  . 
.UK!,  with  renewed  zeal  and  inspiration,  rejoicing  that  the  long  struggle  for  the  new 
n  for  women  is  nearing  an  end.  Public  opinion  for  equal  suffrage  has  increased 
a  hundredfold  in  this  fateful  year.  It  seems  borne  in  upon  the  most  conservative  that 
it  is  only  a  matter  of  time  when  nation-wide  political  freedom  will  be  granted  to  women 
as  an  inevitable  outcome  of  our  democracy  and  the  last  step  in  the  great  experiment  of 
self-government. 

ANNA   HOWARD  SHAW,  President. 

KATHARINE    DEXTER    McCoRMlCK,    First    Vice-president. 
NELLIE    NUGENT    SOMERVILLE,    Second    Vice-President. 
KATHARINE    BKMENT    DAVIS,    Third    Vice-President. 
NELLIE   SAWYER   CLARK,  Corresponding  Secretary. 
SUSAN   WALKER    FITZGERALD,    Recording   Secretary. 
EMMA  WINNER   ROGERS,  Treasurer. 

KN   GUTIIRIE   MILLER, 
RUTH   HANNA  McCoRMlCK,     \  A 

439 


44°  HISTORY    <>F    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

Republican  presidential  candidate  the  preceding  year.  Over  42 
per  cent,  of  the  votes  in  New  York  and  over  46  per  cent,  in 
Pennsylvania  were  affirmative  and  the  press  of  the  country, 
instead  of  sounding  the  "death  knell"  as  usual  after  defeats, 
predicted  victory  at  the  next  trial.  In  October  the  cause  had 
received  its  most  important  accession  when  President  Wilson 
and  seven  of  the  ten  members  of  his  Cabinet  declared  in  favor 
of  woman  suffrage;  and  in  November  the  President  had  gone 
to  his  home  in  Princeton,  N.  J.,  on  election  day  to  cast  his  vote 
for  the  pending  State  amendment. 

An  honorary  committee  of  arrangements  for  the  convention 
had  been  formed  in  Washington  which  included  many  of  the 
most  prominent  women  officially  and  socially,  headed  by  Miss 
Margaret  Wilson,  the  President's  eldest  daughter.  Republican 
and  Democratic  National  Committees  had  cordially  received 
suffrage  speakers.  The  first  measure  to  be  introduced  in  both 
Houses  of  the  new  Congress  was  the  resolution  for  the  Federal 
Suffrage  Amendment,  with  Dr.  Anna  Howard  Shaw,  president  of 
•the  National  American  Suffrage  Association,  sitting  on  the 
Speaker's  bench  by  invitation  of  Speaker  and  Mrs.  Champ  Clark. 
The  convention  opened  Tuesday  morning  and  at  five  o'clock  in 
the  afternoon  the  delegates  were  received  by  President  Wilson  in 
the  White  House.  They  walked  the  few  short  blocks  from  the 
convention  headquarters  in  the  New  Willard  Hotel  to  the  White 
House  and  the  line  reached  from  the  street  through  the  corridors 
to  the  East  Room.  After  each  had  had  a  hearty  handshake  Dr. 
Shaw  expressed  the  gratitude  of  all  suffragists,  not  for  his  vote, 
which  was  a  duty,  but  for  his  reasons,  to  which  the  widest 
publicity  had  been  given.  She  said  the  women  felt  encouraged 
to  ask  for  two  things:  first,  his  influence  in  obtaining  the  sub- 
mission of  the  Federal  Amendment  by  Congress  at  the  present 
session;  second,  if  that  failed,  his  influence  in  securing  a  plank 
for  woman  suffrage  in  his  party's  national  platform.  The  latter 
he  answered  to  their  great  joy  by  saying  that  he  had  it  under 
consideration.  He  looked  at  his  hand  a  little  ruefully  and  said : 
"You  ladies  have  a  strong  grip."  "Yes,"  she  responded,  "we 
hold  on." 

The  most  striking  contrast  between  this  and  other  conventions 


NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQI5 

was  seen  in  the  program.  For  more  than  two-score  years  the 
evening  sessions  and  often  those  of  the  afternoon  had  been  given 
tip  to  addresses  by  prominent  men  and  women  and  attended  by 
large  general  audiences.  In  this  way  the  seed  was  sowed  and 
public  sentiment  created  and  people  in  the  cities  which  invited 
the  convention  looked  forward  to  an  intellectual  feast.  This  year 
it  was  felt  that  the  general  public  needed  no  further  education 
on  this  subject;  the  association  had  become  a  business  organ- 
ization and  the  woman  suffrage  question  one  of  practical  politics. 
Therefore  but  one  mass  meeting  was  held,  that  of  Sunday  after- 
noon, and  the  entire  week  was  devoted  to  State  reports,  con- 
ferences, committee  meetings,  plans  of  work,  campaigns  and  dis- 
cussion of  details.  These  were  extremely  interesting  and  valuable 
for  the  delegates  but  not  for  the  newspapers  or  the  public. 

The  entire  tenth  floor  of  the  New  Willard  Hotel  was  utilized 
for  convention  purposes  and  the  full  meetings  were  held  in  the 
large  ball  room,  which  had  been  beautifully  decorated  under  the 
artistic  direction  of  Mrs.  Glenna  Tinnin,  with  flags,  banners  and 
delicate,  symbolic  draperies.  The  large  number  of  young  women 
was  noticeable  and  the  association  seemed  permeated  with  new 
life.  "Old  men  and  women  for  council  and  young  ones  for 
work,"  said  Dr.  Shaw  smilingly,  as  she  opened  the  convention. 
"The  historv  that  has  been  made  by  this  organization  is  due  to 
'oil  and  consecration  of  the  women  of  the  country  during 
pa^t  vears.  nnd,  while  T  am  happy  to  see  so  many  new  faces,  my 
rt  warms  when  my  eyes  erect  one  of  the  veterans.  So  in 
welcoming  you  I  sav,  All  hail  to  the  new  and  thank  God  for 
the  old!" 

Tho  convention  plunged  at  once  into  reports.  That  of  Mrs. 
-v  V/ado  PHOTIC;  fnp  treasurer,  showod  receipts  during  thr 
pa^t  year  of  *~i.?Ki  and  disbursements  of  $42,396,  among  thorn 
•on  for  State  campaigns.  A  large  and  active  finance  com- 
.mittoe  had  boon  formed  and  thousands  of  appeals  for  money  dis- 
tributor]. At  thi<?  convention  $~o.ooo  wore  pledged  for  the 
k  of  the  coming  vonr  and  the  convention  showed  fullest 
crmfirlonro  ir  the  now  troasuror.  who  said  in  prosonting  her  ro- 
port:  "T1ii<=  ha*  boen  a  »nost  interesting  and  boantiful  year  of 
nctivitv  fW  tV  National  Association.  The  officers  and 


442  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

at  the  headquarters  have  worked  in  perfect  harmony.  You  have 
all,  dear  presidents  and  members  of  the  sixty-three  affiliated  asso- 
ciations, been  most  kind  to  your  new  treasurer  and  she  has  deeply 
appreciated  your  forbearance." 

The  report  of  a  temporary  organization,  the  Volunteer  League, 
•was  given  by  its  director,  Mrs.  Katharine  Dexter  McCormick. 
Its  purpose  was  to  interest  suffragists  who  were  not  connected 
with  the  association  and  President  Mary  E.  Woolley  of  Mt. 
Holyoke  College,  Mrs.  Robert  Gould  Shaw,  Mrs.  Theodore 
Roosevelt,  Jr.,  and  Mrs.  Winston  Churchill  accepted  places  on 
the  board.  Letters  were  sent  out,  avoiding  the  active  workers, 
and  over  $2,000  were  turned  into  the  treasury.  The  legal  ad- 
viser, Miss  Mary  Rutter  Towle,  reported  a  final  accounting  of 
the  estate  of  Mrs.  Lila  Sabin  Buckley  of  Kansas  and  the  asso- 
ciation received  the  net  amount  of  $9,551  on  a  compromise.  The 
legacy  of  $10,000  by  Mrs.  Mary  J.  Coggeshall  of  Iowa  would 
be  paid  in  a  few  months. 

Charles  T.  Hallinan,  as  chairman,  made  a  detailed  report  of 
the  newly  organized  Publicity  Department.  Miss  Clara  Savage, 
of  the  New  York  Evening  Post,  was  made  chairman  of  the  Press 
Bureau  and  Mrs.  Laura  Puffer  Morgan  of  Washington,  D.  C, 
a  member  of  the  Congressional  Committee,  took  charge  of  its 
publicity.  Mrs.  Ernest  Thompson  Seton  accepted  the  chairman- 
ship of  a  special  finance  committee  which  did  heroic  work.  The 
News  Letter,  an  enlarged  bulletin  of  information  and  discussion 
in  regard  to  the  activities  of  the  association,  had  already  more 
than  a  thousand  subscriptions  and  went  to  1 1 6  weekly  farm 
papers,  99  weekly  labor  papers  and  120  press  chairmen  and  suf- 
frage editors.  The  report  told  of  the  successful  publicity  work 
for  Dr.  Shaw  and  other  speakers,  and  said :  "I  prize  especially  my 
relationship  with  Dr.  Shaw,  whose  courage,  humor  and  zest, 
whose  whole  heroic  personality,  have  made  this  a  stimulating  and 
memorable  year."  An  amusing  account  was  given  of  the  effort 
"to  accommodate  the  routine  activities  of  the  organization  to 
the  demand  of  the  press  for  something  new  or  sensational,  which 
made  great  demands  upon  the  originality,  initiative  and  judgment 
of  both  the  board  and  the  publicity  department,"  but  it  was  man- 
aged about  four  times  a  week.  The  Sunday  papers  "drew  heavily 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION   OF    1915  443 

upon  the  ingenuity  of  the  publicity  department ;  special  or  feature 
stories  were  sent  to  special  localities;  for  instance  those  that 
would  appeal  to  the  Southerners  to  the  papers  of  the  South,  others 
to  those  of  the  West,  and  others  were  prepared  for  the  syndicates 
and  press  associations."  Of  a  new  and  important  feature  of  the 
work  Mr.  Hallinan  said :  "The  need  of  a  competent  Data  Depart- 
ment for  the  National  Association  was  early  recognized  but  it 
seemed  a  difficult  thing  to  manage  on  the  budget  provided  by  the 
convention.  It  was  finally  decided  that  owing  to  the  pressure  of 
the  campaigns  the  money  must  be  found  somehow  and  it  was. 
In  September  the  department  was  established  on  a  temporary 
basis  with  Mrs.  Mary  Sumner  Boyd,  formerly  associate  editor 
of  The  Survey,  in  charge.  She  was  admirably  equipped  for 
research  work  and  soon  got  into  usable  shape  the  valuable  records 
of  the  national  headquarters.  Sometimes  the  pressure  upon  the 
department  for  facts,  including  'answers  to  antis,'  was  tremendous 
but  there  were  few  requests  for  information  which  were  not 
answered  by  mail  or  telegraph  within  24  or  48  hours." 

Mrs.  Boyd's  own  full  report  of  her  first  year's  work  was  heard 
with  much  interest  and  satisfaction.     In  it  she  said: 

The  opponents  of  woman  suffrage  have  by  their  criticisms  made 

it  cover  the  whole  field  of  human  affairs,  so  it  is  not  surprising 

that  the  inquiries  by  correspondents  of  this  department  have  ranged 

m.m  the  moral  standard  of  women  to  a  request  for  assistance  in 

righting1  a  personal  wrong.     Others  come  under  main  headings  of 

the  progress  of   woman  suffrage,  both  partial   and   complete;  the 

standing  of  women  under  the  laws;  the  effect  of  voting  women  on 

the  character  of  legislation ;  the  part  they  take  in  politic.il  life  and 

action  on  their  lives  and  characters;  statistics  and  facts  in  regard 

to  the  makeup  of  the  population  of  the  various  States;  details  in 

-•I   to   State  constitutions,   election   laws  and  methods  of   voting 

voman  suffrage  in   the  varior  ....  What  has  become 

of    late    "stock"   anti-criticisms   of   some   effects   of   the   ballot    has 

hly  investigated  and  "stock"  answers  prepared.     Facts 

and    figure^    from   official   sources   have   l»een   gathered    to   disprove 

reed  jury  duty,  e  elections.  Inv. 

hirth  rates  and  increased  divorce  rates  in  suffra'  The  results 

of    t'  lies   have   been    surprisin.  rahlc   to    the    suffrage 

•.ing  that  in  such  criticisms  the  "ant is"  have  bet 
ly   in    the   wrong.      They   have   onlv   heen   ahle   to   use   this   line 
of  argument  at  all  1..  have  had   no  one   free  to 

the  time  to  answer  them  once  and  for  all  with  the  t" 


444  HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

At  an  important  afternoon  conference  Mrs.  Carrie  Chapman 
Catt,  who  had  been  chairman  of  the  New  York  Campaign  Com- 
mittee during  the  effort  for  a  State  amendment,  made  the  open- 
ing address  on  The  Revelations  of  Recent  Campaigns  which 
shed  a  great  deal  of  light  on  the  causes  of  defeat.  She  was  fol- 
lowed by  Mrs.  Frank  M.  Roessing,  who,  as  president  of  the  Penn- 
sylvania association,  had  charge  of  the  campaign  in  that  State, 
and  Mrs.  Gertrude  Halliday  Leonard,  who  was  a  leading  factor 
in  the  one  in  Massachusetts,  both  presenting  constructive  plans 
for  those  of  the  future.  Mrs.  Raymond  Brown,  Mrs.  Lillian 
Feickert,  Mrs.  Harriet  Taylor  Upton  and  Mrs.  Draper  Smith, 
presidents  of  the  New  York,  New  Jersey,  Ohio  and  Nebraska 
associations,  described  the  Need  and  Use  of  Campaign  Organ- 
ization. Miss  Mary  Garrett  Hay,  chairman  of  the  New  York 
City  Campaign  Committee,  and  Miss  Hannah  J.  Patterson,  chair- 
man of  the  Woman  Suffrage  Party  of  Pennsylvania,  told  from 
practical  experience  How  to  Organize  for  a  Campaign.  The 
conference  was  continued  through  the  evening,  Miss  Alice  Stone 
Blackwell,  president  of  the  Massachusetts  association,  speaking 
on  the  Production  and  Use  of  Campaign  Literature;  Mrs.  John 
D.  Davenport  (Penn.)  telling  How  to  Raise  Campaign  Funds 
in  the  County  and  Mrs.  Mina  Van  Winkle  (N.  J.)  and  Mrs. 
Maud  Wood  Park  (Mass.)  how  to  do  so  in  the  city.  Mrs.  Teresa 
A.  Crowley  (Mass.)  discussed  the  Political  Work  of  Campaigns. 
Another  afternoon  was  devoted  to  a  general  conference  of  State 
presidents  and  delegates  on  the  subject  of  Future  Campaigns.  It 
was  recognized  that  these  were  henceforth  to  be  of  frequent 
occurrence  and  the  association  must  be  better  prepared  for  their 
demands. 

Mrs.  Medill  McCormick  presided  at  the  evening  conference 
on  Federal  Legislation  and  the  speeches  of  all  the  delegates  clearly 
showed  that  they  considered  the  work  for  the  Federal  Amend- 
ment paramount  to  all  else  and  the  States  won  for  suffrage  simply 
as  stepping  stones  to  this  supreme  achievement.  Senator  John 
F.  Shafroth  was  on  the  platform  and  answered  conclusively  many 
of  the  anti-suffrage  misrepresentations  as  to  the  effect  of  woman 
suffrage  in  Colorado.  Every  hour  of  days  and  evenings  was 
given  to  conferences,  committee  meetings,  reports  from  com- 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQI5  445 

mittees  and  States  and  the  practical  preparations  for  entering 
upon  what  all  felt  was  the  last  stage  of  the  long  contest.  The 
overshadowing  event  of  the  convention  was  Dr.  Anna  Howard 
Shaw's  retirement  from  the  presidency,  which  she  had  held  eleven 
years.  The  delegates  were  not  unprepared,  as  she  had  announced 
her  intention  in  the  following  'brief  letter  published  in  the 
Woman's  Journal  Nov.  27,  1915: 

During  the  last  year  I  have  been  increasingly  conscious  of  the 
growing  response  to  the  spoken  word  on  behalf  of  this  cause  of 
ours.  Because  of  the  unparalleled  large  audiences  drawn  to  our 
standard  everywhere,  I  have  become  convinced  that  my  highest 
service  to  the  suffrage  movement  can  best  be  given  if  I  am  relieved 
of  the  exacting  duties  of  the  presidency  so  that  I  may  be  free 
to  engage  in  campaign  work,  since  each  year  brings  its  quota  of 
campaign  States.  Therefore,  after  careful  consideration,  I  have 
decided  not  to  stand  for  re-election  to  the  office  of  president  of 
the  National  American  Woman  Suffrage  Association.  I  have  de- 
ferred making  this  announcement  until  the  campaigns  were  ended, 
but  now  that  it  is  time  to  consider  the  work  for  the  coming  year, 
I  feel  it  my  duty  to  do  so. 

The  president's  address  of  Dr.  Shaw  had  long  been  the  leading 
feature  of  the  conventions  but  this  year  it  was  heard  with  deeper 
interest  than  ever  before,  if  this  were  possible.  Because  every 
word  was  significant  she  had  written  it  and  as  it  afterwards  ap- 
peared in  pamphlet  form  it  filled  fourteen  closely  printed  pages. 
It  was  a  masterly  treatment  of  woman  suffrage  in  its  relation- 
to  many  of  the  great  problems  of  the  day  and  it  seems  a  sacrilege 
to  attempt  to  convey  by  detached  quotations  an  idea  of  its  power 
and  beauty.  A  large  part  of  it  will  be  found  in  the  Appendix 
to  this  chapter.  She  set  forth  in  the  strongest  possible  words  the 
necessity  of  a  Federal  Amendment  but  sai<l : 

There  is  not  a  single  reason  given  upon  which  to  base  a  hope 
;onal  action   that   tines   not    rest   upon   the  power   ami 
influence  to  l>e  derived  from  the  equal  suffrage  States,  which  power 
low  but  inrilu.d  of   winning   State  by 

'1   our  past   and   ].roc-ni    Bt  in  Congress  are  due 

influence  of  cnfrancluV<  it  not  safe  to  assume  that 

must  conir   from  tin  >urce  until  it  is  sufli- 

insure  a  reasonable   pmspect    of   national   legisla- 
rm  this  hope  into  fulfillment  we  must  follow  several 
h  of  which  nal  to  success:  I.  By  con- 

tinuing the  appeal  which  for  thirt  .  . .,  without  n  the 


44-6  HISTORY   OF   WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

National  Association  has  made  upon  Congress  to  submit  to  the 
State  Legislatures  an  amendment  enfranchising  women  and  by  using 
every  just  means  within  our  power  to  secure  action  upon  it.  2.  By 
Congressional  District  organization,  such  as  has  been  set  in  motion 
by  our  National  Congressional  Committee  and  which  has  proved  so 
successful  during  the  past  year.  3.  By  the  organization  of  enfran- 
chised women,  who,  through  direct  political  activity  in  their  own 
States  and  within  their  own  political  parties  may  become  efficient 
factors  in  national  conventions  and  in  Congress.  4.  By  increasing 
the  number  of  equal  suffrage  States  through  referring  a  State  amend- 
ment to  the  voters. 

The  delegates  were  deeply  moved  by  Dr.  Shaw's  closing 
words : 

In  laying  down  my  responsibility  as  your  president,  there  is  one 
subject  upon  which  I  wish  to  speak  and  I  ask  your  patient  indul- 
gence. If  I  were  asked  what  has  been  the  cause  of  most  if  not 
all  of  the  difficulties  which  have  arisen  in  our  work,  I  would  reply, 
a  failure  to  recognize  the  obligations  which  loyalty  demands  of  the 
meml>ers  of  an  association  to  its  officers  and  to  its  own  expressed 
will.  It  is  unquestionably  the  duty  of  the  members  of  an  organiza- 
tion, when,  aCtcr  in  convention  assembled  certain  measures  are  voted 
and  certain  duties  laid  upon  its  officers,  to  uphold  the  officers  in 
the  performance  of  those  duties  and  to  aid  in  every  reasonable  way 
to  carry  out  the  will  of  the  association  as  expressed  by  the  conven- 
tion. It  is  the  duty  also  of  every  officer  or  committee  to  carry  out 
the  will  of  the  association  unless  conditions  subsequently  arise  to 
make  this  injurious  to  its  best  interests.  .  .  .  Without  loyalty,  coopera- 
tion and  friendly,  helpful  support  in  her  work  no  officer  can  suc- 
cessfully perform  her  duty  or  worthily  serve  the  best  interests 
of  the  association.  I  earnestly  appeal  to  the  members  of  this  body 
to  give  the  incoming  Board  of  Officers  the  loyalty  and  helpful  sup- 
port which  will  greatly  lighten  their  arduous  task  of  serving  our 
cause  and  bringing  it  to  final  victory. 

In  saying  farewell  to  you  as  your  president  I  find  it  impossible 
to  express  my  high  appreciation  and  gratitude  for  your  loyal  sup- 
port, your  unfailing  kindness,  your  patience  with  my  mistakes  and 
especially  the  affectionate  regard  you  have  shown  me  through  all 
these  years  of  toil  and  achievement  together.  The  memory  of  your 
sacrifices  for  our  cause,  your  devotion  to  our  association  and  your 
unwearied  patience  in  disappointment  and  delay  will  give  to  the 
remaining  years  of  my  life  its  crowning  joy  of  happy  memories. 

The  Woman's  Journal  said  in  its  report :  "On  the  table  was 
a  large  bouquet  of  roses  from  Speaker  and  Mrs.  Champ  Clark. 
When  Dr.  Shaw  had  finished  and  received  a  great  ovation,  she 
said :  'My  life  has  been  one  of  the  happiest  a  woman  ever  lived. 
From  the  depths  of  my  heart  I  thank  you.  You  have  done  more 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQI5  447 

for  me  than  I  have  ever  done  for  you/  She  unfastened  a  little 
pin  on  the  front  of  her  grey  velvet  gown  and  held  it  up  for  all 
to  see,  saying :  This  is  Miss  Anthony's  flag,  which  she  gave  me- 
just  before  she  died.  It  was  the  gift  of  Wyoming  women  and 
had  four  tiny  diamonds  on  it  for  the  four  equal  suffrage  States ; 
now  it  has  thirteen.  Who  says  "suffrage  is  going  and  not  com- 
ing"? We  have  as  many  stars  now  as  there  were  original  States 
when  the  government  began/  '  It  was  voted  unanimously  that 
the  thanks  of  the  convention  be  extended  to  the  president  for  her 
noble  address  and  that  it  be  ordered  printed.  The  tribute  of  the 
delegates  came  later  in  the  week. 

The  report  of  the  Committee  on  Literature  was  made  by  its 
chairman,  Miss  Caroline  Ruutz-Rees,  showing  the  usual  careful 
selection  of  valuable  matter  for  publication.  Two  important  com- 
pilations she  had  made  herself — Ten  Extempore  Answers  to 
Questions  by  Dr.  Shaw  and  extracts  from  a  number  of  her 
speeches,  gleaned  from  scattered  reports;  also  an  eloquent  ad- 
dress made  at  Birmingham,  Ala.,  the  preceding  April.  So  little 
from  Dr.  Shaw  existed  in  printed  form  that  these  were  very 
welcome.  She  urged  the  necessity  for  a  library  covering  the 
Held  of  women's  affairs,  well  catalogued  and  open  to  the  public. 
Miss  Lavinia  Engle's  report  as  Field  Secretary  showed  active 
work,  speaking  and  organizing  in  Alabama,  West  Virginia,  New 
Jersey  and  New  York.  Mrs.  Funk's  report  as  chairman  of  the 
Campaign  and  Survey  Committee  described  a  vast  amount  of 
work  before  the  New  Jersey  campaign  opened,  including  a  series 
of  twenty  meetings  addressed  by  Senators  and  Representatives 
and  a  number  of  prominent  women,  and  others  continuously 
through  the  summer  with  State  and  national  speakers.  Dr.  Shaw 
1  thirty  of  ihc-e  merlin.- 

In  closing  her  report  Miss  Kli/abeth  t'pham  Yates,  eliainnan 
of   tile  <  'ommitter  on    Presidential   Sulh.  id:      "111  addition 

to    the    beneficent    consequences   of    women's    vote    in    State    and 
municipal  affairs,  the  number  of  votes  in  the  electoral  college  that 
•mined  l,y  their  ballots  ifl  (>f  paramount  political 
I'.y  their  votes  in  twelve-  State-,  which  have  91  presi- 
dential el  hi    decide-  the  p-  ,.      (  )  t"   these  <,i 
:es  62   come    from    the    States    where   constitutional 


44$  HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

amendments  enfranchising  women  have  been  obtained  after  re- 
peated campaigns  of  inestimable  cost  and  exhaustive  effort,  while 
29,  nearly  a  third  of  the  whole,  were  secured  simply  by  an  act  of 
the  Illinois  Legislature  in  giving  the  electoral  vote  to  women.  Is  it 
not  good  political  tactics  to  proceed  along  the  lines  of  least  resist- 
ance and  bring  our  energies  to  bear  upon  Legislatures  for  the 
measure  most  potent  and  at  the  same  time  most  easily  procured  ?" 

Mrs.  Mary  E.  Craigie,  who,  as  chairman  of  the  Church  Work 
Committee,  had  given  such  valuable  service  for  years,  told  of 
the  excellent  work  of  her  State  branches,  especially  that  of  New 
Jersey  during  the  recent  campaign,  whose  chairman,  Mrs.  Mabel 
Farraday,  had  sent  out  hundreds  of  letters  with  literature  to  the 
clergymen  and  reached  thousands  of  people  at  Ocean  Grove  and 
Asbury  Park.  She  told  of  the  encouragement  she  had  received 
in  her  month  of  preparatory  work  for  the  approaching  West 
Virginia  campaign ;  the  Ministerial  Association  of  Wheeling  had 
invited  her  to  address  them  and  expressed  a  desire  to  help  it; 
several  pastors  turned  over  their  regular  meetings  to  her;  the 
largest  Methodist  church  in  the  State,  at  Moundsville,  holding  a 
week  of  big  meetings,  invited  her  to  fill  one  entire  evening  with 
an  address  on  the  Federal  Suffrage  Amendment.  "More  and 
more  I  am  led  to  believe/'  she  said  in  closing,  "that  the  most 
important  work  before  the  suffragists  today  is  church  work, 
especially  the  organizing  of  the  Catholic  women,  that  they  will 
make  their  demands  so  emphatic  the  church  will  see  the  wisdom 
of  supporting  the  movement.  The  church  work  is  non-sectarian 
but  it  should  also  be  omni-sectarian  and  our  efforts  should  be 
extended  to  include  all  churches  and  religious  sects." 

The  Congressional  Committee  had  placed  two  departments 
of  its  work  in  charge  of  Miss  Ethel  M.  Smith,  whose  compre- 
hensive report  showed  beyond  question  their  great  value : 

When  the  Congressional  Committee  was  reorganized  after  the 
Nashville  convention  two  departments  were  given  into  my  charge, 
the  congressional  district  organization  work  and  the  office  catalogue 
of  information  concerning  members  of  Congress.  The  Congres- 
sional plan,  which  had  been  launched  but  a  year  before,  had  been 
adopted  in  many  of  the  States  but  not  in  all.  My  first  step,  there- 
fore, was  to  urge  by  correspondence  with  the  presidents  that  this 
machinery  be  established  or  completed  in  every  State.  On  Decem- 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION   OF    IQI5  449 

her  12  came  the  test  as  to  how  well  this  had  been  done.  The  Rules 
Committee  of  the  House  reported  the  Mondell  amendment,  which 
was  to  come  to  a  vote  January  12.  I  wrote  or  telegraphed  at  once 
to  every  congressional  chairman  or  State  president  asking  her  to 
bring  to  bear  all  possible  pressure  upon  the  individual  members  of 
Congress  from  her  State.  Those  States  which  had  established  this 
machinery  were  able  at  once  to  send  the  call  to  the  respective  district 
chairmen  and  so  on  down  the  line;  the  other  States  responded 
through  their  existing  machinery  and  the  result  was  that  thousands 
of  letters  and  telegrams  poured  into  the  offices  of  the  Congressmen 
during  the  four  weeks.  Meantime  our  lobby  was  busy  interviewing 
the  members  and  the  latest  expressions  obtained  in  each  case  were 
wired  back  to  the  States,  whose  chairmen  responded  again. 

This  interchange  and  cooperation  were  so  effective  that  Con- 
gressmen themselves  complimented  our  "team  work."  But  the  real 
proof  of  its  value  came  after  the  vote  was  taken,  when  by  checking 
with  our  office  records  of  the  individual  Congressmen  we  found  that 
many  uncertain,  noncommittal  or  almost  unfriendly  members'  atti- 
tude had  so  changed  that  they  voted  yes  on  the  amendment.  Such  a 
result  could  not  fail  to  show,  if  proof  had  been  necessary,  that  the 
greatest  need  as  well  as  the  greatest  opportunity  in  national  suffrage 
work  for  the  future  lay  in  furthering  to  the  last  degree  of  complete- 
ness and  efficiency  the  organization  of  every  State  by  congressional 
districts.  .  .  . 

At  a  distance  from  Washington  it  is  difficult  to  know  and  easy  to 
lose  sight  of  what  a  Representative  does  or  stands  for,  so  I  prepared 
special  reports  to  the  State  congressional  chairmen  whenever  oppor- 
tunity occurred.    The  first,  and  a  most  interesting  one,  came  when 
the  vote  was  taken  in  the  House  on  the  National  Prohibition  Amend- 
ment De.  14.     This  was  just  three  weeks  before  the  vote  on 
our  own  amendment  and  our  catalogue  showed  a  large  number  of 
Congressmen  who  opposed  us  on  the  ground  of  State's  rights.     The 
National   Prohibition  Amendment   is  obviously  as  direct  an  assump- 
tion by  t!                 :<1  ( iovi  Tiimcnl  of  ri-lii^  now   reposing  in  I  he  Stales 
as  could  possibly  be  devised.    I,  therefore,  checked  off  the  names  of 
•'s  rights  Congressmen  who  voted  for  it  but  probably  would 
vote    for   national  suffrage,   and   sent   the  list   to  our   respective 
chairmen,  urging  that  they  call  these   Representatives'  at  ten - 
:o  this  inconsistency.     It  has  been  reported  to  me  that  this  argu- 
•  proved  effective  with  several  of  lliein  and  it  is  a  fact  that  after 
vote  was  taken  a  number  of  tin-  names  on  our  first  list 

•se  those  men  had  voted  "aye"  on  sulti 
ity-two,    however,    in    the    final   count,    voted   for    the    National 

mcndmcnl  hut  at/tui; 
In  June    f   devi-  irict    rampaiijn   which 

'he  mem1  they  left  their  In 

o  to  Washington.     This  was  intended  to  impress  them  with  the 
•ifTrage  s-  and  thn 

•  nr  amendment.      The 


45O  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

plan  called  for  congressional  district  meetings  all  over  the  country 
on  or  about  November  16  in  every  district  where  the  Representative 
was  not  already  pledged  to  the  Federal  Amendment.  The  call  was 
sent  to  every  congressional  district  chairman  and  it  requested  that 
every  local  suffrage  league  send  as  many  delegates  as  possible  to  the 
meeting  which  would  be  held  in  the  city  where  the  Senator  or  Rep- 
resentative lived.  It  was  urged  that  they  be  invited  to  attend  the 
meetings  and  to  speak  and  that  resolutions  be  adopted  asking  them 
to  vote  for  the  amendment.  It  was  a  part  of  the  plan  to  send  these 
resolutions  also  to  the  State  Central  Committees  of  the  Republican 
and  Democratic  parties,  asking  for  suffrage  planks  on  the  State 
and  national  platforms.  .  .  .  We  received  most  cordial  and  wide- 
spread cooperation  in  this  work.  I  believe  we  can  say  that  prac- 
tically every  Senator  and  Representative  returned  to  Washington 
this  session  with  the  knowledge  that  behind  him  at  home  is  an  or- 
ganized demand  for  his  favorable  vote  on  the  Federal  Amendment. 

The  usual  pleasant  social  features  of  these  conventions  had 
been  eliminated  and  the  only  relaxation  for  the  delegates  was  one 
large  evening  reception  in  the  New  Willard  Hotel.  The  National 
College  Equal  Suffrage  League  held  its  annual  luncheon  on  the 
1 8th  at  the  New  Ebbitt  Hotel,  Dr.  M.  Carey  Thomas,  president 
of  Bryn  Mawr  College,  presiding.  The  guests  were  225  women 
graduates  of  various  colleges  and  the  topic  of  all  the  speeches  was, 
"How  to  advance  women  suffrage  by  making  friends  instead 
of  enemies."  The  speakers  included  Dr.  Shaw,  Mrs.  Charles 
L.  Tiffany,  Mrs.  Raymond  Brown,  Mrs.  Medill  McCormick,  Miss 
Florence  Stiles,  Mrs.  Frank  M.  Roessing,  Miss  Hannah  J.  Pat- 
terson, Mrs.  Elizabeth  Puffer  Howes  and  Mrs.  I^ura  Puffer 
Morgan. 

The  convention  sent  a  telegram  of  sympathy  in  her  illness  to 
Miss  Jane  Addams.  A  special  vote  of  thanks  was  tendered  to 
Senators  Charles  S.  Thomas  and  John  F.  Sha  froth  and  to 
Representative  Edward  T.  Taylor,  all  of  Colorado,  and  to  Repre- 
sentative Frank  W.  Mondell  of  Wyoming  for  the  very  great  as- 
sistance they  had  given  to  the  Congressional  Committee.  A 
cordial  invitation  came  from  the  Chicago  suffrage  headquarters 
for  the  delegates  to  accept  its  hospitality  during  the  National 
Republican  Convention  in  June,  1916.  Invitations  for  the  next 
convention  were  received  from  St.  Louis,  Little  Rock  and 
Atlantic  City. 

Mrs.  Medill  McCormick,  chairman  of  the  Congressional  Com- 


NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQI5  45! 

mittee,  introduced  Mrs.  Antoinette  Funk,  its  vice  chairman,  -who 
told  of  the  strong  and  successful  effort  made  to  have  the  Com- 
mittee on  Rules  ignore  the  adverse  action  of  the  Democratic 
caucus  and  send  the  resolution  to  the  Lower  House  for  action 
after  the  Judiciary  Committee  had  reported  it  without  recom- 
mendation. The  date  finally  set  for  the  debate  in  the  House  was 
Jan.  12,  1915.  Her  report  was  in  part  as  follows: 

From  the  moment  the  resolution  was  reported  by  the  Judiciary 
("ommittee  the  energies  of  the  Congressional  Committee  were  di- 
rected toward  the  end  of  bringing  out  as  large  a  favorable  vote  as 
humanly  possible  and  all  the  members  of  the  committee  then 
Vnt  in  Washington  undertook  some  portion  of  the  task.     The 
leaders  of  both  sides  of  the  House,  Mr.  Mondell  for  the  Republicans 
and  Mr.  Taylor  for  the  Democrats,  gave  us  their  heartiest  support. 
Through  them  and  through  the  courtesy  of  the  Speaker  of  the  House, 
Mr.  Champ  Clark,  we  learned  what  members  would  be  recognized 
•  »ecches,  and  each  man  who  had  asked  for  time  or  who  had  been 
asked  to  speak  because  of  his  locality  or  for  other  reasons  was  inter- 
viewed.    Our  cooperation  in  the  matter  of  gathering  up  suffrage 
and  material  was  offered  and   freely  accepted.     All  suffrage 
•ture  known  to  us  was  brought  in  large  quantities  into  our  office 
and  assorted  into  sets  bearing  upon  the  situation  of  the  different 
ressmen  according  to  their  locality,  political  faith,  etc.     Every 
man  known  to  be  favorable  to  us  was  urged  to  be  in  his  seat  on 
January  12  and  those  of  our  friends  who,  we  learned,  would  be  un- 
lably  kept  away  from  Washington  were  written  and  telegraphed 
ange  for  favorable  pairs. 

-me  before  the  vote  was  taken  the  Congressional  Committee 
•led  to  the  National  Board  that  our  minimum  vote  would  be 
In  fact,  174  favorable  votes  were  cast  and  11  favorable  pairs 
were  registered.    The  negative  votes  were  204.  .  .  . 

'I'll-  speeches  of  the  ContM-essinen  were  put  in  form 

impawn  Stales  and  over  a  million  and  a  half  were  circu- 
j>ort  continued : 


The  amendment  having  been  voted  on  in  both  Houses  and  direct 

in  its  1  ing  definitely  closed  for  that  session  the  Con- 

1  Committee  was  increased  by  Miss  Jeannette  Kankin,  who. 

ther   with   the   vice-chairman,    discussed    with    members   of    the 

::d    Senate   the   Shafroth   amendment,   then  pending.     No 

:s  made  to  bring  this  measure  forward  for  a  vote  but  the 

•X  the  idea  of  a  national  initiative  upon  the  propo- 

Miffra^e  for  the  consideration  of  the  members  of  (Y»iu 

-I  worth  while.     Hy  many  who  disapproved  of  a  Na- 
il Suffrage  Amendment,  this  was  regarded  as  a  practical  method 


452  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

of  overcoming  such  obstacles  as  the  State  constitutions  had  erected, 
thus  making  their  amending  easy  and  practicable. 

The  Nashville  convention  had  endorsed  the  Federal  Elections  Bill 
and  instructed  the  Board  to  advance  it  in  every  way  possible.  The 
bill  had  been  introduced  in  Congress  through  the  Federal  Society 
represented  by  Mrs.  Clara  Bewick  Colby  and  we  consulted  with  her 
as  to  the  manner  in  which  the  National  might  be  of  greatest  assist- 
ance. It  was  extremely  difficult  to  get  favorable  consideration  for  it 
by  individual  Congressmen  but  the  committee  recommends  that  it 
should  receive  the  endorsement  and  support  of  the  National  Asso- 
ciation, although  in  its  judgment  it  is  a  measure  that  cannot  be  suc- 
cessfully concluded  at  an  early  date. 

Mrs.  McCormick  reported  in  person  on  the  use  made  by  the 
committee  of  the  record  of  members  of  Congress.  It  was  again 
voted  that  the  plans  of  the  committee  should  be  carried  out  in  a 
State  only  when  all  its  societies  were  agreed  but  when  they  were 
not  the  Congressional  Committee  should  not  work  there.  It 
also  seemed  to  be  the  opinion  of  the  convention  that  States  which 
were  considering  a  campaign  should  first  consult  the  Survey  Com- 
mittee and  show  whether  or  not  they  were  prepared  for  it,  and 
if  the  committee  advised  against  it  and  they  persisted  they  should 
not  expect  any  assistance  from  the  National  Association.  Miss 
Laura  Clay  was  requested  to  explain  the  Federal  Elections  Bill, 
which  would  enable  women  to  vote  for  Senators  and  Representa- 
tives, and  would  require  only  a  majority  vote  of  each  house  for 
its  adoption.  Miss  Clay  was  enthusiastically  received  and  the 
convention  again  requested  the  Board  to  take  up  this  bill  and 
press  its  claims  on  Congress.  Later  the  Executive  Council  passed 
a  resolution  to  do  all  in  its  power  for  Presidential  suffrage. 

At  a  morning  session  of  the  convention  on  December  18  a 
motion  was  passed  that  "last  year's  action  in  regard  to  the 
Shafroth  Amendment  be  rescinded."  The  following  motion  was 
then  carried:  "The  National  American  Woman  Suffrage  Asso- 
ciation re-endorses  the  Susan  B.  Anthony  Amendment  to  the 
U.  S.  Constitution,  for  which  it  has  been  working  forty-five  years, 
and  no  other  amendment  of  the  U.  S.  Constitution  dealing  with 
National  Woman  Suffrage  shall  be  introduced  by  it  during  the 
coming  year."  The  Minutes  of  the  convention  (page  43)  say: 
"Miss  Shaw  asked  as  a  matter  of  personal  privilege  that  she  be 
permitted  to  make  a  statement  to  the  association  with  regard  to 


NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    TQI^  453 


her  attitude  on  the  Shafroth  Amendment  to  the  effect  that  she 
had  been  opposed  to  its  adoption  and  had  voted  against  it  but 
that  when  the  Board  by  majority  vote  adopted  it  she  supported 
the  Hoard  in  its  decision;  that  the  longer  she  studied  the  question 
the  more  she  approved  of  it  but  that  she  felt  the  mistake  made 

in  trying  to  work  for  it  before  the  women  of  the  association 
had  become  informed  as  to  its  value  and  had  learned  to  believe 
in  it."  This  was  the  end  of  the  so-called  Shafroth  Amendment, 
which  had  threatened  to  carry  the  old  association  on  the  rocks. 

Chapter  XIV.] 

Another  problem  came  before  this  convention  —  the  policy  of 
the  recently  formed  Congressional  Union  to  adopt  the  method 
of  the  "militant"  branch  of  the  English  suffragists  and  hold  the 
party  in  power  responsible  for  the  failure  to  submit  the  Federal 
Suffrage  Amendment.  They  had  gone  into  the  equal  suffrage 
States  during  the  congressional  campaign  of  1914  and  fought 
the  re-election  of  some  of  the  staunchest  friends  of  this  amend- 
ment. Senator  Thomas  of  Colorado,  for  instance,  chairman  of 
the  Senate  Committee  which  had  reported  it  favorably  and  a 

>ng  suffragist.  The  press  and  public  not  knowing  the  dif- 
ference between  the  two  organizations  were  holding  the  National 
American  Association  responsible  and  protests  were  coming  from 
all  over  the  country.  Some  of  the  younger  members,  who  did 
not  know  the  history  and  traditions  of  the  old  association,  thought 
that  there  should  be  cooperation  between  the  two  bodies.  Both 
had  lobbyists  actively  working  at  the  Capitol,  members  of  Con- 
£re<;s  were  confused  and  there  was  a  considerable  feeling  that 

e  plan  for  united  action  should  be  found.  Miss  Zona  Gale, 
the  writer,  offered  the  following  motion,  which  was  carried  with- 
out objection:  "Realizing  that  all  suffragists  have  a  common 

C  at  heart  and  that  difference  of  methods  is  inevitable,  it  is 

••d  that  an  efficiency  commission  consisting  of  five  members 

••itod  1>\  the  Chair  to  confer  with  representatives  of  the 

ional  Union  in  order  to  brinp:  about  cooperation  with  the 

imum  of  efficiency  for  the  successful  passage  of  the  Susan 
B.   Anthony   Amendment   at   this   session   of   Congress."     The 
k  r.f  ill-  the  following: 


454  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

In  accordance  with  the  action  of  the  convention,  on  the  motion  of 
Miss  Zona  Gale,  the  president  of  the  National  American  Woman 
Suffrage  Association  appointed  a  committee  of  five  consisting  of 
Mrs.  Carrie  Chapman  Catt  of  New  York;  Mrs.  Medill  McCormick 
of  Illinois;  Mrs.  Stanley  McCormick  of  Massachusetts;  Mrs.  An- 
toinette Funk  of  Illinois  and  Miss  Hannah  J.  Patterson  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, to  confer  with  a  similar  committee  from  the  Congressional 
Union  on  the  question  of  cooperation  in  congressional  action.  These 
committees  met  at  the  New  Willard  on  December  17,  Miss  Alice 
Paul,  Miss  Lucy  Burns,  Mrs.  Lawrence  Lewis,  Miss  Anne  Martin 
and  Mrs.  Gilson  Gardner  being  present  as  representatives  of  the 
Congressional  Union,  all  but  Mrs.  Lewis  (Penn.)  of  the  District  of 
Columbia. 

Its  representatives  made  two  suggestions :  ( i )  That  the  Congres- 
sional Union  should  affiliate  with  the  National  American  Woman 
Suffrage  Association.  (2)  That  in  any  event  frequent  meetings  for 
consultation  should  be  held  between  the  legislative  committees  of 
the  two  in  order  to  secure  more  united  action. 

In  the  discussion  of  these  suggestions  it  developed  that  at  this  time 
the  Congressional  Union  has  no  election  policy  and  that  its  future 
policy  must  depend  on  political  situations.  The  Union  declares  it- 
self to  be  non-partisan  according  to  its  constitution,  which  pledges 
its  members  to  support  suffrage  regardless  of  the  interests  of  any 
national  political  parties.  At  this  point  the  report  of  the  joint  con- 
ference ends. 

The  committee  of  five  representing  the  National  American  Asso- 
ciation recommends  that  no  affiliation  shall  take  place  because  it  was 
made  quite  clear  that  the  Congressional  Union  does  not  denounce  nor 
pledge  itself  not  to  resume  what  we  term  its  anti-party  policy  and 
what  they  designate  as  their  election  policy;  also  because  it  is  their 
intention,  as  announced  by  them,  to  organize  in  all  States  in  the 
Union  for  congressional  work,  thus  duplicating  organizations  already 
existing.  Your  committee  further  recommends  that  the  incoming 
board  of  officers  give  their  serious  consideration  to  the  suggestion 
of  conferences  with  a  view  to  securing  more  united  action  in  the 
lobby  work  in  Washington. 

At  the  conference  Mrs.  Catt  explained  to  Miss  Paul  that  the 
association  could  not  accept  as  an  affiliated  society  one  which  was 
likely  to  defy  its  policy  held  since  its  foundation  in  1869,  which 
was  neither  to  support  nor  oppose  any  political  party,  nor  to 
work  for  or  against  any  candidate  except  as  to  his  attitude  toward 
woman  suffrage.  Miss  Paul  would  give  no  guarantee  that  the 
Congressional  Union  would  observe  this  policy.  It  was  thought 
that  some  way  of  dividing  the  lobby  work  might  be  found  but  in* 
a  short  time  the  Union  announced  its  program  of  fighting  the  can- 


NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQIfJ  455 

didates  of  the  Democratic  party  without  any  reference  to  their 
position  on  the  Federal  Amendment  or  their  record  on  woman 
suffrage.  They  offered  as  a  reason  that  as  the  Democratic  party 
was  in  control  of  the  Government  it  should  have  the  Federal 
Amendment  submitted.  There  never  was  a  time  when  the  Demo- 
crats had  the  necessary  two-thirds  of  the  members  of  each  house 
of  Congress,  but  enough  of  them  favored  it  so  that  it  could  have 
been  carried  if  enough  of  the  Republicans  had  voted  for  it.  It 
was  plainly  evident  that  it  would  require  the  support  of  both 
parties.  The  policy  of  the  Congressional  Union,  put  into  action 
throughout  the  presidential  campaign  of  1916,  made  any  co- 
operation impossible. 

When  in  1904  Mrs.  Carrie  Chapman  Catt  had  been  obliged  to 
resign  the  presidency  on  account  of  impaired  health  it  was  most 
reluctantly  accepted  by  Dr.  Shaw  and  only  because  Miss  Anthony 
so  earnestly  impressed  it  on  her  as  a  duty.  She  felt  that  her  own 
great  mission  was  on  the  platform  rather  than  in  executive  office 
and  she  preferred  it;  besides  there  was  no  salary  attached  to  the 
office  and  she  was  dependent  for  her  livelihood  on  her  own  efforts. 
Miss  Anthony,  Mrs.  Catt  and  others  overcame  all  her  objections 
and  for  eleven  years  she  had  made  almost  superhuman  efforts  to 
fulfil  her  executive  duties  and  keep  in  the  field  a  large  part  of  the 
time,  speaking  from  ocean  to  ocean,  from  lakes  to  gulf,  and 
v  few  years  in  European  countries.  She  was  in  constant 
demand  and  could  hardly  refuse  an  appeal.  Only  a  fine  constitu- 
tion and  supreme  will  power  enabled  her  to  endure  the  strain,  and 
with  it  all  her  fund  of  humor  was  never  exhausted  and  her  courage 
r  faltered.  There  was  a  feeling,  however,  among  some  mem- 
bers of  the  association  that  the  movement  had  reached  a  stage 
when  she  was  more  than  ever  needed  to  address  the  immense 
audiences  which  everywhere  now  were  hungry  to  hear  the  doc- 
trines of  woman  suffrage;  and  they  felt  also  that  the  situation 
at  present  demanded  an  executive  at  the  head  of  the  association 
who  could  give  practically  her  entire  time  to  the  vast  demands 
for  administrative  work. 

Dr.  Shaw  had  but  one  regret  at  laying  down  the  heavy  double 
burden,  which  was  that  it  was  placed  in  her  hands  by  Miss 
Anthony  in  her  last  hour  with  the  charge  not  to  give  it  up  until 


HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

the  final  victory  was  won.  She  knew,  however,  that  Miss  Anthony 
would  be  satisfied  if  Mrs.  Catt,  an  unsurpassed  executive  and 
organizer,  would  take  it,  and  such  was  the  sentiment  of  a  large 
majority  of  the  delegates,  but  this  she  positively  refused  to  do. 
She  was  president  of  the  International  Suffrage  Alliance,  which 
had  branches  in  twenty-six  countries,  and  as  most  of  them  were 
in  the  very  midst  of  the  World  War  the  United  States  had  to 
assume  the  entire  responsibility  of  maintaining  the  London  head- 
quarters and  the  official  paper.  New  York  State  had  decided  to 
go  immediately  into  another  amendment  campaign  and  she  had 
again  assumed  the  chairmanship  and  was  pledged  to  the  work. 
For  several  days  she  resisted  all  pleadings  until  finally  the  ground 
was  completely  taken  out  from  under  her  feet.  First,  a  few 
wealthy  women  guaranteed  a  fund  of  $5,000  for  the  year's  ex- 
penses of  the  International  Alliance  to  relieve  her  of  that  care. 
Then  a  number  of  delegates  went  to  the  New  York  delegation  of 
over  fifty  and  labored  with  them  to  release  her  from  the  chair- 
manship of  the  campaign  committee,  which,  after  an  exciting 
caucus,  they  reluctantly  consented  to  do  at  a  great  sacrifice,  and 
finally  the  convention  went  to  her  in  a  body  and  laid  the  fruits 
of  their  efforts  at  her  feet  and  she  surrendered. 

At  the  primaries  45  votes  were  cast  for  Mrs.  Mina  C.  Van 
Winkle  (N.  J.)  principally  by  members  of  the  Congressional 
Union  -who  were  in  some  of  the  State  delegations,  but  she  with- 
drew her  name.  For  other  officers  the  opposition  that  had  been 
manifesting  itself  for  several  years  recorded  from  41  to  77  votes 
out  of  546,  except  that  Mrs.  Susan  W.  Fitzgerald  (Mass.)  re- 
ceived 118  for  recording  secretary  and  Dr.  Katharine  Bement 
Davis  141  for  third  vice-president  but  withdrew  her  name.  Others 
of  the  present  board  did  not  stand  for  re-election.  Mrs.  Henry 
Wade  Rogers  was  unanimously  re-elected  treasurer.  The  follow- 
ing officers  were  elected :  Mrs.  Catt  unanimously ;  Mrs.  Frank  M. 
Roessing  (Penn.),  first  vice-president;  Mrs.  Katherine  Dexter 
McCormick  (Mass.),  second;  Miss  Esther  G.  Ogden  (N.  J.), 
third;  Miss  Hannah  J.  Patterson  (Penn.),  corresponding  secre- 
tary; Mrs.  James  W.  Morrison  (Ills.),  recording  secretary;  Mrs. 
Walter  McNab  Miller  (Mo.),  first  auditor;  Mrs.  Pattie  Ruffner 
Jacobs  (Ala.),  second.  Dr.  Shaw  came  in  from  the  hearing 


NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQI^  457 

before  the  Judiciary  Committee  as  the  balloting  was  about  to 
begin,  and  as  she  took  the  chair  she  asked  from  the  convention 
the  privilege  of  casting  the  first  vote  for  Mrs.  Catt,  "the  woman 
who  from  the  beginning  has  been  my  choice,  the  one  who  more 
than  any  other  I  long  to  see  occupy  the  position  of  your  presi- 
dent." 

The  afternoon  session  was  a  beautiful  and  memorable  occa- 
sion. Delegates  knew  there  was  "something  in  the  air"  when 
they  entered  the  ante-room  and  were  asked  to  help  themselves 

i  the  great  quantities  of  flowers  on  the  tables  and  when  they 
saw  a  uniformed  brass  band  in  one  end  of  the  convention  hall. 

Shaw  was  in  the  chair  and  at  her  right  and  left  were  Mrs. 

-ge  Howard  Lewis  of  Buffalo  and  Mrs.  Henry  Villard  of 

Xew  York,  lovely,  white-haired  veterans  in  the  cause.     Gathered 

about  her  on  the  platform  were  those  who  had  been  her  nearest 

associates  during  the  many  years  of  her  presidency.    The  meeting 

called  to  order  and  Mrs.  Raymond  Brown  on  behalf  of  the 
Xew  York  delegation  presented  a  resolution  of  thanks  to  Dr. 
Shaw  for  the  204  speeches  made  by  her  during  the  past  year  in 
that  State  and  asked  unanimous  consent  of  the  convention  for 
the  adoption  of  a  new  by-law  to  the  constitution  making  her 

orary  President  of  the  association  wth  a  seat  on  the  Board. 

As  the  delegates  answered  with  a  rising  vote  the  band  broke 

forth  with  patriotic  airs  and  from  a  side  room  entered  the  na- 

1  officers  followed  by  the  State  presidents  and  chairmen  of 
standing  committees.    Dr.  Thomas,  president  of  the  National  Col- 
bore  a  golden  laurel  wreath  on  a  blue  velvet  cushion 
and  each  of  the  officers  a  large  cornucopia  filled  with  yellow  bios- 
Mrs.   James   Lees   Laidlaw   carried   a  long  garland   of 
flower^;  and  the  presidents  had  huge  bouquets.     The  procession 

hcd  entirely  around  the  room  with  the  band  playing  and  the 
audience  singing.  Dr.  Thomas  presented  the  laurel  wreath  to 

Shaw  "as  a  symbol  of  the  tri nm pant  work  she  had  done  for 
the  •  liich  the  blue  and  gold  represent."  Mrs.  Laidlaw 

1  the  garland  about  her  n<  ng,  "With  these  flowers 

ind  thee  to  us  f  The  presidents  came  forward  and 

•heir  bouquets  at  her  feet  until  they  were  banked  as  high 
of  her  chair  and  then  all  grouped  themselves  around 

VOL.  V 


HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

her.  As  she  rose  to  speak  the  whole  audience  sprang  to  their 
feet  and  commenced  to  shower  her  -with  roses  until  she  was 
almost  lost  to  sight.  Dr.  Shaw  was  very  pale  and  her  voice 
faltered  in  spite  of  her  effort  to  control  it  but  with  the  old  smile 
she  said:  "Men  say  women  are  too  emotional  to  vote  but  when 
we  compare  our  emotions  here  today  to  theirs  at  political  conven- 
tions I  prefer  our  kind.  If  this  resolution  means  that  I  can  still 
work  for  suffrage  I  accept  it  gratefully  and  thank  you  for  the 
opportunity  but  under  no  consideration  would  I  accept  merely  an 
honorary  office.  The  flowers  are  beautiful  and  I  shall  remember 
this  hour  as  long  as  I  live  but  what  will  make  my  heart  glad  all 
my  life  is  the  love  I  know  the  members  of  this  association  have 
for  me." 

"The  storm  of  roses  ended  in  a  rainbow  with  a  pot  of  gold  at 
its  end,"  said  the  report  in  the  New  York  Tribune,  "for  President 
Thomas  came  forward  and  announced  that  an  annuity  had  been 
raised  which  would  give  Dr.  Shaw  an  income  of  $3,200  as  long 
as  she  lived.  This  is  in  order/  she  said,  'that  you  may  work 
for  suffrage  every  day  without  stopping  to  think  of  finances,  and 
every  mill  in  the  $30,000  represents  a  heart  you  have  won  or  a 
mind  you  have  converted  to  woman  suffrage.'  To  this  gift  Mrs. 
Lewis  added  $1,500  to  pay  a  year's  salary  to  a  secretary."  "I 
have  always  wanted  to  know  how  it  feels  to  be  a  millionaire  and 
now  I  know,"  responded  Dr.  Shaw.  "I  cannot  think  what  to  >ay 
except  that  I'm  very  happy."  1  The  delegates  eheered  and  the 
band  played  and  when  the  tumult  ceased  she  turned  to  where  Mrs. 
Catt  sat  at  the  very  back  of  the  platform  looking  pale  as  herself 
and  by  no  means  so  happy,  and  taking  her  hand  led  hqr  forward 
and  presented  her  as  the  new  president  of  the  association.  Again 
there  -was  a  scene  of  great  enthusiasm  and  when  it  ceased  Mrs. 
Catt  said :  "When  I  came  to  this  convention  I  had  no  more  idea 
of  accepting  the  presidency  of  this  association  than  I  had  of 
taking  a  trip  to  Kamtchatka.  I  will  do  my  best  but  because  I 
am  an  unwilling  victim  and  because  you  all  know  it  I  think  I 

1  Although  Dr.  Shaw  was  but  sixty-eight  years  old  and  in  perfect  health  she  afterwards 
asked  the  custodians  of  this  fund — George  Foster  Peabody,  James  Lees  Laidlaw  and 
Norman  de  R.  Whitehouse,  New  York  bankers — to  hold  it  in  trust,  paying  her  only  the 
annuity  each  year  and  giving  her  the  right  to  dispose  of  it  at  her  death  in  some  way  t« 
advance  the  cause  of  woman  suffrage,  which  was  done. 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQI5  459 

have  a  right  to  exact  a  pledge  from  you — that  if  you  have  any 
fault  to  find  with  my  conduct  or  that  of  the  Board  you  will  bring 
your  complaint  first  to  us.  I  ask  all  of  you  to  work  harder  the 
coming  year  than  you  have  ever  worked  before.  I  cannot  be 
otherwise  than  deeply  touched  by  the  confidence  you  have  placed 
in  me.  I  promise  you  to  do  my  best  not  to  disappoint  you."  The 
convention  clearly  demonstrated  its  joy  over  her  election  and 
received  cordially  the  new  officers  as  they  were  introduced. 

Miss  Margaret  Wilson  was  among  those  who  showered  Dr. 
Shaw  with  flowers  on  Friday  afternoon  and  she  sat  on  the  plat- 
form at  the  mass  meeting  in  Poll's  Theater  on  Sunday  afternoon, 
ctary  of  the  Interior  Lane.  Senators  Moses  E.  Clapp  of 
Minnesota  and  Sha froth  of  Colorado  and  many  other  officials 
and  prominent  men  and  women  had  seats  on  the  platform  and  a 
large  audience  was  present.  The.  Rev.  U.  G.  B.  Pierce,  of  All 
Souls  Unitarian  Church,  gave  the  invocation.  Dr.  Shaw  was  in 
the  chair  and  the  speakers  were  Dudley  Field  Malone,  Collector 
of  the  Port  of  New  York;  Dr.  Katharine  Bement  Davis,  Com- 
missioner of  Corrections  of  New  York  City,  and  Mrs.  Catt.  Dr. 
Davis  spoke  with  marked  effect  on  the  Reasonableness  of  Woman 
Suffrage.  Mr.  Malone  traced  the  extension  of  suffrage  from  the 
earliest  to  the  present  time  and  showed  that  in  seeking  the  right 
to  vote  American  women  were  asking  nothing  new.  He  spoke  of 
"the  million  -women  in  New  York  State  who  have  to  go  into  the 
shop,  the  factory  and  the  market  place  each  day  to  earn  a  living 
and  support  a  home"  and  demanded  the  vote  for  these  women  as 
a  matter  of  justice.  He  scorned  the  idea  of  woman's  inferiority 
to  man  and  said :  "It  is  desirable  to  place  in  the  electorate  every 
ire  individual  of  brains,  character,  intelligence  and  love  of 
country  to  perpetuate  American  traditions  and  the  American  idea 
of  democracy.  America  today,  facing  the  world  problems  of 
infinite  difficulty  and  variety,  needs  every  element  of  moral 
force  and  influence  in  the  electorate  which  she  can  summon  to 
her  service,  for  it  may  be  that  our  country  will  be  called  upon 
before  the  world  to  redeem  the  pledges  made  in  behalf  of  de- 
mocracy itself.  The  right  of  suffrage  involves  the  question  of 
justice:  the  of  suffrage  raises  it  to  one  of  ethics.  The 


460  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

question  before  the  men  of  the  country  is,  Should  the  women 
have  the  suffrage  and  if  they  get  it  how  will  they  use  it?" 

Here  Mr.  Malone  could  not  resist  the  temptation  to  predict 
that  the  vast  majority  would  vote  for  military  "preparedness/' 
a  burning  question  at  this  time.  This  roused  Mrs.  Catt's  resent- 
ment both  because  it  was  contrary  to  her  belief  and  because  it 
was  contrary  to  the  custom  of  the  association  to  discuss  political 
subjects.  She  largely  abandoned  the  rousing  suffrage  speech 
she  intended  to  make  in  order  that  Mr.  Malone's  assertion  might 
not  go  out  over  the  country  with  the  sanction  of  the  association 
and  said  in  beginning:  "Behind  preparedness  is  a  bigger  thing — 
the  right  to  maintain  peace.  Unless  this  country  carries  a  mili- 
tant peace  policy  into  the  court  of  nations,  nobody  will,  and  if 
we  do  not  take  a  firm  stand  we  ourselves  -will  soon  be  at  war. 
It  has  been  made  clear  to  me  in  the  last  few  months  that  men  are 
too  belligerent  to  be  trusted  alone  with  governments.  The  world 
needs  woman's  restraining  hand.  Man's  instinct  has  been  militant 
since  primitive  times  when  it  -was  his  job  to  do  the  hunting  and 
fighting  and  woman's  to  do  the  work.  Woman's  instinct  has  been 
to  conserve  and  protect  life.  It  is  much  easier  to  fight  than  to 
make  peace.  We  women  would  not  allow  our  country  to  be  made 
the  door  mat  for  other  nations  but  we  -would  find  a  way  to  settle 
disputes  without  killing  fathers,  husbands  and  sons." 

Dr.  Shaw  sustained  firmly  the  position  of  Mrs.  Catt,  obtained 
a  big  collection  and  sent  the  people  home  in  a  peaceful  frame  of 
mind  by  her  closing  speech. 

Toward  the  close  of  the  convention  the  following  resolutions 
were  presented  by  the  committee,  Miss  Alice  Stone  Blackwell, 
chairman,  and  adopted : 

WHEREAS,  women  already  have  the  ballot  in  twelve  States  of  the 
Union  and  one  Territory  and  in  seven  foreign  countries,  and  the 
trend  of  civilization  the  world  over  is  toward  enlarged  rights  for 
women;  therefore,  be  it 

RESOLVED,  That  the  National  American  Woman  Suffrage  Associa- 
tion, in  convention  assembled,  again  calls  upon  Congress  to  submit 
to  the  States  the  Constitutional  Amendment  providing  for  nation- 
wide suffrage  for  women. 

We  rejoice  in  the  recent  granting  of  full  suffrage  to  women  in 
Denmark  and  Iceland;  Municipal  suffrage  in  South  Africa  and  an 


NATIONAL    AMF.RICAN    rONVF.XTION    OF    IQIf}  461 

enlarged  local  suffrage  in  the  provinces  of  Canada  and  the  States 
of  our  Union.  .  .  . 

We  express  our  heartfelt  sympathy  with  the  women  of  all  coun- 
tries now  suffering  through  the  war  and  our  earnest  wish  for  the 
speedy  establishment  of  peace  with  justice.  Since  women  must  bear 
their  full  share  of  all  the  burdens  and  sufferings  of  war  they  ought 
in  fairness  to  have  a  share  in  choosing  those  in  high  places  who  settle 
the  question  of  war  or  peace. 

The  heroic  work  done  for  the  sick  and  wounded  by  the  women 
of  every  land  shows  them  to  be  worthy  of  the  ballot,  their  right  to 
which  Florence  Nightingale  declared  to  be  an  axiom,  and  their  plea 
for  which  has  been  endorsed  almost  unanimously  by  the  International 
Council  of  Nurses  representing  nine  nations. 

The  association  reaffirms  that  its  policy  is  non-partisan  and  non- 
sectarian,  opposing  no  political  party  as  such  and  opposing  no  candi- 
date because  of  his  party  affiliations  but  judging  every  candidate  by 
his  own  attitude  and  record. 

\Ve  believe  the  home  is  the  foundation  of  the  State;  we  believe  in 
the  sacredness  of  the  marriage  relationship,  and  further,  we  believe 
that  the  ballot  in  the  hands  of  women  will  strengthen  the  power  of 
the  home  and  sustain  the  sacredness  and  dignity  of  marriage;  we 
denounce  as  gross  slander  statements  made  by  the  enemies  of  woman 
suffrage  that  its  advocates  as  a  class  entertain  opinions  to  the  con- 
trary. 

The  thanks  and  appreciation  of  the  association  are  tendered  to  its 
retiring  president,  Dr.  Anna  Howard  Shaw,  for  her  long  and  arduous 
ve  to  this  cause,  her  many  labors  and  hardships  and  her  innu- 
merable and  powerful  addresses,  which  have  won  adherents  to  woman 
suffrage  not  only  throughout  the  United  States  but  in  foreign  lands. 

\Ve  highly  appreciate  President  Wilson's  action  in  declaring  in 
r  of  the  principle  of  equal  suffrage  and  in  staling  his  belief  in 
"i»l  results  to  be  expected  from  its  adoption. 


-  the  resolution  to  submit  the  Federal  Suffrage  Amendment 
to  the  State  Legislatures  for  ratification  had  been  lost  in  the  Sen- 
ate and  House  of  the  63rd  Congress  it  was  necessary  to  begin 
again  with  the  64th.    Usually  the  hearings  before  the  committees 
of  the  two  Houses  were  held  at  the  same  time  and  the  convention 
•inied   so  the  delegates  might  be  present  but  at  this   time 
•ne  for  the  National  American  Association  before  the  Senate 
for  the  morning  of  December   15  and  the  one  before  the 
House  for  the  following  day.     It  adjourned  for  the  first  one  but 
econd  promised  to  be  long  drawn  out  only  a  delegation 
went  with  Dr.  Shaw  and  she  returned  t«»  the  convention  after  she 
had  made  the  opening  speech. 


462  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

At  the  Senate  hearings  the  chairman,  Senator  Charles  S. 
Thomas  (Col.),  presided  and  members  present  were  Senators 
Hollis  (N.H.);  Clapp  (Minn.);  Sutherland  (Utah);  Catron 
(N.  M.)  ;  Jones  (Wash.).  The  other  members,  Senators  Owen 
(Okla.)  and  Johnson  (S.  Dak.),  were  suffragists  and  probably 
were  out  of  town.  Senator  Catron  was  the  only  opponent. 
Senator  Ransdell  was  added  to  the  committee  the  second  day. 
On  the  third  day  only  Senators  Hollis,  Clapp,  Sutherland  and 
Jones  attended.  The  time  was  divided  among  the  representatives 
of  the  National  Association,  the  Congressional  Union  and  the 
National  Anti-Suffrage  Association,  the  first  taking  from  10  to 
12  o'clock  Wednesday;  the  second  from  10  to  n  130  Thursday; 
the  third  from  2  to  3:15  Monday.  The  joint  resolution  for  the 
amendment  had  been  introduced  by  Senators  Thomas  and 
Sutherland. 

On  the  first  day  Chairman  Thomas  said :  "This  meeting  of  the 
Senate  Committee  on  Woman  Suffrage  is  called  at  the  instance 
of  the  National  Association  of  which  Dr.  Anna  Howard  Shaw 
is  the  honored  president.  The  hearing  will  be  conducted  under 
the  auspices  of  that  association  and  by  her  direction.  Dr.  Shaw, 
we  will  be  glad  to  hear  you  now."  Dr.  Shaw  said  in  part : 

For  thirty-seven  years  this  amendment  has  been  introduced  and 
re-introduced  into  the  Congress  by  members  who  have  been  favorable 
to  our  movement  or  who  have  believed  in  the  justice  and  right  of 
citizens  to  petition  Congress  and  have  that  petition  heard.  Last  year 
we  were  permitted  to  address  your  body  and  we  rejoiced  in  the  fact 
that  a  committee,  which  from  the  time  of  its  creation  usually  had 
been  indifferent  toward  our  subject,  had  now  been  appointed  with 
Senator  Thomas,  who  from  the  very  beginning  had  seen  the  justice 
of  the  demand  for  woman  suffrage,  at  the  head.  This  committee 
gave  us  great  courage  and  hope,  which  were  fully  justified  in  the 
fact  that  for  the  first  time  in  twenty  years  our  resolution  was  reported 
out  of  committee  and  acted  upon  in  the  Senate,  receiving  a  majority 
vote  but  not  the  necessary  two-thirds.  We  come  again  with  the 
same  measure  and  again  we  appeal  to  this  committee,  in  the  same 
terms  as  for  all  the  past  years,  for  the  women  citizens  of  the  United 
States  who  at  every  call  have  responded  as  readily  as  the  men  in 
doing  their  duty  and  serving  their  country.  More  and  more  the  de- 
mand is  being  made  by  ever-increasing  groups  of  women  that  they 
shall  directly  share  in  the  Government  of  which  they  form  a  part, 
bo  we  come  to  you  today  with  the  same  old  measure  but  we  come 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQI5  463 

with  greater  hope  than  ever  before  because  we  realize  that  back  of 
you  there  are  now  in  many  of  the  States  constituencies  of  women. 

Dr.  Shaw  introduced  Mrs.  Pattie  Ruffner  Jacobs  of  Alabama, 
who  quoted  from  distinguished  southern  members  of  Congress  on 
State's  rights  and  asked  that  these  sentiments  be  applied  to  the 
National  Amendment  for  Woman  Suffrage,  saying  in  part: 

If  this  amendment  is  adopted  it  in  no  wise  regulates  or  interferes 
with  any  existing  qualification  for  voting  (except  sex)  which  the 
various  State  constitutions  now  exact.  It  leaves  all  others  to  be  de- 
termined by  the  various  States  through  their  constitutional  agencies. 
It  is  a  fallacy  to  contend  that  to  prohibit  discrimination  on  account 
of  sex  would  involve  the  race  problem.  The  actual  application  of  the 
principle  in  the  South  would  be  to  enfranchise  a  very  large  number 
of  white  women  and  the  same  sort  of  negro  women  as  of  negro  men 
now  permitted  to  exercise  the  privilege.  .  .  . 

However  much  these  chivalrous  gentlemen  may  wish  it  were  so, 
that  southern  women  might  truly  be  called  roses  and  lilies  which  toil 
not,  they  must  know  that  their  compliments  do  not  provide  equal  pay 
for  equal  service,  which  obtains  in  all  the  woman  suffrage  States  and 
that  their  flowers  of  speech  do  not  help  us  secure  a  co-guardianship 
law,  which  every  suffrage  State  has  and  which  is  non-existent  in  all 
southern  States.  The  pedestal  platitude  appeals  less  and  less  to  the 
intelligence  of  southern  women,  who  are  learning  in  increasing  num- 
bers that  the  assertion  that  they  are  too  good,  too  noble,  too  pure  to 
vote,  in  reality  brands  them  as  incompetents.  It  cannot  be  sugar- 
coated  into  any  other  significance  as  long  as  we  remain  classed  with 
idiots,  criminals  and  some  of  the  negro  men  who  also  are  disfran- 

<1.    As  things  stand  in  the  South  an  incentive  is  held  out  to  the 
negro  man  to  become  educated  that  he  may  meet  the  tests ;  to  prac- 

:idustry  and  frugality  and  acquire  property  to  meet  the  taxpay- 
ing  qualification  ;  but  no  such  incentive  is  held  out  to  the  white  women, 

meet  the  insuperable  barrier  of  sex  at  every  turn  which  might 

10  progress.  .  .  . 
\\'e  women  of  the  South  today,  while  proud  of  our  past  do  not 

in  it.     We  wish  to  be  proud  of  our  present  that  we  may  look 
forward  with  confidence  to  our  future.    We  know  that  sectionalism 
should  have  no  place  in  our  hearts  or  lives.    This  demand  for  suf- 
frage is  not  sectional,  it  has  its  adherents  in  every  State  and  in  almost 
town  in  every  State.     There  is  little  or  no  organized  opposi- 
rt  of  the  country  but  there  are  many  thousands  of  fine, 
thoughtful,  forward-looking  southern  women  handed  together  seek- 
ing tin   removal  of  this  last  badge  of  incompetency.    For  them  there 

i  North  or  South  but  one  great   nation,  the  interest  of  whose 

women  is  tlie  vame.     We  reali/e  that  we  arc  not   different  or  better, 

we  southern  women,  than  the  women  in   Montana.  Illinois,  Maine  or 

11   are  JIM  human  1»<  •<•  ihey  are.     We  are  not 

queens   but   poliiival   and    industiial   MTI.S.      \\V   are   not   angels  but 


464  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

our  better  natures,  our  higher  selves  are  becoming  aroused  by  the 
needs  of  our  common  humanity  with  a  solidarity  of  purpose,  a  keen- 
ness of  vision  unmarred  by  selfish  motives. 

Miss  Caroline  Ruutz-Rees,  head  of  the  Rosemary  School  for 
Girls  in  Greenwich,  Conn.,  described  the  work  of  the  National 
Suffrage  Association  and  its  sixty-three  auxiliaries  in  the  many 
State  campaigns  and  the  long  effort  for  a  Federal  Amendment 
and  said  in  closing:  "In  its  propaganda  and  campaigns  the  asso- 
ciation has  steadily  maintained  a  non-partisan  attitude,  endeavor- 
ing so  far  as  it  had  power  to  help  the  friends  of  suffrage  and 
considering  as  antagonistic  only  its  opponents.  It  does  not  hold 
its  friends  responsible  for  the  failure  of  their  party  to  pass  its 
measures.  It  never  forgets  that  it  may  have  to  look  for  help  in 
amending  the  State  constitutions  to  the  adherents  of  a  party  un- 
friendly to  a  Federal  Amendment.  It  believes  in  educating  the 
public  until  the  demand  for  the  enfranchisement  of  women  be- 
comes so  strong  as  to  be  irresistible.  The  enormous  change  of 
opinion  in  that  public  within  a  few  years  inspires  the  association 
to  hope  for  the  speedy  conclusion  of  its  labors." 

Mrs.  George  Bass,  the  well-known  suffrage  and  political 
worker  of  Chicago,  said  in  the  course  of  her  remarks : 

Women  want  the  ballot  because  they  need  it  in  their  business — the 
business  of  being  a  woman — in  the  business  that  began  when  the 
first  man  and  the  first  woman  commenced  housekeeping  in  a  cave. 

The  duties  of  the  man  and  the  woman  differentiated  themselves 
at  that  time  and  they  have  been  differentiated  ever  since.  The 
woman  as  mother  became  the  first  artisan  because  she  had  to  clothe 
the  children.  She  became  the  first  doctor  because  she  had  to 
treat  the  ills  that  came  to  those  children  of  hers  and  to  the  man 
who  lived  by  her  side.  She  had  to  invent  tools;  she  was  the  first 
farmer.  Man  and  his  duties  and  his  responsibilities  have  been  the 
same  from  that  time  to  this.  He  brought  in  to  her  the  slain  animal 
which  she  transmuted  into  food  and  changed  into  clothing.  He 
was  the  protector,  and  the  first  government  that  grew  up  about 
that  first  home  considered  only  the  problems  of  offense  and  defense. 
As  the  governments  of  the  world  became  more  stable,  as  they  de- 
veloped, they  still  centered  about  war,  offense  and  defense.  .  .  . 
Woman  still  is  the  mother  of  the  race  but  what  of  the  home?  It  has 
become  socialized  and  the  spinning  wheel  is  in  the  attic  and  millions 
of  women  are  standing  at  the  great  looms  of  this  country.  The 
women  are  in  the  shops,  the  factories,  the  offices,  everywhere  that 
modern  industrialism  is  extending  itself.  The  school  has  been  social- 
ized and  the  children  are  by  the  thousands  in  the  schools. 


NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQIf}  465 

Mrs.  Bass  then  strikingly  illustrated  how  the  business  of  being 
a  woman  now  took  women  to  legislative  bodies  in  the  interest  of 
the  State's  dependent  children,  of  the  women  in  the  industries, 
of  the  so-called  fallen  women,  and  showed  how  fatally  handi- 
capped all  were  without  the  power  of  the  ballot. 

Mrs.  Medill  McCormick,  chairman  of  the  Congressional  Com- 
mittee of  the  association,  sent  a  comprehensive  report  of  the  vast 
work  it  had  done  in  district  organization  throughout  the  States 
and  the  evident  influence  this  had  exerted  on  Congress.  Dr. 
Shaw  introduced  Mrs.  Carrie  Chapman  Catt,  president  of  the 
International  Woman  Suffrage  Alliance,  who  made  the  principal 
address,  a  searching  and  comprehensive  review  of  the  methods 
by  which  men  had  obtained  the  ballot  compared  to  those  which 
had  been  used  by  women  and  showed  the  many  requirements 
made  of  the  latter  which  were  entirely  omitted  in  the  case  of  men. 
She  took  the  four  recent  campaigns  in  Massachusetts,  New  York, 
New  Jersey  and  Pennsylvania  as  the  basis  of  her  masterly  ad- 
dress, which  will  be  found  in  the  Appendix  of  this  chapter.  At 
the  end  of  it  she  said :  "It  was  twenty-two  years  ago  that  I  had 
the  privilege  and  pleasure  of  standing  upon  the  same  platform 
with  the  chairman  of  this  committee  when  he  made  an  eloquent 
appeal  to  the  citizens  of  Colorado  for  the  -women  there  and  many 
said  that  his  speech  turned  the  tide  and  gave  women  the  vote.  I 
hope  that  he  and  every  member  will  not  only  make  a  favorable 
report  but  will  do  more — will  follow  that  report  on  the  floor  of 
the  Senate  and  work  for  it  and  immortalize  themselves  while 
freeing  us  from  the  humiliation  and  the  burden  of  this  struggle." 

The  hearing  -was  closed  by  Dr.  Shaw  with  a  strong  and  con- 
vincing argument  to  show  that  ''if  nothing  entered  into  the  life 
of  the  homes  of  this  nation  except  what  came  through  State  action 
it  might  be  said  that  only  the  State  should  decide  who  should  vote 
but  since  the  women  are  as  much  affected  by  the  acts  of  Congress 
as  are  the  men,  this  becomes  a  national  question."  She  drew 
a  striking  picture  of  conditions  anioni;  the  nations  of  Kurope 
where  the  war  was  raging;  of  li<>\\  "\\omen  in  our  own  country 
every  morning  ^canned  the  papers  to  see  whether  we  were  nearer 
nn  than  we  were  with  the  setting  Min  of  the  day 
re  to  conneetioiiN  with  the  ( >ld  World  which  will  plunge  us 


466  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

into  the  war."  She  took  up  the  questions  of  tariff  and  of  pro- 
hibition, asked  if  -women  should  not  have  a  vote  on  these  and 
the  other  great  national  issues  before  the  country  and  concluded : 
"I  only  wish  that  the  woman  whose  name  is  so  closely  associated 
with  this  amendment — Susan  B.  Anthony — might  have  lived  to 
see  this  committee  as  it  exists  today  instead  of  having  passed 
away  before  it  was  composed  of  members  of  the  character  of 
those  before  whom  we  now  come  to  present  our  cause." 

At  the  hearing  of  the  Congressional  Union  the  following  day, 
Senator  Thomas,  chairman  of  the  committee,  was  present  but  re- 
fused to  preside,  as  the  leaders  of  the  Union  had  gone  to  Colorado 
during  the  recent  campaign  and  spoken  and  worked,  though  un- 
successfully, against  his  re-election.  Senator  Sutherland  took  the 
chair.  It  was  conducted  by  the  vice-president  of  the  Union,  Miss 
Anne  Martin.  "One  of  our  chief  purposes  in  asking  this  hear- 
ing," she  said,  "is  to  bring  before  you  not  only  the  ethical  impor- 
tance but  the  political  urgency  of  settling  this  question  of  national 
suffrage  for  women.  At  present  the  thought  and  strength  of 
large  numbers  of  them  throughout  the  country  are  absorbed  by 
this  campaign  to  secure  fundamental  justice,  which  prevents  their 
giving  assistance  in  matters  vitally  affecting  the  interests  of  the 
men,  women  and  children  of  the  nation."  There  would  be  five- 
minute  speeches,  she  said,  until  the  last  half  hour,  which  would 
be  divided  between  the  envoys  of  the  women  voters'  convention 
in  San  Francisco  during  the  past  summer.1 

Most  of  the  speeches  were  crisp  and  clever  and  well  fortified 
with  facts  and  figures  to  prove  the  advantage  of  a  Federal 
Amendment  over  State  amendments  in  securing  universal  woman- 
suffrage.  The  two  "envoys"  were  Miss  Frances  Jolliffe  and 
Mrs.  Sara  Bard  Field  of  California,  who  started  in  an  automobile 
from  the  grounds  of  the  Exposition  in  San  Francisco  to  motor 

1  The  speakers  were  Mrs.  William  Spencer  Murray,  secretary  of  the  Women's  Political 
Union  of  Connecticut;  Mrs.  Annie  G.  Porritt,  press  chairman  of  the  Connecticut  Woman 
Suffrage  Association;  Mrs.  Dana  Durand  of  Minnesota;  Miss  Julia  Hurlburt,  vice-chair- 
man of  the  Women's  Political  Union  of  New  Jersey;  Mrs.  Agnes  Jenks,  president  of  the 
Rhode  Island  W.  S.  A.;  Mrs.  Alden  H.  Potter,  chairman  of  the  Congressional  Union  in 
Minnesota;  Mrs.  Glendower  Evans,  member  of  the  Minimum  Wage  Commission  of 
Massachusetts;  Mrs.  R.  H.  Ashbaugh,  president  of  the  Michigan  Federation  of  Women's 
Clubs;  Mrs.  James  Rector,  vice-chairman  of  the  C.  U.  of  Ohio;  Mrs.  Cyrus  Mead  of 
the  Ohio  C.  U. 


NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQI5  467 

to  Washington  to  present  to  Congress  a  petition  which  had  been 
collected  during  the  Fair  and  to  do  propaganda  work  on  the  way. 
The  former  made  only  part  of  the  trip  in  the  car  but  Mrs.  Field 
completed  the  entire  3,000  miles.  Both  made  excellent  addresses. 


Senator  Hollis  occupied  the  chair  at  the  hearing  of  the  National 
Anti-Suffrage  Association  December  20.  Its  president,  Mrs. 
Arthur  M.  Dodge,  introduced  the  speakers,  saying:  "We  appear 
before  you  to  urge  that  you  do  not  report  this  resolution  to  the 
Senate  because  we  believe  very  earnestly  that  it  is  a  question  "which 
should  be  taken  to  the  States  to  be  voted  on  by  the  electorates 
and  not  submitted  to  the  Legislatures."  Mrs.  M.  C.  Talbot, 
secretary  of  the  Maryland  Anti-Suffrage  Association,  read  a 
paper  prepared  by  the  Hon.  John  W.  Foster,  a  strong  argument 
against  a  Federal  Amendment  but  without  a  word  of  opposition 
to  the  granting  of  woman  suffrage  by  the  States.  The  other 
speakers  were  Miss  Florence  H.  Hall,  publicity  chairman  of  the 
Pennsylvania  Association;  Mrs.  George  P.  White,  a  member  of 
its  executive  board;  Miss  Lucy  J.  Price,  secretary  of  the  Cleve- 
land, ().,  branch;  Mrs.  A.  J.  George  (Mass.),  executive  secretary 
of  the  National  Congressional  Committee.  They  were  trained 
l;ers  and  their  side  of  the  question  was  -well  presented.  It 
heard  by  the  Senate  Committee  without  interruption  except 
•iie  point.  Miss  Hall  said:  "On  waves  of  Populism,  Mor- 
moTiism,  insurgency  and  Socialism  ten  States  have  been  added  to 
the  pioneer  State  of  Wyoming  and  are  recognizing  the  suffrage 
When  she  had  finished  the  following  colloquy  took  place: 

:    Sutherland.     I  do  not  ordinarily  like  to  inject  anything 

into  ilu-M-  hearings,  Imt  one  statement   has  been  made  by  the  last 

.vhich  1  do  not  think  I  ought  tn  let  go  without  making  a  sug- 

11   in   regard  to  it.      If   I   understood   her  correctly  she  insists 

ism    ha-    had    -'im-thing   to   do   with   the  granting   of 

igc   in   the   ten    Slates    in   which   it   has   been   granted. 

1   want  to  suy  that  in  California,  <  M'egon,  Washington  and  Kansas, 

four   States   which   are   the   largest   in   which   suffrage 

I,    the    Mormon   i>n|»ulaticm  and   Mormon   vote  are 

iblc. 

Miss   Hall.     I   did  not  base  it  on  that.      I   said   Morm<misin.   I'opu 
in   and   insnrgrii  ;it    Mil'frage   along   with   them. 

:ihcrland.      '1  h<  ic   is  «,nl\  &e   in  all  of   these,  SO 


468  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

far  as  I  know,  where  Mormons  are  in  the  majority  and  that  is  in 
my  own  State  of  Utah.  There  are  comparatively  few  in  Colorado, 
probably  not  more  than  a  thousand  altogether  in  the  entire  popula- 
tion, and  their  numbers  are  practically  negligible  in  the  other  States. 

Miss  Hall.     How  about  Idaho?    Forty  per  cent,  there. 

Senator  Sutherland.  I  think  perhaps  there  are  twenty-five  per 
cent.  There  are  probably  400  or  500  in  the  State  of  Nevada.  In 
Arizona  I  do  not  know  just  what  the  percentage  is  but  there  are  a 
number  of  Mormon  voters  there. 

Miss  Hall.  I  would  refer  the  committee  to  Senator  Cannon's 
recent  letter  on  that  question,  where  he  names  eleven  States — 

Senator  Sutherland  (interposing).  I  know  that  claim  has  been 
made  but  I  undertake  to  say  that  it  is  utterly  without  foundation. 
I  speak  in  regard  to  this  matter  with  just  as  much  knowledge  as 
Mr.  Cannon  or  anybody  else. 

Senator  Jones.  It  is  without  foundation,  so  far  as  the  State  of 
Washington  is  concerned. 

Senator  Sutherland.  While  I  am  not  a  member  of  the  Mormon 
Church  and  never  have  been,  I  have  lived  in  that  section  practically 
all  my  life  and  it  is  not  correct  to  say  that  such  a  situation  as  has 
been  described  prevails  in  those  States. 

Miss  Hall.  I  thought  1  had  pretty  good  authority  for  making 
that  statement  and  I  think  I  could  produce  the  evidence  to  show  it. 

Senator  Sutherland.  I  would  be  surprised  if  you  could  produce 
any  evidence  whatever  to  substantiate  that  statement. 

Mrs.  George,  who  spoke  last,  came  to  the  rescue  of  Miss  Hall 
and  this  dialogue  occurred: 

Mrs.  George.  1  am  confident  that  the  speaker  only  meant  to  imply 
that  woman  suffrage  has  always  been  a  radical  movement  and  that 
where  Mormonism  did  exist  it  helped  on  suffrage.  .  .  . 

Senator  Sutherland.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  Mormon  Church 
and  the  Mormon  people  are  not  radical.  '  They  are  conservative 
and  in  some  instances  almost  ultra  conservative.  .  .  . 

Mrs.  George.  They  may  be  conservative  along  certain  lines  but 
we  do  look  upon  the  Mormon  Church  as  advocating  certain  social 
measures  which  seem  to  us  radical. 

Senator  Sutherland.  I  will  grant  you  that  in  the  past  there  have 
been  some  things  that  you  and  I  would  not  agree  with,  but  from  a 
very  careful  observation  of  events  I  can  sav  to  YOU  with  perfect 
confidence  in  the  truth  of  what  I  say,  that  that  sort  of  thing  has 
passed  away. 

.Mrs.  George.  May  I  say  un-American,  if  you  object  to  the  word 
"radical"? 

Senator  Sutherland.  I  object  to  the  word  "un-American"  much 
more  strongly  because  the  Mormon  people  are  not  un-American. 
They  are  good  citizens,  among  the  best  in  this  country. 

Mrs.  George  concluded  her  address  to  the  committee  with  these 
words:  "These  are  grave  times.  Questions  of  international  re- 


NATIONAL    AMKRH'AX     O  >N  VK  N  TI(  >X    OF     I«il^  460 

lationships,  of  preparedness,  of  the  national  defense,  of  finance, 
are  vexing  the  wisest  minds.  Is  it  a  time  to  further  the  propa- 
ganda of  this  new  crop  of  hyphenated  Americans — Suffrage- 
Americans — who  place  their  propaganda  above  every  need  of  the 
country?" 

With  the  women  of  eleven  States  now  eligible  to  vote  for  all 
candidates  at  the  general  election  of  1916  and  the  large  number 
in  Illinois  possessing  the  Presidential  franchise  woman  suffrage 
had  become  a  leading  issue.  Most  of  the  House  Judiciary  Com- 
mittee of  twenty-one  members,  including  the  chairman,  Edwin 
Y.  Webb  of  North  Carolina,  an  immovable  opponent,  were  present 
at  the  hearing  on  December  16  and  they  faced  sixteen  speakers 
for  the  Federal  Amendment  and  twelve  opposed.  Three  hours 
were  granted  to  the  former,  divided  between  the  National  Ameri- 
can \«ociation  and  the  Congressional  Union,  and  two  hours  to 
the  National  Association  Opposed  to  Woman  Suffrage.  Dr. 
Shaw  opened  the  hearing  by  referring  to  the  thirty-seven  years 
that  had  seen  the  leaders  of  her  association  pleading  with  Con- 
gress for  favorable  action  on  this  amendment  and  introduced 
Mrs.  Carrie  Chapman  Catt,  president  of  the  International 
Woman  Suffrage  Alliance,  comprising  twenty-six  nations. 

Mrs.  Catt  said  in  part: 

Mr.  Chairman  and  Gentlemen  of  the  Committee,  I  fear  that  the 

hearing  before  this  Judiciary   Committee  have  become  in  the  < 

and   understanding  of   many   of   the  members  a   rather  perfunctory 

affair  which  you  have  to  endure.     May  I  remind  vou  that  since  the 

la^t  hearing  something  new  has  happened  in  the  United  States  and 

that  is  thar  more  than  a  million  men  have  vitcd  for  woman  suffrage 

in    four  of   the   most    cmiscnative   States  of   the    Mast?     I   consider 

that   that   big  vote  presents  to  this  committee  a  mandate   for  action 

which  \v.'i<  never  presented  before.     There  are  those,  doubtless,  who 

will  say  that  thi^  is  a  question  of  State  rights.      1   have  been  study- 

•'ien   for  a  good  manv  years  and  I  have  discovered  that 

in  woman  suffrage  it  is  a  national  question  and 

i   he  does   not  believe   in   it  he  says   it  is  a  question   for   the 

Mrs.  Catt  told  of  the  prominent  educator  who  was  ^ent  fnmi 
:'im  t<>  investigate  the  working  of  woman  suffrage  in  the 
cd  States  and  after  he  had  made  a  visit  to  the  State-  where 


47°  HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

it  existed  he  summed  up  the  result  by  saying:  "I  am  convinced 
in  favor  in  my  mind  but  my  heart  is  still  opposed."  "There  are 
members  of  this  committee,"  she  said,  "who  are  governed  by 
their  hearts  instead  of  their  heads,"  and  she  continued : 

Gentlemen,  this  movement  has  grown  bigger  and  stronger  as  the 
years  have  passed  by  until  today  millions  of  women  are  asking  in 
all  the  States  for  the  vote.  The  president  of  Cornell  University, 
Dr.  Schurman,  said  that  his  reason  for  now  aggressively  advocating 
woman  suffrage  was  because  he  had  discovered  in  studying  history 
that  it  was  never  good  for  a  government  to  have  a  restless  and  dis- 
satisfied class;  he  had  made  up  his  mind  that  the  women  of  the 
nation  did  think  that  they  had  a  grievance,  whether  they  had  or 
not,  and  he  believed  that  a  government  was  stronger  and  safer  when 
grievances  were  relieved. 

A  few  days  before  the  election  in  order  to  show  that  the  women 
wanted  to  vote  there  was  a  parade  in  New  York  City  and  20.000 
marched  up  Fifth  Avenue,  among  them  a  great  number  of  public 
school  teachers  of  the  city,  12,000  of  whom  had  contributed  to  our 
campaign  funds.  These  women  deal  with  the  most  difficult  prob- 
lems; they  are  teaching  all  that  the  new-coming  people  know  of 
citizenship  and  they  were  asking  their  own  share  in  that  citizenship. 
A  man  whose  name  is  known  to  every  one  of  you  was  sitting  at 
the  window  of  a  clubhouse  watching  the  women  pass  hour  after 
hour  until  at  last  this  great  group  of  teachers,  sixteen  abreast, 
marched  by  with  their  banners.  He  looked  out  upon  them  and  do 
you  think  he  said,  "I  am  convinced  that  the  women  of  New  York 
do  want  to  vote  and  I  will  help  them?"  That  is  what  an  honorable 
American  citizen,  an  open-minded  man,  would  have  said.  Instead 
he  exclaimed :  "My  God  !  I  never  realized  what  a  menace  the  woman 
suffrage  movement  is  to  this  country;  we  have  got  to  do  something 
next  Tuesday  to  keep  the  women  from  getting  the  vote." 

There  is  not  a  man  on  this  committee  or  in  this  House  who  can 
produce  a  single  argument  against  woman  suffrage  that  will  hold 
water,  and  the  thing  that  is  rousing  the  women  of  this  land  con- 
tinually and  making  them  realize  that  our  Government  visits  upon 
us  a  daily  injustice  is  that  the  doors  of  our  ports  are  left  wide 
open  and  the  men  of  all  the  nations  on  earth  are  permitted  to  enter 
and  receive  the  franchise.  In  New  York  City  women  must  ask  for 
it  in  twenty-four  languages.  .  .  . 

Walter  M.  Chandler  of  New  York  City,  a  member  of  the  com- 
mittee, asked  Mrs.  Catt  if  she  thought  a  Representative  should 
vote  against  the  mandate  of  his  district,  which  in  his  case  had 
given  a  majority  of  2,000  against  a  State  amendment  in  Novem- 
ber, although  he  himself  had  spoken  and  voted  for  it.  A  spirited 
dialogue  followed  which  filled  several  pages  of  the  printed  report, 


NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQI^  471 


Mrs.  Catt  insisting  that  he  should  stand  by  the  broad  principle  of 
justice  and  Mr.  Chandler  equally  insistent  that  he  must  represent 
his  constituents.  As.  Dr.  Shaw  rose  to  return  to  the  convention 
Mr.  Carlin  of  Virginia  said:  "Dr.  Shaw,  would  you  mind  explain- 
ing to  this  committee  the  essential  difference  between  this  organi- 
zation known  as  the  National  Woman  Suffrage  Association  and 
the  Congressional  Union?  There  is  a  great  deal  of  confusion 
among  the  members  of  the  committee  as  to  just  what  is  the  dif- 
ference between  them,"  and  she  answered: 

It  is.  perhaps,  like  two  different  political  parties,  which  believe 
in  different  procedure.  The  National  Woman  Suffrage  Association 

\vo  fundamental  ideas  —  to  secure  the  suffrage  through  State  and 
national  constitutions  —  and  we  appeal  both  to  Congress  and  to  the 
States.  The  Congressional  Union,  as  I  understand  it,  appeals  only 
to  the  Congress.  Another  essential  difference  is  that  the  policy  of 
the  Union  is  to  hold  the  party  in  power  responsible  for  the  acts 

•ngress,  whether  they  are  acts  of  that  party  by  itself  or  of  the 
whole  Congress.  They  follow  a  partisan  method  of  attacking  the 
political  party  in  power,  whether  the  members  of  it  are  friendly 
to  the  woman-suffrage  movement  or  not.  For  instance,  Senator 
Thomas  of  Colorado,  Senator  Chamberlain  of  Oregon  and  other 
Senators  and  Representatives  who  have  always  been  favorable  to  our 

•ment  and  have  aided  us  all  the  way  along,  have  been  attacked 
by  this  Union  not  becuse  of  their  personal  attitude  toward  our  ques- 

Uit  localise  of  the  attitude  of  their  party.  The  National  Suf- 
Association  pursues  a  non-partisan  method,  attacking  no  politi- 
rty.  If  we  could  defeat  a  member  of  any  political  party  who 
tcntly  opposed  our  measure  we  would  do  it,  whether  in  the 

Miran  or  the  Democratic  or  any  other,  but  would  never  hold 
any  party  responsible  for  the  acts  of  its  individual  members. 

Many  other  questions  were  asked,  the  committee  seeming  in- 

•lous   that   suffragists   would   fight  the  re-election   of   their 

friends.    The  next  speaker  was  Miss  Alice  Stone  Blackwell  whose 

address  consisted  in  a  solid  array  of  facts  and  figures  that  weiv 

ntelv  unanswerable.      As  the  daughter  of  Lucy  Stone  and 

the  It'oiium's  Journal  from  girlhood  she  was  fortified 

II  others  with  information  as  to  the  progress  of  woman 

suffrage;  the  connection  of  the  liquor  interests  with  its  many 

3  of  the  votes  that  had  been  taken  and  all 

s  of  the  subject.     Mrs.  Harriet  Stokes  Thompson,  an  edu- 

•cial  worker  of  Chicago,  said  in  part: 
1   wish  to  make  my  appeal  this  morning  to  both  your  intellect 


472  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

and  your  sympathies  when  I  speak  to  you  in  behalf  of  the  nine 
million  women  who  are  out  today  assuming  their  part  in  the  indus- 
trial world.  These  women  who  are  working  in  the  shops  and  fac- 
tories have  simply  followed  the  evolution  of  industry.  It  is  not 
that  they  have  entered  into  man's  work  at  all,  because  they  are 
doing  what  they  formerly  did  in  their  homes,  and  I  am  asking  today 
that  you  give  to  them  power  to  protect  themselves.  Those  girls 
working  there  now  are  the  mothers  of  the  generation  to  come  and 
that  they  may  be  well  protected  in  their  hours  of  labor,  in  the  condi- 
tions under  which  they  work,  that  they  may  become  mothers  of 
healthy  children  in  the  future,  we  are  asking  that  they  may  speak 
with  authority  through  legislative  chambers.  ...  I  wish  to  appeal 
to  you,  too,  for  another  large  group  of  women,  the  teachers  of  the 
United  States.  I  myself  am  one  of  those  who  stand  before  the 
children  of  this  great  nation  day  after  day.  The  teachers  should 
be  made  citizens  in  order  that  they  may  keep  both  the  letter  and  the 
spirit  of  this  democratic  country  in  their  teachings.  T  have  lived 
in  my  own  State  to  know  the  difference  in  the  spirit  with  which 
you  teach  citizenship  when  yon  yourself  are  a  citizen.  A  slave 
cannot  teach  freedom,  cannot  comprehend  the  spirit  of  freedom; 
neither  can  a  woman  who  is  not  a  citizen  comprehend  the  spirit 
of  true  citizenship.  The  teachers  of  Illinois  since  they  were  enfran- 
chised have  come  in  their  work  with  a  new  life,  a  new  zest  and  a 
new  responsibility  and  \ve  expect  to  send  the  boys  out  with  a  finer 
appreciation  of  what  it  means  to  render  public  service  to  a  whole 
community  and  not  a  fraction  of  it.  We  also  recognize  the  fact 
that  our  men  are  feeling  that  in  every  good  work  which  they  under- 
take a  great  help  has  been  given  to  them. 

Mrs.  George  Bass,  -whose  address  is  quoted  in  the  report  of  the 
Senate  hearing  in  this  chapter,  gave  a  valuable  resume  of  the  civic 
and  legal  reforms  which  already  the  women  of  Illinois  had  been 
able  to  accomplish  with  their  votes  and  answered  a  number  of 
questions.  Miss  Ruutz-Rces  spoke  along  the  lines  of  her  speech 
before  the  Senate  Committee,  as  did  Mrs.  Pattie  Ruffner  Jacobs, 
who  made  a  strong  appeal  in  the  name  of  southern  women  for 
the  Federal  Amendment.  She  was  subjected  to  a  crossfire  of  ques- 
tions from  the  southern  members  and  Chairman  Webb  asked  the 
question  which  many  times  afterwards  came  back  to  plague  him : 
"Do  you  not  think  that  as  soon  as  you  have  a  big  enough  majority 
of  women  in  Alabama  -who  want  suffrage  you  will  get  it  from  the 
State  and  that  you  ought  not  come  here  bothering  Congress  about 
something  that  it  should  not,  under  our  form  of  government, 
take  jurisdiction  of  ?"  She  answered:  "I  am  very  regretful  that 
you  have  been  bothered."  During  the  questions  and  answers  that 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQI^  473 

followed  Mrs.  Jacobs  brought  forward  the  unjust  laws  of  South 
Carolina  and  Alabama  for  working  women  and  for  all  women  and 
said :  "The  southern  man  still  prefers  to  think  of  the  southern 
women  as  the  sheltered,  protected  beings  he  would  like  to  have 
them  and  he  does  not  realize  that  now  they  are  the  exploited 
class."  Representatives  Whaley  of  South  Carolina  and  Tribble 
of  Georgia  denied  her  statements  and  afterwards  put  into  the 
Record  statistics  attempting  to  disprove  them. 

In  the  paper  presented  by  Mrs.  Medill  McCormick,  chairman 
of  the  Congressional  Committee,  she  showed  the  excellent  work 
that  had  been  done  by  its  branches  organized  in  the  congressional 
districts;  the  pressure  on  members  of  Congress  by  their  con- 
stituents: the  favorable  resolutions  that  had  been  passed  by  or- 
ganizations and  meetings  representing  hundreds  of  thousands 
and  closed :  "I  wonder  whether  you  gentlemen  of  the  committee 
have  computed  the  number  of  votes  that  are  now  behind  the 
woman  suffrage  movement  in  this  country?  I  do  not  mean  the 
votes  of  women  in  the  equal  suffrage  States  alone,  I  mean  the 
popular  voting  strength  as  shown  at  the  polls  all  over  the  country. 
Nearly  1.250,000  votes  were  cast  for  woman  suffrage  in  New 
York,  Pennsylvania,  New  Jersey  and  Massachusetts  this  fall. 
Nearly  800,000  were  cast  in  Ohio,  Missouri,  the  Dakotas  and 
Nebraska  last  fall,  besides  the  popular  vote  of  the  equal  suffrage 
es  and  Illinois.  The  total  of  these  figures  from  twenty-one 
States  is  6. .400,000 — that  is,  TQT,OOO  more  than  were  cast  for 
President  Wilson  in  forty-eight  States.  Would  Congress  fail 
to  recognize  such  voting  strength  upon  any  other  issue? 

The  rest  of  the  time  was  given  to  the  Congressional  Union, 
''lirmnn.  Miss  Alice  Paul,  presiding.    The  speakers  were  Mrs. 
Andreas  Uelnnd,  president  of  the  Minnesota  Suffrage  Associa- 
tion: Miss  Mabel  Vernon  of  Nevada:  Mrs.  Jennie  Law  Hardy, 
Mstralian  residing  in  Michif^in :  Mrs.  Florence  Bayard  Hilles 
of  Delaware:  Miss  Hrlen  Todd,  Miss  Frances  Jolliffo  nnd  Mrs. 
"Rrml  Field  of  California.    The  first  two  speakers  proceeded 
without  interruption  but  -when  Mr*.  TTnrdv  said  that  by  marry- 
ing in  the  United   States   she   found  horsolf  disfranchised,   the 
°  woke  tip.     After  cnv  r  on  this  point  MV, 


474  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

Steele  of  Pennsylvania  asked  her  how  she  accounted  for  the  large 
defeat  the  second  time  the  suffrage  amendment  was  submitted  in 
Michigan  and  she  answered :  "I  account  for  it  partly  by  the 
fact  that  this  was  the  only  State  having  a  campaign  that  year 
and  the  whole  opposition  was  centered  there.  The  liquor  in- 
terests themselves  admitted  that  they  spent  a  million  dollars  to 
defeat  it." 

The  address  of  Mrs.  Hilles  also  brought  out  a  flood  of  ques- 
tions, which,  with  the  answers  made  by  Miss  Paul,  filled  four 
printed  pages  of  the  official  report.  They  began  with  requests 
for  information  about  the  difficulties  of  amending  State  consti- 
tutions but  soon  centered  on  the  campaign  of  the  Union  against 
the  Democrats  in  1914  and  this  line  was  followed  throughout  the 
rest  of  the  hearing,  the  Federal  Amendment  being  largely  lost 
sight  of.  The  members  showed  deep  personal  resentment.  For 
example : 

Mr.  Taggart  (Kan.).  Your  organization  spent  a  lot  of  time 
and  money  trying  to  defeat  men  on  this  committee  that  you  are  now 
before,  did  it  not? 

Miss  Paul.  We  went  out  into  the  suffrage  States  and  told  the 
women  voters  what  was  done  to  the  suffrage  amendment  by  the  last 
Congress. 

Mr.  Taggart.  We  have  before  us  a  joint  suffrage  resolution  by 
Mr.  Taylor  of  Colorado.  You  tried  to  defeat  him,  did  you  not? 

Miss  Paul.  The  suffrage  amendment  was  not  brought  to  a  vote 
in  the  House  until  after  we  went  to  the  West. 

Mr.  Taggart.  You  tried  to  defeat  the  man  in  the  House  who 
presented  this  resolution  which  you  are  having  hearings  for,  did 
you  not? 

Miss  Paul.  What  we  did  was  to  go  to  the  Rules  Committee,  a 
Democratic  committee,  to  ask  that  this  measure  be  reported  out  and 
brought  to  a  vote;  when  the  committee  had  refused  to  do  this  we 
went  out  into  the  suffrage  States  of  the  West  and  told  the  women 
voters  how  the  bill  was  being  blocked  at  Washington.  As  soon  as 
we  did  that  they  stopped  blocking  and  the  bill  was  brought  up  before 
the  House  for  the  first  time  in  history. 

Mr.  Taggart.    That  was  after  the  election  ? 

Miss  Paul.    Yes. 

Mr.  Taggart.  You  are  aware  that  more  Democrats  voted  for  it 
than  men  of  any  other  party? 

Miss  Paul.  We  are  aware  that  the  Democrats  met  in  caucus  and 
decided  that  woman  suffrage  should  not  be  brought  up  in  the  House 
and  after  we  went  out  into  the  West  they  brought  it  up.  We  went 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQI^  475 

out  to  tell  the  women  voters  about  the  way  some  of  their  Repre- 
sentatives were  treating  the  matter. 

Mr.  Taggart.  And  with  this  result — that  in  the  suffrage  State 
of  Colorado  Senator  Thomas,  a  Democrat,  was  re-elected  to  suc- 
ceed himself ;  in  the  suffrage  State  of  Arizona,  Senator  Smith,  a 
Democrat,  was  re-elected  to  succeed  himself ;  in  the  suffrage  State 
of  California  a  Democrat  was  elected  to  succeed  a  Republican ;  in 
the  suffrage  State  of  Washington  the  House  was  reinforced  by  one 
Democrat,  and  in  the  suffrage  State  of  Utah  and  in  the  suffrage 
State  of  Kansas  Democrats  were  elected  to  reinforce  the  party.  One 
Democrat  only,  Mr.  Seldomridge  of  Colorado,  was  defeated,  for  the 
reason,  he  says,  that  his  district  has  been  gerrymandered ;  never- 
theless, he  came  and  voted  for  the  amendment  on  the  floor  of  the 
House.  Why  should  you  take  such  an  interest  in  defeating  Demo- 
cratic Congressmen  and  Senators? 

Miss  Paul  persisted  that  all  the  favorable  action  taken  by  Con- 
gress after  the  election  of  1914  was  because  they  campaigned 
against  the  Democrats,  ignoring  the  fact  that  Nevada  and  Mon- 
tana had  enfranchised  their  women  at  that  election  and  public 
sentiment  was  veering  so  rapidly  in  favor  of  woman  suffrage  as 
to  compel  both  parties  to  regard  it  as  a  political  issue.  After 
the  opening  sentences  of  Miss  Todd's  speech  it  became  a  heated 
dialogue  between  her  and  the  members  of  the  committee. 

Miss  Paul  said  in  introducing  Miss  Frances  Jolliffe:  "She  is 
a  strong  Democrat  who  campaigned  for  President  Wilson  and 
Senator  Phelan  and  is  one  of  the  envoys  sent  by  the  women's 
convention  in  San  Francisco,  at  which  there  were  present  IO,OOG 
people  who  bade  her  'Godspeed'  on  this  journey."  *     The  be- 
ginning of  her  speech  was  as  follows:     "I  am  here  as  a  mes- 
'  r  from  the  women  voters  of  the  West.     Perhaps  first  T 
should  offer  my  apologies  to  the  minority  for  appearing  at  all ; 
for.  gentlemen.  I  did  my  level  best  to  defeat  tlio  Republican  can- 
didate for  tho  Senate  last  year  and   I  think  T  did  a  good  deal  to 
1 1  him  when  I  went  before  the  women  and  told  them  they 
M  not  send  back " 

Mr.  Volstead  spoke  quickly  saying:  "Will  yon  pardon  mo  an 
interruption?  Was  that  the  pay  you  gave  the  Republicans  for 

Mg  you  almost  as  many  votes  in  the  House  as  the  Demor 
gave  you,  and  that  despite  the  fact  that  the  Democrats  had  a 

1  The  automobile  started  from  the  Exposition  and  there  were  possibly  more  than  that 
many  people  on  the  ground*.  Ai  ita  departure  had  been  widely  advertised  and  was  made 
a  spectacular  event  a  large  crowd  was  at  the  gate. 


HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

two-thirds  majority  in  the  House?  That  is,  less  than  one-half  of 
the  vote  in  favor  of  your  proposition  came  from  the  Democrats 
and  more  than  five  out  of  every  six  who  voted  against  it  were 
Democrats."  The  controversy  kept  up  and  when  Mrs.  Sara 
Bard  Field,  the  other  "envoy,"  commenced  her  speech  she  begged 
that  she  might  finish  it  without  interruption.  Toward  the  close, 
however,  the  hearing  became  a  free-for-all  debating  society,  the 
discussion  filling  seven  pages  of  the  official  report.  Miss  Paul's 
closing  remarks  caused  the  debate  to  be  continued  through  another 
six  pages.  "Can  you  tell  me  what  will  be  in  the  platform  of  the 
Democratic  party  in  1916?"  she  asked  Chairman  Webb.  "I  can 
tell  you  one  plank  that  will  not  be  in  it  and  that  is  a  plank  in 
favor  of  woman  suffrage,"  he  answered.  The  retorts  of  the 
women  were  clever  but  both  Republican  and  Democratic  members 
of  the  committee  were  very  much  out  of  humor  and  not  in  a 
very  good  frame  of  mind  to  make  a  favorable  report. 


The  hearing  of  the  National  Association  Opposed  to  Woman 
Suffrage  followed  immediately.  Its  president,  Mrs.  Arthur  M. 
Dodge,  said  in  opening  their  hearing:  "We  have  come  here  today 
to  ask  you  as  a  committee  not  to  report  this  bill  favorably  to  the 
House,  because  we  consider  that,  in  the  first  place,  it  is  a  ques- 
tion of  State's  rights.  In  the  second  place  we  consider  that  the 
women,  as  represented  by  their  men — good,  bad  and  indifferent, 
honest  or  venal — should  be  heard  through  the  men  who  represent 
them  at  the  present  time  and  whom  the  majority  of  women  are 
still  perfectly  willing  to  have  represent  them."  She  then  showed 
how  much  larger  the  majorities  -were  which  had  voted  against 
woman  suffrage  than  for  it.  The  speakers  were  Miss  Emily  P. 
Bissell  of  Delaware ;  Mrs.  O.  D.  Oliphant  of  the  New  Jersey  asso- 
ciation; Mrs.  James  Wells  of  the  Texas  association;  Miss  Lucy 
J.  Price  of  the  Cleveland  branch;  Mrs.  A.  J.  George  of  the  Massa- 
chusetts association.  The  Judiciary  Committee  was  in  an  argu- 
mentative mood  and  began  with  Mrs.  Dodge  as  follows : 

Mr.  Dyer  (Mo.).  What  is  the  position  of  your  organization  with 
reference  to  the  question  of  whether  or  not  women  should  have 
the  right  to  vote  at  all?  Are  you  in  favor  of  women  voting? 

Mrs.  Dodge.    We  are  in  opposition  to  woman  suffrage  generally. 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQI^  477 

We  have  never  opposed  women  voting  in  school  matters;  we  think 
that  is  a  perfectly  legitimate  line  for  them  to  vote  upon.  The  only 
trouble  is  they  do  not  vote  upon  those  questions  where  authorized; 
only  two  per  cent,  of  them  do  so. 

Mr.  Dyer.     That  is  as  far  as  you  want  them  to  go? 

Mrs.  Dodge.  Yes;  that  is  a  perfectly  legitimate  line  for  them, 
we  have  always  taken  that  position  from  the  first,  but  that  does  not 
mean  that  women  are  to  be  drawn  into  politics  and  government  and 
we  only  draw  the  line  at  their  taking  part  in  politics  and  government. 

Mr.  Dyer.  I  understand  your  position  is  that  you  favor  submit- 
ting this  question  to  the  States  directly. 

Mrs.  Dodge.  Yes.  We  have  always  rather  inclined  to  the  idea 
that  it  should  be  submitted  to  the  women  themselves.1  .  .  . 

Mr.  Taggart  Would  you  say  that  it  was  just  to  require  a  woman 
to  pay  the  income  tax  demanded  by  the  government  and  then  deny 
her  the  right  to  any  voice  as  to  who  should  be  the  Representative 
that  voted  that  tax  on  her? 

Mrs.  Dodge.  I  certainly  should.  I  have  paid  taxes  in  five  States 
myself.  I  feel  that  I  am  entirely  protected — that  is  what  the  tax  is 
for.  I  think  that  taxpaying  men  are  just  as  capable  of  taking  care 
of  my  rights  as  of  their  own  and  I  feel  that  I  am  justified  in  saying 
that  the  men  can  quite  as  well  look  after  that  which  ought  to  be 
and  is  their  business  as  I  can. 

Mr.  Taggart  asked :  "Why  should  the  women  of  Kansas  have 
the  vote  when  it  is  denied  to  those  of  other  States  who  need  it  as 
much  or  more?"  Mrs.  Dodge  answered:  "We  think  the  men  in 
Kansas  did  not  quite  know  what  they  were  doing  when  they  gave 
it  to  women  and  a  great  many  thousands  of  -women  there  wish 
had  not  done  so."  "You  are  then  opposed  to  having  a  State 
grant  suffrage  to  its  own  women?"  he  asked.  "Not  at  all,"  she 
replied.  "Then  why  do  you  say  the  men  did  not  know  what  they 
were  about?"  "I  do  not  know  whether  a  majority  or  a  minority 
of  the  voters  desired  it,"  she  said.  "Well,  it  was  a  very  large 
majority  and  I  have  never  heard  a  regret  expressed  in  the  State 
that  it  was  done,"  responded  Mr.  Taggart. 

Mrs.  Oliphant  was  held  up  because  \  in^  that  the  women 

t  the  suffrage  M  Federal  Amend- 

ment because  if  the  women  got  it  it  -would  be  very  difficult  to 

*  For  the  last  twenty  years  the  members  of  the  Anti-Suffrage  Association  had  appeared 
regularly  before  committees  of  Legislatures  in  various  States  to  oppose  the  submission 
of  the  question  to  the  voters,  picturing  the  injury  it  would  be  to  the  community  and  to 
the  women.  They  had  never  in  any  State  made  the  slightest  effort  to  have  it  submitted 
to  women  themselves.  The  School  suffrage  was  granted  in  most  of  the  States  before 
they  bad  any  organiz.v  y  went  before  a  committee  in  the  New  York  Legislature 

to  oppose  women  on  school  boards. 


HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

repeal  it.  Mr.  Graham  (Penn.)  rushed  to  her  relief  by  saying: 
"The  line  of  thought  is  that  20  States,  holding  a  minority  of  the 
population  of  the  United  States  might  pass  this  National  Amend- 
ment over  the  protest  of  the  larger  States  with  the  greater  popula- 
tion." His  attention  was  called  by  one  of  the  committee  to  the 
fact  that  it  would  require  36  States.  Mrs.  Wells  kept  reminding 
the  committee  that  she  was  an  inexperienced  speaker  and  knew 
nothing  about  politics  but  said :  "I  am  a  Catholic  and  a  Demo- 
crat. I  claim  no  knowledge  of  northern  women  but  I  cannot 
understand  how  southern  women — I  speak  for  them — can  so  far 
forget  the  memory  of  Thomas  Jefferson  and  State's  rights  as  to 
insist  on  having  a  minority  of  men  in  Congress  pass  this  consti- 
tutional amendment  against  our  desire."  She  was  reminded  that 
it  required  two-thirds  of  each  House.  She  then  told  of  opposing 
a  suffrage  resolution  in  the  Texas  Legislature  some  years  before 
but  neglected  to  tell  of  opposing  one  for  prohibition  also.  Asked 
if  women  did  not  vote  at  school  elections  in  Texas  she  answered: 
"I  do  not  know  because  I  know  nothing  about  politics." 

Miss  Price  was  a  shrewd  speaker  and  guarded  her  position  but 
before  she  had  finished  the  members  of  the  committee  themselves 
were  making  speeches  for  or  against  woman  suffrage.  The  speech 
of  Mrs.  George  of  Massachusetts  with  its  statistics  filled  fifteen 
closely  printed  pages  of  the  stenographic  report.  It  was  an  argu- 
ment for  State's  rights  which  would  have  done  credit  to  the 
most  extreme  southerner  and  she  protected  her  defenses  against 
the  volley  of  questions  that  were  kept  up  until  time  for  the  com- 
mittee to  adjourn. 

The  anti-suffragists  had  wisely  refrained  this  year  from  bring- 
ing any  of  their  male  advocates  but  the  latter  did  not  intend 
to  be  left  out  and  they  obtained  a  hearing  six  weeks  later  on 
February  i.  Franklin  Carter,  secretary  of  the  Man  Suffrage 
Association  of  New  York  City,  told  the  committee  he  could  "get 
through  in  half  an  hour,"  which  was  granted.  He  consumed 
over  an  hour,  the  official  report  showing  that  after  the  first  few 
sentences  there  were  not  more  than  three  or  four  without  an 
interruption  from  the  committee  and  the  "heckling"  continued 
through  seventeen  interesting  printed  pages.  Mr.  Carter,  who 
said  he  received  a  salary  of  $100  a  month  and  had  expended  be- 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQI^  479 

tween  $6,000  and  $7,000  during  the  recent  New  York  amend- 
ment campaign,  was  at  last  obliged  to  submit  what  he  had  to  say 
in  the  form  of  a  "brief,"  which  filled  six  closely  printed  pages. 
He  was  followed  by  Paul  Littlefield  representing  the  Men's  Cam- 
paign Committee  of  the  Pennsylvania  Women's  Anti-Suffrage 
Association.  His  experience  was  more  disconcerting  than  that 
of  Mr.  Carter,  who  had  freely  stated  the  expenditures  of  his  asso- 
ciation and  his  own  salary  while  Mr.  Littlefield  refused  any  infor- 
mation on  these  and  other  points.  He  brought  a  message  from 
Mrs.  Horace  Brock,  president  of  the  association,  saying:  "The 
•women  of  our  State  trust  the  men  to  legislate  wisely  and  justly 
for  them,  and  the  ideas  of  chivalry  which  have  existed  for  a 
thousand  years  are  the  great  bulwark  surrounding  and  protecting 
women,  upon  which,  because  of  their  lack  of  physical  strength, 
they  must  rely  for  safety  and  happiness."  His  grilling  filled 
twelve  printed  pages  of  the  report.  Mr.  Stone  asked  permission 
to  get  a  "brief"  from  the  chairman  of  the  Massachusetts  Man 
Suffrage  Association,  Robert  Turner,  which  would  clear  up  many 
matters.  His  own  recollection  was  that  the  expenditures  of  that 
association  in  the  1915  campaign  were  $54,000.  Mr.  Littlelk-ld 
then  relented  and  said  that  the  Pennsylvania  men's  committee 
spent  $20,000  on  the  campaign.  Mr.  Turner's  "brief"  of  5,000 
words  was  afterwards  submitted  but  <li<l  not  mention  expenditures. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

NATIONAL  AMERICAN  CONVENTION  OF   1916. 

The  year  1916  marked  a  turning  point  in  the  sixty-year-old 
struggle  for  woman  suffrage.  Large  delegations  of  women  had 
attended  the  Republican  and  Democratic  National  Conventions 
during  the  summer  and  for  the  first  time  each  of  them  had  put  into 
its  platform  an  unequivocal  declaration  in  favor  of  suffrage  for 
women;  the  Progressive,  Socialist  and  Prohibition  platforms 
contained  similar  planks,  the  last  three  declaring  for  a  Federal 
Amendment.  It  had  become  one  of  the  leading  political  issues  of 
the  day  and  a  subject  of  nation-wide  interest.  The  president  of 
the  National  American  Woman  Suffrage  Association,  Mrs.  Carrie 
Chapman  Catt,  quickly  recognized  the  situation  and  saw  that  its 
official  action  must  not  be  deferred  until  the  usual  time  for  its 
annual  convention  which  would  be  after  the  presidential  elections, 
therefore  the  Board  of  Officers  issued  a  call  for  an  Emergency 
Convention  to  meet  in  Atlantic  City,  N.  J.,  Sept.  4-10,  I9I6.1 

1Cail:  Our  cause  has  been  endorsed  in  the  platforms  of  every  political  party.  In 
order  to  determine  how  most  expeditiously  to  press  these  newly  won  advantages  to  final 
victory  this  convention  is  called.  Women  workers  in  every  rank  of  life  and  in  every 
branch  of  service  in  increasing  numbers  are  appealing  for  relief  from  the  political  handi- 
cap of  disfranchisement.  .  .  .  Unmistakably  the  crisis  of  our  movement  has  been 
reached.  A  significant  and  startling  fact  is  urging  American  women  to  increased  activity 
in  their  campaign  for  the  vote.  Across  our  borders  three  large  Canadian  provinces  have 
granted  universal  suffrage  to  their  women  within  the  year.  In  every  thinking  American 
woman's  mind  the  question  is  revolving:  Had  our  forefathers  tolerated  the  oppressions  of 
autocratic  George  the  Third  and  remained  under  the  British  flag  would  the  women  of 
the  United  States  today,  like  their  Canadian  sisters,  have  found  their  political  emancipa- 
tion under  the  more  democratic  George  the  Fifth?  American  men  are  neither  lacking  in 
national  pride  nor  approval  of  democracy  and  must  in  support  of  their  convictions  hasten 
the  enfranchisement  of  women.  To  plan  for  the  final  steps  which  will  lead  to  the 
inevitable  establishment  of  nation-wide  suffrage  for  the  women  of  our  land  is  the  specific 
purpose  of  the  Atlantic  City  Convention. 

ANNA  HOWARD  SHAW,  Honorary  President. 

CARRIE  CHAPMAN  CATT,  President. 

JENNIE  BRADLEY  ROESSING,  First  Vice-President. 

KATHARINE  DEXTER   MCCORMICK,   Second  Vice-President. 

ESTHER  G.  OGDEN,  Third  Vice-President. 

HANNAH  J.  PATTERSON,  Corresponding  Secretary. 

MARY  FOULKE  MORRISON,  Recording  Secretary. 

EMMA  WINNER  ROGERS,  Treasurer. 

HELEN  GUTHRIE  MILLER,    )    . 

PATTI*  RUFFNER  JACOBS,     }  Audltors- 

480 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQl6  481 

The  members  throughout  the  country  were  much  surprised  but 
welcomed  the  opportunity  to  visit  this  beautiful  ocean  resort. 
The  headquarters  were  in  the  famous  Hotel  Marlborough-Blen- 
heim  and  after  the  first  day  the  sessions  were  held  in  the  large 
New  Nixon  Theater  on  the  Board  Walk. 

After  two  days  of  executive  meetings  the  Forty-eighth  annual 
convention  opened  the  morning  of  September  6  in  the  handsome 
St.  Paul's  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  granted  by  the  trus- 
tees and  pastor,  with  an  invocation  by  the  latter,  the  Rev.  A.  H. 
Lucas.  Mayor  Harry  Backarach  gave  a  cordial  address  of  wel- 
come, ending  by  presenting  to  Mrs.  Catt,  who  was  in  the  chair,  a 
huge  "key  to  the  city  and  to  our  hearts"  tied  with  ribbons  of 
blue  and  gold,  the  colors  of  the  association.  Members  of  the 
Board  made  their  official  reports  at  this  and  other  meetings  and 
all  were  valuable  and  interesting  but  space  permits  only  a  brief 
mention  of  most  of  them.  Miss  Hannah  J.  Patterson  (Penn.), 
corresponding  secretary  and  chairman  of  organization,  told  of  the 
division  of  the  national  work  into  six  departments  with  a  national 
officer  at  the  head  of  each  and  of  moving  the  national  headquarters 
from  505  Fifth  Avenue,  corner  of  42nd  Street,  New  York, 
where  they  had  been  since  1909,  into  much  larger  offices  at  171 
Madison  Avenue,  corner  of  33rd  Street.  An  entire  floor  was 
rented  with  3,800  square  feet  of  space,  nearly  1,000  more  than 
in  the  old  location.  The  Publishing  Company  took  part  of  this, 
the  association  retaining  ten  rooms.  Miss  Patterson  told  of  the 
thorough  organization  work  being  done  under  fourteen  organ- 
,  who  had  covered  twelve  States.  She  spoke  of  the  need  of 
training  schools  for  organizers  and  told  of  the  value  of  com- 
bining all  departments,  data,  literature,  publishing,  organizing, 
etc.,  under  headquarters  management. 

Miss  Esther  G.  Ogden  (N.  J.),  third  vice-president  and  head 
of  the  Publishing  Company,  told  of  doing  field  work  in  Colorado 
and  California  to  interest  their  women  in  the  demonstrations 
•which  were  being  planned  for  the  political  conventions.  She 
spoke  of  the  large  correspondence  in  connection  with  the  trip  of 
little  "golden  flier,"  saying: 

This  tour  was  un<1<  >e  Burke  and  Miss  Nell 

Richardson,  who  left  New  York  April  6  to  make  a  circuit  of  the 


HISTORY   OF   WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

United  States  in  the  interest  of  the  National  Association  and  the 
cause  of  suffrage.  The  Saxon  Motor  Company  donated  the  car, 
while  the  association  arranged  for  entertainment  for  Miss  Burke 
and  Miss  Richardson  along  the  route  and  for  expenses  over  and 
above  the  collections  taken  at  their  meetings,  of  which  they  have 
held  one  a  day  in  the  closely  settled  States.  They  reached  San  Fran- 
cisco early  in  June  and  are  now  on  their  way  east.  From  each 
State  through  which  they  have  passed  we  have  had  appreciative 
letters  of  their  endurance  and  courage  as  automobilists  and  of  their 
worth  as  public  speakers.  They  have  suffered  actual  privations 
crossing  the  desert  and  more  recently,  in  the  Bad  Lands  of  the 
northwest.  They  were  on  the  Mexican  border  during  the  raids 
and  their  car  had  to  be  pulled  out  of  rivers  during  the  floods ;  their 
courage  has  never  faltered  and  they  have  given  another  proof  of 
the  well-kwown  fact  that  you  can't  discourage  a  suffragist.  They  set 
out  to  make  a  circuit  of  the  United  States  with  the  same  deter- 
mination that  we  all  have  set  out  to  win  our  enfranchisement  and 
they  will  not  give  up  until  the  circuit  is  made.  So  far  nineteen 
States  have  been  included  in  the  itinerary  and  it  is  planned  to  cover 
six  more.  The  newspaper  publicity  has  been  nation-wide.  .  .  . 

Later  Miss  Ogdeh  made  her  report  for  the  National  Woman 
Suffrage  Publishing  Company.  "We  exist,"  she  said,  "for  two 
purposes — to  serve  the  suffrage  cause  throughout  the  country 
and  to  prove  that  we  can  serve  that  cause  and  also  develop  a 
successful  business."  She  spoke  of  the  devoted  office  staff,  under 
the  business  manager,  Miss  Anna  De  Baun,  who  had  made  per- 
sonal sacrifices  again  and  again  when  necessary. 

The  report  of  the  recording  secretary,  Mrs.  Mary  Foulke  Mor- 
risson  (Ills.),  to  whom  had  been  entrusted  the  organization  of 
the  great  parade  of  suffragists  during  the  National  Republican 
Convention  in  Chicago  and  especially  its  financing,  stated  that 
$6,699  nad  been  raised  by  the  State  and  Chicago  Equal  Suffrage 
Associations ;  $200  by  the  Chicago  Political  Equality  League  and 
some  hundreds  of  dollars  by  local  leagues  and  individuals.  She 
paid  high  tribute  to  the  unwearying  work  of  Mrs.  Medill  McCor- 
mick,  -who,  speaking  and  organizing  in  the  city  and  outlying  towns 
"won  the  support  of  whole  sections  of  the  community  that  had 
hitherto  been  utterly  indifferent."  Mrs.  Morrisson  herself  had 
spoken  fifty  times  in  the  interest  of  the  parade  in  Illinois,  Indiana, 
Kansas,  Iowa  and  the  Mississippi  Valley  Conference. 

The  report  of  the  national  treasurer,  Mrs.  Henry  Wade  Rogers, 
was  received  with  much  appreciation  of  her  money-getting  ability 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1916  483 

and  satisfactory  accounting.  The  total  receipts  for  the  year  were 
$81,863  and  the  close  of  the  fiscal  year  found  a  balance  on  hand 
of  $8,869.  The  largest  contributions  had  been  $500  each  from 
the  State  associations  of  Illinois,  Massachusetts,  New  York,  New 
Jersey  and  Pennsylvania.  The  National  College  Equal  Suffrage 
League  gave  $450.  The  expenditures  in  round  numbers  were : 
Headquarters,  including  salaries,  expenses  of  conventions,  etc., 
$16,531;  publicity,  $9,096;  National  Congressional  Committee, 
$4,676;  publishing  News  Letter,  $982;  contributions  to  cam- 
paigns, $21,131;  demonstrations,  organization,  etc.,  $20,000. 

In  commenting  Mrs.  Rogers  said :  "Nothing  to  my  mind  indi- 
cates so  vividly  the  progress  of  equal  suffrage  as  the  comparative 
ease  with  which  the  largest  budget  in  the  history  of  the  National 
Association  -was  pledged  and  most  of  it  paid  by  August  25,  and 
the  fact  that  an  excess  of  that  budget  amounting  to  many  thou- 
sands of  dollars  has  been  raised  three  months  before  the  usual 
convention  date.  'Money  talks'  and  it  is  saying  this  year:  'No 
cause  in  which  I  could  be  used  appeals  to  me  as  does  this  funda- 
mental one  of  enfranchising  women,  of  opening  the  door  to  let 
them  enter  and  help  to  make  a  more  Christian  civilization/  Lit- 
erally we  have  had  only  to  ask  and  it  has  been  given  unto  us. 
Scores  and  hundreds  of  women  in  sending  their  generous  gifts 
have  said :  'Would  that  my  check  were  ten  times  as  large !'  The 
wonderful  spirit  of  kindliness  and  ardent  desire  to  cooperate 
have  touched  the  treasurer's  heart  deeply  and  made  the  work 
of  the  passing  year  a  real  joy.  I  am  confident  that  all  necessary 
funds  for  suffrage  expenditures — national,  State  and  local — can 
be  raised,  even  to  a  million  dollars,  if  more  systematic  work  is 
done  on  the  financial  side  in  the  States.  .  .  ."  Mrs.  Rogers  out- 
lined the  business  methods  that  should  be  used  and  expressed  her 
obligations  to  her  committee  of  fifty  on  finance  for  their  helpful 
rapport. 

Mrs.  Walter  McNab  Miller  (Mo.),  first  auditor,  in  the  report 

of  her  field  work  told  of  days,  weeks  and  months  spent  in  visiting 

from  New  York  to  St.    Louis,   holding  conferences  and 

meetings  and  writing  hundreds  of  letters  to  raise  money  and 

arrange  for  the  demonstration  to  be  held  in  St.  Louis  during  the 

ocratic    National    Convention — the    "walkless    parade,"    to 


484  HISTORY   OF   WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

which  the  Missouri  Suffrage  Association  contributed  nearly 
$2,000.  She  attended  State  suffrage  and  political  conventions 
and  the  biennial  of  the  General  Federation  of  Women's  Clubs  in 
New  York.  "And  then  came  Chicago,"  the  report  said,  "with  its 
exciting  surge,  its  march  in  the  rain  and  its  near-victory  plank, 
followed  by  St.  Louis  with  its  'golden  lane'  of  suffragists  and  a 
plank  a  little  less  pleasing ;  another  trip  to  Indianapolis  with  our 
Chief — and  the  most  momentous  June  in  suffrage  history  was 
over."  The  report  told  of  the  journey  to  Cheyenne  to  attend 
the  Council  of  Women  Voters ;  the  addresses  of  the  present  Demo- 
cratic Governor  Kendrick  and  the  former  Republican  Governor 
and  U.  S.  Senator  Carey;  the  two  days  at  the  State  University 
in  Laramie,  "the  guest  of  one  of  the  best-known  suffragists  in 
the  State,  Professor  Grace  Raymond  Hebard";  the  visit  in  Den- 
ver, "asking  questions  and  being  interviewed."  "All  of  this,"  she 
said,  "sent  me  back  firmly  convinced  that  the  western  women 
want  to  help  us  in  our  battle  and  only  wait  for  a  definite  program 
of  work." 

The  second  auditor,  Mrs.  Pattie  Ruffner  Jacobs  (Ala.),  in  the 
report  of  her  field  work  showed  an  equally  full  schedule.  She 
had  been  present  at  every  board  meeting  but  one,  of  which  she 
was  notified  too  late;  as  a  member  of  the  Congressional  Com- 
mittee had  assisted  with  the  lobby  work  in  Washington;  had 
attended  a  three-days'  State  conference  in  Nashville  and  spoken 
three  times;  the  Mississippi  State  convention  and  spoken  twice; 
spoken  in  Savannah  and  Asheville  and  at  the  May-day  celebration 
of  the  Nashville  League;  attended  the  Chicago  and  St.  Louis 
demonstrations  and  spent  the  intervening  times  in  raising  the 
money  to  meet  her  pledge  of  $2,000  for  her  State  to  the  National 
Association. 

Mrs.  Katharine  Dexter  McCormick,  chairman  of  the  Press 
Department,  stated  that  this  was  largely  a  nominal  position,  as 
the  practical  work  was  done  by  professionals  and  would  be  re- 
lated in  the  report  from  the  Publicity  department.  The  reports 
of  the  national  officers  were  concluded  by  that  of  Mrs.  Catt, 
chairman  of  the  Campaign  and  Survey  Committee,  a  new  feature 
of  the  association.  It  began :  "For  the  purpose  of  making  a  sur- 
vey of  suffrage  conditions  throughout  the  nation,  either  an  offi- 


NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQI6  485 

cer  of  the  National  Board  or  some  person  or  persons  represent- 
ing the  Board  have  visited  nearly  every  State  in  the  Union.  I 
have  myself  visited  twenty-three  States;  Miss  Hauser  and  Miss 
Walker  visited  nine  enfranchised  States;  Mrs.  Miller,  Mrs. 
Jacobs,  Mrs.  Morrisson  and  Mrs.  Rogers  have  each  visited  sev- 
eral ;  Mrs.  Roessing  and  Miss  Patterson  have  made  a  number  of 
trips  to  West  Virginia.  Our  chief  motive  was  to  learn  conditions. 
To  corroborate  our  impressions  questionnaires  were  sent  to  all 
the  State  associations  in  January  and  again  in  July.  As  a  result 
of  the  information  obtained  the  National  Board  is  convinced  that 
our  movement  has  reached  a  crisis  which  if  recognized  will  open 
the  way  to  a  speedy  and  final  victory." 

Mrs.  Catt  expressed  the  belief  that  in  the  future  a  better  under- 
standing between  national  and  State  boards  would  be  possible 
and  spoke  of  the  visits  of  herself  and  other  national  officers  to 
West  Virginia  and  South  Dakota,  where  woman  suffrage  amend- 
ments -would  be  voted  on  in  November.  She  then  took  up  the 
case  of  Iowa,  where  one  had  been  defeated  the  past  June,  and 
made  an  analysis  of  a  situation  which  had  existed  here  and  in 
nearly  all  States  where  defeats  had  taken  place  as  follows : 

When  the  present  Board  came  into  office.  Iowa  was  in  cam- 
paign and  but  a  few  months  remained  for  work.  In  January  1  met 
with  the  State  Board  and  we  counselled  together  concerning  the  needs 
of  the  campaign ;  later  I  met  with  it  on  three  different  occasions  and 
one  month  to  speaking  in  the  State.  The  National  Board  con- 
tributed S-  ooo  to  the  campaign  from  the  legacy  of  Mary  J.  Cogge- 
shall  of  Iowa  and  gave  one  organizer  from  January  i  until  the 
vote  was  taken.  It  also  sent  shakers  and  workers  toward  the  end 
of  the  campaign.  The  various  States  contributed  generously  through 
the  national  treasury. 

The  campaign  camp  up  splendidly  at  the  last.    Men,  I  believe,  stip- 

•f\  it  more  earnestly  than  the-  ;n  other  Slates.     One 

of  th"  l"^-t  -  ••;  any  State  has  had.   under  the   direction 

was  at  work  for  some  months.     The 

able  president,  Miss  Flora  Dunlap,  gave  all  her  time  and  ability, 
•re  many  brilliant    forays  \v:  •  uly  effective,   but 

nothing  coul  -i   weakness  which  has  appeared  in  every 

•'t  is  the  inability  of  newlv-formcd.  untrained  corn- 
mitt'  >.     It  will   be 

near  the  nk  spots  inn 

rein''  .     Another  difficulty 

that  mo'  ic  close  of  the  campaign  when  all 


486  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

the  efforts  of  workers  were  demanded  by  other  duties.  This  has 
been  the  trouble  in  most  States.  The  lesson  we  must  learn  is  that 
at  the  beginning  a  money-raising  plan  must  be  formed  and  car- 
ried out  and  pledges  must  be  made  to  cover  the  major  portion  of 
the  cost  before  the  real  campaign  is  begun.  Toward  the  close  there 
are  many  things  which  ought  to  be  done  but  are  left  undone  for 
want  of  money.  State  committees  grow  timid  because  they  do  not 
see  the  money  in  sight  and  naturally  trim  their  budgets  to  the  point 
which  renders  defeat  inevitable. 

Iowa,  like  every  other  State,  showed  opposition  from  the  "wets," 
tricks  of  politicians  and  the  rounding  up  of  every  drunkard  and  out- 
cast to  vote  against  the  amendment.  The  unprecedented  result  was 
that  35,000  more  votes  were  cast  on  the  suffrage  proposition  than 
on  the  Governor.  This  could  only  have  been  brought  about  by 
inducements  of  some  sort  which  were  made  to  the  lowest  elements 
of  the  population.  This  story  differs  in  coloring  and  detail  with 
each  campaign  but  varies  little  as  to  general  fact.  It  must  be  borne 
in  mind  and  our  campaigns  must  be  so  good  that  these  purchasable 
and  controllable  elements  will  be  outvoted. 

A  number  of  men  worked  against  the  amendment  in  Iowa  and 
men  are  working  at  this  time  in  South  Dakota  and  West  Virginia. 
Who  employs  or  pays  these  men  we  have  never  been  able  to  dis- 
cover. Their  ordinary  method  is  to  secure  strictly  private  meet- 
ings of  men  only,  where  they  spread  the  basest  of  untruths.  All 
past  campaigns  point  to  the  necessity  of  waging  those  of  the  future 
with  a  distinct  understanding  that  the  worst  elements  of  the  popu- 
lation will  be  lined  up  by  this  unscrupulous,  well-supported,  combined 
opposition  of  men  and  of  women.  The  women  appeal  to  the  respec- 
table elements  of  the  community;  the  men  make  little  pretense  in 
this  direction.  There  is  a  sure  alliance  between  the  two. 

The  first  public  session  was  held  Thursday  afternoon  and  the 
delegates  looked  forward  with  keen  enjoyment  to  the  "three- 
cornered  debate"  on  -what  had  become  a  paramount  question. 
Mrs.  Catt  was  in  the  chair.  Each  leader  was  to  have  ten  min- 
utes and  her  second  five  minutes  to  speak  in  the  affirmative  only ; 
when  the  six  had  presented  their  arguments  there  was  to  be  free 
discussion  from  the  floor,  and,  after  all  who  had  wished  had 
spoken,  each  leader  would  have  ten  minutes  to  answer  the  op- 
position to  her  point  of  view.  The  program  was  as  follows : 

Shall  the  National  American  Woman  Suffrage  Association 
drop  work  on  the  Federal  Amendment  and  confine  its  activities 
to  State  legislation?  Leader,  Miss  Laura  Clay,  Kentucky;  sec- 
ond, Miss  Kate  Gordon,  Louisiana. 

Shall  the  National  American  Woman   Suffrage   Association 


NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQl6  487 

drop  work  for  State  Referenda  and  concentrate  on  the  Federal 
Amendment?  Leader,  Mrs.  Ida  Husted  Harper,  New  York; 
second,  Mrs.  Glendower  Evans,  Massachusetts. 

Shall  the  present  policy  of  the  National  American  Woman  Suf- 
frage Association  to  work  for  woman  suffrage  "by  appropriate 
National  and  State  legislation"  be  continued?  Leader,  Mrs.  Ray- 
mond Brown,  New  York;  second,  Miss  Florence  Allen,  Ohio. 

The  alternative  amendments  to  the  constitution  -will  then  be 
put :  I.  To  strike  out  the  words  "National  and."  II.  To  strike  out 
the  words  "and  State."  If  both  are  lost,  the  constitution  will  re- 
main as  it  is  and  the  National  American  Woman  Suffrage  Asso- 
ciation will  stand  pledged  to  both  Federal  and  State  campaigns. 

The  speakers  presented  their  arguments  with  great  earnestness; 
the  discussion  was  vigorously  carried  on  and  the  rebuttals  were 
made  with  much  spirit.  By  request  the  honorary  president,  Dr. 
Shaw,  who  was  sitting  on  the  platform,  closed  the  debate  and  she 
strongly  urged  that  there  should  be  no  change  in  the  policy  of 
the  association.  The  convention  voted  overwhelmingly  in  favor 
of  continuing  to  work  for  both  National  and  State  constitutional 
amendments,  nearly  all  of  the  southern  delegates  joining  in  this 
vote.  Mrs.  Harper  then  rose  to  a  question  of  personal  privilege 
and  said  that  she  should  consider  it  a  great  calamity  for  the 
association  to  discontinue  its  work  for  State  amendments  and 
that  she  only  took  the  opposite  side  at  the  urgent  request  of  Mrs. 
Catt,  with  the  promise  that  she  should  be  permitted  to  make  this 
explanation.  Mrs.  Evans  made  a  similar  statement  and  the  audi- 
ence, which  had  been  mystified  by  their  position,  had  a  hearty 
laugh.  This  debate  and  the  vote  of  the  convention  restored  the 
'i  at  ion  to  its  position  of  standing  for  the  original  Federal 
Suffrage  Amendment  and  working  for  amendments  of  State  con- 
stitutions as  a  means  to  this  end. 

In  the  evening  a  brilliant  reception  for  the  officers  and  delc- 
is  given  in  the  large  drawing-room  of  the  Marlborougli- 
Blcnheim  by  the  Atlantic  City  Woman  Suffrage  Club  and  the 
New  Jersey  State  Association. 

The  convention  was  opened  in  the  New  Nixon  Theater  Thurs- 
day morning  with  prayer  by  the  Rev.  Thomas  J.  Cross,  pastor  <>t' 
the  Chelsea  Baptist  Church,  and  much  routine  business  was  dis- 


488  HISTORY   OF   WOMAN   SUFFRAGE 

posed  of.  The  constitution  was  changed  so  as  to  exclude  from 
membership  all  organizations  not  in  harmony  with  the  policy  of 
the  association  and  the  term  of  the  officers  was  extended  from 
one  to  two  years.  A  unique  program  was  carried  out  in  the 
afternoon  under  the  direction  of  the  second  vice-president,  Mrs. 
Katharine  Dexter  McCormick — The  Handicapped  States,  a  Con- 
crete Lesson  in  Constitutions.  The  States  whose  constitutions 
practically  could  not  be  amended  were  grouped  under  these  heads : 
The  Impossibles ;  The  Insuperables ;  The  Inexecutables ;  The  Im- 
probables;  The  Indubitables ;  The  Inexcusables ;  The  Irreproach- 
ables.  Each  group  was  represented  by  one  or  more  women  who 
quoted  from  the  constitutions.  It  was  intended  as  an  object  les- 
son to  show  the  necessity  for  a  Federal  Amendment. 

At  3  130  Mrs.  Catt  began  her  president's  address  before  an 
audience  that  filled  the  large  theater  and  listened  with  intense 
interest  until  the  last  word  was  spoken  at  five  o'clock.  It  was  a 
masterly  review  of  the  movement  for  woman  suffrage  and  a  pro- 
gram for  the  work  now  necessary  to  bring  it  to  a  successful  end. 
The  opening  sentences  were  as  follows : 

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  in  this  belief ;  they  see  no  signs  nor 
symptoms  today  which  were  not  present  yesterday;  no  manifesta- 
tions 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  considera- 
tions and  new  decisions.  A  failure  to  answer  the  call  may  mean 
an  opportunity  lost,  a  possible  victory  postponed.  .  .  . 

This  address,  coming  at  the  moment  when  woman  suffrage 
was  accepted  as  inevitable  by  the  President  of  the  United  States 
and  all  the  political  parties,  was  regarded  as  the  key-note  of  the 
beginning  of  a  campaign  which  would  end  in  victory.  In  pamph- 
let  form  it  was  used  as  a  highly  valued  campaign  document. 

Mrs.  Catt  showed  the  impossibility  of  securing  suffrage  for  all 
the  women  of  the  country  by  the  State  method  and  pointed  out 


NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQl6  489 

that  the  Federal  Amendment  was  the  one  and  only  way.  "Our 
cause  has  been  caught  in  a  snarl  of  constitutional  obstructions  and 
inadequate  election  laws,"  she  said,  after  drawing  upon  her  own 
experience  to  show  the  hazards  of  State  referenda,  and  we  have 
a  right  to  appeal  to  our  Congress  to  extricate  it  from  this 
tangle.  If  there  is  any  chivalry  left  this  is  the  time  for  it  to 
come  forward  and  do  an  act  of  simple  justice.  In  my  judgment 
the  women  of  this  land  not  only  have  the  right  to  sit  on  the 
steps  of  Congress  until  it  acts  but  it  is  their  self-respecting  duty 
to  insist  upon  their  enfranchisement  by  that  route.  .  .  .  Were 
there  never  another  convert  made  there  are  suffragists  enough 
in  this  country,  if  combined,  to  make  so  irresistible  a  driving 
force  that  victory  might  be  seized  at  once.  How  can  it  be  done? 

a  simple  change  of  mental  attitude.  If  you  are  to  seize  the 
victory,  that  change  must  take  place  in  this  hall,  here  and  now. 
The  crisis  is  here,  but  if  the  call  goes  unheeded,  if  our  women 
think  it  means  the  vote  without  a  struggle,  if  they  think  other 
women  can  and  will  pay  the  price  of  their  emancipation,  the 
hour  may  pass  and  our  political  liberty  may  not  be  won.  .  .  . 
The  character  of  a  man  is  measured  by  his  will.  The  same  is 
true  of  a  movement.  Then  unll  to  be  free."  The  address  made 
a  deep  impression  and  was  accepted  as  a  call  to  arms. 

Throughout  the  convention  open-air  meetings  were  held  on  the 

••'Iwalk  addressed  by  popular  suffrage  speakers  and  thousands 
in  the  great  crowds  that  throng  this  noted  thoroughfare  were  in- 

ted  listeners.     The  Friday  morning  session  was  enlivened 

by  a  resolution  offered  by  Mrs.  Raymond  Robins,  which  said  that 

thk  Emergency  Convention  had  been  called  to  plan  for  the  final 

which    would    lead    to    nation-wide    enfranchisement    of 

:°n:  that  the  method  of  amending  State  constitutions  meant 
delay:  that  many  national  candidates  in  all  parties  had  de- 

•f\  in  favor  of  a  Federal  Amendment,  and  therefore  the 
rites  in  this  convention  urged  that  in  the  present  campaign 
suffragists  should  support  for  national  office  only  those  candi- 
ho  pledged  their  support  to  this  amendment.     The  dele- 
quickly  recognized  that  this  meant  to  endorse  Judge  Charles 
ies  for  president,  although  President  Wilson  was  to 
address  the  convention  that  evening.     Party  feeling  ran  high 


VOX.   V 


49°  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

but  still  stronger  was  the  determination  of  the  convention  that 
the  association  should  not  depart  from  its  policy  of  absolute 
non-partisanship.  Motions  were  made  and  amendments  offered 
and  the  discussion  raged  for  two  hours.  Dr.  Shaw  spoke  strongly 
against  the  resolution  and  finally  it  was  defeated  by  a  large 
majority.  Later  Mrs.  Catharine  Waugh  McCulloch  of  Chicago 
offered  a  resolution  which  after  several  amendments  read:  "We 
re-affirm  our  non-partisan  attitude  concerning  national  political 
parties  but  this  policy  does  not  preclude  the  right  of  any  member 
to  work  against  any  candidate  who  opposes  woman  suffrage,  nor 
shall  it  refer  to  the  personal  attitude  of  enfranchised  women." 
This  was  carried  enthusiastically.  A  resolution  by  Mrs.  J.  Claude 
Bedford  (Penn.)  for  a  vigorous  publicity  campaign  to  make 
clear  the  association's  non-partisan  policy  was  passed. 

There  had  been  such  marked  increase  of  public  opinion  in 
favor  of  woman  suffrage  in  the  southern  States  and  so  many  of 
their  able  women  had  come  into  the  association  that  a  "Dixie 
evening"  had  been  arranged.  Mrs.  Catt  presided  and  the  follow- 
ing program  was  presented:  Master  Words — Mrs.  Minnie  Fisher 
Cunningham,  president  Texas  Woman  Suffrage  Association; 
Kentucky  and  Her  Constitution — Mrs.  Thomas  Jefferson  Smith, 
president  Kentucky  Equal  Rights  Association;  The  Evolution  of 
Woman — Mrs.  Eugene  Reilley,  vice-president  General  Federation 
of  Women's  Clubs  and  vice-president  North  Carolina  Woman 
Suffrage  Association;  Progress  of  Today  and  Traditions  of  Yes- 
terday— Mrs.  Edward  McGehee,  president  Mississippi  Federation 
of  Women's  Clubs ;  For  Woman  Herself — Mrs.  Lila  Mead  Valen- 
tine, president  Virginia  Equal  Suffrage  League ;  The  Southern 
Temperament  as  Related  to  Woman  Suffrage — Mrs.  Guilford 
Dudley,  president  Tennessee  Equal  Suffrage  Association,  Inc. ; 
Real  Americanism — Mrs.  T.  T.  Cotnam,  vice-president  Arkansas 
Woman  Suffrage  Association.  Southern  women  have  a  natural 
gift  of  oratory  and  the  audience  -was  delightfully  entertained. 
But  three  of  these  addresses  were  published  and  space  can  be 
given  only  to  brief  extracts. 

'There  is  in  America  today,"  Mrs.  Cotnam  said,  "a  large  class 
of  people  who  are  restless  and  dissatisfied  and  are  smarting  under 
the  injustice  of  being  governed  without  their  consent.  This  is 


NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQl6  4QI 

a  class  with  the  blood  of  the  Pilgrim  mothers  in  their  veins — of 
those  who  cheerfully  endured  untold  hardships  as  the  price  of 
liberty;  a  class  with  the  blood  of  the  Revolutionary  fathers  in 
their  veins — of  those  who  gave  their  lives  that  their  children 
might  be  free ;  a  class  who  are  the  rightful  joint  heirs  -with  all  the 
people  of  the  United  States  of  the  heritage  of  freedom  but  whose 
inheritance  after  140  years  is  still  kept  'in  trust.' '  She  referred 
to  the  anxiety  of  Congress  "to  make  the  Filipinos  a  self -govern- 
ing people  after  only  a  few  years  of  American  tutelage  while  140 

s  have  not  been  enough  to  equip  American  women  for  self- 
government,"  and  said :  "Political  leaders  say  America  is  'the  way- 
mark  of  all  people  seeking  liberty'  and  yet  one-half  of  the  Ameri- 
can people  have  never  known  liberty.  They  promise  justice  to 
the  oppressed  of  every  land  who  are  seeking  refuge  and  practice 
injustice  against  one-half  of  those  whose  homes  have  always  been 
here.  Every  citizen  of  the  United  States  is  jealous  of  her 
standing  among  the  nations  and  just  now  each  political  party  is 
claiming  to  be  the  only  worthy  custodian  of  national  honor.  It 

ith  amazement  we  read  the  arraignment  of  one  party  by 
another  and  note  that  in  no  instance  have  they  taken  each  other 
to  task  for  injustice  to  American  women  which  violates  the 
fundamental  principle  of  democracy,  'Equal  rights  for  all,  special 
privileges  to  none.'  .  .  .  Americanism — it  stands  for  the  recog- 
nition of  the  equality  of  men  and  women  before  the  law  of  man 
as  they  are  equal  before  the  law  of  God.  Americanism — it  stands 
for  truth  triumphant.  Americanism — it  will  find  its  full  realiza- 
tion when  men  and  women  meet  upon  a  plane  of  equal  rights  with 
a  united  desire  to  maintain  peace,  to  guard  the  nation's  honor, 

Ivance  prosperity  and  to  secure  the  happiness  of  the  people." 
"We  are  a  race  of  dreamers  in  the  South  by  choice  and  be- 

o  of  climatic  conditions."  said  Mrs.  Guilford  Dudley  in  an 

icnt  address.  After  a  keenly  sarcastic  comparison  between 
southern  chivalry  and  the  unjust  laws  for  women,  and  the  obser- 
vation that  "the  only  business  a  southern  girl  is  taught  is  the 
business  of  hearts,"  she  said : 

it  was  a  question  of  woman's  rights;  as  long  as  the 

fight   liacl   ,-inv  a]  of  being  against  man;  as  long  as  there 

••d  to  be  a  vestige  of   sex   antagonism,   the   southern   woman 


492  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

stood  with  her  back  turned  squarely  toward  the  cause.  She  wouldn't 
even  turn  around  to  look  at  it,  she  would  have  none  of  it,  but  when 
she  awoke  slowly  to  a  social  consciousness,  when  eyes  and  brain  were 
at  last  free,  after  a  terrible  reconstruction  period,  to  look  out  upon 
the  world  as  a  whole ;  when  she  found  particularly  among  the  more 
fortunate  classes  that  her  leisure  had  come  to  mean  laziness;  when 
she  realized  that  through  the  changed  conditions  of  modern  life  so 
much  of  her  work  had  been  taken  out  of  the  home,  leaving  her  to 
choose  between  following  it  into  the  world  or  remaining  idle;  when 
with  a  clearer  vision  she  saw  that  her  help  in  governmental  affairs, 
especially  where  they  touched  her  own  interests,  was  much  needed 
—right  about  face  she  turned  and  said  to  the  southern  man :  "I  don't 
wish  to  usurp  your  place  in  government  but  it  is  time  I  had  my  own. 
T  don't  complain  of  the  way  you  have  conducted  your  part  of  the 
business  but  my  part  has  been  either  badly  managed  or  not  managed 
at  all.  Tn  the  past  you  have  not  shown  yourself  averse  to  accept- 
ing my  help  in  very  serious  matters;  my  courage  and  fortitude  and 
wisdom  you  have  continually  praised.  Now  that  there  is  a  closer 
connection  between  the  government  and  the  home  than  ever  before 
in  the  history  of  the  world,  I  ask  that  you  will  let  me  help  you." 

Mrs.  Dudley  described  the  effect  of  the  demand  for  woman  suf- 
frage on  the  politicians,  on  the  men  who  feared  they  would  be 
"reformed,"  on  the  sentimentalists,  and  then  she  paid  tribute  to 
the  broad-minded,  justice-loving  men  who  encouraged  the  women 
in  their  new  aspirations  and  concluded:  "So  you  see  not  only 
the  southern  woman  but  the  southern  man  is  now  awake  and 
present  conditions  strongly  indicate  that  before  another  year 
has  passed  we  will  have  some  form  of  suffrage  for  the  woman  of 
Tennessee.  .  .  .  We  have  had  a  vision — a  vision  of  a  time  when 
a  woman's  home  will  be  the  whole  wide  world,  her  children  all 
those  whose  feet  are  bare  and  her  sisters  all  who  need  a  helping 
hand ;  a  vision  of  a  new  knighthood,  a  new  chivalry,  when  men 
will  not  only  fight  for  women  but  for  the  rights  of  women." 

The  plea  of  Mrs.  Valentine  for  a  higher  womanhood  should 
be  given  in  full  but  an  idea  at  least  can  be  gained  by  a  quotation : 

If  I  were  asked  to  give  one  reason  above  all  others  for  advocat- 
ing the  enfranchisement  of  women  I  should  unhesitatingly  reply, 
"The  necessity  for  the  complete  development  of  woman  as  a  prerequi- 
site for  the  highest  development  of  the  race."  Just  so  long  as  woman 
remains  under  guardianship,  as  if  she  were  a  minor  or  an  incom- 
petent— just  so  long  as  she  passively  accepts  at  the  hands  of  men 
conditions,  usages,  laws,  as  if  they  were  decrees  of  Providence— just 
so  long  as  she  is  deprived  of  the  educative  responsibilities  of  self- 


NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQl6  493 

government — by  just  so  much  does  she  fall  short  of  complete  develop- 
ment as  a  human  being  and  retard  the  progress  of  the  race.  We 
are  the  children  of  our  mothers  as  well  as  of  our  fathers  and  we 
inherit  the  defects  as  well  as  the  perfections  of  both.  Many  a  man 
goes  down  in  his  business — is  a  "failure  in  life,"  as  the  phrase  goes — 
because  he  is  the  son  of  an  undeveloped  mother  and,  like  her,  is 
lacking  in  independence,  in  initiative,  in  ability  to  seize  upon  golden 
opportunities.  Yet  she  was  trained  to  passivity,  to  submission,  to 
the  obliteration  of  whatever  personality  she  may  have  possessed. 
What  more  could  we  expect  of  her  son?  Imagine  for  a  moment 
the  effect  upon  men  had  they  from  infancy  been  subjected  to  the 
narrowing,  ossifying  processes  applied  to  women  for  centuries ! 

Happily  for  the  race,  however,  the  great  majority  of  women  are 
waking  from  the  sleep  of  centuries,  are  eagerly  stretching  out  their 
hands  for  the  key  that  is  to  open  wide  the  door  of  larger  oppor- 
tunity. Happily,  too,  the  forward-looking  men  of  today  are  seeing 
the  vision  of  womanhood  released  from  the  old-world  thraldom. 
In  rapidly  increasing  numbers  they  are  welcoming  the  new  woman, 
in  whom  they  find  not  only  the  wife  and  mother  more  fully  equipped 
for  her  task  but  a  comrade  of  congenial  tastes,  keenly  interested 
in  the  outside  world  and  capable  of  taking  her  place  beside  the 
husband,  whether  in  peace  or  war,  wherever  her  country  calls.  .  .  . 
The  suffrage  movement  is  a  world-wide  protest  against  the  mental 
subjection  of  woman.  Therein  lies  its  vital  importance.  It  strikes 
into  the  core  of  life.  It  is  a  basic,  fundamental  reform,  for 
it  is  releasing  for  the  service  of  the  State  the  unused  natural  resources 
dormant  in  womanhood;  it  is  transforming  the  dependent  woman 
voman  enfranchised  that  she  may  the  more  perfectly  fulfill  her 
destiny  as  the  mother  of  the  race. 

The  morning  and  afternoon  sessions  were  crowded  with  re- 
ports, conferences  and  business  of  various  kinds  in  which  the 
delegates  were  keenly  interested.     Mrs.  Grace  Thompson  Seton, 
chairman  of  the  Art  Publicity  Committee,  gave  an  interesting 
account  of  its  work,  told  of  the  prizes  that  had  been  offered  for 
posters  and  slogans  and  the  cooperation  of  men  and  women  promi- 
in  the  literary,  artistic  and  social  world;  of  the  "teas"  given 
at  the  national  headquarters,  bringing  many  who  had  never  visited 
i  before;  of  the  beautiful  banners  and  costumes  designed  for 
^uffrage  parades  and  other  features  of  this  somewhat  neg- 
<1  side  of  the  work  for  woman  The  chairman  of 

ature  Committee,  Mrs.  Arthur  L.  Livermore,  subm 
a  comprehensive  report  of  t!  ;  of  that  department, 

ng  and  1   the  endeavor  to  ascertain 

and  meet  tl.  I  Suffrage  Study  Outline,  a  Blue 


494  HISTORY   OF   WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

Book  Suffrage  School  and  Mrs.  Annie  G.  Porritt's  Laws  Relating 
to  Women  and  Children  had  been  published;  literature  for  the 
rural  districts,  for  the  home,  for  campaigns,  placards,  fliers  and 
an  endless  number  of  novelties. 

It  would  be  impossible  to  give  in  a  few  paragraphs  even  an 
idea  of  the  carefully  prepared  report  of  Mrs.  Mary  Sumner 
Boyd,  the  skilled  head  of  the  Data  Department,  which  filled  eight 
printed  pages.  It  told  of  the  progress  that  had  been  made  in 
organizing  the  department,  the  wide  scope  of  the  collections  and 
the  increasing  demand  for  information  from  many  sources.  It 
would  be  equally  difficult  to  do  justice  to  the  sixteen  printed  pages 
of  the  report  of  Charles  T.  Heaslip,  national  publicity  director. 
He  had  organized  a  publicity  council,  which  thus  far  had  members 
in  twenty-six  States.  His  full  knowledge  of  the  large  syndicates 
had  enabled  him  to  keep  the  subject  before  the  public  throughout 
the  country;  he  had  made  wide  use  of  photographs,  cartoons, 
posters  and  moving  pictures.  Hundreds  of  papers  on  the  route 
of  the  "golden  flier'*  had  been  supplied  with  pictures  and  stories. 
He  had  gone  to  Iowa  to  assist  in  the  campaign  there  and  he 
described  also  the  large  amount  of  publicity  work  done  at  the  time 
the  suffragists  were  making  their  national  demonstrations  dur- 
ing the  presidential  conventions  in  Chicago  and  St.  Louis.  He 
showed  how  victory  could  be  hastened  by  thorough  publicity  work 
in  every  State  from  Maine  to  California.  Later  the  Chair  an- 
nounced the  receipt  of  a  letter  from  the  press,  signed  by  repre- 
sentatives of  nineteen  newspapers  at  the  convention,  expressing 
their  thanks  to  Mr.  Heaslip  and  their  hearty  appreciation  of  his 
services,  without  which  they  could  not  have  handled  its  press 
work  in  a  satisfactory  manner. 

Under  the  topic  How  and  Where  to  Drive  the  Entering 
Wedge,  Miss  Florence  Allen  of  Ohio  told  of  the  openings  offered 
by  amending  city  charters  for  woman  suffrage  and  Mrs.  Roger 
G.  Perkins  described  the  successful  campaign  in  East  Cleveland 
for  this  purpose.  The  recent  campaigns  in  West  Virginia  and 
South  Dakota  were  discussed  by  the  State  presidents,  Mrs.  Ellis 
A.  Yost  and  Mrs.  John  L.  Pyle;  that  of  Iowa  by  Mrs.  Geyer, 
publicity  director,  and  the  work  in  Tennessee  for  a  constitutional 
convention  by  Mrs.  James  M.  McCormack,  State  president.  The 


NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQl6  495 

chairman  of  the  Presidential  Suffrage  Committee,  Mrs.  Robert  S. 
Huse  (N.  J.),  reported  that  bills  had  been  introduced  in  the 
Legislatures  of  New  York,  New  Jersey,  Kentucky  and  Rhode 
Island,  public  hearings  being  granted  by  the  first  three,  but  no 
vote  was  taken. 

Is  Limited  Suffrage  Worth  While?  was  answered  by  Mrs. 
George  Bass  (Ills.)  who  declared  it  to  be  "a  positive  influence 
for  good";  it  was  called  by  Mrs.  Grace  Wilbur  Trout  (Ills.)  "a 
step  toward  full  suffrage'' ;  by  Mrs.  Harriet  Taylor  Upton  (Ohio) 
"a  help  to  other  States."  Mrs.  Catharine  Waugh  McCulloch  de- 
scribed "the  chances  opened  by  the  Illinois  law."  It  was  the  con- 
sensus of  opinion  that  partial  suffrage  -was  quite  worth  striving 
for.  This  was  directly  opposed  to  that  heretofore  held  by  the 
association  but  in  the  past  only  a  Municipal  vote  had  been  asked 
for  and  Kansas  alone  had  granted  it.  Miss  Laura  Clay  (Ky.) 
made  a  strong  presentation  of  the  Elections  Bill,  which  would 
permit  women  to  vote  for  members  of  Congress.  What  Kansas 
Thinks  about  Woman  Suffrage  was  graphically  told  by  Mrs. 
\\ .  Y.  Morgan,  president  of  the  State  association.  Help  from 
the  West  was  promised  by  Mrs.  Emma  Smith  DeVoe  (Wash.), 
president  of  the  National  Council  of  Women  Voters. 

The  climax  of  the  convention  came  on  the  evening  of  Septem- 
ber 8  with  the  address  of  Woodrow  Wilson,  President  of  the 
United  States.  Only  once  before  had  a  President  appeared  before 
a  national  suffrage  convention — when  William  Howard  Taft 
made  a  ten-minute  speech  of  welcome  to  Washington  in  1910 
but  without  committing  himself  to  the  movement.  When  the 
present  convention  was  called,  after  the  endorsement  of  woman 
suffrage  by  the  national  conventions  of  all  parties,  the  two  lead- 
ing candidates  for  President  were  invited  to  address  it.  Judge 
Hughes,  who  had  declared  in  favor  of  the  Federal  Suffrage 
Amendment,  answered  that  he  would  be  too  far  away  on  a 
speaking  tour  to  reach  Atlantic  City.  President  Wilson  wrote 
that  he  would  endeavor  to  arrange  his  itinerary  so  as  to  be 
present.  Later  he  announced  that  he  would  come  and  would 
remain  throughout  the  evening.  Undoubtedly  he  never  before 
faced  such  an  audience.  The  greatest  care  had  been  taken  to  ex- 
clude all  but  delegates  and  invited  guests  and  from  the  stage 


HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

of  the  theater  to  the  back  stretched  tier  after  tier  of  white-robed 
women,  while  the  boxes  were  rilled  with  prominent  people,  mostly 
women.  As  he  came  from  the  street  to  the  stage  with  Mrs.  Wil- 
son, also  gowned  in  white,  he  passed  through  a  lane  of  suffragists, 
one  from  each  State,  designated  by  banners,  with  broad  sashes  of 
blue  and  gold  across  their  breasts.  He  was  accompanied  by  Pri- 
vate Secretary  Tumulty  and  several  distinguished  men  and  the 
entire  stage  behind  the  decorations  of  palms  and  other  plants 
was  surrounded  by  a  cordon  of  the  secret  service.  Forty-three 
large  newspapers  throughout  the  country  were  represented  at  the 
reporters'  table. 

The  President  had  asked  to  speak  last  and  he  listened  with 
much  interest  to  a  program  of  noted  public  workers  as  follows: 
Why  Women  Need  the  Vote.  The  Call  of  the  Working  Woman 
for  the  Protection  of  the  Woman's  Vote — Mrs.  Raymond  Robins, 
president  of  National  Women's  Trades  Union  League.  Mothers 
in  Politics — Miss  Julia  Lathrop,  chief  of  National  Children's 
Bureau.  A  Necessary  Safeguard  to  Public  Morals — Dr.  Katha- 
rine Bement  Davis,  Chief  of  Parole  Commission,  New  York 
City.  Working  Children — Dr.  Owen  R.  Love  joy,  general  secre- 
tary of  National  Child  Labor  Committee.  Each  speaker  empha- 
sized the  necessity  for  the  enfranchisement  of  women  as  a  means 
for  the  nation's  highest  welfare.  Mrs.  Catt  was  in  the  chair  and 
introduced  the  President,  who  said  with  much  earnestness  and 
sincerity : 

Madam  President,  Ladies  of  the  Association:  I  have  found  it  a 
real  privilege  to  be  here  tonight  and  to  listen  to  the  addresses  which 
you  have  heard.  Though  you  may  not  all  of  you  believe  it,  I  would 
a  great  deal  rather  hear  somebody  else  speak  than  speak  myself,  but 
I  would  feel  that  I  was  omitting  a  duty  if  I  did  not  address  you 
tonight  and  say  some  of  the  things  that  have  been  in  my  thoughts 
as  I  realized  the  approach  of  this  evening  and  the  duty  that  would 
fall  upon  me. 

The  astonishing  thing  about  the  movement  which  you  represent 
is  not  that  it  has  grown  so  slowly  but  that  it  has  grown  so  rapidly. 
No  doubt  for  those  who  have  been  a  long  time  in  the  struggle,  like 
your  honored  president,  it  seems  a  long  and  arduous  path  that  has 
been  trodden,  but  when  you  think  of  the  cumulating  force  of  the 
movement  in  recent  decades  you  must  agree  with  me  that  it  is  one 
of  the  most  astonishing  tides  in  modern  history.  Two  generations 
ago — no  doubt  Madam  President  will  agree  with  me  in  saying  this— 


NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQl6  497 

it  was  a  handful  of  women  who  were  fighting  for  this  cause ;  now  it 
is  a  great  multitude  of  women  who  are  fighting  for  it.  There  are 
some  interesting  historical  connections  which  I  should  like  to  attempt 
to  point  out  to  you. 

One  of  the  most  striking  facts  about  the  history  of  the  United 
States  is  that  at  the  outset  it  was  a  lawyers'  history.  Almost  all 
of  the  questions  to  which  America  addressed  itself,  say  a  hundred 
years  ago,  were  legal  questions;  were  questions  of  methods,  not 
questions  of  what  you  were  going  to  do  with  your  government  but 
questions  of  how  you  were  going  to  constitute  your  government; 
how  you  were  going  to  balance  the  powers  of  the  State  and  the 
Federal  government;  how  you  were  going  to  balance  the  claims 
of  property  against  the  processes  of  liberty;  how  you  were  going 
to  make  up  your  government  so  as  to  balance  the  parts  against  each 
other,  so  that  the  Legislature  would  check  the  Executive  and  the 
Executive  the  Legislature.  The  idea  of  government  when  the  United 
States  became  a  nation  was  a  mechanical  conception  and  the  me- 
chanical conception  which  underlay  it  was  the  Newtonian  theory  of 
the  universe.  If  you  take  up  the  Federalist  you  see  that  some  parts 
of  it  read  like  a  treatise  on  government.  They  speak  of  the  centrifu- 
gal and  centripetal  forces  and  locate  the  President  somewhere  in  a 
rotating  system.  The  whole  thing  is  a  calculation  of  power  and 
adjustment  of  parts.  There  was  a  time  when  nobody  but  a  lawyer 
could  know  enough  to  run  the  government  of  the  United  States.  .  .  . 
And  then  something  happened.  A  great  question  arose  in  this 
country  which,  though  complicated  with  legal  elements,  was  at  bot- 
tom a  human  question  and  nothing  but  a  question  of  humanity. 
That  was  the  slavery  question,  and  is  it  not  significant  that  it  was 
then,  and  then  for  the  first  time,  that  women  became  prominent  in 
politics  in  America?  Not  many  women — those  prominent  in  that 
are  so  few  that  you  can  almost  name  them  over  in  a  brief 
catalogue — but,  nevertheless,  they  then  began  to  play  a  part  not 
only  in  writing  but  in  public  speech,  which  was  a  very  novel  part 
for  women  to  play  in  America;  and  after  the  Civil  War  had  settled 
some  of  what  seemed  to  be  the  most  difficult  legal  questions  of  our 
in  the  life  of  the  nation  began  not  only  to  unfold  but  to 
'nulate. 

Life  in   the  United   States  was  a  comparatively  simple  matter 

at  the  time  of  the  Civil  War.    There  was  none  of  that  underground 

\vhich  is  now  so  manifest  to  those  who  look  only  a  little 

-ith  the  surface.    Stories  such  as  Dr.  Davis  has  told  tonight 

uncommon  in  those  simpler  days.    The  pressure  of  low  wages, 

c?ony  of  obscure  and  unremuneratcd  toil  did  not  exist  in  America 

ing  like  the  same  proportions  as  they  exist  now.    And  as  our 

Med  and  accumulated,  as  the  contacts  of  it  have  become 

Nations  have  assembled   in  the  cities  and  the  cool 

:    the  country  have   '  i  -nted   l»v    feverish   urban 

'•  whole  nature  of  our  ]• 

have  ceased  to  be  legal  qtie  .  hey  have  more  and  more 


498  HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

become  social  questions,  questions  with  regard  to  the  relations  of 
human  beings  to  one  another,  not  merely  their  legal  relations  but  their 
moral  and  spiritual  relations  to  one  another. 

This  has  been  most  characteristic  of  American  life  in  the  last 
few  decades,  and  as  these  questions  have  assumed  greater  and  greater 
prominence  the  movement  which  this  association  represents  has 
gathered  cumulative  force,  so  that  when  anybody  asks  himself,  What 
does  this  gathering  force  mean?  if  he  knows  anything  about  the 
history  of  the  country  he  knows  that  it  means  something  which  has 
not  only  come  to  stay  but  has  come  with  conquering  power. 

I  get  a  little  impatient  sometimes  about  the  discussion  of  the 
channels  and  methods  by  which  it  is  to  prevail.  It  is  going  to  prevail 
and  that  is  a  very  superficial  and  ignorant  view  of  it  which  attributes 
it  to  mere  social  unrest.  It  is  not  merely  because  women  are  discon- 
tented, it  is  because  they  have  seen  visions  of  duty,  and  that  is 
something  that  we  not  only  can  not  resist  but  if  we  be  true  Ameri- 
cans we  do  not  wish  to  resist.  Because  America  took  its  origin  in 
visions  of  the  human  spirit,  in  aspirations  for  the  deepest  sort  of 
lilnTty  of  the  mind  and  heart,  and,  as  visions  of  that  sort  come  to 
the  sight  of  those  who  are  spiritually  minded  America  comes  more 
and  more  into  its  birthright  and  into  the  perfection  of  its  develop- 
ment; so  that  what  we  have  to  realize  is  that  in  dealing  with  forces 
of  this  sort  we  are  dealing  with  the  substance  of  life  itself. 

I  have  felt  as  I  sat  here  tonight  the  wholesome  contagion  of  the 
occasion.  Almost  every  other  time  that  I  ever  visited  Atlantic  City 
1  came  to  fight  somebody.  I  hardly  know  how  to  conduct  myself 
\vlic-n  /  have  not  come  to  fight  anybody  but  with  somebody. 

1  have  come  to  suggest  among  other  things  that  when  the  forces 
of  nature  are  working  steadily  and  the  tide  is  rising  to  meet  the 
moon,  you  need  not  be  afraid  that  it  will  not  come  to  its  flood.  We 
feel  the  tide;  we  rejoice  in  the  strength  of  it,  and  we  shall  not 
quarrel  in  the  long  run  as  to  the  method  of  it,  because,  when  you 
are  working  with  masses  of  men  and  organized  bodies  of  opinion, 
you  have  got  to  carry  the  organized  body  along.  The  whole  art 
and  practice  of  government  consist  not  in  moving  individuals  but 
in  moving  masses.  It  is  all  very  well  to  run  ahead  and  beckon,  but, 
after  all,  you  have  got  to  wait  for  them  to  follow.  I  have  not  come 
to  ask  you  to  be  patient,  because  you  have  been,  but  I  have  come 
to  congratulate  you  that  there  has  been  a  force  behind  you  that  will 
beyond  any  peradventure  be  triumphant  and  for  which  you  can 
afford  a  little  while  to  wait. 

When  President  Wilson  had  finished  amid  enthusiastic  ap- 
plause Mrs.  Catt  asked  Dr.  Anna  Howard  Shaw,  honorary  presi- 
dent, to  respond.  She  was  much  moved  by  the  occasion  and  taking 
the  last  sentence  of  the  address  for  a  text  she  eloquently  told  how 
women  had  already  worked  and  waited  for  more  than  three 
score  years.  "We  have  waited  long  enough  for  the  vote,  we  want 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQl6  4QQ 

it  now,"  she  exclaimed,  and  then  turning  to  the  President  with 
her  irresistible  smile  she  finished,  "and  we  want  it  to  come  in 
your  administration!"  He  smiled  and  bowed  and  the  whole 
audience  rose  in  a  sea  of  waving  handkerchiefs  as  he  took  his' 
departure.  The  President  of  the  United  States  had  said :  "Your 
cause  is  going  to  prevail ;  I  have  come  to  fight  with  you ;  we  shall 
not  quarrel  as  to  the  method !" 

The  other  speeches  of  the  evening  were  all  of  a  high  order. 
Mrs.  Robins,  as  always,  made  an  unanswerable  argument  for 
giving  women  wage  earners  the  protection  of  the  ballot.  "In  the 
Children's  Bureau,"  Miss  Lathrop  said,  "-we  have  come  to  see 
the  close  connection  between  the  welfare  of  mother  and  child. 

tuse  we  are  so  concerned  for  the  children  we  asked  a  physician 
to  take  those  vast,  mysterious  volumes  of  the  census  and  look 
up  the  facts  about  the  mortality  of  mothers.  Last  year  in  the 
I  nited  States  more  than  15,000  women  lost  their  lives  carrying 
on  the  life  of  the  race.  The  death  rate  from  other  things,  such 

yphoid  and  diphtheria,  has  been  cut  in  half  but  between 
1900  and  1913  maternal  mortality  was  not  lessened  but  seem- 
ingly increased;  yet  this  waste  of  life  is  just  as  preventable  as 
those  diseases,  for  medical  science  has  shown  that  with  proper 
care  the  dangers  of  childbirth  can  be  made  very  small.  Just  as 

as  women  are  allowed  a  voice  in  public  affairs  it  is  their 
duty  to  see  that  no  mother  and  child  shall  perish  for  lack  of 
care.  Every  country  should  have  a  mother  and  child  welfare 
center.  When  a  memorial  was  lately  proposed  for  a  woman  who 
had  died  in  the  war,  a  well-known  man  said :  'We  can  enfranchise 
her  sex  in  tribute  to  the  valor  which  she  proved  that  it  possessed.' 
not  too  much  to  give  suffrage  to  women  in  tribute  to  the 
15,000  who  are  dying  every  year  in  this  great  duty  and  service; 
yet  we  do  not  ask  the  ballot  for  women  as  a  reward  but  because. 

duty  and  a  service,  we  ought  to  ask  for  it.  .  .  ." 
"Woman  suffrage  is  needed  in  the  interest  of  good  morals," 
1  )r.   I  tavis'fl  address,  who  said  : 

You  cannot  righteousness  into  the  human  heart  hut  you 

educe  to  a  minimum  the  temptations  that  are  offered  to  youth. 
•   you  can  st<«p  commercialized  vice  and  the  manu- 
facture oi    criminals.      I   am  not   one  of  those  who  think  that  the 


5OO  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

millenium  will  come  soon  after  women  get  the  vote,  but  I  believe 
that  women  will  take  an  unusual  interest  in  the  effort  to  clean  up 
vicious  conditions,  because  all  down  the  ages  women  have  paid  the 
^ price  of  vice  and  crime. 

1  do  not  believe  that  at  heart  a  man  is  any  worse  than  a  woman, 
but  all  through  the  centuries  he  lias  been  taught  that  he  may  do 
some  things  which  a  woman  may  not.  It  is  only  of  late  that  we 
have  begun  to  light  these  things  in  the  open  and  you  cannot  suc- 
cessfully fight  any  evil  in  the  dark.  For  sixteen  years  my  work 
has  brought  me  in  contact  with  this  peculiar  phase  of  public  morals 
and  I  know  whereof  I  speak.  Public  morals  are  corrupted  because 
woman's  point  of  view  has  no  representation.  We  have  laws  to 
regulate  these  things  but  they  are  man-made  and  the  public  senti- 
ment behind  them  which  should  govern  their  enforcement  has  grown 
up  through  the  ages  and  it  is  the  sentiment  of  men  only.  The 
laws  are  not  equal  nor  equally  enforced.  If  you  doubt  it  you  have 
only  to  go  into  the  night  court  and  you  will  see  woman  after  woman 
convicted  on  the  word  of  a  policeman  only,  while  in  order  to  con- 
vict a  man  you  have  to  pile  evidence  on  evidence.  I  think  this 
inequality  of  treatment  will  not  cease  till  women  get  a  vote. 

In  a  very  convincing  address  Dr.  Lovejoy  said : 

The  past  month  has  been  memorable  in  the  history  of  child  labor 
reform  in  America.  A  three-years'  campaign  culminated  last  Fri- 
day in  the  signing  of  a  bill  by  President  Wilson  which  excludes 
from  the  facilities  of  interstate  commerce  the  exploiters  of  child 
labor,  it  has  been  estimated  that  150,000  children  who  now  bow 
under  the  yoke  of  excessive  toil  will  be  able  to  straighten  up  and 
look  heaven  in  the  face  when  this  law  begins  to  operate  on  the  first 
of  next  September.  In  signing  the  bill  the  President  said:  "I  want 
to  say  that  with  real  emotion  I  sign  this  bill,  because  I  know  how 
long  the  struggle  has  been  to  secure  legislation  of  this  sort  and  what 
it  is  going  to  mean  to  the  health  and  vigor  of  this  country  and  also 
to  the  happiness  of  those  whom  it  affects.  It  is  with  genuine 
pride  that  I  play  my  part  in  completing  legislation." 

1  am  convinced  that  we  need  the  voice  of  the  church,  the  school, 
the  home,  in  making  and  enforcing  laws  to  protect  working  children, 
and,  since  half  the  adult  population  of  our  American  homes  are 
women,  since  approximately  75  per  cent,  of  the  church  members  are 
women,  since  90  per  cent,  of  the  school  teachers  are  women  and 
since  every  moral  and  educational  enterprise  in  the  country  is  repre- 
sented in  about  the  same  proportion,  cold  logic  forces  us  to  the 
conclusion  that  we  need  women  in  politics.  Of  10,000  members 
of  the  National  Child  Labor  Committee,  6,400  are  women.  Some 
of  the  experiences  we  have  had  with  men  in  Legislatures  in  response 
to  the  appeal  of  mothers  for  the  protection  of  working  children 
have  forced  me  to  the  conclusion  that  in  this  protection  the  partici- 
pation of  women  in  the  law-making  of  the  State  is  vital. 


N    OF    TQl6  5OI 

The  primary  nominations  and  elections  were  held  with  voting 
machines  and  when  the  result  was  announced  it  was  found  that 
all  the  old  board  was  nominated  with  the  exception  of  Mrs. 
Roessing,  Miss  Patterson  and  Mrs.  Morrisson,  who  declined  to 
stand  for  re-election.  Their  places  were  filled  with  Mrs.  Frank 
J.  Shuler  (N.  Y.),  corresponding  secretary;  Mrs.  Thomas  Jef- 
ferson Smith  (Ky.),  recording  secretary  and  Miss  Heloise  Meyer 
(Mass.),  first  auditor.  As  there  were  no  other  candidates  the 
secretary  was  unanimously  requested  by  the  convention  to  cast 
its  vote.  This  was  a  remarkable  record  for  543  delegates.  A 
national  suffrage  flag  was  adopted,  the  gift  of  Pennsylvania — a 
yellow  field  with  fringed  edges,  in  the  center  a  circle  of  eleven 
blue  stars  representing  the  equal  suffrage  States  enclosing  an 
eagle  on  the  wing  holding  the  globe  in  its  talons.  Mrs.  J.  O. 
Miller  in  behalf  oT  the  president  made  an  eloquent  presentation. 

Miss  Clay  moved  a  resolution  on  her  Elections  Bill  that  the 
convention  endeavor  to  protect  women  citizens  in  their  right  to 
vote  for  U.  S.  Senators  and  Representatives  and  with  this  ob- 
ject in  view  endorse  this  bill  introduced  by  Senator  Robert  L. 
O\\cn  (Okla.).  This  motion  was  carried.  Mrs.  Catt  stated  that 
the  resolution  of  Mrs.  Sallie  Clay  Bennett  (Ky.)  was  similar 
and  this  also  was  passed.  A  large  number  of  letters  and  tele- 
grams were  read  from  eminent  men  and  women  and  from 
societies  of  many  kinds.  Mrs.  Catt  stated  that  in  not  one  had  it 
been  suggested  that  the  association  lessen  its  activities  for  the 
ral  Amendment.  The  convention  then  adopted  a  resolution 
instructing  the  Congressional  Committee  "to  concentrate  all  its 
resources  on  a  determined  effort  to  carry  this  amendment  through 
the  next  session  of  Congress." 

Invitations  for  the  next  convention  were  received  from  nine 
tings  were  sent  to  three  of  the  original  surviving 
pioneers,  the  Rev.  Antoinette  Brown  Blackwell  of  New  Jersey; 
Judith  :th  of  Massachusetts  and  Miss  F.niily  How- 

land  of  New  York.    Tlv  -  ere  introduced  who  brought 

from  the  N  Fqual  Franchise  Union  of  Can 

and  '  rnpbell  McTvor  rcsponde  ix?cial  vote  of  th 

rett  Hay  and  Miss  Lulu  IT.  Marvel, 
:  of  the  General  Committee  of  mcnis.  f«»r 


5O2  HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

perfect  management  of  President  Wilson's  visit  to  the  conven- 
tion. Among  those  submitted  by  the  Committee  on  Resolutions, 
Mrs.  Alice  Duer  Miller  (N.  Y.),  chairman,  and  adopted  were 
the  following: 

Whereas,  all  political  parties  in  their  national  platforms  have 
endorsed  the  principle  of  woman  suffrage,  be  it 

Resolved,  That  the  National  American  Woman  Suffrage  Associa- 
tion in  convention  assembled  calls  upon  Congress  to  submit  to  the 
States  the  Constitutional  Amendment  providing  nation-wide  suffrage 
for  women. 

Whereas,  the  Democratic  and  Republican  parties  in  endorsing  the 
principle  of  woman  suffrage  have  specially  recognized  the  right  of 
the  States  to  settle  the  question  for  themselves,  we  call  upon  these 
parties  in  the  States  where  amendment  campaigns  are  in  progress 
to  take  immediate  action  to  obtain  the  enfranchisement  of  women, 
and  in  other  States  to  take  such  action  as  the  suffrage  organizations 
deem  expedient. 

Whereas,  honest  elections  are  vital  to  good  government  in  this 
country  and  to  the  decisions  in  the  campaigns  for  woman  suffrage; 
and 

Whereas,  public  records  of  all  funds  used  in  political  campaigns 
will  benefit  our  movement  in  that  they  will  bring  to  light  its  real 
opponents,  therefore 

Resolved,  That  this  convention  urges  the  passage  by  Congress  and 
the  States  of  a  thorough  and  comprehensive  Corrupt  Practices  Act 
providing  effectual  punishment  for  offenders. 

That  in  recognition  of  Miss  Clara  Barton's  lifelong  support  of 
woman  suffrage,  as  well  as  her  service  to  the  country  in  founding 
the  American  Red  Cross  and  standing  at  its  head  for  more  than 
a  quarter  of  a  century,  this  association  endorses  the  bill  recently 
introduced  in  Congress  providing  for  an  appropriation  of  $1,000  to 
place  a  suitable  memorial  to  Miss  Barton  in  the  Red  Cross  Building 
now  being  constructed  in  the  city  of  Washington. 

That  we  express  our  profound  sympathy  with  the  women  in  the 
countries  now  at  war  and  our  sense  of  the  advance  that  has  been 
made  in  the  cause  of  all  women  by  the  devotion,  ability  and  courage 
with  which  those  women  have  risen  to  the  new  demands  on  them. 

That  we  express  our  deep  appreciation  of  the  great  honor  the 
President  of  the  United  States  has  done  the  women  of  the  country 
by  coming  to  Atlantic  City  especially  to  address  this  convention. 

Rejoicing  was  expressed  over  the  many  victories  during  the 
year,  the  endorsement  by  large  organizations — the  General  Con- 
ference of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  the  Anti-Saloon 
League,  the  Women's  Relief  Corps  and  others;  a  plank  for  wo- 
man suffrage  in  all  national  party  platforms ;  a  favorable  declara- 


NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQl6  503 

tion  by  all  presidential  candidates  and  for  the  first  time  the  sanc- 
tion of  the  President  of  the  United  States.  The  report  of  Mrs. 
Frank  M.  Roessing,  chairman  of  the  National  Congressional 
Committee,  gave  so  complete  an  account  of  the  situation  at  the 
time  the  great  "drive"  for  the  Federal  Amendment  was  begun 
that  it  is  largely  reproduced. 

At  the  opening  of  the  64th  Congress  in  December,  1915,  several 
political  leaders  interested  in  the  progress  of  social  and  economic 
legislation  stated  that  1916  would  be  a  lean  year  in  Congress  for 
such  movements.  It  was  pointed  out  that  particularly  in  the  Senate 
some  of  the  most  reactionary  men  had  been  returned  at  the  preced- 
lection.  It  is  also  a  presidential  election  year  and  neither  of 
the  £reat  parties  is  willing  to  take  one  unnecessary  step  which  in 
•vlgment  may  tend  to  add  to  the  number  of  its  adversaries  or 
vulnerable  points  in  some  particular  section  of  the  country. 
All  of  the  435  members  of  the  House  and  one-third  of  the  Senators 
conic  up  for  re-election  in  November  of  this  year — they,  too,  are  shy 
and  sensitive.  Some  legislation,  notably  child  labor  after  it  had 
hern  endorsed  by  the  National  Democratic  platform,  successfully 
ran  the  gauntlet  but  not  so  our  Federal  Suffrage  Amendment.  It 
is  with  keen  regret  your  committee  reports  that  it  has  not  had  action 
in  cither  the  Senate  or  House  of  Representatives. 

In  the  Senate  the  resolution  was  introducd  Dec.  7,  1915,  by  Sena- 
Sutherland,  Thomas  and  Thompson  of  Kansas  and  referred 
to  the  Senate  Committee  on  Woman  Suffrage.    This  committee  re- 
'1  favorably  resolution  No.  i,  introduced  by  Senator  Sutherland. 
The  written  report  made  from  the  committee  by  Senator  Thomas  is 
>f  the  best  pieces  of  literature  on  the  subject  and  copies  were 
mailed  to  every  State  president  and  State  chairman  of  congressional 
work.     Since  that  early  date  our  measure  has  been  on  the  calendar. 
It  lins  come  to  the  top  a  number  of  times  but  at  the  request  of  suffrage 
ttors  has  been  held  until  a  more  auspicious  hour. 
ihc  National  Association  was  desirous  of  having  a  vote  on  the 
ire  at  this  session,  your  committee  began  to  work  to  that  end 
immediately   after   receiving   specific   instructions   from   the  Board 
June  17.  The  meaning  of  the  suffrage  planks  in  the  Repub- 

ratic  platforms  was  disputed  by  some  men  in  both 
ders  stated  that  the  planks  were  silent  as  to  the 
ral  Amendment  and  thus  left  men  free  to  vote  on  the  amend- 
rich  decided.    In  order  to  ascertain  the  interpretation  which 
given  by  members  of  Congress  it  was  determined  to  push 
the  Senate.     On  June  27  Mrs.  Catt,  Miss  Hannah  J. 
rson,  corresponding  secretary  of  the  National  Suffrage  Associa- 
ritoinctte  Funk,  vice-chairman  of  the  committee,  Miss 
nnd  the  chairman  held  an  informal  conference  with  the  Senators 
:"ranchised  States  in  (lie  office  of  Senator  Shafroth  ; 

unanimous  consent   is   required   for  the  con- 


504  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

sideration  of  such  a  measure,  the  Senators  agreed  that  if  we  would 
have  the  vote  taken  without  debate  it  would  probably  be  possible, 
since  this  would  not  consume  the  time  of  the  Senate.  We  believed 
that  this  was  best  in  order  to  make  sure  of  the  vote.  On  July  22 
Senator  Thomas  wrote  to  every  Senator  asking  whether  he  would 
consent  to  a  vote  being  taken  without  debate.  He  informed  us  that 
on  both  the  Republican  and  Democratic  sides  there  were  men  who 
would  not  give  such  consent,  some  stating  that  they  had  been  asked 
by  certain  suffragists  of  the  other  organization  not  to  consent. 
After  the  endorsement  of  the  Federal  Amendment  by  Judge  Hughes, 
the  candidate  for  President,  frequent  remarks  were  made  in  the 
Senate  on  it  by  members  of  both  parties.  Senator  Clark  (Republi- 
can) of  Wyoming  and  Senator  Pittman  (Democrat)  of  Nevada 
were  among  those  who  urged  action  at  this  session  but  finally  in 
August  Senator  Thomas  gave  up  the  effort. 

The  unfair  treatment  of  the  amendment  resolution  in  the 
House  Judiciary  Committee  and  its  final  suppression  by  Chair- 
man Edwin  Y.  Webb  (N.  C.)  were  described  in  full  and  the 
unsuccessful  efforts,  led  by  Mrs.  Catt,  to  obtain  action  on  it. 
[See  Chapter  on  Federal  Amendment.]  The  report  continued: 

Federal  Elections  Bill :  On  December  6  Representative  Raker  intro- 
duced at  the  request  of  the  Federal  Suffrage  Association  a  bill  to 
protect  the  rights  of  women  citizens  of  the  United  States  to  regis- 
ter and  vote  for  Senators  and  members  of  the  House.  The  bill 
was  referred  to  the  Committee  on  the  Election  of  the  President, 
Vice-President  and  Representatives  in  Congress  and  has  not  yet  been 
reported  out.  On  December  TO  this  same  bill  was  introduced  by 
Senator  Lane  of  Oregon,  referred  to  the  Committee  on  Woman 
Suffrage  and  is  still  there. 

United  States  Elections  Bill:  The  United  States  Elections  Bill, 
introduced  by  Senator  Owen  at  the  request  of  Miss  Laura  Clay 
on  February  3,  aims  also  to  secure  to  women  the  right  to  vote  for 
Senators  and  Representatives  in  Congress.  Miss  Clay  says  it  is 
simply  a  declaratory  act;  that  it  does  not  permit  Congress  to  specify 
qualifications  of  voters  and  therefore  does  not  involve  the  issue  of 
State's  rights.  This  bill  was  referred  to  the  Committee  on  Privileges 
and  Elections,  where  it  remains.  Your  committee  assisted  the  suf- 
fragists in  the  District  of  Columbia  in  the  effort  for  a  bill  enabling 
it  to  elect  a  delegate  to  the  Lower  House.  .  .  . 

Planks  i1  For  some  time  prior  to  June  your  committee  used  every 

1  On  June  i,  a  short  time  before  the  meeting  of  Republican  and  Democratic  National 
Conventions,  twenty-nine  members  of  the  Lower  House  of  Congress  from  States  where 
women  vote,  who  wished  the  conventions  to  put  woman  suffrage  in  their  platforms,  had  a 
hearing  before  the  House  Judiciary  Committee.  The  Representatives,  both  Democratic 
and  Republican,  who  made  brief  arguments  for  the  Federal  Amendment  were:  Ariz., 
Carl  Hayden;  Cal.,  Denver  S.  Church,  Charles  H.  Randall,  William  Kettner,  John  E. 


NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQl6  5O5 

opportunity  with  Senators  and  Representatives  to  further  the  work 
of  securing  suffrage  planks  in  the  Repuhlican  and  Democratic  na- 
tional platforms.  Its  chairman  was  put  in  charge  of  drafting  for 
submission  to  Mrs.  Cart  the  planks  which  were  to  he  offered  to  the 
two  conventions  on  behalf  of  the  National  Association.  Its  mem- 
bers who  went  to  Chicago  and  St.  Louis  concentrated  their  efforts 
on  the  planks.  The  two  demonstrations  of  women  planned  and 
supervised  bv  the  National  Board  were  the  culmination  of  the  cam- 
paign on  behalf  of  these  planks.  Tn  cooperation  with  your  Con- 
gressional Committee,  many  State  delegations  of  women  who  came 
for  the  demonstrations  did  special  eleventh-hour  work  with  the  dele- 
gates to  the  conventions. 

Your  committee  regrets  that  the  planks  in  the  two  dominant 
national  party  platforms,  since  they  mention  method  at  all,  do  not 
specificallv  endorse  Federal  action,  but  thev  will  be  of  great  value 
in  the  States  and  progress  there  will  help  the  Federal  work.  Every 
man  in  Congress  is  keenly  alive  to  the  strength  of  our  movement 
in  his  district  and  State.  For  that  reason  we  urged  the  women 
of  each  State  to  secure  planks  in  the  State  platforms  endorsing 
the  principle  of  woman  suffrage.  As  a  last  resort,  if  they  could  not 
secure  a  separate  plank  in  their  State  platforms,  we  asked  them 
to  make  sure  that  each  State  convention  endorsed  its  party's  na- 
tional platform,  that  the  plank  might  in  this  way  have  the  equivalent 
of  a  State  endorsement. 

With  the  final  vielding  of  the  two  dominant  parties  to  the  justice 
of  woman  suffrage  all  are  now  on  record  in  favor  of  the  principle: 
all    except   the   Republican    and    Democratic    endorse   the    Federal 
•Mment.    Republicans  have  been  strengthened  in  their  advocacv 
of  Federal  action  bv  Jud^c  Hughes'  persona!   endorsement  of  the 
amendment.     Your  committee  must  sound  a  note  of  warning  here 
acrainst  over-confidence.    Some  too  zealous  suffragists,  including  one 
suffrage  orean.  state  quite  seriouslv.  notwithstanding  the  fact  that 
their  attention  has  been  called  to  their  error,  that  "the  Republican 
partv  has  specifically  declared  for  the  Federal  Suffrage  Amendment." 
Alas!   it  has  done  no  such  thing.     Tt  has   not  done  one  bit  more 
4be  Democratic  partv.     The  personal  endorsement  of  the  Re- 
publican candidate  for  President  can  not  properly  he  construed  as 
'  ^rsement.    Those  of  us  who  have  had  some  vears  of  evperi- 
witne<;sed  the  worming  and  screwing,  fallacv  and  treach- 
vhibited  bv  members  of  a  partv  after  their  leading  candidate 
i  particular  measure.     We  know  that  we  can  not  hold 
•  onsible  for  one  man's  utterances  made  afler  the  plat- 

:im?n  r.  TTHUard.   Fdwarr!  Kmtln*.   Edward  f.  Taylor;   T!1*  .    Tnmr*  T. 

•nntt.  Adolph  J.  Sabath.  James  MrAndrews,  FrnnV  H.  Buchanan.  Thomas  Gallagher, 

Tf     T*Tenner.   Claudius   U.    Stnnr.    TTrnry   T.    Knincv.    Mnrtin    P.    Foster,    William 

•"*    fa   member  of  the   TtidfrJary   Committcr):    Kan*..    Joseph  Tafnrart    (also   * 

member).  Dudley  Pooli--  TMvrrinp.  John  R.  Connrllv    Jouett  Shome.  William 

fobn  M.   F.vans.  Tom  -,,h..  C.  C  OH!. 

Judire   RaVer   acted    at   chairman    and    the    remarkably    strong   presentation    ratted    ottt 
many  question*  frotn  the  anti-suffrage  members  of  the  Judiciary  Committee, 
vou  T 


506  HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

form  had  been  adopted  by  the  party  convention  and  accepted  by 
the  party  candidate. 

Committee:  Mrs.  Medill  McCormick  was  unable  to  continue  as 
chairman  of  the  Congressional  Committee  and  the  present  chairman 
was  appointed  by  the  National  Board  in  January,  1916,  immediately 
went  to  Washington  and  lived  there  eight  months,  until  the  opening 
of  this  convention.  During  the  entire  term  of  this  session  of  Con- 
gress this  committee  has  had  some  representatives  on  duty  at  the 
Washington  headquarters  every  moment.  The  service  of  each  mem- 
ber has  not  been  continuous  but  has  varied  from  a  week  to  three 
months  in  length.  In  addition  to  the  chairman,  the  committee  con- 
sisted of  Mrs.  Funk  of  Illinois;  Miss  Hay  of  New  York;  Mrs. 
Jacobs  of  Alabama;  Mrs.  Cotnam  of  Arkansas;  Mrs.  C.  S.  McClure 
of  Michigan;  Mrs.  Valentine  of  Virginia;  Miss  Martha  Norn's  of 
Ohio ;  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Higgins  Sullivan  of  Nebraska  and  Miss  Ruth 
White  of  Missouri. 

Mrs.  Funk  resigned  March  14  to  take  up  other  work  and  in  July 
Miss  White  was  appointed  secretary  and  has  done  much  special 
work.  Because  of  the  amount  of  travel  involved  only  two  meet- 
ings of  the  full  committee  have  been  held,  on  March  2  and  Septem- 
ber 4.  Every  plan  for  congressional  work  has  been  submitted  to 
the  National  Board  or  to  the  national  president  for  approval. 

Revision  of  Work :  At  the  beginning  of  the  present  year  the  work 
of  the  National  Association  was  revised  and  departmentalized,  the 
organization  branch  was  separated  from  the  congressional  work, 
made  a  distinct  department,  placed  under  another  head  and  operated 
from  the  New  York  office.  This  division  was  advisable,  since  each 
task  is  big  enough  by  itself.  The  only  disadvantage  resulted  from 
the  distance  between  the  bases  of  operation  of  the  two  depart- 
ments— one  of  the  paramount  reasons  for  the  removal  of  all  the 
headquarters  to  Washington.  .  .  .  The  work  of  the  committee  in 
1916  consisted  of  the  supervision  and  direction  of  all  activity  con- 
nected with  the  Federal  Amendment,  including  lobbv  work  at  the 
Capitol ;  the  stimulating  of  congressional  activity  in  the  States :  the 
cataloguing  of  information  concerning  Senators  and  Representatives ; 
the  assembling  and  filing  of  all  information  specifically  relating  to 
the  Federal  Amendment  in  Congress  and  in  the  States;  the  issuing 
of  newspaper  articles ;  the  handling  of  the  large  correspondence. 

Headquarters :  The  chairman  had  been  on  duty  only  a  short  time 
when  the  necessity  for  removing  national  headquarters  to  Wash- 
ington was  deeply  impressed  upon  her — so  deeply  that  she  made 
a  special  trip  to  New  York  to  labor  with  the  national  officers  there 
to  this  end  but  was  unsuccessful.  The  headquarters  of  the  Con- 
gressional Committee  at  the  opening  of  this  session  consisted  of 
two  rooms  in  the  Munsey  Building  at  Washington  too  diminutive 
to  hold  even  our  furniture,  to  say  nothing  of  our  workers.  On 
February  19  it  moved  to  two  larger  rooms  in  the  same  building. 


NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION   OF    IQl6  507 

A  summary  of  the  correspondence,  etc.,  was  given  and  the  re- 
port said  of  the  lobby  work : 

All  the  direct  work  with  Senators  and  Congressmen  is  a  time 
as  well  as  brain  consuming  process.  Usually  it  means  tramping 
up  and  down  the  long  stone  corridors,  hour  after  hour,  in  order 
to  find  one  man  in  his  office.  Then  he  may  be  having  a  committee 
meeting  or  a  previous  engagement  or  emergency  business  and  you 
are  invited  to  come  some  other  day.  Perhaps  you  have  waited  an 
hour  before  you  are  sure  that  he  ca'n  not  see  you.  It  is  not  uncom- 
mon for  the  members  of  our  lobby  to  state  that  they  have  made 
as  many  as  six.  eight  or  ten  calls  before  they  succeeded  in  reaching 
a  man.  Speaking  from  my  own  knowledge,  I  have  wasted  hours 
at  the  Capitol  trying  to  see  men  who  would  not  make  appointments. 
I  have  called  eighteen  times  to  see  one  man  and  have  not  seen  him 
He  is  the  Representative  from  my  own  district.  We  carried 
the  district  for  suffrage  in  Pennsylvania  last  year  but  I  am  told 
that  he  does  not  want  to  vote  for  the  Federal  Amendment.  It  is, 
of  course,  possible  to  interview  members  by  calling  them  out  of 
the  session  but  this  method  is  uncertain  and  not  very  successful, 
since  they  feel  hurried  and  interviews  in  a  public  reception  room 
are  seldom  satisfactory. 

The  latest  piece  of  work  done  by  the  committee  is  the  interviewing 
tter  of  all  congressional  candidates  who  will  stand  for  elec- 
tion in   November.     This  has  been  done  in  cooperation  with  the 
State  associations  which  have  been  urged  to  institute  vigorous  inter- 

ng  in  the  congressional  districts. 

Presidential  Interviewing:  The  presidential  candidates  of  the  two 

hose  platforms  do  not  endorse  the  Federal  Amendment  have 

interviewed  in  person.     On  July  17  Mrs.  Catt,  Dr.  Shaw  and 

Mrs.  Norman  deR.  Whitehouse,  president  of  the  New  York  suf- 

e  association,  called  on  Judge  Hughes  in  New  York  and  had 

a  long  and  satisfactory  conversation.     He  told  them  that  in  his 

acceptance  he  could  not  endorse  the  Federal  Amendment 

ise  this  was  the  accepting  of  the  party's  nomination  and  of  its 

ich   had   not  mentioned   it.      He   said,   however,   that 

•i  it  and  that  soon  after  his  speech  of  acceptance  he 

Bounce  his  personal  advocacy  of  the  amendment.    He  asked 

information  in  \vhich  of  course  they 

•tatcment  of  ref ore  no  surprise  to 

'•rtheless  most  gratif 

'   and  your  chairman  called  on   President 
ngton.     He  reiterated  his  belief  that  woman  suf- 

v  State  action.     We  presented  the  argmr 
the  Federal  Amendment  but  he  r  need, 

and  openmii;  have  by 

up  hope  of  i  MI  the  jr  1  ad  visa- 

Conferences:  At  the  last  n.v  n  vent  inn  al  committe« 


508  HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

recommended  that  the  Board  of  Officers  should  consider  the  sug- 
gestion of  conferences  hetween  the  Congressional  Committee  of  the 
National  Association  and  the  Legislative  Committee  of  the  Congres- 
sional Union,  with  a  view  to  securing  more  united  action  in  the 
lohby  work  in  Washington.  Nine  such  conferences  were  held — one 
in  January,  three  in  February,  three  in  March,  one  in  June,  one 
in  July.  Your  chairman  was  present  at  each  and  Miss  Anne  Martin, 
representing  the  Union,  was  present  at  each.  At  some  of  them 
each  organization  had  additional  representatives.  Mrs.  Catt  attended 
two  and  our  corresponding  secretary,  Miss  Patterson,  attended  one. 
The  subject  was  the  time  at  which  action  on  the  Federal  Amend- 
ment should  be  secured  in  both  branches  of  Congress.  When  on 
July  20  it  was  found  that  the  National  Committee  wished  to  obtain 
a  vote  in  the  Senate  before  adjournment  and  the  Congressional 
Union  wished  to  postpone  it  the  conferences  came  to  an  end.  It 
is  the  unanimous  judgment  of  your  committee  that  they  were  of  no 
value  to  the  work  on  the  amendment. 

General :  The  congressional  work  done  in  Washington  this  year 
by  the  National  Association  has  not  been  spectacular.  Your  com- 
mittee had  not  been  on  duty  long  before  they  realized  that  many 
members  had  been  irritated  by  the  too-frequent  calls  of  suffragists 
and  by  the  inconsiderate  demands  on  their  time.  As  our  last  na- 
tional convention  was  held  at  the  opening  session  of  this  Congress, 
delegations  of  suffragists  used  the  opportunity  to  call  on  their  Sena- 
tors and  Representatives.  Considering  the  strain  of  work  of  Con- 
gress during  the  past  months  and  the  fact  that  the  men  had  already 
been  interviewed  by  State  delegations  or  representatives,  we  did 
not  encourage  further  visits  to  the  Capitol.  In  Washington  such 
visits,  like  pageants  and  other  spectacular  forms  of  activity,  have 
been  overdone.  There  was  nothing  to  be  gained  and  probably 
something  to  be  lost  by  them. 

Your  committee  wishes  to  express  its  appreciation  of  the  coopera- 
tion of  many  Senators  and  members  of  the  House.  Our  friends  have 
often  gone  out  of  their  way  to  assist  us  and  not  once  has  any  one 
refused  a  request  for  help.  They  have  made  speeches  on  the  floor 
at  our  suggestion,  taken  polls  for  us,  held  conferences,  arranged 
interviews,  provided  us  with  documents  and  extended  all  the  official 
courtesies  within  their  power.  While  we  have  not  secured  action 
we  are  not  discouraged  in  the  least.  Even  the  most  radical  opponents 
acknowledge  that  our  movement  has  grown  tremendously  this  year. 
We  have  achieved  recognition  of  the  justice  of  our  principle  by  the 
political  parties  and  we  have  with  us  in  our  Federal  fight  the  great 
majority  of  the  leaders  of  thought  and  action  who  believe  in  suf- 
frage at  all.  By  a  continuation  of  sane  methods,  sound  tactics, 
coordination  and  concentration  we  shall  soon  accomplish  the  sub- 
mission of  the  Federal  Amendment. 

Your  chairman  becomes  more  convinced  each  day  that  one  of  the 
next  steps  necessary  to  nationalize  our  work  and  to  secure  Federal 
action  is  the  removal  of  the  national  headquarters  to  Washington. 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQl6  509 

She  feels  it  to  be  her  clear  duty  frankly  to  state  to  the  convention 
her  conviction  on  this  point.  It  is  her  judgment,  based  upon  her 
own  observation  this  year  and  a  study  of  the  past  work  on  the 
Federal  Amendment,  that  it  will  not  pass  until  the  national  head- 
quarters are  in  Washington  and  the  National  Board  as  well  as  the 
Congressional  Committee  is  in  a  position  to  gives  its  direct  attention 
to  the  work  on  this  amendment. 

A  lobby  in  Washington  for  special  educational  purposes  may  be  a 
good  thing  but  you  will  have  to  do  special  educational  and  political 
work  in  the  States  if  your  committee  is  to  achieve  political  action 
to  the  point  of  a  two-thirds  vote  on  the  amendment.  We  appreciate 
that  support  has  been  given  to  it  by  many  suffragists  and  a  number 
tate  chairmen  and  presidents  but  there  has  not  been  the  inten- 
sive, persistent,  determined  congressional  activity  in  the  States  which 
tin-re  must  be  before  the  amendment  can  be  passed  and  ratified. 
Your  committee  has  done  its  utmost,  I  believe,  but  it  can  no  more 
put  the  Federal  Amendment  through  Congress  without  your  activity 
in  the  States  than  a  State  committee  can  achieve  success  without 
activity  in  the  counties.  Activity  on  the  part  of  a  small  number 
of  local  Washington  suffragists  is  not  a  sufficient  backing  for  the 
wurk  of  the  Congressional  Committee.  If  you  propose  to  secure 
the  Federal  Amendment  you  must  work  just  as  hard  in  the  States 
as  you  expect  it  to  work  in  Washington.  Without  a  doubt  we  can 
•  e  the  Federal  Amendment  if  the  women  of  this  country  enthusi- 

'ly  want  their  enfranchisement  that  way.  .  .  . 

The   friendliness  of  members  of   Congress  toward  the  National 

Association  and  their  continued  respect  for  the  suffrage  movement 

in  this  country  have  been  maintained  by  the  dignity,  poise  and  ability 

of  the  national  lobby.     In  the  many  years  of  my  connection  with 

us  kinds  of  organizations  I  have  never  served  any  in  which 

was  more  frankness,  unity  and  good   fellowship  than  in  the 

jiial  Board  and  the  National  Congressional  Committee.     That 

harmony  exists  is  due  to  our  great  president,  to  whom  each 

i^  more  indebted  than  all  of  us  together  can  express.     Her  visits 

to  Washington  did   for  us  what  nothing  and   no   one   else  could 

It    was  my  duty  and  pleasure  always  to  accompany  her  to 

apitol,  and  the  unfailing  impression  of  nobility,  directness  and 

r  which  she  left  upon  the  men  was  a  joy  to  witness. 

I    can    not  close  this   re-port    without    acknowledging    mv    personal 

to  that  co-officer  who  is  not  on  our  committee,  Miss  Hannah  J. 

i.     It  is  but  fair  to  say  that  had  we  not  had  her  assistance 

lous  moments  the  suffrage  planks  would  not  be  in  the  two 

:ial  platforms  today.     Food,  sleep,  rest,  pleasure,  all  were  day 

;ip  by  this  most  self-sacrificing  officer.     She  ii 
kept  with  one  other  [Mrs.  Roessing]  the  lonely  vigil  the  ni^lit 
of  June  6  at   the  door  of   the    Republican    Resolutions  Committee 

nli  committee's  adverse  report  on  the 

:.i^e  plank.     The  crisis  in  our  work    for  both   the  planks  came 
of  seven,  for  we  knew  that  if  we  lost  in  Chi- 


5IO  HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

cago  there  would  be  no  hope  in  St.  Louis.  At  midnight  that  all- 
powerful  sub-committee  by  a  vote  of  5  to  4  turned  down  our  plank 
and  refused  to  permit  suffrage  to  be  mentioned  in  the  platform 
in  any  way.  That  committee  has  seldom  been  reversed  in  all  the 
history  of  the  party.  When  later  Senator  Borah,  also  sleepless  and 
hungry,  came  to  us  in  one  of  those  agonizing  moments  when  decision 
must  be  made  at  once,  when  we  could  not  reach  our  president  or 
our  board,  it  was  Miss  Patterson  who  made  the  decision  that  won 
the  plank.1 

A  comprehensive  plan  of  work  was  adopted  with  the  following 
principal  features: 

Federal  Work:  The  National  Board  shall  continue  a  lobby  in 
Washington  until  the  Federal  Amendment  shall  be  submitted;  the 
matter  of  removing  headquarters  to  Washington  shall  be  left  to 
the  judgment  of  the  Board ;  it  shall  conduct  a  nation-wide  campaign 
of  agitation,  education,  organization  and  publicity  in  support  of  the 
amendment,  which  shall  include  the  following:  a  million-dollar  fund 
for  the  campaign  from  Oct.  I,  1916,  to  Oct.  I,  1917;  a  monthly 
propaganda  demonstration  simultaneously  conducted  throughout  the 
nation;  at  least  four  campaign  directors  and  200  organizers  in  the 
field  and  a  vigorous,  thorough  organization  in  every  State ;  a  na- 
tionalized scheme  for  education  through  literature;  national  suf- 
frage schools ;  a  speakers'  bureau ;  innumerable  activities  for  agita- 
tion and  publicity;  a  national  press  bureau  and  a  national  publicity 
council  with  departments  in  each  State;  a  national  committee  to 
extend  suffrage  propaganda  among  non-English-speaking  races. 

State  Work:  A  Council  of  the  representatives  of  States  shall 
meet  in  executive  session  in  connection  with  each  annual  national 
convention  to  hear  reports  as  to  the  status  of  each  campaign  State 
and  to  fix  upon  States  which  shall  be  recommended  to  go  forward 
with  campaigns. 

No  State  association  shall  ask  the  Legislature  for  the  submis- 
sion of  a  State  constitutional  amendment  or  for  the  submission 
of  the  question  by  initiative  or  by  a  referred  law  until  such  Council 
or  the  National  Board  has  had  the  opportunity  to  investigate  condi- 
tions and  to  give  consent. 

Any  State  which  proceeds  to  a  referendum  campaign  without 
securing  this  consent  shall  be  prepared  to  finance  its  own  campaign 
without  help  from  the  National  Board. 

Any  State  which  has  secured  the  consent  of  the  National  Board 
to  proceed  with  a  campaign  shall  have  its  cooperation  to  the  fullest 
extent  of  its  powers. 

1  Senator  Borah  told  them  that  the  plank  the  National  Suffrage  Board  had  submitted, 
endorsing  a  Federal  Amendment,  was  absolutely  impossible  but  one  could  be  obtained 
declaring  for  woman  suffrage  by  State  action.  They  accepted  it,  which  was  a  wise  thing 
to  do,  as  had  the  Republican  platform  not  favored  woman  suffrage  per  se  the  Democratic 
platform,  adopted  the  following  week,  would  not  have  done  so. 


NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQl6 

As  soon  as  possible  experienced  campaign  managers  shall  be 
trained  for  the  work  and  shall  be  supplied  to  a  campaign  State  to 
work  under  the  direction  of  the  National  Board  in  cooperation  with 
the  State  board. 

States  willing  to  contribute  to  campaigns  in  other  States  should 
do  so  by  the  advice  of  the  National  Board,  who  should  be  informed 
as  to  conditions,  and  the  money  so  contributed  should  be  passed 
through  the  national  treasury. 

The  rule  that  the  National  Board  shall  do  nothing  in  States  without 
the  consent  of  the  State  shall  be  repealed. 

The  organization,  press  work,  literature  distributed  and  general 

activity   of   the   States   shall   be   standardized   and   regular   reports 

11  of  these  departments  shall  be  made  to  the  National  Board 

in  order  that  advice  and  help  may  be  rendered  when  most  needed. 

This  Board  shall  have  the  authority  to  nationalize  the  suffrage 
movement  by  unifying  the  work  as  far  as  is  possible. 

Any  States  not  desiring  to  work  for  the  Federal  Amendment  may 
remain  members  of  the  National  Association  provided  they  do  not 
;  actively  against  it. 

Dr.  Sha-w  presided  over  the  last  evening  session  of  the  con- 
vention and  three  of  the  strongest  speeches  during  the  conven- 
tion were  made  by  the  Hon.  Herbert  Parsons,  New  York  member 
of  the  Republican  National  Committee;  Mrs.  Deborah  Knox 
Livingston  (Me.),  Superintendent  of  Franchise  of  the  National 
Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union,  and  Raymond  Robins, 
a  national  leader  of  progressive  thought.  The  convention  ended 
with  a  mass  meeting  Sunday  afternoon  in  the  New  Nixon  Theater 
Mrs.  Catt  presiding.  Rabbi  Henry  M.  Fisher  of  Atlantic 
City  gave  the  invocation  and  inspiring  addresses  were  made  by 
.  David  F.  Simpson  (Minn.)  and  the  Rev.  Efne  McCollum 
Jones  (la.).  Dr.  Shaw  closed  her  address  with  a  beautiful 
delineation  of  Americanism,  saying  at  its  close: 

What  is  Americanism?    Every  one  has  a  different  answer.    Some 

is  never  to  submit  to  the  dictation  of  a  King.     Others 

ism  is  the  pride  of  liberty  and  the  defence  of  an  insult 

th  their  gore.    When  some  half -developed  person  tram- 

ilag,  we  should  be  ready  to  pour  out  tin-  blood  of  the 

:i,  they  say.    But  do  we  not  sit  in  .silence  when  iluit  Hag  waves 

living  conditions  which  should   'he  an   insult   to  all  patriot 

we  care  more  about  our  lla^  than  any  other  flag?     Why, 

does  the  sight  of 

flag  bri:  \annth  in  our  hearer 

r.itions  of  the 
le   world  in   is 


512  HISTORY   OF   WOMAN   SUFFRAGE 

the  love  of  liberty,  but  men  died  for  that  and  women  gave  their 
lives  for  it  thousands  of  years  before  America  was  known.  Others 
say  it  is  the  love  of  justice  but  the  whole  world  is  filled  with  that, 
no  one  country  loves  it  more  than  another.  Human  love,  sacrifice 
and  sympathy  have  been  manifested  in  the  history  of  the  world  since 
the  beginning  of  time.  The  American  sees  in  Americanism  just 
what  he  wants  to  see.  He  looks  over  the  world  and  finds  every 
good  thing  and  calls  it  his  own — justice,  liberty,  humanity,  patriotism. 
It  is  not  Americanism  but  humanism.  There  is  only  one  thing  we 
can  claim  in  higher  degree  than  the  other  nations — opportunity  is 
the  word  which  means  true  Americanism. 

The  anti-suffragists  have  said  that  when  women  have  the  vote  they 
will  have  less  time  for  charity  and  philanthropy.  They  are  right — 
when  we  have  the  vote  there  will  be  less  need  for  charity  and  philan- 
thropy. The  highest  ideal  of  a  republic  is  not  a  long  bread  line  nor  a 
soup  kitchen  but  such  opportunity  that  the  people  can  buy  their 
own  bread  and  make  their  own  soup.  Opportunity  must  be  for  all, 
men  and  women  alike,  and  the  peoples  of  every  nationality.  Ameri- 
canism does  not  mean  militarism.  The  greatest  need  of  Americans 
is  not  military  preparedness  nor  changed  economic  conditions  but  a 
baptism  of  the  spirit,  higher  religious  ideals,  deeper  tolerance  and 
sympathy.  The  human  heart  must  be  in  accord  with  the  Divine 
heart  if  America  is  to  mean  more  than  other  countries,  and,  if  we  are 
to  be  what  our  mothers  and  fathers  aspired  to  be,  we  must  all  be  a 
part  of  the  Government. 

At  5  o'clock  Mrs.  Catt  spoke  the  closing  -words  and  declared 
the  convention  adjourned. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

NATIONAL  AMERICAN  CONVENTION  OF 

The  Forty-ninth  National  Suffrage  Convention,  which  met  in 
Poll's  Theater  at  Washington  Dec.  12-15,  I9I7>  was  held  under 
the  most  difficult  conditions  that  ever  had  been  faced  in  the  long 
history  of  these  annual  gatherings.  Always  heretofore  they 
had  been  comfortable,  happy  times,  when  the  delegates  came  from 
far  and  wide  to  exchange  greetings,  report  progress  and  plan  the 
future  work  for  a  cause  to  which  many  of  them  were  giving 
their  entire  time  and  effort.  Now  great  changes  had  taken  place, 
as  the  Call  for  the  convention  indicated. 

Since  last  we  met  the  all-engulfing  World  War  has  drawn  our  own 
country  into  its  maelstrom  and  ominous  clouds  rest  over  the  earth, 
obscuring  the  vision  and  oppressing  the  souls  of  mankind,  yet  out 
of  the  confusion  and  chaos  of  strife  there  has  developed  a  stronger 
promise  of  the  triumph  of  democracy  than  the  world  has  ever  known. 
v  allied  nation  has  announced  that  it  is  fighting  for  this  and  our 
own  President  has  declared  that  "we  are  fighting  for  democracy,  for 
the  right  of  those  who  submit  to  authority  to  have  a  voice  in  their 
own  government."  New  Russia  has  answered  the  call ;  Great  Britain 
has  pledged  full  suffrage  for  women  and  the  measure  has  already 
passed  the  House  of  Commons  by  the  enormous  majority  of  seven 
to  one.  Canada,  too,  has  responded  with  five  newly  enfranchised 
provinces;  France  is  waiting  only  to  drive  the  foe  from  her  soil  to 
give  her  women  political  liberty. 

Such  an  array  of  victories  gives  us  faith  to  believe  that  our  own 
Government  will  soon  follow  the  example  of  other  allied  nations 
and  will  also  pledge  votes  to  its  women  citizens  as  an  earnest  of  its 
rity  that  in  truth  we  do  fight  for  democracy.    This  is  our  first 
nal  convention  since  our  country  entered  the  war.     We  an- 
I  with  new  problems  and  new  issues  and  the  nation  is  realizing 
''•pendence  upon  women  as  never  before.     It  must  be  made  to 
c  also  that,  willingly  as  women  are  now  serving,  they  can  serve 
still  more  efficiently  when  they  shall  have  received  the  full  measure 
iship,     These  facts  must  be  urged  upon  ('undress  and  our 
rnment   must   be   convinced   that    the    tune    lias   onne    for   the 
•  f  women  by  means  of  an  amendment  to  the  Fed- 
eral ( "onstitution. 

Men  and  women  who  believe  that  m  of  worl<l 


514  HISTORY   OF   WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

democracy  includes  government  of  the  people,  by  the  people  and  for 
the  people  in  our  country,  are  invited  to  attend  our  convention  and 
counsel  with  us  on  ways  and  means  to  attain  this  object  at  the  earliest 
possible  moment.1 

On  account  of  the  large  rush  of  soldiers  to  the  eastern  coast 
and  the  many  other  problems  of  transportation  travelling  had 
become  very  hard  and  expensive  but  so  greatly  had  the  interest 
in  suffrage  increased  among  women  that  nearly  600  delegates  were 
present,  the  highest  number  that  had  ever  attended  one  of  the 
conventions.  They  came  through  weather  below  zero,  snow- 
storms and  washouts;  trains  from  the  far  West  were  thirty-six 
hours  late;  delegates  from  the  South  were  in  two  railroad 
wrecks.  It  was  one  of  the  coldest  Decembers  ever  known  and 
the  eastern  part  of  the  country  had  never  before  faced  such  a 
coal  famine,  from  various  reasons.  Washington  was  inundated 
with  people,  the  vast  number  who  had  suddenly  been  called  into 
the  service  of  the  Government,  the  soldiers  and  the  members  of 
their  families  who  had  come  to  be  -with  them  to  the  last,  and  this 
city  of  only  a  few  hundred  thousand  inhabitants  had  neither 
sleeping  nor  eating  accommodations  for  all  of  them.  The  suf- 
frage convention  had  been  called  before  these  conditions  were 
fully  known  and  because  of  the  necessity  of  bringing  pressure 
at  once  on  Congress.  The  national  suffrage  headquarters  were 
now  occupying  a  large  private  house  and  the  officers  were  cared 
for  there  but  the  delegates  were  obliged  to  scatter  over  the  city 
wherever  they  could  find  shelter,  were  always  cold  and  some  of 
the  time  not  far  from  hungry  and  prices  were  double  what  was 
expected.  Notwithstanding  all  these  drawbacks  the  convention 
program  was  carried  out  and  a  large  amount  of  valuable  work 
accomplished,  tried  and  loyal  suffragists  being  accustomed  to 
hardships  and  self-sacrifice. 

The  victory  in  New  York  State  the  preceding  month  had 
marked  the  beginning  of  the  end  and  the  universal  enfranchise- 
ment of  women  seemed  almost  in  sight.  Even  the  intense  excite- 

1  Signed:  Dr.  Anna  Howard  Shaw,  honorary  president;  Mrs.  Carrie  Chapman  Catt, 
president;  Mrs.  Walter  McNab  Miller,  Mrs.  Stanley  McCormick  and  Miss  Esther  G. 
Ogden,  vice-presidents;  Mrs.  Frank  J.  Shuler,  corresponding  secretary;  Mrs.  Thomas 
Jefferson  Smith,  recording  secretary;  Mrs.  Henry  Wade  Rogers,  treasurer;  Mrs.  Pattie 
Ruffner  Jacobs,  auditor;  Mrs.  Maud  Wood  Park,  chairman  Congressional  Committee; 
Miss  Rose  Young,  chairman  of  Press;  Mrs.  Arthur  L.  Livermore,  chairman  of  Literature. 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1917  515 

ment  of  the  war  had  not  entirely  overshadowed  what  had  now 
became  a  national  issue.  Under  the  auspices  of  Mrs.  Helen  H. 
Gardener,  resident  in  Washington,  an  Advisory  Council  was 
formed  to  act  in  an  honorary  capacity  and  extend  official  recog- 
nition to  the  convention,  Senators,  Representatives,  Cabinet 
officers,  Judges,  clergymen  and  others  prominent  in  the  life  of 
the  capital,  with  their  wives  and  other  women  of  their  family, 
cheerfully  giving  their  names  for  this  purpose.1 

The  evening  before  the  convention  opened  a  reception  by  in- 
vitation was  given  in  the  ball  room  of  the  New  Willard  Hotel 
to  Dr.  Shaw,  Mrs.  Catt  and  the  other  officers  and  the  delegates, 
the  following  acting  as  hostesses :  Mrs.  William  Gibbs  McAdoo, 
Airs.  Newton  D.  Baker,  Mrs.  Thomas  W.  Gregory,  Mrs.  Albert 
Sidney  Burleson,  Mrs.  Josephus  Daniels,  Mrs.  Franklin  K.  Lane, 
Mrs.  David  F.  Houston,  Miss  Agnes  Hart  Wilson,  Mrs.  James 
R.  Mann,  Mrs.  Philip  Pitt  Campbell.  The  first  seven  were  the 
wives  and  the  eighth  the  daughter  of  the  members  of  President 
Wilson's  Cabinet,  only  Mrs.  Robert  Lansing  being  absent,  who, 
like  her  husband,  was  an  anti-suffragist.  The  last  two  were  the 
wives  of  prominent  Representatives  from  Illinois  and  Kansas. 
Because  of  the  war  the  other  social  festivities  that  were  usually 

1  On  the  list  were:  All  the  members  of  the  Cabinet  except  Secretary  of  State  Lansing; 
nineteen  U.  S.  Senators  and  fourteen  prominent  Represetatives;  Speaker  Champ  Clark; 
U.  S.  Commissioner  of  Education  Philander  P.  Claxton;  Assistant  Secretary  of  Agricul- 
ture Carl  Vrooman;  Justices  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  District  Wendell  P.  Stafford 
and  Frederick  L.  Siddons;  Secretary  to  the  President  Joseph  P.  Tumulty;  Commissioners 
of  the  District  Louis  Brownlow  and  W.  Gwynn  Gardiner;  former  Commissioners  Henry 
F.  MacFarland  and  Simon  Wolf;  Major  Raymond  S.  Pullman,  Chief  of  Police;  Resident 
Commissioner  and  Mme.  Jaime  De  Veyra  (Philippine  Islands);  Resident  Commissioner 
Felix  C.  Davila  (Porto  Rico);  John  Barrett,  director  of  the  Pan-American  Union;  Major- 
General  W.  C.  Gorgas;  the  Reverends  U.  G.  B.  Pierce,  Henry  N.  Couden,  chaplain  of 
;  James  Shera  Montgomery,  Rabbi  Abram  Simon,  John  Van 

k,  president  of  the  School  Board;  Theodore  Noyes,  editor  of  the  Evening  Star; 
Arthur  Brisbane,  the  Times;  C.  T.  Braincrd,  the  Washington  Herald;  W.  P.  Spurgeon, 
the  Washington  Post;  Gilbert  Grosvcnor,  editor  of  the  National  Geographic  Magazine; 
J.  Leflwich  Sinclair,  president,  and  Thomas  Grant,  secretary  of  the  Washington  Chamber 
of  Commerce;  Dr.  Harry  A.  Garfield,  president  Williams  College  and  director  Fuel 
Administration  for  the  United  States;  Edward  P.  Costigan,  U.  S.  Tariff  Commission; 
Frank  A.  Vandcrlip,  V.  Everit  Macy,  on  War  Boards;  Samuel  Gompers,  president 
American  Federation  of  Labor;  Alexander  Graham  Bell;  Gilford  Pinchot;  Dr.  Ryan 
ux;  General  Julian  S.  Carr,  commandcr-in  chief  United  Confederate  Veterans. 

Miss  Julia  Lathrop,  chief  of  ihe  Children's  Bureau;  Mrs.  Mary  C.  C.  Bradford,  presi- 
dent, and  Mrs.  Ella  Flagg  Young,  secretary  Natiu  ,11  Association;  Mrs.  George 
Tbacbcr  Guernsey,  president-general  Daughters  of  the  American  Revolution;  Mrs.  Cordelia 
R.  P.  Odenhcimer,  president-general  Daughters  of  the  Confederacy;  Miss  Janet  Richards; 
Mrs.  Charles  Boughton  Wood;  Mrs.  Illaine  -.  Ellis  Meredith;  Mrs.  Christian 
Ilemmick;  Mrs.  Herbert  C.  Hoover;  Mrs.  A.  Garrison  McQintock. 


516  HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

so  delightful  a  feature  of  these  annual  meetings  were  omitted. 
Before  the  convention  opened  Mrs.  Gifford  Pinchot,  whose  home 
was  directly  across  from  "suffrage  house,"  the  national  headquar- 
ters, entertained  the  officers  at  luncheon. 

The  hearings  before  the  committees  of  Congress  which  gen- 
erally took  place  during  the  convention,  had  been  held  in  the 
spring  at  an  extra  session  and  therefore  Mrs.  Catt  had  planned 
an  effective  ceremony  for  this  occasion  at  the  Senate  office  build- 
ing, the  senior  Senator  from  each  State  where  women  were  with- 
out a  vote  being  requested  to  invite  to  his  office  the  congressional 
delegation  from  the  State  to  receive  its  women  who  were  in 
attendance  at  the  convention.  There  were  thirty  of  these  gather- 
ings and  in  many  instances  all  the  delegation  were  present.  Sena- 
tors Penrose  and  Knox  refused  to  call  the  Pennsylvania  mem- 
bers together.  It  is  impossible  to  go  into  details  but  most  of  the 
interviews  were  satisfactory,  the  women  asking  solely  for  vote,s 
in  favor  of  the  Federal  Suffrage  Amendment,  and  it  was  said 
that  thirty-five  were  won  for  it.  From  fifty  to  one  hundred 
women  were  in  many  of  the  groups.  To  the  Missouri  delegation, 
headed  by  Mrs.  Walter  McNab  Miller,  vice-president  of  the  Na- 
tional Association,  Speaker  of  the  House  Champ  Clark  said : 
"If  my  vote  is  necessary  to  pass  the  amendment  I  will  cast  it  in 
favor,"  and  the  delegation  was  solid  for  it  except  Representative 
Jacob  E.  Meeker.  Senator  Warren  G.  Harding  received  the 
Ohio  women,  led  by  Mrs.  Harriet  Taylor  Upton,  State  president, 
and  Mrs.  Baker,  wife  of  the  Secretary  of  War,  and  later,  he 
voted  for  the  amendment.  A  hundred  women  called  on  the 
Virginia  members  and  fifty  on  those  of  Alabama,  without  effect, 
but  many  of  the  large  groups  of  southern  women  did  receive  much 
encouragement  from  the  members  from  their  States.  President 
Wilson  himself  gave  an  audience  to  the  Arkansas  women,  whose 
Legislature  had  recently  granted  full  Primary  suffrage  and  whose 
entire  congressional  delegation  would  vote  for  the  Federal 
Amendment.  This  was  found  to  be  the  case  in  nearly  all  of  the 
northern  and  western  States. 

Forty-four  States  had  sent  delegates  to  the  convention  and 
from  the  equal  suffrage  States  of  Montana  and  Wyoming  came 
Mrs.  Margaret  Hathaway  and  Mrs.  Mary  G.  Bellamy,  members 


NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1917  517 

of  the  Legislature;  from  Colorado,  Mrs.  Mary  C.  C.  Bradford, 
State  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction;  from  New  Mexico, 
Mrs.  \V.  E.  Lindsay,  wife  of  the  Governor,  and  from  Kansas, 
Mrs.  \Y.  Y.  Morgan,  wife  of  the  Lieutenant  Governor.  Fraternal 
delegates  were  present  from  four  countries.  The  convention  was 
opened  Wednesday  afternoon,  December  12,  with  an  invocation 
by  the  honorary  president  of  the  association,  the  Rev.  Anna 
Howard  Shaw.  In  her  brief  words  of  greeting  Mrs.  Carrie 
Chapman  Catt,  the  president,  who  was  in  the  chair,  declared  her 
firm  conviction  that  the  American  Congress  would  not  allow  this 
country  to  be  outstripped  in  the  race  toward  the  enfranchisement 
of  women  while  the  countries  of  Europe  were  hastening  to  give 
woman  suffrage  as  a  part  of  that  right  to  self-government  for 
which  the  world  is  fighting  today,  and  said:  "For  fifty  years 
\ve  have  been  allaying  fears,  meeting  objections,  arguing,  educat- 
ing, until  today  there  remain  no  fears,  no  objections  in  connection 
with  the  question  of  woman  suffrage  that  have  not  been  met  and 
answered.  The  New  York  campaign  may  be  said  to  have  closed 
the  case.  It  carried  the  question  forever  out  of  the  stage  of 
argument  and  into  the  stage  of  final  surrender.  As  the  women 
of  the  country  foregather  for  this  convention  nothing  stands  out 
more  emphatically  than  the  new  stress  that  has  been  laid  on 
suffrage  as  a  political  issue  in  the  minds  of  women  as  in  the 
minds  of  men.  As  such  the  Federal  Amendment  must  now  be 
dealt  with  by  Congress." 

Mrs.  Catt  emphasized  the  necessity  for  active  -war  work  and 
introduced  Mrs.  James  Lees  Laidlaw,  vice-president  of  the  New 
York  Suffrage  Association,  who  presented  the  "service  flag"  and 
-aid  :  "The  National  American  Suffrage  Association's  service 
here  unfurled— a  field  of  white  with  golden  stars  sur- 
rounded by  a  deep  blue  border — shows  thirteen  stars  for  its  first 
thirteen  women  serving  at  the  front.  These  stars  represent  wo- 
men who  have  been  connected  with  the  association  or  one  of  its 
State  affiliations  in  official  or  representative  capacity.  The  total 
of  suffragists  in  foreign  service  numbers  thousands."  l  The 

1  The  names  of  the  thirteen  were  given  as  follows:  Miss  Heloise  Meyer  of  Massachu- 
setts, first  auditor  of  the  asrociation.  arhrilulrd  fnr  ranfrm  work  in  France.  Mrs.  J. 
Borden  Harritnan,  member  of  the  ConRrcnnional  Committee  of  the  association,  now  on 
foreromentml  assignment  in  Europe.  Miss  Irene  C.  Boyd,  of  the  New  York  Suffrage 


5l8  HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

president  accepted  the  flag  on  behalf  of  the  convention.  Miss 
Hannah  J.  Patterson,  an  officer  of  the  Pennsylvania  Association, 
presented  the  following  resolution : 

Whereas,  The  Executive  Council  of  the  National  American 
Woman  Suffrage  Association,  assembled  in  executive  session  last 
February,  pledged  the  loyalty  of  the  organization  to  the  country  in 
event  of  war  and  forthwith  placed  a  plan  of  intensive  service  at  the 
Government's  command  in  view  of  the  impending  peril,  and 

Whereas,  America  since  then  has  entered  into  the  dread  actuality 
of  war  and  is  in  greater  need  of  woman's  loyal  service  than  our 
readiest  anticipation  could  visualize  last  February,  and 

Whereas,  The  suffragists  of  this  organization  are  already  in  com- 
pact formation  as  a  second  line  of  defense  for  husbands,  sons, 
fathers  and  brothers  "somewhere  in  France,"  therefore,  be  it 

Resolved,  That  we,  delegates  to  the  Forty-ninth  annual  convention 
of  the  association,  representing  a  membership  of  over  2,000,000 
women,  reaffirm  this  organization's  unswerving  loyalty  to  the  Gov- 
ernment in  this  crisis,  and,  while  struggling  to  secure  the  right  of 
self-government  to  the  women  of  America,  pledge  anew  our  intention 
gladly  and  zealously  to  continue  those  services  of  which  the  Gov- 
ernment has  so  freely  availed  itself  in  its  war  to  secure  the  right 
of  self-government  to  the  people  of  the  world. 

On  request  of  Dr.  Shaw  a  rising  vote  was  taken  and  the  resolu- 
tion was  adopted  with  no  dissenting  vote. 

The  first  evening  meeting  was  devoted  to  the  great  victory  in 
New  York,  where  an  amendment  to  the  State  constitution  giving 
full  suffrage  to  women  had  been  carried  at  the  November  election 
by  a  majority  of  102,353.  The  following  program  was  given 
in  the  presence  of  a  large  and  very  enthusiastic  audience,  Mrs. 
Catt  presiding: 

Addresses :  Mrs.  Ella  Crossett,  former  president  New  York  State 
Woman  Suffrage  Association,  1902-1910.  Miss  Harriet  May  Mills, 
former  president,  1910-1913. 

Party,  serving  in  a  United  States  base  hospital  with  the  American  Expeditionary  Forces 
in  France.  Dr.  Esther  Pohl-Lovejoy  of  Portland,  Ore.,  serving  with  the  party  sent  by  the 
"Fund  for  French  Wounded."  Miss  Mary  W.  Dewson,  chairman  of  legislative  committee 
of  the  Massachusetts  Suffrage  Association,  social  worker  in  France  at  the  call  of  Major 
Grayson  M.  P.  Murphy.  Miss  Lodovine  LeMoyne,  publicity  chairman  of  the  Fall  River 
Equal  Suffrage  League,  serving  in  a  United  States  base  hospital  with  the  American 
Expeditionary  Forces  in  France.  Miss  Elizabeth  G.  Bissell,  corresponding  secretary  of 
the  Iowa  Equal  Suffrage  Association  in  the  French  Red  Cross  canteen.  Miss  Susan  P. 
Ryerson,  former  corresponding  secretary  Chicago  Equal  Suffrage  Association,  now  bac- 
teriological expert  attached  to  base  hospital  in  France.  Miss  Lucile  Atcherson,  of  the 
Ohio  association,  serving  as  secretary  to  Miss  Anne  Morgan  in  her  relief  work  in  France. 
To  these  nine  will  be  added  the  names  of  the  four  doctors  leading  the  New  York  Infirmary 
Hospital  Unit,  which  is  now  seeking  the  support  and  authorization  of  the  National  Suffrage 
Association — Caroline  Finley,  Mary  Lee  Edwards,  Anna  Von  Sholly  and  Alice  Gregory. 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQI7  519 

Organization  in  New  York  State — Mrs.  Raymond  Brown,  chair- 
man. Campaign  district  chairman,  Mrs.  F.  J.  Tone.  Rural  assem- 
bly district  leader,  Mrs.  Willis  G.  Mitchell.  Election  district  cap- 
tain, Mrs.  Frederick  Edey. 

From  the  Organization  to  the  Voter — Mrs.  Laidlaw. 

Organization  and  Campaign  Work  in  New  York  City — Miss  Mary 
Garrctt  Hay.  chairman.  Assembly  district  leader,  Mrs.  Charles  L. 
Tiffany.  Election  district  captain,  Mrs.  Seymour  Barrett. 

State  Departmental  Work:  Teachers — Miss  Katharine  D.  Blake, 
chairman.  Industrial :  Miss  Rose  Schneiderman,  proxy  for  chairman. 

Speakers  in  War  Time — Mrs.  Victor  Morawetz,  chairman  of 
speakers'  bureau. 

Financing  a  State  Campaign — Mrs.  Ogden  Mills  Reid,  treasurer. 

Winning  New  York — Mrs.  Norman  deR.  Whitehouse,  State 
president. 

The  many  phases  of  this  remarkable  campaign,  which  won 
the  State  of  largest  population  and  opened  the  way  to  certain 
victory  in  Congress,  were  presented  in  a  most  interesting  manner. 
In  speaking  of  the  big  city  where  the  fight  was  actually  won,  Miss 
Hay,  chairman  of  the  committee,  said :  "We  won,  first,  because 
of  a  continuous  campaign  in  New  York  City  begun  eight  years 
ago.  On  election  day  in  1915,  about  midnight,  when  we  knew 
the  amendment  had  not  carried,  we  decided  to  have  another 
campaign  and  began  it  the  next  day.  Second,  we  won  because 
of  organization  along  district  political  lines.  No  State  should 
ever  go  into  a  campaign  unless  the  women  are  willing  to  organize 
in  this  way  and  stick  to  it.  It  was  not  the  five  borough  leaders 
but  the  2,080  precinct  captains  who  carried  the  city.  The  cam- 

n  represented  an  immense  amount  of  work  in  many  fields. 
There  were  11,085  meetings  reported  to  the  State  officers  and 
many  that  were  never  reported.  Women  of  all  classes  labored 
together.  'If  you  want  to  reach  the  working  men/  said  Rose 
ciderman,  'remember  that  it  is  the  working  women  who 
can  reach  them.'  The  campaign  cost  $682,500.  This  sum,  which 

d  for  two  years  and  covered  the  whole  State,  was  less  than 
the  amount  spent  in  three  months  in  New  York  City  that 
to  elect  a  Mayor.  The  largest  individual  gift  to  the  New 
York  City  campaign  was  $10,000  from  Mrs.  Dorqthy  Whitney 
Straight.  Most  of  the  money  was  given  in  small  suin^  and  repre- 
sented innumerable  sacrifices." 


52O  HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

The  story  of  the  campaign  in  Maine  the  preceding  September 
was  told  by  the  chairman  of  the  campaign  committee,  Mrs.  De- 
borah Knox  Livingston,  the  next  afternoon,  and  the  reasons 
given  for  its  almost  inevitable  failure.  [See  Maine  chapter.]  A 
lively  discussion  took  place  on  the  advisability  of  campaigns 
for  Presidential  suffrage  and  Mrs.  Catt  gave  the  opinion  that 
its  legality  when  granted  by  a  Legislature  was  unquestioned  but 
if  by  a  referendum  to  the  voters  it  would  be  doubtful.  The  war 
work  undertaken  by  the  association  was  thoroughly  considered, 
with  a  general  review  of  Women's  War  Service  by  Mrs.  Kath- 
arine Dexter  McCormick,  second  vice-president.  She  sketched 
briefly  the  appointment  of  a  woman's  branch  of  the  Council  of 
National  Defense  and  pointed  out  how  the  choice  of  Dr.  Shaw 
for  chairman  had  brought  the  suffragists  into  even  closer  co- 
operation with  the  Government  if  possible  than  would  have  re- 
sulted from  their  intense  patriotism.1  Reports  were  made  by  the 
chairmen  of  the  association's  four  committees,  as  follows :  Food 
Production — Mrs.  Henry  Wade  Rogers;  Thrift — Mrs.  Walter 
McNab  Miller ;  Americanization — Mrs.  Frederick  P.  Bagley ;  In- 
dustrial Protection  of  Women — Miss  Ethel  M.  Smith.  A  Child 
Welfare  Committee  was  added  to  the  list. 

Dr.  Shaw  presided  at  the  evening  session  of  the  second  day 
of  the  convention  and  to  this  and  other  programs  Mrs.  Newton 
D.  Baker  contributed  her  beautiful  voice,  with  Mrs.  Morgan 
Lewis  Brett  at  the  piano.  Mrs.  Charles  W.  Fairfax  and  Paul 
Bleyden  also  sang  most  acceptably  and  there  was  music  by  the 
Meyer-Davis  orchestra.  This  evening  the  speakers  were  the 
Hon.  Franklin  K.  Lane,  Secretary  of  the  Interior;  the  Hon. 
Jeannette  Rankin,  first  woman  member  of  the  National  House  of 
Representatives,  and  Mrs.  Catt,  who  gave  her  president's  ad- 
dress. The  presence  of  Secretary  Lane  added  much  prestige  as 
well  as  political  significance  to  the  program,  for  it  was  interpreted 
as  an  indication  that  President  Wilson  had  advanced  from  a  be- 
lief in  woman  suffrage  itself  to  an  advocacy  of  the  Federal 
Amendment,  which  was  the  keynote  of  the  convention.  "I 
come  to  you  tonight,"  the  Secretary  said,  "to  bring  a  word  of 

1  See  Mrs.  McCormick's  complete  account  in  the  last  chapter  on  The  War  Work  of 
Organized  Suffragists  prepared  for  this  volume. 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQI7 

congratulation  and  good  will  from  the  first  man  in  the  nation. 
Dr.  Shaw  spoke  of  always  being  proud  when  she  had  some  man 
back  of  her  who  could  give  respectability  to  the  cause.  What 
greater  honor  can  there  be,  what  greater  pride  can  you  feel,  than 
in  having  behind  you  the  man  who  is  not  alone  the  President 
of  the  United  States  but  also  the  foremost  leader  of  liberal 
thought  throughout  the  world?  It  is  to  have  with  you  the  con- 
science, the  mind  and  the  spirit  of  today  and  tomorrow."  He 
spoke  of  his  own  strong  belief  in  the  enfranchisement  of  women 
and  the  necessity  of  establishing  for  every  one  an  individuality 
entirely  her  own,  socially  and  politically.  Only  scattered  news- 
paper references  to  this  strong  speech  are  available. 

Kspecial  interest  was  felt  in  the  address  of  the  young  member 
of  Congress,  Miss  Jeannette  Rankin.  In  speaking  of  the  bill 
which  she  had  recently  introduced  to  enable  women  to  retain  their 
nationality  after  marriage  she  said:  "We,  who  stand  tonight  so 
near  victory  after  a  majestic  struggle  of  seventy  long  years, 
must  not  forget  that  there  are  other  steps  besides  suffrage  neces- 
sary to  complete  the  political  enfranchisement  of  American  wo- 
men. We  must  not  forget  that  the  self-respect  of  the  American 
woman  -will  not  be  redeemed  until  she  is  regarded  as  a  distinct 
and  social  entity,  unhampered  by  the  political  status  of  her  hus- 
band or  her  father  but  with  a  status  peculiarly  her  own  and  ac- 
cruing to  her  as  an  American  citizen.  She  must  be  bound  to 
American  obligations  not  through  her  husband's  citizenship  but 
directly  through  her  own." 

Mrs.  Catt's  address  had  been  announced  as  a  Message  to  Con- 
gress and  was  eagerly  anticipated.  Miss  Rose  Young,  the  en- 
thusiastic editor  of  The  Woman  Citizen,  gave  this  vivid  pen 
picture  of  the  occasion : 

When  Mrs.  Catt  rose,  the  house  rose  with  her.    It  was  a  crowded 

house  and  everybody  was  aware  that  the  message  in  Mrs.  Cart's 

hand  was  the  vital  message  of  the  convention.    Everybody  wondered 

what  would  be  its  main   focus.     Nobody  quite  understood  why  an 

•o  Congress  should  ho  delivered  at  a  mass  meeting.     The 

r  quickly  cleared  up.     Once  before  in  suffrage 

•lid.  there  had  been  an  address  to  Congress.     Susan  B. 

Anthony  and  Kli/abeth  Oidy  Stanton  had  made  it.     At  this  moment 

she  was  but  doing  over  what  they  had  done  a  half-century  ago.    She 


522  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

would  deliver  her  address  to  Congress  from  that  platform  to  that 
audience  and  leave  it  to  the  printed  page  to  carry  the  message  on  into 
the  sacred  halls  themselves. 

Then,  with  Senate  and  House  visualized  by  the  directness  of  her 
appeal  to  them  and  by  the  sharp  limning  of  her  argument,  she  pleaded 
for  democracy,  arraigned  the  obstructionists  of  the  Federal  Suffrage 
Amendment,  showed  up  the  harsh  inconsistencies,  the  waste  of  time 
and  energy  and  money  asked  of  women  in  State  referenda,  clarified 
the  reasons  for  establishing  suffrage  by  the  Federal  route  and  brought 
the  whole  case  into  high  relief  by  resting  the  responsibility  where 
it  belongs — on  the  Congress  of  the  United  States. 

The  speaker,  never  ornate  in  rhetoric  or  delivery,  seemed  to  with- 
draw her  personality  utterly,  so  that  there  was  left  only  the  mental 
and  spiritual  content  of  her  message.  To  hear  her  was  like  listen- 
ing to  abstract  thought,  warmed  by  the  fire  of  abstract  conviction. 
To  see  her  was  like  looking  at  sheer  marble,  flame-lit.  Many  an 
orator  sways  an  audience's  mind  by  emotional  appeal.  Hers  was  the 
crowning  achievement  to  sway  an  audience  to  emotion  by  the  sym- 
metry and  force  of  her  appeal  to  its  mind.  Again  and  again  salvos 
of  applause  stopped  her  for  a  moment  but  again  and  again  the  steady 
rhvthm  of  her  strong  voice  regained  control.  At  the  end  her  grip 
on  attention  was  so  acute  that  a  little  hush  followed  the  last  word. 

The  address  consumed  an  hour  and  a  half  in  delivery  and  made 
a  pamphlet  of  twenty-two  pages  when  published.  Up  to  the  time 
the  Federal  Amendment  was  ratified  it  was  a  part  of  the  standard 
literature  of  the  National  Association  and  thousands  of  copies 
were  circulated.1  Among  the  subheads  were  these :  The  History 
of  our  Country  and  the  Theory  of  our  Government ;  the  Leader- 
ship of  the  United  States  in  World  Democracy  compels  the  En- 
franchisement of  its  Own  Women ;  Three  Reasons  for  the  Federal 
Method;  Three  Objections  Answered.  It  was  an  absolutely  con- 
clusive argument  and  closed  with  a  ringing  appeal  for  ''the  submis- 
sion and  ratification  of  the  Federal  Suffrage  Amendment  in  order 
that  this  nation  may  at  the  earliest  possible  moment  show  to  all  the 
nations  of  the  earth  that  its  action  is  consistent  with  its  princi- 
ples." Dr.  Shaw,  who  never  could  forego  a  little  joke,  had  said 
in  introducing  Mrs.  Catt :  "I  had  long  thought  I  should  be 
willing  to  die  as  soon  as  suffrage  was  won  in  New  York;  that  I 
never  should  be  interested  in  politics  or  the  making  of  tickets, 

1  This  Address  to  Congress  in  handsome  pamphlet  form  was  presented  to  every  member 
in  person  by  the  various  women  of  the  association's  Congressional  Committee.  After  the 
Federal  Amendment  was  submitted  by  Congress  it  was  revised,  printed  under  the  title 
An  Address  to  Legislatures,  and  through  the  mail  or  by  the  State  suffrage  workers  was  put 
inti)  the  hands  of  every  one  of  the  6,000  members  of  the  forty-eight  State  Legislatures. 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1917  523 

but  five  minutes  after  the  midnight  of  November  6  I  had  picked 
my  ticket  and  now  I  don't  want  to  die  until  it  is  elected."  Here 
she  stopped  and  presented  the  speaker.  After  Mrs.  Catt  had 
finished  Dr.  Shaw  rose  and  looking  at  her  with  twinkling  eyes 
said  to  the  delighted  audience:  "The  head  of  my  ticket!" 

The  mornings  of  the  convention  were  devoted  to  routine  busi- 
and  to  the  reports  of  the  presidents  of  the  States,  most  of 
whom  were  present,  and  almost  without  exception  they  told  of 
active  work  and  a  great  advance  in  public  sentiment.  It  was 
such  a  time  of  rejoicing  and  hopefulness  as  suffragists  had  never 
known.  The  chief  and  universal  interest,  however,  was  centered 
in  the  action  of  Congress,  as  this  had  always  been  the  goal  and 
it  now  seemed  near  at  hand.  Therefore  the  report  of  the  Con- 
gressional Committee,  made  through  its  chairman,  Mrs.  Maud 
\Vnod  Park,  was  heard  with  close  attention.  The  outline  pre- 

:  cd  was  as  follows  : 

The  duties  of  the  present  chairman  began  March  17,  1917,  four 
Hays  before  President  Wilson  called  an  extra  session  of  Congress 
to  meet  on  April  2,  a  significant  step  toward  the  entrance  of  the 
United  States  into  the  World  War.    Thus  our  work  started  at  a  time 
•:preme   importance  in  the  history  of   our  country  and  under 
conditions  full  of  new  possibilities  for  the  cause  of  woman  suffrage. 
Mrs.  Catt,  keenly  alive  to  the  crisis  in  our  national  affairs,  fore- 
that  our  people,  with  their  idealism  fired  by  thought  of  in- 
•d   freedom   for  the  oppressed  subjects  of  autocratic  govern- 
ments, might  IK-  aroused  to  new  consciousness  of  the  flaw  in  our  own 
democracy.     With  this  thought  in  mind,  on  the  eve  of  the  opening 
of  the  extraordinary  session,  she  sent  out  a  summons  to  the  suf- 
the  whole  country  to  unite  in  a  stupendous  appeal  to  Con- 
for  the  immediate  submission  of  the  Federal  Amendment. 
The  opening  of  the  Sixty-fifth  (  was  marked  by  another 

circumstance  of  unusual  interest,  the  seating  of  the  first  woman 
meml>cr,  the  Hon.  Jeannette  Rankin  of  Montana,  who  made  a  speech 
the  balcony  of  our  headquarters  on  the  morning  of  April  2 
and  was  then  escorted  to  the  Capitol  hy  Mrs.  Catt  and  other  mem- 
bers of  c.ur  a^nciation  in  a  cavalc;  orated  motor  cars.  The 
day  which  opened  so  happily  for  snft'i  'ided  with  the  Presi- 

<•  to  Con:  ::ing  for  the  Declaration  of  War. 

In  itr  the  resolution    for  our  amendment  was   introduced 

in  hehalf  of  onr  association  I  r  . \ndriens  A.  Jones  of  New 

tlie  new  chairman  of  the  Senate  Committee  on  Woman 
r  UK  ml-ers  .if  which  were  Senators  Owen  of  Okla- 
f  Louisiana;  llollis  of  New  Hampshire;  Job- 


524  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

of  South  Dakota;  Jones  of  Washington;  Nelson  of  Minnesota;  Cum- 
mins of  Iowa  and  Johnson  of  California.  Chairman  Jones,  at  our 
request,  had  secured  the  privilege  of  having  his  resolution  made  num- 
ber one  on  the  calendar,  but  when  it  was  decided  that  the  war 
resolution  should  be  introduced  immediately,  he  tactfully  yielded  his 
place.  Similar  suffrage  resolutions  were  introduced  by  Senators 
Shafroth,  Owen,  Poindexter  and  Thompson. 

In  the  House  our  resolution  was  introduced  by  Representative 
K'aker,  on  the  Democratic  side,  and  by  Representative  Rankin,  on 
the  Republican  side.  Similar  ones  were  introduced  by  Representa- 
tives Mondell,  Keating,  Hayclen  and  Taylor. 

The  War  Resolution  was  adopted  by  the  Senate  April  4  and  by 
the  House  April  5.  A  few  days  later  the  Finance  Committee  of 
the  Senate  informally  recommended  and  leaders  of  both  parties 
agreed  that  only  legislation  included  in  the  war  program  should  be 
considered  during  the  extra  session.  The  Democratic  caucus  of  the 
House  passed  a  similar  recommendation,  which  was  acquiesced  in 
by  the  Republicans.  It  soon  became  clear  to  your  committee  that 
the  suffrage  resolution  would  not  be  admitted  under  this  rule,  and  a 
total  revision  of  plans  had  to  be  made.  Three  meetings  were  held  and 
it  was  the  opinion  of  all  that  the  aim  should  be  to  establish  and  main- 
tain friendly  relations  with  both  parties  rather  than  to  arouse  the 
antagonism  of  leaders  whose  support  we  must  have  if  our  measure 
is  to  succeed,  so  it  was  recommended  and  the  National  Board  voted 
(hat  our  "drive"  should  be  postponed  until  there  was  a  possibility 
of  securing  a  vote  on  the  Federal  Amendment.  Happily,  however, 
there  were  forms  of  work  not  prohibited  by  the  legislative  program. 

The  Senate  Committee  on  Woman  Suffrage  gave  a  hearing  to  our 
association  April  20  ...  and  on  September  15,  Chairman  Jones 
made  a  favorable  report.  The  measure  is  now  on  the  calendar  of 
the  Senate.  In  the  House,  resolutions  calling  for  the  creation  of  a 
Committee  on  Woman  Suffrage  had  been  introduced  at  the  beginning 
of  the  session  by  Representatives  Raker,  Keating  and  Hayden  and 
referred  to  the  Committee  on  Rules. 

Our  first  step  was  to  get  the  approval  of  Speaker  Clark,  who  gave 
us  cordial  support.  Later,  to  offset  the  fear  on  the  part  of  certain 
members  of  conflicting  with  President  Wilson's  legislative  program, 
a  letter  was  sent,  at  Mrs.  Helen  H.  Gardener's  request,  to  Chair- 
man Edward  Pou  (N.  C),  of  the  Rules  Committee,  by  the  President 
himself,  who  stated  that  he  thought  the  creation  of  the  committee 
"would  be  a  very  wise  act  of  public  policy  and  also  an  act  of  fair- 
ness to  the  best  women  who  are  engaged  in  the  cause  of  woman 
suffrage."  Then,  through  the  efforts  of  a  working  committee  made 
up  of  the  six  members  who  had  introduced  suffrage  resolutions,  a 
petition  asking  for  the  creation  of  a  Committee  on  Woman  Suf- 
frage, as  called  for  in  the  Raker  resolution,  was  signed  by  all  mem- 
bers from  equal  suffrage  States  and  by  many  of  those  from  Presi- 
dential suffrage  States  and  from  Primary  suffrage  Arkansas.  This 
petition  was  presented  to  the  Rules  Committee,  which  on  May  18 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQI7  525 

granted  a  hearing  on  the  subject.  On  June  6,  by  a  vote  of  6  to  5, 
on  motion  of  Mr.  Cantrill  of  Kentucky,  a  resolution  calling  for  the 
creation  of  a  Committee  on  Woman  Suffrage  to  consist  of  thirteen 
members,  to  which  all  proposed  action  touching  the  subject  should 
be  referred,  was  adopted,  with  an  amendment,  made  by  Mr.  Len- 
root  of  Wisconsin,  to  the  effect  that  the  resolution  should  not  be 
reported  to  the  House  until  the  pending  war  legislation  was  out 
of  the  way. 

The  report  of  the  Rules  Commitee,  therefore,  was  not  brought 
into  the  House  until  September  24,  when  the  extremely  active 
opposition  of  Chairman  Edwin  Y.  Webb  (N.  C.)  and  most  of  the 
other  members  of  the  Judiciary  Committee  made  a  hard  fight  inevi- 
table. Thanks  to  the  hearty  support  of  Speaker  Clark,  the  good  man- 
agement of  Chairman  Pou  and  the  help  of  loyal  friends  of  both 
parties  in  the  House,  as  well  as  to  the  admirable  work  done  by  our 
own  State  congressional  chairmen,  the  report  was  adopted  by  a  vote 
«t~  1 80  yeas  to  107  noes,  with  3  answering  present  and  142  not 
voting.  Of  the  favorable  votes,  82  were  from  Democrats  and  96 
from  Republicans.  Of  the  unfavorable  votes,  74  were  from  Demo- 
crats and  32  from  Republicans.  Of  those  not  voting,  59  were  Demo- 
crats and  81  were  Republicans.  These  facts  show  that  the  measure 
was  regarded,  as  we  had  hoped  it  would  be,  as  strictly  non-partisan. 
The  victory  came  so  late  in  the  session  that  the  appointment  of  the 
new  committee  was  postponed  until  the  present  session. 

Referring  to  the  housing  of  the  Congressional  Committee  in  the 
headquarters  of   the   National  Association   in    Washington 
Mrs.  Park  said  : 

the  preceding  chairman,  Mrs.  Miller,  fell  the  hard  work  of 

finding   new  headquarters,   moving  the  office   and   establishing   the 

•  routine  which  has  been  continued  under  the  efficient  care  of 

"iir   house   manager,    Mrs.   Elizabeth   W.   Walker.     The   secretary 

of  the  committee-.  Miss  Ruth  White,  who  has  worked  indefatigably 

in   the  office  since  June,   1916,  has  had  charge  of   the  records  of 

memhers  of  Congress  and  of  correspondence  with  our  State  chair- 

l>esi<les  lightening  in  numberless  other  ways  the  burdens  of 

rman.    To  a  member  of  the  committee,  who  is  a  long-lime 

<if  Washington,  Mrs.  Gardener,  the  association  is  profoundly 

'ant  advice  and  help,  as  well  as  for  the  most  skillful 

'link'   of   delicate  and   difficult    >ituatinns.      She   has   been   called 

•lumatic  Corps"  of  the  committee  and  the  name  in  every 

good  well  won  by  the  important  services  which  she 

Vred.     Another  memlxr  of  the  committee.,  a   former  chair- 

rank   M.  Roessini?.  after  helping  to  start  the  legisla- 

•  I >r<  rmber,  genei  :inc  to  our  aid  at  busy  se;i 

active  charge  of  the  work   from  July  IO  to  September  12, 

during  tin-  absence  of   the  chairman.      The  management  of  the  office 


526  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

and  the  Department  of  Publicity  have  been  in  the  hands  of  the  execu- 
tive secretary,  Miss  Ethel  M.  Smith. 

Social  activities  through  the  spring  and  early  summer  were  in 
charge  of  Miss  Heloise  Meyer,  assisted  by  Mrs.  J.  Borden  Harri- 
man.  Miss  Mabel  Caldwell  Willard  has  represented  the  committee 
in  undertakings  involving  the  house  as  a  center  for  local  work. 
These  have  included  getting  hostesses  to  receive  visitors  at  headquar- 
ters, supplying  speakers  for  local  meetings,  providing  cooperation 
with  the  suffrage  federation  of  the  District  of  Columbia  for  the 
daily  afternoon  teas,  and  looking  after  hospitality  for  delegates  to 
conventions  meeting  in  Washington.  Among  the  organizations  for 
which  receptions  have  been  arranged  are  Daughters  of  the  American 
Revolution,  Association  of  Collegiate  Alumnce,  Confederate  Vet- 
erans. Sons  of  Veterans,  Daughters  of  the  Confederacy,  Congress 
of  Mothers,  Parent-Teacher  Associations  and  Farm  and  Garden  As- 
sociations. Ten  of  the  fourteen  members  of  the  committee,  in  ad- 
dition to  the  executive  secretary,  have  given  highly  valued  service  in 
Washington  during  the  last  nine  months.  Other  suffragists  not 
members  have  kindly  devoted  days  or  weeks  to  our  work  and  the 
local  suffrage  associations  have  been  most  cordial  in  their  response  to 
our  requests. 

Any  attempt  to  state  our  obligations  to  our  national  president 
would  be  futile.  Our  high  hope  for  the  adoption  of  the  Federal 
AmendmcMit  by  the  65th  Congress  is  linked  inseparably  with  our 
faith  in  her  leadership. 

The  report  of  Mrs.  Walter  McNab  Miller  (Mo.)  first  vice- 
president,  described  a  year  of  continuous  work,  almost  from  ocean 
to  ocean,  speaking  to  State  suffrage  conventions,  federations  of 
women's  clubs,  federations  of  labor,  trade  unions,  universities, 
normal  schools,  churches,  meetings  of  all  kinds  and  without 
number.  In  the  two  Dakotas  she  spoke  twenty-nine  times.  She 
referred  to  her  visit  to  Jefferson  City,  Mo.,  her  luncheon  with  the 
•wife  of  Governor  Frederick  D.  Gardner,  the  suffrage  meeting 
"which  put  the  State  capital  in  a  ferment  and  caused  the  politicians 
to  sit  up  and  take  notice"  and  the  Governor's  declaration  for 
woman  suffrage.  Mrs.  Miller  said  of  the  work  during  the  five 
months  when  she  was  chairman  of  the  Congressional  Committee : 

After  mature  consideration  the  board  decided  that,  for  various  rea- 
sons, it  was  not  wise  to  move  the  headquarters  from  New  York  to 
Washington  but  that  more  spacious  quarters  should  be  found  than 
the  office  here  where  the  efficient  lobby  work  that  had  already  been 
done  could  be  followed  up  and  supplemented  by  a  social  atmosphere. 
Finally  we  found  our  present  home,  a  large  private  mansion  at  1626 
Rhode  Island  Avenue,  just  off  of  Scott  Circle.  It  was  taken  for  a 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1917  527 

term  of  eight  months,  the  offices  moved  at  once  and  cards  sent  out  to 
2,000  people  for  a  housewarming  before  we  had  been  there  a  week. 

During  five  months  Miss  Meyer  and  I  made  300  calls,  organized 
a  Junior  Suffrage  League,  planned  for  publicity  "stunts,"  such  as 
the  dedication  of  the  Susan  B.  Anthony  room,  the  presentation 
of  a  flag  by  Pennsylvania,  a  poster  exhibit,  celebration  of  the  North 
Dakota  victory  and  the  mid-lenten  bazaar.  Much  of  the  work  was 
of  the  sort  that  would  be  impossible  to  tabulate,  but  the  effect  of 
the  whole  in  making  the  National  Association  well  known  in  Wash- 
ington and  able  to  work  effectively  from  there  has  proved  the  wis- 
dom of  the  expenditure  for  the  headquarters. 

The  latter  part  of  February  the  so-called  War  Council  was  called, 
a  meeting  of  the  association's  Executive  Committee  of  One  Hun- 
dred, and  planning  for  that  and  the  mass  meeting  on  Sunday  kept  us 
all  busy  for  several  weeks.  This  Council  decided  that  the  suf- 
fragists should  undertake  certain  definite  forms  of  war  work  and  the 
chairmanship  of  the  division  of  the  Elimination  of  Waste  was  given 
to  me.  .  .  .  Summing  up  the  year  I  have  attended  six  State  meet- 
ings, spoken  200  times  in  15  States,  written  3,000  letters  and  travelled 
13,000  miles. 

All  of  Friday  was  given  to  symposiums  on  different  phases 
of  this  movement,  grouped  as  follows:  What  my  State  will  do 
for  the  Federal  Amendment.  Should  We  Work  for  Woman 
Suffrage  in  War  Time?  What  Good  Will  Woman  Suffrage 
Do  Our  Country  ?  What  is  the  Best  Thing  it  Has  Done  for  my 
State?  What  Can  the  Enfranchised  Women  Do  to  Secure  Suf- 
frage for  the  Women  of  the  Entire  Nation?  Twenty-five  wo- 
men, most  of  them  State  presidents,  took  part  in  these  valuable 
discussions. 

Mrs.  McCormick  related  how  her  work  as  chairman  of  the 
national  Press  Committee  had  been  taken  over  by  the  press  de- 
partment of  the  Leslie  Bureau  of  Education  when  it  was  organ- 
ized the  preceding  March  and  a  merger  committee  appointed 
consisting  of  Miss  Rose  Young  and  Mrs.  Ida  Husted  Harper  of 
the  Leslie  Commission,  and  Mrs.  Shuler  and  herself  of  the  asso- 
ciation.1 The  report  of  the  Leslie  Bureau  filled  over  thirty  pages 
of  fine  print  as  submitted  by  Miss  Young,  director,  who  said  in 
beginning: 

By  January  of  1917  it  had  become  apparent  that  the  National 
Association  had  an  increasingly  direct  and  comprehensive  part  to 
play  in  State  and  Federal  campaigns  through  its  Press  department 

1  For  information  regarding  the  bequest  of  Mrs.  Frank  Leslie  see  Appendix. 


528  HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

as  one  of  its  various  points  of  contact  with  the  suffrage  field.  To 
inaugurate  news  and  feature  propaganda  and  information  services 
that  would  be  live  wires  of  connection  between  171  Madison  Avenue 
and  the  State  affiliations  all  over  the  country  and  the  Capitol  at 
Washington  and  the  public  press  was  the  immediate  prospect  of  the 
then  Press  department.  ...  Its  accumulated  task  included  not  only 
the  conduct  of  its  federal  political  campaign  at  Washington,  not 
only  its  definite  program  of  State  propaganda  and  organization  for 
constitutional  amendment  campaigns,  it  had  on  its  hands  as  well 
the  great  "drive"  for  Presidential  suffrage  that  had  been  initiated. 

By  spring  Mrs.  Catt's  custodianship  of  the  Leslie  funds  had  been 
determined  by  court  decision  and  plans  that  she  had  been  mother- 
ing since  1915  could  be  put  into  execution.  Those  plans  had  for 
their  central  detail  the  founding  of  a  bureau  for  the  promotion  of 
the  woman  suffrage  cause  through  the  education  of  the  public  to 
the  point  of  seeing  it  as  essential  to  democracy,  and  in  March  the 
Leslie  Bureau  of  Suffrage  Education  was  organized  for  that  pur- 
pose. From  the  beginning  the  outstanding  feature  of  the  work 
was  its  size,  and  the  outstanding  need  was  to  get  it  housed  and 
departmentalized,  with  department  heads  and  an  adequate  clerical 
staff.  This  done,  the  bureau,  with  a  staff  of  twenty-four,  swarmed 
out  over  the  whole  I5th  floor,  besides  two  small  rooms  on  the  I4th 
floor.  It  now  includes  six  departments,  counting  the  Magazine  De- 
partment, which  is  an  everlasting  story  by  itself. 

Miss  Young  told  of  merging  the  Woman's  Journal,  the  Woman 
Voter  and  the  National  Suffrage  News  in  the  Woman  Citizen, 
for  which  2,000  subscriptions  were  taken  at  this  convention. 
The  report  included  those  of  Mrs.  Harper,  chairman  of  editorial 
correspondence;  Mrs.  Mary  Sumner  Boyd,  of  the  research 
bureau;  Miss  Mary  Ogden  White,  feature  and  general  news 
department;  Mrs.  Rose  Lawless  Geyer,  field  press  work.  There 
was  also  a  report  of  the  Washington  press  bureau  after  the 
headquarters  there  were  opened,  at  first  in  charge  of  Mrs.  Gert- 
rude C.  Mosshart,  afterwards  of  Miss  Ethel  M.  Smith.  The 
latter  told  of  the  unexcelled  opportunities  in  that  city  for  the 
distribution  of  news  through  the  more  than  200  special  corre- 
spondents of  the  large  newspapers  and  the  bureaus  of  all  the 
great  press  associations  and  syndicates.  News  had  to  be  fresh 
and  well  written  and  450  copies  of  each  of  her  "stories"  dis- 
tributed. About  half  of  them  were  sent  to  State  press  chairmen, 
presidents  and  others. 

Mrs.  Harper's  work  was  almost  wholly  with  editors,  watching 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQI7 

the  editorials,  which  now  came  in  literally  by  hundreds  every 
day.     Her  report  of  three  closely  printed  pages  said  in  part : 

When  an  editorial  was  friendly  a  letter  of  thanks  has  been  sent 
expressing  the  hope  that  the  paper  would  contain  many  such  edi- 
torials. When  one  made  a  strong  appeal  for  woman  suffrage  the 
editor  has  had  a  letter  expressing  the  deep  appreciation  of  all  at 
headquarters  and  saying  that  it  would  unquestionably  affect  public 
sentiment  in  his  city  and  State.  In  many  instances,  even  in  the 
largest  papers,  there  have  been  mistakes  in  facts  and  figures,  as  the 
question  has  not  been  a  national  issue  long  enough  for  editors  to 
become  thoroughly  informed,  and  these  have  been  corrected  as  tact- 
fully as  possible.  Often  carefully  selected  literature,  suited  to  the 
editor's  point  of  view,  has  been  enclosed — to  Western  editors  argu- 
ments in  favor  of  a  Federal  Amendment ;  to  Southern  editors  state- 
ments on  the  good  effects  of  woman  suffrage  in  the  Western  States ; 
to  Eastern  editors  a  good  deal  of  both.  Where  an  editorial  has 
been  directly  hostile  an  argument  has  been  taken  up  with  the  editor, 
supported  by  unimpeachable  testimony.  When  the  editor  has  been 
implacable  I  have  frequently  written  to  suffragists  in  his  city  to 
learn  what  were  the  influences  behind  the  paper,  and  usually  have 
found  they  were  such  as  gave  the  editor  no  chance  to  express 
his  own  opinions,  but  even  those  papers  have  almost  invariably  pub- 
lished my  letters. 

During  the  year  letters  were  written  to  over  2,000  editors  in 
the  United  States  and  several  in  Canada  and  the  returns  through 
the  clipping  bureaus  indicated  that  a  large  majority  were  pub- 
lished. The  report  said :  "I  wish  there  were  space  to  give  con- 
crete instances  of  the  results  of  this  year's  experiment.  Editors 
have  written  that,  while  for  years  their  paper  had  supported 
woman  suffrage,  this  was  the  first  time  they  ever  had  come  in 
touch  with  the  national  organization  or  known  that  their  work 
being  recognized  outside  of  their  own  locality.  Many  who 
were  wavering  have  been  persuaded  to  come  out  definitely  in 
his  has  been  especially  noticeable  in  the  South.  In  a 
number  of  cases  papers  which  condemned  a  Federal  Amendment 
have  been  helped  to  see  its  necessity,  and  this  in  the  South  as  well 
as  the  North.  .  .  ."  As  an  example  of  the  many  special  articles 
it  continued : 

When  the  "picketing"  began  in  Washington  last  January,  almost 

in  the  United  States  held  the  entire  suffrage  move- 
•xinsiblc  for  it.     At  once  250  lett<  I  ent   in  ans\\ 

rials  of  tbi>  nature,  slating  thai  the  National  AirmYan  Associa- 


53O  HISTORY   OF   WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

tion  organized  in  1869,  had  been  always  strictly  non-partisan  and  non- 
militant  ;  that  it  represented  about  98  per  cent,  of  the  enrolled  suffra- 
gists of  the  United  States;  that  all  the  suffrage  which  the  women 
possessed  to-day  was  due  to  its  efforts  and  those  of  its  State  auxil- 
iaries, and  that  Dr.  Shaw,  its  honorary  president,  and  Mrs.  Catt,  its 
president,  strongly  condemned  the  "picketing."  The  letter  urged 
the  newspapers  in  their  comment  on  it  to  make  a  clear  distinction 
between  the  two  organizations.  In  countless  instances  this  request 
was  complied  with  but  at  the  time  of  the  Russian  banner  episode 
of  the  "pickets"  before  the  White  House  another  flood  of  more 
than  1,000  editorials  poured  into  the  national  headquarters,  many 
of  them  crediting  it  to  the  whole  cause.  A  second  letter  more  em- 
phatic than  the  first  was  sent  to  350  of  the  largest  newspapers  in 
the  country,  enclosing  Mrs.  Cart's  protest  against  the  "picketing." 
These  had  the  desired  effect  and  practically  all  of  the  papers  there- 
after, except  those  hostile  to  woman  suffrage,  exonerated  the 
National  Association  from  any  part  in  it. 

An  argument  for  the  Federal  Suffrage  Amendment  and  asking 
support  for  it  was  sent  to  a  carefully  selected  list  of  2,000  editors 
the  month  before  the  first  vote  was  taken  in  Congress.  Over  500 
individual  letters  were  sent,  for  the  most  part  to  prominent  per- 
sons, called  out  by  some  expression  of  theirs,  which  almost  with- 
out exception  were  cordially  answered.  A  long  letter  to  the 
International  Suffrage  News  each  month  had  been  part  of  the 
\\nrk  of  this  department. 

Miss  White's  report  on  publicity  should  be  reproduced  in  full, 
as  it  convincingly  showed  why  all  of  a  sudden  the  newspapers 
of  the  country  were  flooded  with  matter  on  woman  suffrage. 
Not  until  the  Leslie  bequest  became  available  had  the  National 
Association  been  possessed  of  the  funds  to  do  the  publicity  work 
necessary  to  the  success  of  a  great  movement.  She  told  how  the 
very  first  "stories'*  sent  out  describing  the  granting  of  Presidential 
suffrage  in  the  winter  of  1917  brought  back  returns  of  about  half- 
a-million  words.  The  story  of  the  Maine  campaign  returned  79 
columns  in  145  papers  and  Mrs.  Catt's  speeches,  50,000  words. 
Her  protest  against  the  "antis"  charge  of  disloyalty  against  the 
suffragists  instantly  brought  a  return  of  16  columns  in  40 
metropolitan  papers.  Feminism  in  Japan,  a  story  written  in  the 
bureau  around  a  little  Japanese  suffragist,  was  sent  out  by  syn- 
dicate to  a  circulation  of  10,000,000.  The  War  Service  of  the 
National  Suffrage  Association  was  told  in  15,000  words  and  the 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1917  531 

first  instalment  came  back  in  over  500  newspapers  and  400,000 
words.  The  papers  gave  680,000  words  to  the  story  of  the 
Woman's  Committee  of  National  Defense.  These  figures  might 
be  continued  indefinitely.  Plate  matter  was  furnished  to  500 
papers  in  sixteen  States  in  May,  and  the  bulletins  of  facts, 
statistics  and  propaganda  issued  during  the  nine  months  would 
make  a  book  of  25,000  words. 

The  report  of  Mrs.  Geyer,  a  trained  journalist,  was  equally 
valuable.  A  part  of  her  work  had  been  to  organize  a  press 
committee  in  every  State,  arrange  for  the  collection  of  news 
and  put  it  in  proper  form  for  the  bulletins,  the  plate  service,  the 
U'oman  Citizen  or  -wherever  it  was  needed  and  make  a  roster 
of  the  principal  newspapers  and  their  position  on  woman  suffrage. 
She  had  managed  in  person  the  press  work  for  the  Maine  cam- 
paign, the  Mississippi  Valley  Conference  in  Columbus,  O.,  and 
the  oresent  national  convention. 

Mrs.  Boyd's  painstaking,  scholarly  and  efficient  report  on  the 
service  rendered  by  the  Data  department  showed  the  vast  amount 
of  time  and  labor  necessary  to  collect  accurate  data  and  how 
unreliable  is  much  that  exists.  This  was  especially  the  case  in 
regard  to  woman  suffrage,  which,  -when  compiled  from  current 
sources  and  returned  to  the  various  States  for  verification,  al- 
required  much  correction.  The  report  told  of  350  letters 
sent  to  county  clerks  in  the  equal  suffrage  States  for  trustworthy 
information  as  to  the  proportion  of  women  who  voted,  with  most 
gratifying  response.  Many  such  investigations  were  made  of 
n  in  office,  laws  relating  to  women,  suffrage  and  labor 
legislation,  women's  war  record,  an  infinite  variety  of  subjects. 
Thousands  of  newspaper  clippings  were  tabulated  and  a  roomful 
irefully  labelled  files  testified  to  the  unremitting  work  of  the 
bureau.  Twenty  State  libraries  and  some  others  were  supplied 
during  the  year  with  the  books  issued  by  the  National  Suffrage 
Publishing  <  'ompany  and  its  pamphlets  -were  widely  distributed. 

Miss  Ksther  G.  Ogden,  president  of  the  National  Woman 
Suffrage  Publishing  Company,  made  an  interesting  report  and 
showed  how  suffrage  victories,  the  thing  the  company  was  work- 
ing for,  meant  its  financial  loss.  oon  as  a  State  had  won 
/ote  it  ceased  to  order  literature.  The  tremendous  demands 


532  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

of  the  campaigns  of  1915  and  1916  had  enabled  the  company 
to  pay  a  three  per  cent,  dividend  but  the  entrance  of  the  United 
States  into  the  war,  causing  a  general  lessening  of  suffrage  work, 
would  create  a  deficit  for  the  present  year.  For  the  New  York 
campaign  of  1917  the  company  furnished  10,081,267  pieces  of 
literature,  all  promptly  paid  for.  Miss  Ogden  gave  an  amusing 
account  of  how  the  company  was  "bankrupted"  trying  to  supply 
"suffrage  maps"  up  to  date,  for  as  soon  as  a  lot  was  published 
another  State  would  give  Presidential  or  Municipal  suffrage  and 
then  the  demand  would  come  for  maps  with  the  new  State 
"•white,"  and  thousands  of  the  others  would  have  to  be  "scrapped." 

The  chairman  of  the  Literature  Committee,  Mrs.  Arthur  L. 
Livermore,  said  that  for  the  first  time  finances  had  been  available 
for  publishing  a  well-indexed  catalogue  with  the  publications 
grouped  under  more  than  twenty  headings.  These  included 
efficiency  booklets,  suffrage  arguments,  answers  to  opponents, 
Federal  Amendment  literature,  State  reports,  etc.  Some  of  these 
publications  were  in  book  form,  including  Mrs.  Catt's  volume  on 
the  Federal  Amendment,  Mrs.  Annie  G.  Porritt's  Laws  Affecting 
Women  and  Children  and  Miss  Martha  Stapler's  Woman  Suf- 
frage Year  Book.  A  number  of  pamphlets  •were  printed  in  lots 
of  100,000,  and  700,000  copies  of  the  amendment  speech  of 
Senator  John  F.  Sha froth  of  Colorado  before  the  Senate. 

The  report  of  the  Art  Publicity  Committee  was  made  by  its 
chairman,  Mrs.  Ernest  Thompson  Seton,  and  related  principally 
to  the  poster  competition,  which  closed  with  the  exhibition  at  the 
national  suffrage  headquarters  in  January.  About  100  posters 
were  submitted  and  $500  in  prizes  awarded.  Afterwards  the 
prize  winners  and  a  selection  from  the  others,  about  thirty  in  all, 
were  sent  to  the  Washington  suffrage  headquarters  for  display 
and  then  around  to  various  cities  which  had  asked  for  them. 

One  of  the  largest  evening  meetings  was  that  devoted  to 
American  Women's  War  Service,  -with  Mrs.  Catt  presiding.  The 
first  speaker  was  Secretary  of  War  Newton  G.  Baker  and  a  few 
detached  paragraphs  can  give  little  idea  of  his  eloquent  address : 

I  sometimes  ask  myself  what  does  this  war  mean  to  women?  War 
always  means  to  women  sorrow  and  sacrifice  and  a  mission  of  mercy 
but  one  of  the  large,  redeeming  hopes  of  this  particular  struggle 


NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQI?  533 

is  that  it  will  bring  a  broadening  of  liberty  to  women.  This  war 
is  waged  for  democracy.  Democracy  is  never  an  accomplished  thing, 
it  is  alwavs  a  process  of  growth,  an  endless  series  of  advances. 
President  Wilson  has  called  it  a  rule  of  action.  It  is  a  rule  that 
adapts  conduct  to  environment.  What  was  called  a  democracy  in 
Greece  was  a  small  privileged  class  ruling  over  slaves.  The  members 
of  the  ruling  class  had  certain  democratic  relations  with  one  another. 
There  was  no  more  of  real  democracy  in  Rome.  The  first  consti- 
tutional convention  of  the  French  Revolution  had  a  very  restricted 
electoral  system  with  a  property  qualification.  It  was  so  with  our 
own  government  in  17/6  and  1789.  It  was  a  rule  of  conduct 
adapted  to  the  environment  of  that  time.  .  .  . 

The  whole  environment  has  changed.  In  1789  we  might  quite 
possibly  have  defined  ourselves  as  a  democracy,  although  women 
did  not  vote,  but  not  now.  We  speak  of  this  as  a  war  for  democ- 
racv.  Women  are  making  sacrifices  just  like  men.  The  activities 
of  women  in  aid  of  the  war  are  a  necessarv  part  of  it.  If  all  the 
women  were  to  stop  their  work  tonight  we  should  have  to  withdraw 
from  the  war,  at  least  temporarily,  until  we  could  entirely  readjust 
ourselves.  One  of  the  things  this  war  is  bringing  home  to  us  is 
that  men  and  women  are  essentially  partners  in  an  industrial  civiliza- 
tion, and  by  the  end  of  the  war  the  women  will  be  recognized  as 
partners. 

When  the  Secretary  finished  Dr.  Shaw  said:     "May  we  not 
send  a  message  to  President  Wilson  and  say:     'Mr.  President, 
as  you  came  to  our  convention  a  year  ago  to  fight  with  us,  so 
we  come  now  to  fight  with  you.     As  you  have  kept  your  pledge 
of  loyalty  to  us,  so  we  shall  keep  our  pledge  to  you.     We  are 
with   YOU   in   this  world    struggle.' '      The  convention   enthusi- 
astically endorsed  the  message.     Other  speakers  were  Mrs.  Mc- 
o  and  Mrs.  Bass — Financing  the  War;  Miss  Martha  Van 
Renssehcr.  department  of  TTome  Fconomics,  Cornell  University 
— Food  and  the  War :  Miss  Jane  Delano — The  Red  Cross  and 
the  War:  Mrs.  Laidlaw,  Mrs.  Louis  F.  Slade — Women's  War 
ice  in  New  York;  Dr.  Shaw,  chairman  Woman's  Committee 
of  the  National  Council  of  Defense.    Mrs.  McAdoo,  daughter  of 
President  Wilson  and  wife  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  said 
that  she  was  a  resident  of  Xew  York  State  and  a  voter  and  that 
women  were  making  a  great  fight  for  democracy  but  the  thought 
which  should  now  be  first  in  the  minds  of  all  of  them  was  how  In 
win  the  war.     She  described  briefly  her  work  as  chairman  of  the 
mmittee  m'  the  Liberty  Loan  and  told  of  its  wonder- 


534  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

ful  success  in  raising  millions  of  dollars.  Mrs.  Bass,  the  only 
woman  member  of  the  War  Savings  Committee,  added  an  earnest 
appeal  to  women  to  help  finance  the  war,  and  the  other  speakers 
on  their  several  topics  raised  the  meeting  to  a  high  level  of 
patriotic  enthusiasm.  In  a  stirring  address  Dr.  Shaw  showed 
what  the  country  expected  of  women  at  this  critical  time,  saying : 

We  talk  of  the  army  in  the  field  as  one  and  the  army  at  home 
as  another.  We  are  not  two  armies;  we  are  one — absolutely  one 
army — and  we  must  work  together.  Unless  the  army  at  home  does 
its  duty  faithfully,  the  army  in  the  field  will  be  unable  to  carry  to  a 
victorious  end  this  war  which  you  and  I  believe  is  the  great  war 
that  shall  bring  to  the  world  the  thing  that  is  nearest  our  hearts — 
democracy,  that  "those  who  submit  to  authority  shall  have  a  voice 
in  the  government"  and  that  when  they  have  that  voice  peace  shall 
reign  among  the  nations  of  men. 

The  United  States  Government,  learning  from  the  weaknesses 
and  the  mistakes  of  the  governments  across  the  sea,  immediately 
after  declaring  war  on  Germany  knew  that  it  was  wise  to  mobilize 
not  only  the  man  power  of  the  nation  but  the  woman  power.  It  took 
Great  Britain  a  long  time  to  learn  that — more  than  a  year — and  it 
was  not  until  50,000  women  paraded  the  streets  of  London  with 
banners  saying,  "Put  us  to  work,"  that  it  dawned  upon  the  British 
government  that  women  could  be  mobilized  and  made  serviceable 
in  the  war.  And  what  is  the  result?  It  has  been  discovered  that 
men  and  women  alike  have  within  them  great  reserve  power,  great 
forces  which  are  called  out  by  emergencies  and  the  demands  of  a 
time  like  this. 

Dr.  Shaw  described  the  forming  of  the  Woman's  Committee 
of  the  Council  of  National  Defense  by  the  Government  and  her 
selection  as  its  chairman.  She  said  she  had  no  idea  what  the 
committee  was  expected  to  do,  so  she  went  to  the  Secretary  of 
the  Navy  to  find  out,  and  continued :  "I  learned  that  the  Wom- 
an's Committee  was  to  be  the  channel  through  which  the  orders 
of  the  various  departments  of  the  Government  concerning  wo- 
men's war  work  were  to  reach  the  womanhood  of  the  country; 
that  it  was  to  conserve  and  coordinate  all  the  women's  societies  in 
the  United  States  which  were  doing  war  work  in  order  to  prevent 
duplication  and  useless  effort.  This  was  very  necessary,  not  be- 
cause our  women  are  not  patriotic  but  because  they  are  so  patriotic 
that  every  blessed  woman  in  the  country  was  writing  Washington, 
or  her  organization  was  writing  for  her,  asking  the  Government 
what  she  could  do  for  the  war  and  of  course  the  Government 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    igi/  535 

did  not  know;  it  has  not  yet  the  least  idea  of  what  -women 
can  do." 

An  amusing  picture  was  given  of  men  supervising  a  depart- 
ment of  the  Red  Cross  where  women  were  knitting,  making  com- 
fort bags,  etc.  She  showed  how  for  the  past  forty  years  women 
in  their  clubs  and  societies  had  been  going  through  the  necessary 
evolution,  "until  today,"  she  said,  "they  are  a  mobilized  army 
ready  to  serve  the  country  in  whatever  capacity  they  are  needed. 
So  when  the  Council  of  National  Defense  laid  upon  the  Woman's 
Committee  the  responsibility  of  calling  them  together  to  mobilize 
women's  war  work,  we  knew  exactly  how  to  do  it.  ...  It  is  not 
a  question  of  whether  we  will  act  or  not,  the  Government  has 
said  AVC  must  act;  it  is  an  order  as  much  as  it  is  an  order  that 
men  shall  go  and  fight  in  the  trenches.  It  is  an  order  of  the 
Government  that  the  women's  war  work  of  the  country  shall  be 
coordinated,  that  women  shall  keep  their  organizations  intact, 
that  they  shall  get  together  under  directed  heads.  I  said  to  the 
gentlemen  here  in  Washington,  when  at  first  they  feared  our 
women  might  not  be  willing  to  cooperate :  'If  you  put  before 
them  an  incentive  big  enough,  if  you  appeal  to  them  as  a  part 
of  the  Government's  life,  not  as  a  by-product  of  creation  or  a 
kindergarten  but  as  a  great  human,  living  energy,  ready  to  serve 
the  country,  they  will  respond  as  readily  as  the  men.' ' 

We  must  remember  that  more  and  more  sacrifices  are  going  to 

he  demanded  but  I  want  to  say  to  you  women,  do  not  meekly  sit 

1  and  make  all  the  sacrifices  and  demand  nothing  in  return. 

not  that  you  want  pay  but  we  all  want  an  equally  balanced 

ice.    Hie  Government  is  asking  us  to  conserve  food  while  it  is 

allowing  carload  after  carload  to  rot  on  the  side  tracks  of  railroad 

:id  threat  elevators  of  grain  to  be  consumed  by  fire  for  lack 

'tection.     If  we  must  cat  Indian  meal  in  order  to  save 

t,  tlu-n  the  men  must  protect  the  grain  elevators  and  see  that 

1.     We  must  demand  that  there  shall  he  conserva- 

the  line.     I  had  a  letter  the  other  day  giving  me  a 

'ling  because  of  a  speech  I  made  in  which  T  said  that 

Mr.  Hoover  looking  into  our  refrigerators,  examin- 

»ur  hread  to  see  what  kind  of   mail-rials  we  are  using,  telling 

hat   extravagant   creatures   we  are.    that    we   waste   millions  of 

very  year,  waste  food  and  all  thai   sort  of  thing,  and  yet 

we  are  asked  to  have  mcatl<  -id  wheatle^s  days,  I  have 

•    sem   a   demand    for  a   sniol  /!     They   are   risking 

•:gh  the  i  rs  that  we  women  shall  dance,  play  bridge,  have 


536  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

charades,  sing  and  do  everything  under  the  sun  to  raise  money  to 
buy  tobacco  for  the  men  in  the  trenches,  while  the  men  who  want 
us  to  do  this  have  a  cigar  in  their  mouth  at  the  time  they  are  asking 
it!  I  said  that  if  men  want  the  soldiers  to  have  tobacco,  let  them 
have  smokeless  days  and  furnish  it!  If  they  would  conserve  one 
single  cigar  a  day  and  send  it  to  the  men  in  the  trenches  the  soldiers 
would  have  all  they  would  need  and  the  men  at  home  would  be 
a  great  deal  better  off.  If  we  have  to  eat  rye  flour  to  send  wheat 
across  the  sea  they  must  stop  smoking  to  send  smokes  across  the  sea. 

There  is  no  end  to  the  things  that  women  are  asked  to  do.  I  know 
this  is  true  because  I  have  read  the  newspapers  for  the  last  six 
months  to  get  my  duty  before  me.  The  first  thing  we  are  asked 
to  do  is  to  provide  the  enthusiasm,  inspiration  and  patriotism  to 
make  men  want  to  fight,  and  we  are  to  send  them  away  with  a 
smile!  That  is  not  much  to  ask  of  a  mother!  We  are  to  maintain 
a  perfect  calm  after  we  have  furnished  all  this  inspiration  and 
enthusiasm,  "keep  the  home  fires  burning."  keep  the  home  sweet 
and  peaceful  and  happy,  keep  society  on  a  level,  look  after  busi- 
ness, buy  enough  but  not  too  much  and  wear  some  of  our  old  clothes 
but  not  all  of  them  or  what  would  happen  to  the  merchants?  .  .  . 
We  are  going  to  rise  as  women  always  have  risen  to  the  supreme 
height  of  patriotic  service.  .  .  . 

The  Woman's  Committee  of  the  Council  of  National  Defense 
now  asks  for  your  cooperation,  that  we  may  be  what  the  Government 
would  have  us  be,  soldiers  at  home,  defending  the  interests  of  the 
home,  while  the  men  are  fighting  with  the  gallant  Allies  who  are  lay- 
ing down  their  lives  that  this  world  may  be  a  safe  place  and  that 
men  and  women  may  know  the  meaning  of  democracy,  which  is  that 
we  are  one  great  family  of  God.  That,  and  that  only,  is  the  ideal 
of  democracy  for  which  our  flag  stands. 

The  National  Anti-Suffrage  Association  took  this  time  to  hold 
its  one  day's  annual  convention  in  a  Washington  hotel  and  re- 
elect  for  president  Mrs.  James  W.  Wadsworth,  Jr.,  wife  of  the 
New  York  Senator,  and  elect  as  secretary  Mrs.  Robert  Lansing, 
wife  of  the  Secretary  of  State.  Mrs.  Wadsworth  at  this  time 
sent  to  the  members  of  Congress  and  circulated  widely  a  pamphlet 
entitled  Consider  the  Facts,  in  which  she  charged  the  suffragists 
with  being  pacifists  and  Socialists  and  asserted  that  the  recent 
New  York  victory  was  due  to  the  Socialist  vote.  Miss  Mary 
Garrett  Hay,  who  was  chairman  of  the  campaign  committee  in 
New  York  City,  -where  the  victory  was  won,  expressed  her  opinion 
from  the  platform  in  this  fashion : 

Senator  Wadsworth  and  his  wife  announced  that  they  weren't 
going  to  give  any  entertainments  till  the  war  was  over,  nevertheless 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION   OF    1 917  $37 

they  are  dining  tonight  the  Senators  and  Representatives  who  are 
opposed  to  the  Federal  Amendment.  So  I  thought  T  would  signalize 
the  occasion  by  answering  the  circular  Mrs.  Wadsworth  has  sent 
broadcast  asking  people  to  "consider  a  few  facts  about  the  woman 
suffrage  victory  in  New  York."  Here  are  some  other  facts  to 
consider : 

There  were  only  three  assembly  districts  in  Manhattan  where  the 
suffrage  amendment  did  not  poll  over  a  thousand  more  votes  than 
the  Socialists  polled.  Even  in  these  three  suffrage  got  an  average 
of  600  more  votes  than  the  Socialist  candidate  got.  In  the  4th  dis- 
trict suffrage  had  the  advantage  of  the  Socialists  by  551  votes;  in  the 
6tb  it  got  600  more  votes  thnn  Socialism  got;  in  the  8th  it  got  656 
more.  Tn  the  T2th,  a  typical  district,  where  the  Socialists  got  only 

'  votes,  suffrage  got  5.480.  In  my  own  district,  the  9th,  suffrage 
and  Fusion  ran  almost  neck  and  neck,  suffrage  polling  5,911.  Fusion, 

3 ;  the  Socialists  polled  only  977.  Tn  Brooklyn  the  T4th.  T9th  and 
23rd  assembly  districts  are  accounted  the  Socialists'  strongholds. 
In  all  three  suffrage  ran  ahead  of  Socialism.  In  the  I4th  suffrage 
polled  a  "ves"  vote  of  4,052,  the  Socialists  3,142 ;  in  the  I9th  suffrage 
polled  3.608,  the  Socialists  3,037;  in  the  23rd  suffrage  polled  5,060, 
the  Socialists  3,992. 

Considering  the  suffrage  vote  in  Greater  New  York  in  compari- 
son with  the  vote  for  Mayor,  suffrage  polled  a  "yes"  vote  of  335,959, 
the  Socialist  candidate  only  142,178.  The  Fusion  candidate  polled 

^07;  the  Republican,  53,678;  the  Democratic,  the  successful  one, 

•82.  Suffrage,  therefore,  polled  38,677  more  affirmative  votes 
than  did  the  successful  candidate.  No  candidate  for  Mayor  was  in 
the  class  with  the  amendment,  though  all  were  for  suffrage. 

Others  prominent  in  the  suffrage  movement,  both  men  and 
women,  made  indignant  protest  against  Mrs.  Wadsworth's  ac- 
cusation and  pointed  to  the  splendid  organized  work  of  the  Na- 
tional Suffrage  Association  in  cooperation  with  the  Government 
from  the  very  beginning  of  the  war. 

During  this  week  of  the  convention  the  Federal  Prohibition 
Amendment  made  its  triumphant  passage  through  the  Home. 
hnvincr  already  passed  the  Senate,  and  the  suffragists  saw  the 
bitterest  opponents  of  their  amendment  on  the  ground  of  State's 
rights  throw  this  doctrine  to  the  winds  in  their  determination 
to  put  through  the  one  for  prohibition.  Thev  felt  that  the  adop- 
tion of  that  amendment  opened  wide  the  wav  for  the  passing 
e  one  for  suffrage  in  the  near  future  and  this  was  the  view 
-allv  taken  bv  the  public.  Another  event  in  this  remarkable 
week  was  the  creation  and  appointment  of  a  Woman  Suffrage 
Committee  in  the  Ilo^e  of  Representative*,  for  which  the  as«=o- 


538  HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

ciation  had  been  so  long  and  earnestly  striving.  This  was  done 
against  the  vigorous  opposition  of  the  Judiciary  Committee, 
which  for  the  past  forty  years  had  prevented  the  question  of 
woman  suffrage  from  coming  before  the  House  for  a  vote.  At 
this  time  it  reported  the  Federal  Amendment  "without  recom- 
mendation" and  tried  to  prevent  its  being  referred  to  the  new 
committee. 

The  report  of  the  corresponding  secretary,  Mrs.  Nettie  R. 
Shuler,  for  1917,  continued  the  story  of  the  immense  amount  of 
work  that  had  been  done  at  and  through  the  national  headquar- 
ters, beginning  immediately  after  the  great  impetus  of  the  At- 
lantic City  convention.  A  nation-wide  campaign  was  instituted 
under  the  three  heads  set  forth  by  Susan  B.  Anthony  at  the 
beginning  of  the  movement — Agitate,  Educate,  Organize.  It  was 
decided  to  center  the  effort  even  more  than  ever  before  on  the 
Federal  Amendment  and  a  wide  call  was  sent  out  for  universal 
demonstrations  in  its  favor,  whexe  a  resolution  for  it  would  be 
adopted.  Twenty-six  States  responded,  New  York  leading  with 
101  such  meetings.  These  were  followed  by  visits  to  State 
political  conventions  to  secure  endorsements,  which  met  with 
considerable  success,  and  candidates  for  Congress  were  inter- 
viewed in  most  of  the  States.  There  was  advertising  in  the 
street  cars  of  Washington  during  the  sessions  of  Congress.  Care- 
fully selected  literature  was  distributed  by  the  hundreds  of  thou- 
sands of  copies  to  the  clergy,  the  politicians,  the  business  men, 
the  rural  population;  no  class  was  overlooked.  Questionnaires 
were  sent  to  the  equal  suffrage  States  for  information  which 
was  compiled  in  pamphlets.  The  first  experiment  in  "suffrage 
schools,"  which  proved  so  successful  that  they  were  made  a 
permanent  feature  of  the  work,  was  thus  described : 

It  was  the  general  of  our  suffrage  army,  Mrs.  Catt,  "the  country's 
greatest  expert  in  efficient  suffrage  methods,"  who  first  saw  the  need 
of  suffrage  schools  and  put  them  into  effect  in  New  York  State.  She 
knew  the  value  of  systematic  training  and  realized  that  our  failure 
many  times  had  not  alone  been  due  to  the  fact  that  numbers  of 
women  would  not  work  but  that  those  who  were  willing  were  un- 
trained and  inefficient.  It  was  at  first  proposed  to  charge  for 
instruction  in  the  schools  but  this  plan  had  to  be  abandoned  and  the 
National  Association  assumed  most  of  the  financial  obligation. 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1917  539 

Our  first  school  was  held  in  Baltimore  in  December,  1916.  The 
manager  was  Mrs.  Livermore,  the  instructors  herself,  Mrs.  Wilson 
and  Mrs.  Geyer.  The  second  was  in  Portland,  Me.,  January  8-20, 
1917.  The  nineteen  schools  were  all  under  the  direction  of  the 
organization  department.  They  began  with  Maryland  and  extended 
through  fourteen  of  the  southern  and  middle-west  States,  closing 
March  30  in  Detroit,  Mich.  Three  instructors,  Mrs.  Halsey  Wilson, 
Mrs.  Cotnam  and  Miss  Doughty,  taught  Suffrage  History  and  Argu- 
ment. Organization,  Publicity  and  Press,  Money  Raising,  Parlia- 
mentary Law.  The  chairman  of  organization,  Mrs.  Shuler,  taught 
Organization,  Parliamentary  Law  and  Money  Raising  in  the  Port- 
land school  and  in  the  last  five  schools  of  the  series. 

Mrs.  Shuler  referred  to  the  war  work  of  the  association,  which 
is  described  elsewhere,  and  told  of  the  -wide  field  that  had  been 
covered  by  organizers,  who  had  reached  the  number  of  225  during 
the  year,  many  of  them  employed  by  the  States.  The  organiza- 
tion work  was  classified  and  standardized.  A  conference  of 
nizers  met  in  New  York  where  they  -were  instructed  by  Mrs. 
('att,  and  a  pamphlet,  the  A.  B.  C.  of  Organization,  was  pre- 
pared by  Mrs.  Shuler.  As  an  example  of  the  work  done,  nine 
•lizers  reported  385  meetings  in  eleven  weeks  in  25  States 
and  organization  effected  in  178  towns.  The  report  told  of  the 
work  done  from  the  headquarters  for  the  Presidential  suffrage 
that  had  been  obtained  in  various  States  and  in  campaigns. 

The  report  of  the  Committee  on  Presidential  Suffrage  was  of 

especial  interest,  as  for  the  first  time  in  all  the  years,  with  one 

;  it  ion,  there  were  victories  to  record.     This  report  had  been 

made  annually  by  Henry  B.  Blackwell,  editor  of  The  Woman's 

Journal  until  his  death  in   1910,  but  although  he  had  implicit 

faith  in  the  possibility  of  this  partial  franchise  he  did  not  live  to 

see  its  first  success  in  Illinois  in   1013.     Miss  Klizabeth  Upham 

R.  I.  )  folio-wed  him  in  the  chairmanship  but  met  with  an 

<-nt  \\hich  caused  her  to  relinquish  it  to  Mrs.  Robert  S.  HUM- 

vcd  the  granting  of  this  form  of  the  franchise  helped  the 

e  of  full  suffrage  and  through  a  questionnaire  to  the  different 

ic  had  collected  much  information  as  to  the  best  method 

.mdlinq-  such  hills.     All  wrote  that  the  auti-su!Trai;iM^  were 

1  in  their  opposition  to  them  by  the  liquor  inter. 
During  a  <\  tl  of  the  war  work  of  women  Mrs,   F,  LoUli 

Slade  of  New  York  moved  (adopted)  that  as  so  large  a  share 


54°  HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

of  the  work  of  the  Red  Cross  is  done  hy  women,  the 
association  request  that  women  be  given  adequate  representation 
on  the  War  Council  of  the  American  Red  Cross.  Miss  Yates 
suggested  that  Clara  Barton's  name  be  introduced  into  Mrs. 
Slade's  resolution.  Dr.  Shaw  spoke  of  the  far-reaching  import- 
ance of  the  work  Clara  Barton  had  accomplished  and  of  the 
unworthy  manner  in  which  it  had  been  treated.  Mrs.  L.  H. 
Engle  (Md.)  suggested  that  the  Red  Cross  be  reminded  that 
the  plan  of  having  women  nurses  in  army  hospitals  had  originated 
with  a  woman  and  that  the  first  military  hospital  in  the  world  had 
been  established  by  a  woman.  Mrs.  Medill  McCormick  moved 
that  the  Chair  appoint  a  committee  of  three  to  confer  -with  the 
Executive  Committee  of  the  American  Red  Cross.  The  Chair  ap- 
pointed Mrs.  McCormick  as  chairman,  Mrs.  Slade  and  Dr.  M. 
Carey  Thomas,  president  of  Bryn  Mawr  College. 

Mrs.  Catt  read  telegrams  from  Governor  W.  P.  Hobby  of 
Texas,  the  Houston  Chronicle,  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  and 
the  Mayor  inviting  the  association  to  hold  the  next  convention 
in  that  city;  also  a  telegram  from  the  Mayor  of  Dallas,  Texas, 
inviting  it  to  meet  there.  Fraternal  delegates  cordially  received 
by  the  convention  were  Mrs.  Flora  MacDonald  Denison,  hon- 
orary president  of  the  Canadian  Suffrage  Association,  and  Mrs. 
Philip  Moore,  president  of  the  National  Council  of  Women. 
Mrs.  Rachel  Foster  Avery  was  presented  by  Dr.  Shaw  as  having 
been  corresponding  secretary  of  the  association  for  twenty-one 
years  and  was  warmly  greeted.  Mrs.  Frances  C.  Axtel  was 
introduced  as  a  former  member  of  the  Legislature  in  Washington, 
now  chairman  of  the  U.  S.  Employees'  Compensation  Commis- 
sion. Mrs.  Margaret  Hathaway,  a  member  of  the  Montana 
Legislature,  addressed  the  convention.  The  Rev.  Olympia  Brown 
told  of  the  memorial  of  Mrs.  Clara  Bewick  Colby,  which  she 
had  prepared,  and  asked  the  delegates  to  see  that  copies  were 
placed  in  libraries.  Mrs.  Catt  paid  high  tribute  to  Mrs.  Brown's 
many  years  of  work  for  woman  suffrage.  The  Rev.  James 
Shera  Montgomery,  of  the  Fourth  M.  E.  Church,  and  the  Rev. 
Henry  N.  Couden,  Chaplain  of  the  House  of  Representatives, 
pronounced  the  invocation  at  the  opening  of  two  sessions. 

The  elections  of  the  association  were  models  of  fairness  with 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQI/  $4! 

no  unnecessary  waste  of  time.  Mrs.  Catt  received  all  the  votes  cast 
for  president  but  three.  All  of  the  other  officers  but  one  had 
only  from  10  to  27  opposing  votes.  Five  members  of  the  old 
board  retired  at  their  own  wish,  one  of  them,  Miss  Meyer,  being 
in  the  war  service  in  France.  Mrs.  McCormick,  Mrs.  Rogers  and 
Mrs.  Shuler  were  re-elected.  The  new  members  were  Miss  Mary 
( iarrett  Hay  (N.  Y.),  second  vice-president;  Mrs.  Guilford 
Dudley  (Tenn.)  third;  Mrs.  Raymond  Brown  (N.  Y.)  fourth 
and  Airs.  Helen  H.  Gardener  (D.  C.)  fifth;  Mrs.  Halsey  Wil- 
son (N.  Y.)  recording  secretary.  The  convention  had  voted 
to  drop  the  two  auditors  from  the  list  of  officers  and  substitute 
two  vice-presidents.  A  board  of  directors  was  elected  for  the 
first  time,  in  the  order  of  the  votes  received  as  follows:  Mrs. 
James  Lees  Laidlaw  (N.  Y.) ;  Miss  Esther  G.  Ogden  (N.  Y.) ; 
Mrs.  Nonie  Mahoney  (Tex.);  Mrs.  Horace  C.  Stilwell  (Ind.); 
Dr.  Mary  A.  Safford  (Fla.)  ;  Mrs.  T.  T.  Cotnam  (Ark.) ;  Mrs. 
Charles  H.  Brooks  (Kans.) ;  Mrs.  Arthur  L.  Livermore  (N.  Y.). 

In  place  of  a  flowery  speech  of  acceptance  Mrs.  Catt  laid  out 
more  and  still  more  work  and  outlined  a  plan  of  organization  for 
uniting  the  women  of  the  enfranchised  States  in  an  association 
which  should  be  auxiliary  to  the  National  American.  Each 
State  association  would  upon  enfranchisement  automatically  be- 
come a  member  of  this  organization  with  an  elected  working 
niittee  of  five  persons,  these  State  committees  to  be  finally 
united  in  a  central  body  to  be  known  as  the  National  League  of 
Women  Voters.  [Handbook  of  convention,  page  48.!  Besides 
the  obvious  advantages,  she  suggested  that  such  an  organization 
would  provide  a  way  for  recently  enfranchised  States  to  main- 
tain intact  their  suffrage  associations  for  the  benefit  of  work  on 
the  Federal  Amendment.1 

One  of  the  most  vital  reports  was  that  of  the  treasurer.  Mrs. 
Henry  Wade  Rogers.  It  was  a  reinarkahle  story  especially  !•• 
tho-e  who  remembered  the  time-  when  the  receipts  of  the  , 

;or  the  -whole  year  did   not   exceed  $2,000,   laboriously 

collected  by   Miss  Anthony,  with   possibly  a   little  asSIS&nce,   in 

>m  $5  to  $10  with  one  of  $50  regarded  as 

1  Thii  organisation,  originated  l»y  Mm.  Catt  <Y>H  t<>  the  name,  wa*  effntrJ  at  the 
nation*!  convention  in  St.  Louis,  March,  1919. 


542  HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

high  water  mark.  The  report  began:  "Our  fiscal  year  closed 
October  31  with  a  balance  of  $11,985  in  the  treasury  and  in 
addition  to  this  our  books  showed  investments  of  $19,061,  the 
interest  of  which  we  have  received  during  the  year."  The  feel- 
ing of  many  suffragists  that  they  wished  to  use  all  their  money 
for  war  work  retarded  contributions  but  the  example  of  the  Na- 
tional Association  was  pointed  out,  which  undertook  a  wide- 
spread war  service,  as  the  treasury  had  proved,  but  did  not 
leave  its  legitimate  suffrage  work  undone.  Mrs.  Rogers,  whose 
gratuitous  services  as  treasurer  had  proved  of  the  highest  value 
to  the  association,  told  of  the  help  of  her  committee  of  forty-two 
members  in  the  various  States  and  presented  her  report  carefully 
audited  by  expert  accountants.  It  showed  expenditures  for  the 
year  of  $803,729.  This  covered  the  expenses  of  the  two  head- 
quarters, congressional  work,  State  campaigns,  publicity  and  or- 
ganization throughout  the  United  States.  Mrs.  Catt's  plan  to 
raise  a  million  dollar  fund  for  1917  had  met  a  generous  response 
and  had  not  lacked  a  great  deal  of  fulfilment.  Pledges  to  the 
amount  of  $120,000  were  made  for  the  coming  year,  the  Leslie 
Commission  leading  with  $15,000,  Mrs.  William  Thaw,  Jr.,  of 
Pittsburgh  subscribed  $12,000;  Mrs.  Robert  Gould  Shaw  of 
Boston,  $5,000;  Mrs.  Katharine  Dexter  McCormick,  $2,000; 
Mrs.  Catt,  Mrs.  Joseph  Pels,  Mrs.  V.  Everit  Macy  of  New  York ; 
Mrs.  Wirt  Dexter  of  Boston ;  Mrs.  Arthur  Ryerson,  Mrs.  Cyrus 
H.  McCormick  of  Chicago,  $1,000  each. 

The  plan  of  work  for  the  coming  year  provided  for  concen- 
tration on  securing  the  submission  of  the  Federal  Amendment 
and  the  following  -was  adopted:  "If  the  Sixty-fifth  Congress 
fails  to  submit  the  Federal  Amendment  before  the  next  congres- 
sional election  this  association  shall  select  and  enter  into  such  a 
number  of  senatorial  and  congressional  campaigns  as  will  effect  a 
change  in  both  Houses  of  Congress  sufficient  to  insure  its  pas- 
sage. The  selection  of  candidates  to  be  opposed  is  to  be  left 
to  the  Executive  Board  and  to  the  boards  of  the  States  in  ques- 
tion. Our  opposition  to  individual  candidates  shall  not  be  based 
on  party  considerations,  and  loyalty  to  the  Federal  Amendment 
shall  not  take  precedence  over  loyalty  to  the  country." 

It  was  resolved  that  a  compact  of  State  associations  willing 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1 917  543 

and  ready  to  conduct  such  campaigns  should  be  formed.  It  was 
directed  that  the  six  departments  of  war  work  should  be  con- 
tinued and  that  each  State  association  should  be  asked  to  establish 
a  War  Service  Committee  composed  of  a  chairman  and  the  chair- 
men of  these  departments,  with  an  additional  one  for  Liberty 
Loans,  and  that  this  committee  cooperate  -with  the  State  divisions 
of  the  Woman's  Committee  of  National  Defense. 

In  addition  to  the  resolution  of  loyalty  to  the  Government  at 
the  beginning  of  the  convention  the  following,  submitted  by  the 
committee,  Miss  Blackwell  chairman,  were  among  those  adopted : 

Whereas,  the  war  is  demanding  from  women  unprecedented  labor 
and  sacrifices  and  women  by  millions  are  responding  with  utmost 
loyalty  and  devotion;  and 

Whereas,  Abraham  Lincoln,  writing  of  woman  suffrage,  declared 
that  all  should  share  the  privileges  of  the  government  who  assist  in 
bearing  its  burdens ;  and 

Whereas,  it  is  important  to  a  country  in  war  even  more  than  in 
peace  that  all  its  loyal  citizens  should  be  equipped  with  the  most  up- 
to-date  tools;  therefore  be  it 

Resolved,  that  we  urge  Congress,  as  a  war  measure,  to  submit  to 
the  States  an  amendment  to  the  United  States  Constitution  providing 
for  the  nation-wide  enfranchisement  of  women. 

That  we  rejoice  this  year  in  the  most  important  victories  yet  won 
in  the  history  of  the  cause.  Since  January  i,  1917,  women  have 
received  full  suffrage  in  New  York,  practically  full  suffrage  in 
Arkansas,  Presidential  suffrage  in  Rhode  Island,  Michigan  and  In- 
diana, Presidential  and  Municipal  suffrage  in  Nebraska  and  North 
Dakota,  statewide  Municipal  suffrage  in  Vermont,  local  Municipal 
suffrage  in  seven  cities  of  Ohio,  Florida  and  Tennessee  and  nation- 
wide suffrage  in  Canada  and  Russia ;  while  the  British  House  of 
Commons  has  gone  on  record  in  favor  of  full  suffrage  for  women 
vote  of  seven  to  one. 

That  we  pledge  our  unswerving  loyalty   to  our  country   and   the 
continuance  of  our  aid  in  patriotic  service  to  help  make  the  world 
lemocracy   liotli  at    home  and   abroad. 

That  we  pledge  our  unqualified  support   to  the  campaign  for  the 
of   the  War   Savings  Certificates  and   Thrift    Stamps  and   urge 
our  members  to  aid  it  in  every  way.  .  .  . 

_:e  the  establishment  of  the  economic  principle  of  equal 
;or  equal  work  as  vital  to  tin-  welfare  of  the  nation.    .    .    . 

That    an    Ann  ri<  an  horn    woman    should    not    lose    her    nationality 
plCT   and    we   I  hange  of   the   law   in   this 

respect. 

A  resolution  of  gratitude  to  the  memory  of  the  many  car 
workers   for  woman  C   who  had   passed    away   duriiii-    the 


544  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

year  was  adopted  and  letters  of  greeting  -were  sent  to  the  pioneers 
still  living.  A  message  of  love  and  admiration  was  sent  to  Mrs. 
Catherine  Breshkovsky,  "the  grandmother  of  the  Russian  Revolu- 
tion. "  "Cordial  and  grateful  appreciation  for  the  inestimable 
service  of  the  press,"  was  voted. 

The  program  for  the  last  evening  was  devoted  to  Women's 
War  Service  Abroad.  Miss  Helen  Fraser,  representing  Great 
Britain,  was  here  on  a  special  mission  from  its  Government  to 
tell  what  its  women  were  doing.  The  audience  was  deeply  moved 
by  her  simple  but  thrilling  recital  of  the  unparalleled  sacrifices 
of  the  women  of  Great  Britain  and  its  colonies.  Madame  Simon 
pictured  in  eloquent  language  how  the  war  had  strengthened  the 
devotion  of  France  to  America,  not  only  through  the  unequalled 
assistance  of  this  Government  in  money  and  soldiers  but  also 
through  the  sympathy  and  help  of  the  American  women.  Miss 
C.  M.  Bouimistrow,  a  member  of  the  Russian  Relief  Council, 
spoke  of  the  warm  feeling  of  that  country  for  the  United  States 
and  the  bond  between  them  created  by  the  war  in  which  they  had 
a  common  enemy.  Mrs.  Nellie  McClung,  a  leader  of  the  Canadian 
suffragists,  described  what  the  war  had  meant  to  the  women  of 
the  Dominion,  and,  as  the  Woman  Citizen  said  in  its  account, 
"kept  her  hearers  wavering  between  laughter  and  tears  as  she 
hid  her  own  emotion  behind  a  veil  of  stoicism  and  humor." 

The  convention  ended  with  a  mass  meeting  at  the  theater  on 
Sunday  afternoon  at  three  o'clock  with  a  notable  audience  such 
as  can  assemble  only  in  Washington.  Mrs.  Catt  presided.  Mrs. 
McClung  told  enthusiastically  the  story  of  How  Suffrage  Came 
to  the  Women  of  Canada  in  1916  and  1917,  and  Miss  Fraser 
related  how  the  work  of  women  during  the  war  had  made  it  im- 
possible for  the  British  Government  longer  to  deny  them  the 
franchise,  that  now  only  awaited  the  assent  of  the  House  of 
Lords,  which  was  near  at  hand.  It  was  always  left  to  Dr.  Shaw 
to  finish  the  program.  One  who  had  attended  many  suffrage 
conventions  said  of  her  at  this  time:  "As  ever,  Dr.  Shaw's 
oratory  was  a  marked  feature  of  the  week's  proceedings.  Some- 
times she  was  the  able  advocate  of  loyalty  to  the  country ;  some- 
times she  rose  to  heights  of  supplication  for  an  applied  democracy 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1 917  545 

which  shall  include  women;  sometimes  the  mischief  that  is  in 
her  bubbled  and  sparkled  to  the  surface." 

Mrs.  Catt  closed  the  meeting  with  ringing  words  of  inspiration, 
with  a  call  for  more  and  better  work  than  had  ever  been  done 
before  and  -with  a  prophecy  that  the  long-awaited  victory  was 
almost  won.  This  convention,  which  had  been  held  under  such 
unfavorable  auspices,  proved  to  have  been  one  of  the  best  in  way 
of  accomplishment,  and,  although  the  papers  were  overflowing 
with  news  of  the  war,  they  came  to  the  national  suffrage  press 
bureau  from  44  States  -with  excellent  accounts  of  the  convention ; 
there  were  over  300  illustrated  "stories"  and  it  was  estimated 
that  it  had  received  half  a  million  words  of  "publicity." 


It  had  been  customary  to  have  a  hearing  on  the  Federal  Suf- 
frage Amendment  before  the  committees  of  every  new  Congress 
and  this  year  an  extra  session  had  been  called  in  the  spring.    As 
the  question  of  a  special  Committee  on  Woman  Suffrage  in  the 
Lower  House  was  under  consideration  no  hearing  before  its 
Judiciary  Committee  was  asked  for  but  a  hearing  took  place 
before  the  Senate  Committee  on  Woman  Suffrage  April  20.    This 
was  largely  a  matter  of  routine  as  the  entire  committee  was 
ready   to  report    favorably   the   resolution    for   the   amendment. 
<  hairman  Jones  announced  that  the  entire   forenoon  had  been 
set    apart    for    the    hearing,    which    would    be    in    charge    of 
Mrs.  Carrie  Chapman  Catt,  president  of  the  National  American 
;nan  Suffrage  Association.     Mrs.  Catt  said:     "The  Senate 
Committee  of  Woman  Suffrage  was  established  in  1883.    Thirty- 
four  years  have  passed  since  then  and  seventeen   Congresses. 
We  confidently  believe  that  -we  are  appearing  before  the  last  of 
e  committees  and  that  it  will  be  your  immortal   fame,   Mr. 
irman,  to  present  the  last  report  for  woman  suffrage  to  the 
ited  States  Senate."     With  words  of  highest  praise  she 
iuced  Senator  John  I1".  Shafrotli  of  I'olurado,  "who  has  been 

IK!  nn failing  friend  through  trial  and  adversity." 
Senator  Shafrotli  answered  conclusively  from  the  iwenu  -  hmr 

"lijertinns    t<>    \\uinan 
lie   ileelaieil    to   U-    'Simply    another   step   in   the 


546  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

evolution  of  government  which  has  been  going  on  since  the  dawn 
of  civilization."  He  asked  to  have  printed  as  part  of  his  speech 
two  chapters  of  Mrs.  Catt's  new  book  Woman  Suffrage  by  Con- 
stitutional Amendment,  which  was  so  ordered.  Senator  Kendrick 
of  Wyoming,  former  Governor,  gave  his  experience  of  woman 
suffrage  in  that  State  for  thirty-eight  years.  He  declared  that 
the  early  settlers  -were  of  the  type  of  the  Revolutionary  Fathers 
and  gladly  gave  to  woman  any  right  they  claimed.  He  testified 
to  the  help  he  had  received  from  them  "in  the  promotion  of  every 
piece  of  progressive  legislation"  and  said:  "If  for  no  other 
reason  than  the  forces  that  are  fighting  woman  suffrage,  every 
decent  man  ought  to  line  up  in  favor  of  it."  He  closed  as  follows  : 
"Here  and  now  I  want  to  give  this  Constitutional  Amendment 
my  unqualified  endorsement.  No  State  that  has  adopted  woman 
suffrage  has  ever  even  considered  a  plan  to  get  along  without 
it.  It  is  soon  realized  that  the  votes  of  -women  are  not  for  sale 
at  any  price,  and,  while  they  align  themselves  with  the  different 
parties,  one  thing  is  always  and  preeminently  true — they  never 
fail  to  put  principle  above  partisanship  and  patriotism  above 
patronage."  Senator  William  Howard  Thompson  of  Kansas 
sketched  the  steady  progress  of  woman  suffrage  in  his  State,  told 
of  its  beneficent  results  and  submitted  a  comprehensive  address 
which  he  had  made  before  the  Senate  in  1914. 

The  committee  listened  with  much  interest  to  the  first  woman 
member  of  Congress,  Representative  Jeannette  Rankin  of  Mon- 
tana, who  reviewed  the  almost  insurmountable  difficulties  of 
amending  many  State  constitutions  for  woman  suffrage  and 
made  an  earnest  plea  for  the  Federal  Amendment.  Senator 
Charles  S.  Thomas  of  Colorado,  -who  for  the  past  twenty-five 
years  had  been  a  consistent  and  never  failing  friend  of  woman 
suffrage,  said  in  beginning:  "I  learned  this  lesson  in  my  early 
manhood  by  reading  the  addresses  of  and  listening  to  such  ad- 
vocates as  Susan  B.  Anthony,"  and  he  summed  up  his  strong 
speech  by  saying:  "The  matter  is  simply  one  of  abstract  and  of 
concrete  justice.  We  cannot  preach  universal  suffrage  unless 
we  practice  it  and  we  can  never  practice  it  while  fifty  per  cent. 
of  our  population  is  disfranchised."  Senator  Reed  Snioot  of 
Utah,  to  whom  the  women  of  his  State  could  always  look  for  help 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQI7  547 

in  this  and  every  other  good  cause,  said  in  his  brief  remarks:  "I 
have  for  many  years  -watched  the  work  and  the  sacrifices  by  many 
of  the  best  women  of  this  country  to  bring  this  question  before 
the  people  and  convince  them  of  its  justice  and  righteousness  and 
I  have  gloried  with  them  in  every  victory  they  have  won.  Noth- 
ing on  earth  will  stop  it.  The  country  will  not  much  longer 
tolerate  it  that  a  woman  shall  have  the  privilege  of  voting  in 
one  State  and  upon  moving  into  another  be  disfranchised." 

Mrs.  Catt  stated  that  Senators  Chamberlain  of  Oregon  and 
Johnson  of  California,  were  not  able  to  be  present  and  asked  that 
the  favorable  speeches  they  -would  have  made  be  put  in  the 
Congressional  Record,  which  was  granted.  Senator  Thomas  J. 
Walsh  of  Montana  made  a  thorough  analysis  of  the  attitude 
of  the  Federal  Constitution  toward  suffrage  and  its  gradual  ex- 
tension and  declared  that  it  was  now  "the  duty  of  the  govern- 
ment to  see  that  every  one  of  its  citizens  was  assured  of  this 
fundamental  right."  The  hearing  was  closed  by  Mrs.  Catt  -with 
a  comprehensive  review  of  the  status  of  woman  suffrage  through- 
out the  world  and  the  naming  of  the  many  countries  where  it 
prevailed.  She  pointed  out  that  Great  Britain  and  her  colonies 
had  recognized  the  political  rights  of  women  as  the  United  States 
had  never  done,  and,  now  that  they  -were  to  be  called  on  for 
the  supreme  sacrifices  of  the  war,  the  British  Government  -was 
granting  them  the  franchise,  which  our  own  Government  was 
still  withholding.  ''This  fact,"  she  said,  "has  saddened  the  lives 
of  women,  it  has  dimmed  their  vision  of  American  ideals  and 
lowered  their  respect  for  our  Government.  The  tremendous 
i city  of  women  for  constructive  work,  for  upbuilding  the  best 
in  civilization  and  for  enthusiastic  patriotism  has  been  crushed. 
In  consequence  this  greatest  force  for  good  has  been  minimi/ed 
and  the  entire  nation  is  the  Senator  Walsh's  and  Mrs 

's  speeches  were  printed    in   a    separate    pamphlet    and   cir- 
culated by  the  thousand-. 

(  )n   April   26  the  Senate  (  'ommittee  granted  a  hearing  to  that 

•  h  of   the  Milt'ra^e  ino\emnit   called  the   National    Woman's 

Mi>s  Anne   Martin.  '-hairman.  presided  and  ahle 

were  made  by  Mrs.  Mary  Kilter  I'.eanl  and  Mi-    K'heta 

•;!,     Mis.   Kh.-li.ud   I',   \\ain\vright  of  the 


548  HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

District;  Miss  Madeline  Z.  Doty  and  Miss  Ernestine  Evans,  war 
correspondents ;  Miss  Alice  Carpenter,  chairman  of  the  New  York 
Women's  Navy  League ;  Miss  Rankin  and  Dudley  Field  Malone, 
collector  of  the  port  of  New  York.  On  May  3  the  National 
Anti-Suffrage  Association  claimed  a  hearing.  Its  president,  Mrs. 
Arthur  M.  Dodge,  introduced  the  president  of  the  New  York 
branch,  the  wife  of  U.  S.  Senator  James  W.  Wadsworth,  Jr., 
who  presided.  The  speakers  were  Miss  Minnie  Bronson,  national 
secretary;  Miss  Lucy  Price  of  Ohio;  Judge  Oscar  Leser  of  Mary- 
land and  Mrs.  A.  J.  George  of  Massachusetts.  Their  speeches, 
which  fill  twenty  pages  of  the  printed  report,  comprise  a  full 
resume  of  the  arguments  against  the  enfranchisement  of  women 
and  will  be  read  with  curiosity  by  future  students  of  this  ques- 
tion. On  May  15,  at  the  request  of  the  National  Woman's 
Party,  the  committee  granted  a  supplementary  hearing  at  which 
the  speakers  were  J.  A.  H.  Hopkins  of  New  Jersey,  representing 
the  new  Progressive  party  being  organized ;  John  Spargo  of 
Vermont,  representing  the  Socialist  Party ;  Virgil  Henshaw,  na- 
tional chairman  of  the  Prohibition  party  and  Miss  Mabel  Ver- 
non.  They  gave  to  the  committee  copies  of  a  "memorial"  which 
they  had  presented  to  President  Wilson  urging  immediate  action 
by  Congress.  It  was  signed  also  by  former  Governor  David  I. 
Walsh  of  Massachusetts  for  the  Progressive  Democrats  and  1  Mi- 
ward  A.  Rumely  for  the  Progressive  Republicans.  The  pamphlet 
of  these  four  hearings,  of  which  the  Senate  Committee  furnished 
10,000  copies,  was  widely  used  for  propaganda. 

A  hearing  was  held  on  May  18  before  the  Committee  on  Rules 
of  the  Lower  House,  with  the  entire  membership  present :  Repre- 
sentatives Edward  W.  Pou,  N.  C. ;  chairman;  James  C.  Can- 
trill,  Ky. ;  Martin  D.  Foster,  Ills.;  Finis  J.  Garrett,  Tenn. ; 
"Pat"  Harrison,  Miss.;  M.  Clyde  Kelly,  Perm.;  Irvine  L. 
Lenroot,  Wis. ;  Daniel  J.  Riordan,  N.  Y. ;  Thomas  D.  Schall, 
Minn.;  Bertrand  H.  Snell,  N.  Y.;  William  R.  Wood,  Ind. 
Its  purpose  was  to  urge  a  favorable  report  for  a  Committee  on 
Woman  Suffrage.  The  speakers  for  the  National  American 
Suffrage  Association  were  Judge  Raker,  Representatives  Jean- 
nette  Rankin  of  Montana;  Edward  T.  Taylor  of  Colorado; 
Frank  \V.  Mondell  of  Wyoming  and  Edward  Keating  of  Colo- 


NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF 


549 


rado;  Mrs.  Maud  Wood  Park,  chairman,  and  Mrs.  Helen  H. 
Gardener,  member  of  the  association's  Congressional  Committee. 
The  speakers  for  the  National  Woman's  Party  were  Miss  Martin, 
Miss  Maud  Younger,  Mrs.  Wainwright,  Miss  Vernon,  Repre- 
sentatives George  F.  O'Shaughnessy  of  Rhode  Island;  C.  N. 
McArthur  of  Oregon;  Carl  Hayden  of  Arizona.  On  December 
13  a  Committee  on  Woman  Suffrage  was  appointed. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

NATIONAL  AMERICAN   CONVENTION  OF    1918-1919. 

For  the  first  time  since  it  was  founded  in  1869  the  National 
American  Woman  Suffrage  Association  in  1918  omitted  its 
annual  convention.  Suffragists  were  accustomed  to  strenuous 
effort  but  this  year  strained  to  the  last  ounce  the  strength  of  all 
engaged  in  national  work.  The  Congressional  Committee  could 
not  secure  the  respite  of  a  single  day  and  were  summoning  women 
from  all  parts  of  the  country  for  service  in  Washington  and  de- 
manding extra  work  from  them  at  home,  telegrams,  letters,  in- 
fluence from  the  constituencies,  etc.  There  was  a  vote  Jan. 
10,  1918,  in  the  Lower  House  and  a  continual  pressure  from  that 
moment  to  get  a  vote  in  the  Senate,  which  did  not  come  till 
October  and  was  adverse.  Then  the  committee  pushed  on  with- 
out stopping.  Mrs.  Shulcr,  the  corresponding  secretary,  had 
been  in  the  Michigan,  South  Dakota  and  Oklahoma  campaigns 
all  summer  and  was  exhausted.  The  three  States  were  carried 
for  suffrage  and  when  the  election  was  over  all  the  forces  were 
used  to  obtain  Presidential  suffrage  in  the  big  legislative  year 
beginning  January,  1919.  It  was  a  question  of  pressing  forward 
to  victory  or  stopping  to  prepare  for  and  hold  a  convention  and 
lose  the  opportunities  for  gains  in  Congress. 

During  the  first  ten  months  of  1918  the  vast  conflict  in  Europe 
had  gone  steadily  on;  the  United  States  had  sent  over  millions  of 
soldiers  and  other  millions  were  in  training  camps  on  this  side 
of  the  ocean;  transportation  was  blocked;  the  advanced  cost  of 
living  had  brought  distress  to  many  households;  thousands  of 
families  were  in  mourning,  and  everywhere  suffragists  were  de- 
voting time  and  strength  to  those  heavy  burdens  of  war  which 
always  fall  on  women.  By  November  i,  when  it  would  have 
been  necessary  to  issue  the  call  for  a  convention,  there  was  no 
prospect  of  a  change  in  these  hard  conditions,  and  when  on 

550 


NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1918-1919         55 1 

November  n  the  Armistice  was  suddenly  declared  no  one  was 
interested  in  anything  but  the  end  of  the  war  and  its  world-wide 
aftermath.1  During  the  dark  days  of  1918,  however,  there  had 
come  a  tremendous  advance  in  the  status  of  woman  suffrage. 
The  magnificent  way  in  which  women  had  met  the  demands  of 
war,  their  patriotic  service,  their  loyalty  to  the  Government,  had 
swept  away  the  old-time  objections  to  their  enfranchisement  and 
fully  established  their  right  to  full  equality  in  all  the  privileges 
of  citizenship.  Karly  in  the  winter  the  Lower  House  of  Con- 
gress by  a  two-thirds  vote  declared  in  favor  of  submitting  to 
the  Legislatures  an  amendment  to  the  Federal  Constitution,  the 
object  for  which  the  National  Suffrage  Association  had  been 
formed,  and  the  Parliament  of  Great  Britain  had  fully  enfran- 
chised the  majority  of  its  women.  In  the  spring  the  Canadian 
Parliament  conferred  full  Dominion  suffrage  on  women.  Be- 
fore and  after  the  Armistice  the  nations  of  Europe  that  had  over- 
thrown their  Emperors  and  Kings  gave  women  equal  voting 
rights  with  men.  In  November  at  their  State  elections,  Michigan, 

h  Dakota  and  Oklahoma  gave  complete  suffrage  to  women. 
The  U.  S.  Senate  was  still  holding  out  by  a  majority  of  two 
against  submitting  the  Federal  Amendment  but  it  was  almost 
universally  recognized  that  the  seventy  years'  struggle  for  woman 
suffrage  in  this  country  was  nearing  the  end. 

With  the  opening  of  the  year  1919  the  progress  was  evident 

lie  addition  of  seven  more  States  to  those  whose  Legisla- 

had  granted  the  Presidential  franchise  to  women;  that  of 

Tennessee  included  Municipal  suffrage  and  that  of  Texas  had 

n  Primary  suffrage  the  preceding  year.     The  situation  now 

•  (1  to  require  an  early  convention  of  the  National  Associa- 
tion and  the  time  was  especially  opportune,  as  this  year  marked 
the  5oth  anniversary  of  its  founding.     A  Call  was  issued,  there- 
for a  Jubilee   Convention   to  be  held    in    March,    fifteen 

1  Although  there  was  no  national  convention  in   1918  Mrs.  Catt  called  a  conference  of 

the  Kx'iuiive  O>umil,  consisting  of  the  national  officers,  chairmen  of  standing  and  special 

.md   State  presidents,  at  Indianapolis,  April    i8th  and    ipth.     It  was  in   effect 

-ntion  except   for  the  presence  of  elected  delegates  and  forty-five  States  were  rep- 

luding  many  of  the  South.     They  were  entertained  by  the  Indiana  Women's 

i«e  League,  welcomed  by  Governor  Goodrich  and  Mayor  Jcwett  and  were  guests  at 

many  brilliant  social  function.*.     A  full  program  of  daytime  plans  for  work  and  committee 

•  and    of    evening   addresses    was    carried    nut.     The    visitors    were    able    to   attend 
meetings  of  the  Indiana  State  Suffrage  Convention  and  the  League  of  Women  Voters. 


552  HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

months  after  the  one  of  1917.  As  it  was  the  intention  to  launch 
the  organization  of  Women  Voters  it  was  decided  to  meet  in  the 
central  part  of  the  country  and  the  invitation  of  St.  Louis  was 
accepted.1 

The  Report  of  the  annual  convention  of  TOOT,  with  which 
this  volume  begins,  filled  130  printed  pages;  the  Report  of  TOJO 
filled  322,  which  makes  a  complete  account  of  its  proceedings  im- 
practicable. Their  character  had  been  changing  from  year  to 
year  and  at  this  convention  it  was  almost  transformed.  At  the 
public  evening  meetings  there  were  no  longer  eloquent  pleas  and 
arguments  for  the  ballot  and  the  daytime  sessions  were  not  de- 
voted to  discussions  of  the  many  phases  of  the  work.  Now 
there  was  business  and  political  consideration  of  the  best  and 
quickest  methods  of  bringing  the  movement  to  an  end  and  the 
most  effective  use  that  could  be  made  of  the  suffrage  already 
so  largely  won.  It  was  a  little  difficult  for  some  of  the  older 
workers  to  accustom  themselves  to  the  change,  which  deprived 

JCall:  The  National  American  Woman  Suffrage  Association  calls  its  State  auxiliaries, 
through  their  elected  delegates,  to  meet  in  annual  convention  at  St.  Louis,  Statler  Hotel, 
March  24  to  March  29,  1919,  inclusive. 

Tn  1869,  Wyoming  led  the  world  by  the  grant  of  full  suffrage  to  Its  women.  The 
convention  will  celebrate  the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  this  event.  In  1869,  the  National 
tnd  the  American  Woman  Suffrage  Associations  were  organized — to  be  combined  twenty 
years  later  into  the  National  American.  The  convention  will  celebrate  the  fiftieth  anni- 
versary of  the  founding  of  the  organization  which  without  a  pause  has  carried  forward 
the  effort  to  secure  the  enfranchisement  of  women.  As  a  fitting  memorial  to  a  half- 
century  of  progress  the  association  invites  the  women  voters  of  the  fifteen  full  suffrage 
States  to  attend  this  anniversary  and  there  to  join  their  forces  in  a  League  of  Women 
Voters,  one  of  whose  objects  shall  be  to  speed  the  suffrage  campaign  in  our  own  and 
other  countries. 

The  convention  will  express  its  pleasure  with  suitable  ceremonials  that  since  last  we 
met  the  women  of  England,  Scotland,  Ireland  and  Wales.  Canada  and  Germany  have 
received  the  vote,  but  it  will  make  searching  inquiry  into  the  mysterious  causes  which 
deny  patriotic,  qualified  women  of  our  Republic  a  voice  in  their  own  government  while 
those  of  monarchies  and  erstwhile  monarchies  are  honored  with  political  equality.  Suf- 
frage delegates,  women  voters,  there  is  need  of  more  serious  counsel  than  in  any  preced- 
ing year.  It  is  not  you  but  the  nation  that  has  been  dishonored  by  the  failure  of  the 
6sth  Congress  to  pass  the  Federal  Suffrage  Amendment.  Let  us  inquire  together;  let  ui 
act  together. 

CARRIE  CHAPMAN  CATT,  President. 

ANNA  HOWARD  SHAW,  Honorary  President. 

KATHARINE  DEXTER  McCoRMiCK,  First  Vice-President 

MARY  GARRETT  HAT,  Second  Vice-President. 

ANNE  DALLAS  DUDLEY,  Third  Vice-President. 

GERTRUDE  FOSTER  BROWN,   Fourth  ' 'ice-President. 

HELEN  H.  GARDENER,  Fifth  Vice-President. 

NETTIE  ROGERS  SHULER,  Corresponding  Secretary. 

JUSTIN  A  LEAVITT  WILSON,  Recording  Secretary. 

EMMA  WINNER  ROGERS,  Treasurer. 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQlS-igiQ         553 

the  convention  of  its  old-time  crusading,  consecrated  spirit,  but 
the  younger  ones  were  full  of  ardor  and  enthusiasm  over  the 
limitless  opportunities  that  were  nearly  within  their  grasp. 

On  Sunday  evening  the  national  officers  and  directors  held 
an  informal  reception  in  the  Hotel  Statler  for  the  delegates  and 
all  the  sessions  were  held  in  this  hotel,  with  the  two  evening  mass 
meetings  in  the  Odeon  Theater.  The  convention  opened  Mon- 
day evening,  March  24,  with  the  president,  Mrs.  Carrie  Chap- 
man Catt,  in  the  chair.  Dr.  Anna  Howard  Shaw,  who  was  an 
ordained  Methodist  minister,  pronounced  the  invocation  and  the 
community  singing  at  this  and  all  sessions  was  led  by  Mrs.  W.  D. 
Steele  of  St.  Louis.1  The  Mayor,  Henry  W.  Kiel,  extended  a 
cordial  welcome  to  the  city  and  pledged  his  earnest  support  of 
woman  suffrage.  Mrs.  Walter  McNab  Miller,  president  of  the 
Missouri  suffrage  association,  gave  the  welcome  from  the  State. 
Mrs.  B.  Morrison  Fuller,  president  of  the  Daughters  of  Pioneers, 
brought  their  greeting  and  referred  to  a  convention  held  in  St. 
Louis  in  1872,  introducing  three  ladies  who  were  present  at  that 
time. 

Dr.  Shaw,  honorary  president,  took  the  chair  and  presented 
Mrs.  Catt.     Her  address,  The  Nation  Calls,  was  a  strong  appeal 
for  an  organization  of  Women  Voters  to  be   formed   in   the 
:s  where  they  were  enfranchised.     The  plan  was  outlined 
and  she  asked:    ''Shall  the  women  voters  go  forward  doing  their 
1;  as  free  women  in  the  great  world  while  the  non-free  women 
left  to  struggle  on  alone  toward  liberty  unattained?"  She 
,  cd  how  powerful  an  influence  such  a  coordinated  body  could 
i  and  among  its  primary  objects  she  pointed  out  the  Federal 
Amendment,  corrections  in  the  present  laws  and  true 
•cracy  for  the  world.     She  named  nine  vital  needs  of  the 
'•rnment  at  the  present  time,  to  which  the  proposed  organiza- 
could  contribute — compulsory  education,  English  the  national 
uage,  education  of  adults,  higher  qualifications  for  citizen- 
ship, direct  citizenship  for  women  and  not   through  marriage, 
compulsory    lemons    in    citizenship    through     foreign    language 

1  Ministers  who  opened  the  different  sessions  with  prayer  were   Mary  J.   Safford,   of 
Iowa;  Dr.  Ivan  Lee  Holt,  Rabbi  Samuel  Thurman,  Dr.  G.  Nussman  and  the  Rev.  Father 
Ruwcll  J.  Wilbur;  at  the  meetings  in   the   Odeon,   Dr.  J.  W.   Mclvor  and   Dean   Carrol 
Davin,  all  of  St.  Louis. 
YOU  v 


554  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

papers,  oath  of  allegiance  as  qualification  for  citizenship,  schools 
of  citizenship  in  every  city  ward  and  rural  district  and  an  educa- 
tional requirement  for  voting. 

This  comprehensive  and  convincing  address  is  given  in  part 
in  the  chapter  on  The  League  of  Women  Voters,  by  Mrs.  Nettie 
Rogers  Shuler,  corresponding  secretary.  It  showed  beyond  ques- 
tion the  great  work  that  awaited  the  action  of  women  endowed 
with  political  power  and  it  swept  away  all  doubts  of  the  necessity 
for  this  new  organization  to  which  Mrs.  Catt  and  her  committee 
had  given  so  much  time  and  thought.  Throughout  the  conven- 
tion the  League  was  the  dominating  feature,  meetings  being  held 
daily  to  discuss  its  organization,  constitution,  objects,  methods, 
officers,  etc. 

At  the  close  of  Mrs.  Catt's  address  Mrs.  Guilford  Dudley  of 
Tennessee,  with  a  group  of  sixteen  women  from  as  many  southern 
States  came  to  the  platform  and  -with  eloquent  words  presented 
her  and  Dr.  Shaw  with  large  framed  parchments  on  which 
President  Wilson's  appeal  to  the  Senate  for  the  submission  of 
the  Federal  Suffrage  Amendment  Sept.  30,  1918,  was  beautifully 
wrought  in  illuminated  letters  by  the  artist  Scapecchi.  At  Mrs. 
Catt's  request  Dr.  Shaw  made  the  response  for  both  of  them. 

Tuesday  morning  the  convention  -was  cordially  welcomed  to 
the  city  by  Mrs.  George  Gellhorn,  president  of  the  St.  Louis 
Equal  Suffrage  League  and  chairman  of  local  arrangements. 
There  were  present  329  delegates,  seventeen  officers  and  three 
chairmen  of  standing  committees.  The  chair  announced  that 
because  of  the  crowded  program  the  separate  reports  of  officers 
and  committee  chairmen,  which  always  had  been  read  to  the 
conventions,  would  be  replaced  with  a  general  report  of  the 
year's  work  by  Mrs.  Shuler,  chairman  of  Campaigns  and  Surveys. 
This  report  was  a  remarkably  comprehensive  survey  of  the  varied 
work  of  the  association.  After  recounting  the  gains  in  the  States 
she  said : 

(  Hir  question  is  now  political.  The  past  year  has  seen  suffrage 
1>y  Federal  Amendment  endorsed  by  twenty-one  Democratic  and 
twenty  Republican  State  conventions;  by  all  those  of  the  minor 
parties  and  by  many  State  Central  Committees,  while  many  others 
have  approved  the  principle  of  equal  suffrage  by  a  large  vote. 
In  July,  1918,  our  second  vice-president,  Miss  Mary  Garrett  Hay, 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQlS-IQIQ         555 

was  made  chairman  of  the  platform  committee  at  the  State  Republi- 
can conference  in  Saratoga,  N.  Y.,  a  distinct  suffrage  victory,  inas- 
much as  the  men  realized  that  in  thus  signally  honoring  her  they 
were  honoring  the  woman,  who,  by  her  work  in  winning  the  suf- 
frage campaign  in  New  York  City,  had  made  possible  the  victory 
in  the  State.  Miss  Hay  has  since  been  made  a  member  of  the 
Republican  State  Executive  Committee  and  chairman  of  the  Execu- 
tive Committee  Woman's  Division  of  the  Republican  National 

imittee. 

The  work  of  the  last  fifteen  months  has  been  accomplished  under 
most  trying  and  difficult  conditions.  Many  women  under  the  allure- 
ment of  war  work  dropped  suffrage  work  altogether,  and  could  not 
rsuaded  that  it  was  necessary  at  this  time;  others  were  unable 
to  endure  the  criticism  that  they  would  be  "slackers"  if  they  did 
anything  besides  war  work ;  still  others  thought  if  they  did  this  well 
that  men,  "seeing  their  good  works"  would  "reward  them  openly" 
with  the  ballot. 

Mobilization:  The  mobilization  of  our  suffrage  army  came  April 
)T(S.  with  the  call  for  the  Executive  Council  meeting  at  Indian- 
apolis.    At  that  time  Mrs.  Catt,  our  chief,  plainly  stated  that  there 
could  be  no  "go  it  alone"  campaigns  but  that  provincial  shackles  must 
be  dropped,  nation-wide  plans  adopted  and  constructive  cooperation 
fmm  all  branches  assured.     Her  plans  were  accepted  unanimously. 
lay  14  a  bulletin  was  issued  asking  for  a  nation-wide  protest 
campaign  against  further  delay  in  passing  the  Federal  Amendment. 
hit  ions  were  to  be  passed  by  State  bodies  and  points  given  to  be 
-ed  at  mass  meetings  and  in  publicity.     Resolutions  of  protest 
sent  from  the  women  of  the  Allied  countries  of  Europe  to  the 
lent  of  the  United  States ;  from  National  Republican  and  Demo- 
Committees;  General  Federation  of  Women's  Clubs;  National 
Women's    Trade    Union    League;    American    Collegiate    Alumnae; 
American  Xurses'  Association;  National  Education  Association;  Na- 
tional Convention  of  Business  Women ;  Woman's  Christian  Tem- 
perance Union ;  American  Federation  of  Labor.     Many  States  re- 
led  with  resolutions  from  State  political  parties,  press  associa- 
.  churches,  granges,  labor  and  business  organizations,  political 
:  s  and  large  numbers  of  citizens. 

:    Fighting  Units:  From  honorary  president  to  the  last  direc- 

mrmber  of  the  board  of  the  National  Association  had  some 

\vork.     Our  service  flag  representing  suffrage  officials 

ir  branches  carried  twenty-five  stars.      Dr.   Shaw,   Mrs.   Catt 

Mrs.  MrCnrmick  were  conscripted  for  the  Woman's  Committee 

e  National  (  'otincil  of  Defense;  Mrs.  Catt  for  the  Liberty  Loan's 

:ial    List;    Miss    Hay,    Mrs.   Gardener   and    Mrs.    Dudley   for 

<>nal  and  Mrs.  Brown  for  Oversea  Hospitals  work.     Other 

tin    hoard    were  sent   from   time    to   time  to  various 

•al  missions. 

al  Work:   Mrs.   Ropers   went   to  New  Jersey;   Mrs. 


HISTORY   OF   WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

Wilson  and  Mrs.  Stilwell  to  Delaware  and  Mrs.  Livermore  to  New 
Hampshire  for  work  connected  with  the  Federal  Amendment.  Mrs. 
Wilson  attended  the  State  suffrage  conventions  in  Maine,  Rhode 
Island,  New  Hampshire  and  made  a  longer  stay  in  Florida  and 
Vermont.  Mrs.  Shuler  went  to  the  three  campaign  States  twice, 
spending  five  weeks  in  South  Dakota,  holding  a  suffrage  school 
there ;  five  weeks  in  Michigan  and  nearly  five  months  in  Oklahoma, 
later  going  to  West  Virginia.  Others  who  were  sent  by  the  National 
Association  on  special  missions  were  Miss  Louise  Hall,  Mrs.  Fitz- 
gerald, Mrs.  Anna  C.  Tillinghast  and  Miss  Eva  Potter  to  New 
Hampshire;  Miss  Mabel  Willard  to  Delaware;  Mrs.  Cunningham, 
Miss  Marjorie  Shuler  and  Mrs.  Mary  Grey  Brewer  to  Florida, 
while  Mrs.  Brewer  made  a  trip  as  special  envoy  to  five  of  the  west- 
ern States.  Our  nineteen  national  organizers  have  been  in  twenty 
States.  In  eighteen  part  or  all  of  the  expenses  have  been  borne 
by  the  National  Association.  At  present  we  have  ten  organizers 
in  the  field. 

To  the  one  who  has  made  our  victories  possible,  our  national  and 
international  president,  Mrs.  Catt,  women  owe  a  debt  of  gratitude 
that  can  never  be  paid.  Her  strength  and  sagacity,  her  unerring 
judgment  and  masterful  leadership  have  acted  as  a  stimulus  and 
inspiration,  not  only  to  those  of  us  who  have  been  privileged  to 
work  at  close  range  but  also  to  the  women  of  the  entire  world. 
Our  national  suffrage  headquarters  have  been  a  place  of  peace  and 
happiness  because  of  her  patience,  good-nature  and  sympathy.  Her 
battle  for  the  past  fifteen  months  has  been  with  adverse  condi- 
tions and  reactionary  forces,  which  are  always  the  hardest  to  combat, 
but  not  once  has  her  courage  faltered  or  her  strength  of  purpose 
failed. 

(  Hir  Ammunition :  At  national  headquarters  in  New  York  City  our 
work  is  departmentalized  and  functions  through  the  Leslie  Bureau  of 
Suffrage  Education  under  three  department  heads:  The  Woman 
Citizen,  Press  Bureau  and  Research.  These  cooperate  with  a  fourth 
department,  the  National  Publishing  Company,  and  all  are  so  closely 
co-ordinated  that  they  work  as  one. 

The  Woman  Citizen — Our  National  Organ.  (See  special  report.) 
As  you  will  remember,  the  Leslie  Commission  took  over  the  Press 
Bureau  March,  1917,  and  since  then  has  paid  all  of  its  expenses. 

In  order  to  keep  our  official  machinery  moving,  there  are  about 
fifty  people  on  the  two  floors  at  171  Madison  Avenue,  New  York. 

Circularization :  The  Woman  Citizen  has  been  sent  each  week  to 
members  of  Congress  and  on  thirty  different  occasions  they  received 
literature  prepared  in  the  most  tempting  fashion  for  their  instruc- 
tion and  edification.  Mrs.  Catt  put  into  operation  the  plan  for  reso- 
lutions from  the  Legislatures  calling  upon  the  Senate  to  pass  the 
Federal  Suffrage  Amendment.  These  from  twenty-four  States  were 
read  into  the  Congressional  Record,  and  while  they  did  not  put  the 
Federal  Amendment  through  they  were  effective  as  showing  the 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQlS-IQig         557 

nation-wide  urge  for  favorable  action.    The  Legislatures  themselves 
were  circularized  with  excellent  literature. 

In  February,  1918,  a  bulletin  was  sent  to  State  presidents  offer- 
ing one  or  more  traveling  libraries  of  sixty-two  volumes,  the  Leslie 
Commission  to  pay  expenses  to  the  State  and  its  association  to  pay 
them  within  the  State.  A  library  could  be  held  one  year.  Quanti- 
ties of  literature  have  been  sent  to  the  States  for  distribution  while 
requests  for  special  literature  have  received  prompt  attention. 

The  activity  regarding  the  appointment  of  a  woman  or  women 
on  the  Peace  Commission  originated  in  the  national  office  and  stirred 
the  people  of  the  entire  country.  On  Dec.  8,  1918,  the  association 
held  a  meeting  of  war  workers  in  the  National  Theatre  in  Wash- 
ington, D.  C,  to  protest  against  further  delay  in  the  Senate  on  the 
ral  Amendment.  Twenty-seven  delegates  representing  the  asso- 
ciation attended  the  eight  congresses  held  throughout  the  United 
States  in  the  interest  of  the  League  of  Nations. 

Field  Work.  The  resolution  committing  the  National  Association 
to  an  aggressive  policy  was  passed  at  its  convention  of  1917.  It  read: 
"If  the  6sth  Congress  fails  to  submit  the  Federal  Amendment  before 
the  next  Congressional  election  the  association  shall  select  and  enter 
into  such  a  number  of  campaigns  as  will  effect  a  change  in  both 
houses  of  Congress  sufficient  to  insure  its  passage." 

October   came;   the   November  elections  were   approaching;   the 
«»5th  Congress  had  failed  to  pass  the  amendment.     Probabilities  had 
•  weighed  which  would  produce  the  necessary  two  votes  if  pos- 
sible and  it  was  decided  to  enter  the  campaigns  in  New  Hamp- 
^hire,    Xew   Jersey,    Massachusetts  and   Delaware.     The   first  two 
at  no  time  specially  hopeful,  as  they  were  likely  to  poll  Repub- 
lican  majorities  and  the  Republican  Senatorial  candidates  of  both 
against  woman  suffrage.     However,  as  a  result  of  the  work 
in    Xew  Jersey,   Senator  Baird   fell  much  behind  his  ticket, 
while  in  New  Hampshire  the  women  and  the  advertising  made  so 
.g  a  case  for  the  pro-suffrage  candidate  that  for  a  day  or  two 
the  result  was  in  doubt,  but  it  was  finally  declared  that  Moses  had 
by   1.2(>'  .  .  .  The  two  most  important  and  successful 

were    in    Massachusetts    against   the    Republican    Senator 
in  Delaware  against  the  Democratic  Senator  Saulsbury.  .  .  . 

Under  the  MI!>  title  "In  the  trenches"  Mrs.  Shuler  told  of  the 
three  LT< -at  State  camp  '  the  year  in  Michigan,  South 

•la  and  <  )l<laln»ina  ( described  in  the  chapters  for  those  Stales  ) 
•tid  : 

The  National  Association  i:ave  to  these  States  eighteen  organizers, 

1   valuable  service.     It  gave  plate  matter  at  a 

<>O,OOO  p'  I,OOO  pieces  of   literature,  eigh- 

id   50,000  lin  to  South  Dakota 

June    3-20,    sessions    in    the    daytime    in 

i  .stive -t  meetings  in  ten  of  the  nearby  towns  in  the  evenings. 


558  HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

The  sending  of  Miss  Marjorie  Shuler  as  press  chairman  to  Okla- 
homa enabled  it  to  issue  126,000  copies  of  a  suffrage  supplement 
and  supply  300  papers  with  weekly  bulletins,  information  service  and 
two  half-pages  of  plate.  These  three  campaigns  cost  the  association 
$30,720.  This  was  the  financial  cost,  but  the  immense  output  of 
time  and  energy  by  the  women  cannot  be  computed.  It  is  safe 
to  say  that  all  of  them  as  they  emerged  from  this  trench  warfare 
again  questioned  the  advisability  of  trying  to  secure  suffrage  by  the 
State  route. 

Mrs.  Shuler's  fine  report  closed  with  an  optimistic  peroration 
on  Seeing  it  Through.  [See  Handbook  of  convention.] 

The  carefully  audited  report  of  the  treasurer,  Mrs.  Henry  Wade 
Rogers,  showed  almost  incredible  collections  during  a  period 
•when  the  war  was  making  its  endless  calls  for  money.  In  part 
it  was  as  follows:  "The  year  1918  has  been  a  very  remarkable 
one  for  the  national  suffrage  treasury.  The  large  demands  of  the 
war  on  every  individual,  both  for  money  and  work,  seemed  to 
forebode  financial  difficulties  for  us  before  the  close  of  our 
fiscal  year.  Instead,  the  response  to  the  needs  of  our  treasury 
was  never  more  fully  met,  both  in  the  payment  of  pledges  made 
at  the  last  convention  and  in  securing  new  pledges  and  donations. 
Early  in  the  year  the  treasurer  -was  asked  to  assume  also  the 
duties  of  treasurer  of  the  association's  Women's  Oversea  Hos- 
pitals Committee  and  this  fund  has  passed  regularly  through  the 
treasury,  amounting  in  all  to  $133,339.  The  very  generous  and 
hearty  response  of  the  State  suffrage  associations  to  the  demands 
of  our  Oversea  Hospitals'  -war  work  has  been  most  gratifying  and 
its  financing  has  not  diminished  the  regular  income  of  the  associa- 
tion. .  .  .  About  one-third  of  the  association's  income  has  been 
received  from  the  State  auxiliaries  and  two-thirds  from  individ- 
ual donations.  The  receipts  for  suffrage  work  were  $107,736; 
balance  on  hand  $11,874.-"  [The  Leslie  Commission  contributed 
$20,000.] 

A  message  to  the  convention  from  President  Wilson  was  re- 
ceived conveying  his  greetings  and  best  -wishes  for  the  success 
of  the  Federal  Amendment.  On  motion  of  Dr.  Shaw  the  con- 
vention sent  to  the  President  an  expression  of  its  appreciation 
of  his  support.  Mrs.  Philip  North  Moore,  president  of  the 
National  Council  of  Women,  brought  its  fraternal  greetings. 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQlS-IQIQ         559 

Others  were  received  from  far  and  wide.  ...  On  motion  of  Mrs. 
Shuler  a  telegram  of  appreciation  was  sent  to  Mrs.  Helen 
H.  Gardener  of  Washington,  and  on  motion  of  Dr.  Shaw  one  to 
Mrs.  Ida  Husted  Harper  of  New  York.  A  message  of  sympathy 
in  the  loss  of  her  husband  was  sent  to  the  veteran  suffragist,  Mrs. 
Elizabeth  Boynton  Harbert  of  Pasadena,  formerly  of  Chicago. 
It  was  voted  that  letters  from  the  convention  should  be  sent  to 
the  pioneers,  Dr.  Antoinette  Brown  Blackwell,  Miss  Rhoda 
Palmer,  Mrs.  Charlotte  Pierce,  Miss  Emily  Howland  and  Mrs. 
C  D.  B.  Mills. 

During  the  convention  the  Legislature  of  Missouri  passed  the 
bill  giving  Presidential  suffrage  to  women  by  21  to  12  in  the 
Senate  and  1 18  to  2  in  the  House.  The  convention  sent  a  mes- 
sage of  enthusiastic  appreciation.  I  For  full  account  see  Missouri 
chapter.]  Miss  Anna  B.  Lawther,  president  of  the  Iowa  Suf- 
frage Association,  requested  the  National  Association  and  the 
League  of  Women  Voters  to  appeal  to  the  Legislature  of  that 
State  to  pass  a  similar  bill.  Mrs.  Dudley  of  Tennessee  and 
Miss  Mary  Bulkley  of  Connecticut  made  the  same  request  for 
these  States  and  it  -was  granted  for  all  three.  Mrs.  Frederick 
Nathan  (N.  Y.)  urged  the  suffragists  to  contribute  to  the  Wo- 
men's Roosevelt  Memorial  Association.  Mrs.  Gellhorn's  young 
daughter  was  introduced  as  having  recently  organized  a  Junior 
Suffrage  League  in  St.  Louis  of  thirty-two  members.  Mrs. 
Katharine  Philips  Edson  (Cal.)  announced  that  though  it 
had  no  regular  suffrage  organization,  Northern  and  Southern 
California  each  had  telegraphed  a  contribution  of  $500  to  the 
work  of  the  National  Association. 

The  present  policies  of  the  association  were  endorsed.  The 
reason  given  for  wishing  the  officers  to  hold  over  until  the 
next  annual  convention  in  1920  was  that  the  complete  ratification 
of  the  Federal  Amendment  by  that  time  was  considered  certain 
and  these  officers  would  be  best  fitted  to  close  up  the  affairs  of 
the  association,  which  would  then  be  merged  into  the  league 
of  Woman  Voters.  1  roni  tin-  list  of  candidates  the  following 
eitflit  directors  were  elected:  Mrs.  George  Gellhorn  (Mo.); 
Mrs.  Richard  E.  Edwards  (  Ind.)  ;  Mrs.  C.  H.  Brooks  (Kans.)  ; 
Mrs.  Ben  Hooper  (Wis.) ;  Mrs.  Arthur  L.  Livermore  (N.  Y.) ; 


560  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

Mrs.  J.  C.  Cantrill  (Ky.) ;  Miss  Esther  G.  Ogden  (N.Y.)  ;  Mrs. 
George  A.  Piersol  (Penn.).  Mrs.  Brooks,  Mrs.  Livermore  and 
Miss  Ogden  were  re-elected. 

The  afternoon  session  of  Tuesday  was  devoted  to  suffrage  war 
work,  with  Mrs.  Katharine  Dexter  McCormick,  chairman  of 
the  War  Service  Department,  presiding.  At  the  meeting  of  the 
Executive  Council  of  the  National  Association  in  Washington, 
in  February,  1917,  just  before  the  United  States  entered  the 
war,  it  formed  a  number  of  committees  in  order  that  the  suf- 
fragists throughout  the  country  might  do  their  especial  work 
for  it  under  the  same  generalship  as  they  were  accustomed  to, 
and  later  chairmen  of  these  committees  were  appointed  to  or- 
ganize and  superintend  State  branches.  At  the  present  session 
of  the  national  convention  these  chairmen  reported  as  follows : 
General  Survey  of  War  Program,  Mrs.  McCormick  (N.  Y.)  ; 
Food  Production,  Miss  Hilda  Loines  (N.  Y.)  ;  Americanization, 
Mrs.  Frederick  P.  Bagley  (Mass.);  Child  Welfare,  Mrs.  Percy 
Pennybacker  (Tex.) ;  Industrial  Protection  of  Women,  Mrs. 
Gifford  Pinchot  (D.  C.) ;  Food  Conservation,  Mrs.  Walter  Mc- 
Nab  Miller  (Mo.);  Oversea  Hospitals  Service,  Mrs.  Charles  L. 
Tiffany  (N.  Y.),  chairman,  and  Mrs.  Raymond  Brown  (N.  Y.) 
director  general  in  France. 

These  reports  are  considered  at  length  in  Mrs.  McCormick' s 
chapter  on  War  Work  of  the  National  American  Woman  Suf- 
frage Association  and  they  conclusively  refuted  the  charge  pub- 
licly made  again  and  again  by  the  National  Anti-Suffrage  Asso- 
ciation through  its  official  organ  and  on  the  platform  that  the 
suffragists  were  "slackers,"  unpatriotic,  pro-German  and  con- 
cerned only  in  getting  the  franchise  for  themselves.  This  charge 
was  frequently  made  by  the  editor  of  the  paper  and  president  of 
the  association,  Mrs.  James  W.  Wadsworth,  Jr.,  wife  of  the 
Republican  U.  S.  Senator  from  New  York,  also  a  strong  opponent 
of  woman  suffrage. 

At  the  close  of  this  very  interesting  session  the  convention  en- 
joyed an  automobile  ride  to  see  the  beautiful  city  and  its  en- 
virons, tendered  by  the  St.  Louis  Equal  Suffrage  League  and 
under  the  auspices  of  Mrs.  Philip  B.  Fouke.  The  "inquiry  din- 
ner" in  the  banquet  room  of  the  hotel  in  the  evening,  with  Mrs. 


NATIONAL  AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQlS-IQIQ         561 

Catt  presiding,  carried  out  the  clever  idea  of  trying  to  ascertain 
why  American  women  could  not  obtain  their  enfranchisement. 
The  program  was  as  follows:  What  is  the  matter  with  the 
United  States?  Women  want  it!  Mrs.  Grace  Wilbur  Trout 
(Ills.)  ;  Men  want  it!  the  Rev.  W.  C.  Bitting  (Mo.)  ;  Political 
Parties  want  it!  Mrs.  Emma  Smith  De  Voe  (Wash.);  The 
Press  wants  it!  Miss  Rose  Young  (N.  Y.)  ;  The  Old  South 
•wants  it!  Mrs.  Pattie  Ruffner  Jacobs  (Ala.);  Congress  wants 
it!  Mrs.  Maud  Wood  Park  (Mass.) ;  The  Legislatures  want  it! 
Mrs.  T.  T.  Cotnam  (Ark.)  ;  All  other  Countries  have  it!  Mrs. 
Guilford  Dudley  (Tenn.)  ;  Who  doesn't  want  it!  Mrs.  Harriet 
Taylor  Upton  (Ohio);  Well  then  -what  is  the  matter?  Mrs. 
Arthur  L.  Livermore  (N.  Y.)  ;  Making  it  right  next  time !  U.  S. 
Senator  Selden  P.  Spencer  (Mo.). 

At  one  business  session  Miss  Laura  Clay  (Ky.)  argued  that 
the  time  had  come  to  change  the  form  of  the  Federal  Suffrage 
Amendment  to  meet  the  objections  of  the  southern  members  of 
Congress.     Discussion  showed  a  preponderance  of  sentiment  in 
favor  of  the  old  amendment  and  the  convention  so  voted,  but 
at  the  suggestion  of  Mrs.  Park  it  empowered  the  Congressional 
Committee  to  make  any  minor  changes  which  might  seem  advis- 
able.   At  another  session  there  was  considerable  talk  of  merging 
the  National  American  Association  into  the  new  organization  of 
voters  and  dropping  its  name  at  this  convention,  but  Miss  Hay 
carried  the  delegates  -with  her  in  urging  that  they  retain  the  old 
name  until  they  celebrated  Miss  Anthony's  one-hundredth  birth- 
day and  were  safely   through   the   ratification   of   the   Federal 
Amendment.     This  decision  was  especially  pleasing  to  the  older 
members  for  whom  the  name  had  many  endearing  memories. 
Catt  announced  that  suffrage  societies  had  been  formed  in 
a,  Porto  Rico,  Hawaii  and  the  Philippines  and  it  was  voted 
to  extend  an  official  invitation  to  them  to  join  the  National  Asso- 
<jn  without  payment  of  dues.     Mrs.  Catt  called  attention  to 
increased  educational  value  of  the  convention  through   the 
y   opportuni  nded    to   the   delegates   for  addre< 

ies  of  various  kinds  in  the  city.     These  included  the  churdie-, 

public   schools,   (  'liamber  of  Coin 
merce,  Junior  Chamber  of  (  mimici  .    Club,  Rotary  Uub, 


562  HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

Town  Club,  Wednesday  Club,  Women's  Trade  Union  League 
and  other  organizations. 

One  of  the  leading  features  of  the  convention  was  the  report 
of  Mrs.  Maud  Wood  Park,  chairman  of  the  Congressional  Com- 
mittee, which  gave  a  complete  summary  of  the  status  of  the 
Federal  Suffrage  Amendment  in  Congress  from  the  time  of  the 
last  convention  to  the  present.  This  and  Mrs.  Shulers  secre- 
tary's report  offer  so  comprehensive  a  survey  of  the  important 
work  of  the  National  Association  that  a  considerable  amount  of 
space  is  devoted  to  them.  The  report  of  Mrs.  Park  filled  over 
thirty  pages  of  the  Handbook  of  the  convention  and  was  an  in- 
teresting account  of  the  struggle  of  the  past  year  and  a  half  to 
secure  from  Congress  the  submission  of  the  Federal  Suffrage 
Amendment.  A  large  part  of  it  will  be  found  in  the  chapter 
devoted  to  that  amendment.  It  showed  the  work  done  at  the 
national  headquarters  in  New  York  City  and  Washington  and 
also  in  the  States  and  gave  an  idea  of  the  tremendous  effort  which 
was  necessary  before  the  measure  was  sent  to  the  Legislatures  for 
ratification.  It  told  of  the  House  Judiciary  Committee  report- 
ing the  resolution  on  Dec.  n,  1917,  "without  recommendation," 
after  amending  it  so  as  to  limit  the  time  for  ratification  to  seven 
years,  and  of  the  determination  of  the  opponents. to  force  a 
vote  on  it  before  the  appointment  of  a  Woman  Suffrage  Commit- 
tee for  which  the  friends  were  striving.  This  committee  was 
announced,  however,  on  December  13,  1917. 

All  the  members  but  three  of  the  committee  were  in  favor 
of  the  amendment.  Chairman  Raker  introduced  a  new  resolu- 
tion omitting  the  seven-year  clause  and  the  committee  gave  a 
five-days'  hearing  to  the  National  American  Association,  the 
National  Woman's  Party  and  the  Anti-Suffrage  Association, 
January  3-7  inclusive.  The  committee  made  a  favorable  report 
to  the  House  on  January  8.  On  the  9th  twelve  Democratic  mem- 
bers called  by  appointment  on  President  Wilson,  who  advised  the 
submission  of  the  amendment.  Speaker  Clark  gave  valuable  as- 
sistance, as  did  many  prominent  Democrats  and  Republicans  both 
in  and  out  of  Congress.  A  five-hours'  debate  took  place  in  the 
House  on  the  afternoon  of  Jan.  10,  1918,  and  the  vote  resulted 
as  follows: 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQlS-IQIQ         563 

In  Favor  Opposed 

Republicans    165  33 

Democrats    104  102 

Miscellaneous  5  I 

274  136 

This  was  a  majority  of  less  than  one  vote  over  the  necessary 
two-thirds. 

Mrs.  Park  gave  a  graphic  account  of  the  struggle  to  secure  a 
favorable  vote  in  the  Senate.  She  described  the  influences 
brought  to  bear  from  all  possible  sources;  the  conferences  with 
committees  and  individuals;  the  fixing  and  then  postponing  of 
days  for  a  vote;  the  difficulty  in  arranging  "pairs";  the  "filibust- 
ering" of  the  opponents,  the  adjournments,  the  endless  tactics 
for  preventing  a  vote  which  for  years  had  been  employed  against 
this  amendment.  She  described  the  great  five  days'  discussion  in 
the  Senate  September  26-October  i  ;  the  appeal  to  President  Wil- 
son for  help  and  his  magnificent  response  in  person  on  September 
30  with  its  contemptuous  treatment  by  the  opponents;  the  failure 
of  the  Republican  leaders  to  supply  the  thirty-three  votes  prom- 
ami  of  the  Democrats  to  provide  from  their  ranks  the  thirty- 
fourth,  which  would  complete  the  necessary  two-thirds,  and  she 
•  the  summary  of  the  result  of  the  balloting  on  October  i. 
Analyzed  by  parlies  and  including  pairs  the  vote  stood: 

Yes          No 

Democrats    30  22 

Republicans    32  12 

Total   62  34 

The  amendment  was  lost  by  two  votes.  This  debate,  printed 
in  full  in  the  Congressional  Kccord  for  those  days,  hands  down 
to  posterity  the  noble  effort  of  some  members  of  the  U.  S.  Senate 
to  grant  to  women  a  voice  in  the  ( ;<>vernment  to  which  they 
ing  the  most  loyal  and  devoted  service  in  this  hour  when 
it  was  joining  NVJth  other  nations  in  the  greatest  battle  for  de- 
mocracy ever  fought.  It  preserves  also  the  determination  of 

to  deny  them  i'  n's  right  and  to  con- 

tinue   their   disfranchised    condition.      The    ll'nintjn    ("///':;.•;/.    of 
.1  organ  of  the  National  American  Woman  Suffrage  Associa- 


564  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

tion,  in  its  issue  of  Oct.  5,  1918,  gave  a  spirited  account  of  the 
proceedings  of  those  momentous  five  days. 

Mrs.  Park  took  up  the  story  after  the  defeat  in  the  Senate  and 
said  in  part:  "The  election  returns  on  Nov.  6,  1918,  indicated 
that  the  necessary  two-thirds  majority  in  the  66th  Congress  had 
been  secured.  This  belief  -was  shared  by  prominent  Democrats, 
who  from  that  time  on  spared  no  effort  to  make  unfriendly  Demo- 
cratic Senators  realize  the  folly  of  their  position  in  leaving  the 
victory  for  a  Republican  Congress.  Only  the  stupidity  of  extreme 
conservatism  or  a  thoroughly  provincial  point  of  view  can  ac- 
count for  their  failure  to  yield,  unless  we  are  to  suppose  that 
more  sinister  forces  were  at  work.  ...  On  the  eve  of  his  sail- 
ing for  Europe  December  2  President  Wilson  included  in  his 
address  to  a  joint  session  of  Congress  another  eloquent  appeal 
for  the  submission  of  the  Federal  Suffrage  Amendment."  *  She 
described  the  mass  meeting  of  the  suffrage  war  workers  on  De- 
cember 8  at  the  National  Theater  in  Washington  arranged  by  Miss 
Mabel  Willard  with  the  following  program :  Mrs.  Catt,  the  na- 
tional president,  in  the  chair ;  Dr.  Anna  Howard  Shaw,  chairman 
Woman's  Committee  of  National  Council  of  Defense;  Mrs.  Wil- 
liam Gibbs  McAdoo,  chairman  National  Woman's  Liberty  Loan 
Committee ;  Mrs.  Josephus  Daniels,  member  National  War  Work 
Council,  Y.  W.  C.  A.;  Miss  Jane  Delano,  director  Department 
of  Nursing,  American  Red  Cross;  Mrs.  Charles  L.  Tiffany,  rep- 
resenting Community  War  Work  and  Women's  Oversea  Hos- 
pitals; Mrs.  F.  Louis  Slade,  of  Young  Women's  Department, 
Y.  M.  C.  A. ;  Mrs.  Raymond  Robins,  president  National 
Women's  Trade  Union  League;  Miss  Hannah  Black,  Munitions 
Worker.  An  overflow  meeting  was  held  and  strong  resolutions 
for  the  amendment  were  adopted  at  both  and  sent  to  each  Senator. 

Resolutions  calling  on  every  Senator  to  vote  for  submission 
of  the  amendment  were  adopted  by  twenty-five  State  Legisla- 
tures during  January  and  February,  1919,  and  the  gaining  of 

1  From  the  address  of  President  Wilson: 

And  what  shall  we  say  of  the  women?  .  .  .  Their  contribution  to  the  great  result  is 
beyond  appraisal.  They  have  added  a  new  luster  to  the  annals  of  American  womanhood. 
The  least  tribute  we  can  pay  them  is  to  make  them  the  equals  of  men  in  political  rights 
as  they  have  proved  themselves  their  equals  in  every  field  of  practical  work  they  have 
entered,  whether  for  themselves  or  for  their  country.  These  great  days  of  completed 
achievements  would  be  sadly  marred  were  we  to  omit  that  act  of  justice. 


NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION  fOF    IQlS-IQIQ          56$ 

Presidential  suffrage  in  Vermont,  Indiana  and  Wisconsin  that 
winter  increased  hope.  The  suffrage  Democrats  were  desirous 
of  taking  one  more  vote  before  going  out  of  power.  Mrs.  Park's 
report  said  :  "On  petition  of  twenty-two  Senators,  a  Democratic 
caucus  on  suffrage  was  held  on  February  5,  the  first  since  the 
United  States  entered  the  war.  On  a  motion  to  adjourn,  the 
suffragists  without  proxies  defeated  the  "antis,"  who  voted  prox- 
ies, by  22  to  1  6.  On  a  resolution  recommending  that  the  Demo- 
cratic Senators  support  the  Federal  Amendment,  twenty-two 
voted  in  the  affirmative  and  when  ten  had  voted  in  the  negative, 
those  ten  were  allowed  by  Senator  Thomas  S.  Martin  (Va.),. 
Democratic  floor  leader,  to  withdraw  their  votes  in  order  that 
he  might  declare  that,  as  the  vote  stood  22  to  o,  a  quorum  had 
not  voted  and  the  resolution  was  lost!  This  decision  was,  of 
course,  most  irregular  and  unfair  but  it  afforded  a  good  illustra- 
tion of  the  kind  of  tactics  used  by  the  opponents. 

"After  the  close  of  the  morning  business  February  10,  Sena- 
tor Jones  moved  to  take  up  the  amendment.  An  extremely 
strong  speech  in  its  favor  was  made  by  the  new  Senator,  William 
P.  Pollock  of  South  Carolina.  The  only  other  speeches  were  by 
Senator  Frelinghuysen  (N.  J.),  on  the  question  of  individual 
naturalization  of  women  and  by  Senator  Gay  (La.)  in  opposition 
to  the  amendment.  The  vote  taken  early  in  the  afternoon  showed 
n  favor  and  29  opposed.  As  on  October  I,  all  the  members 
who  were  not  present  to  vote  were  accounted  for  by  pairs,  so 
that  it  stood  practically  63  in  favor  to  33  opposed.  In  other 
words  the  amendment  was  lost  in  the  65th  Congress  by  one  vote. 
Tin-  responsibility  for  the  defeat  lies  at  the  door  of  every  man 
who  voted  against  it.  Analyzed  by  parties  and  including  pairs, 
the  vote  on  February  10,  was: 

Yes          No 

Democrats    ..........................    30  21 

!\c])ul)li(-nns     .........................    33  12 

Total    .............................   63  33 


"Tims  the  DrmorraN  lost   their  1;M  M|i|>.  ,1  tunity  and  on  March 
I  the  resolution  for  the  amendment  was  again  favorably  rrj 
h\   the  \\oman  Suffrage  Committee  of  the  Lower  lion  -c  to  !><• 


$66  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

acted  upon  by  a  Republican  Congress."  In  commenting  on  this 
result  Mrs.  Park  said :  "While  we  are  condemning  the  un- 
American  stand  of  our  opponents,  we  should  never  lose  sight 
of  the  hard  work  done  by  many  of  the  Senators  who  were  our 
friends.  There  is  not  space  here  for  the  record  of  all  who  helped 
us  but  special  mention  should  be  made  of  one,  the  Hon.  John  F. 
Shafroth,  who  will  not  be  present  to  vote  when  victory  comes 
in  the  next  Congress.  When  our  cause  had  only  a  handful  of 
supporters  in  public  life,  he,  then  a  member  of  the  House,  helped 
Miss  Anthony  bring  the  amendment  forward,  and  from  that  time 
to  the  present  his  loyal  and  devoted  service  never  flagged.  Chair- 
man Jones,  Senators  Ransdell,  Hollis,  Wesley  Jones,  Cummins 
and  the  other  members  of  the  Woman  Suffrage  Committee 
worked  in  constant  cooperation  with  your  committee.  Among 
the  others  who  were  most  frequently  called  on  for  help  were 
Senators  Curtis,  Smoot,  Walsh,  Pittman,  Lenroot,  McNary, 
Hollis  and  Sheppard." 

Mrs.  Park  spoke  briefly  of  the  hearing  before  the  House 
Committee  on  Woman  Suffrage  April  29  on  the  bill  granting  to 
the  Legislature  of  Hawaii  the  power  to  enfranchise  its  women. 
(See  the  chapter  on  Territories.)  This  bill  had  passed  the  Senate 
in  September,  1918.  On  Jan.  3,  it  passed  the  House  without  a 
roll  call. 

Tribute  to  the  association's  Congressional  Committee  and  other 
workers  in  Washington  was  paid  by  Mrs.  Park,  who  said : 

During  the  past  fifteen  months  there  have  been  several  changes  in 
the  personnel  of  the  committee,  chief  among  them  the  resignation  in 
September,  1918,  of  Miss  Ruth  White,  whose  gratuitous  service  as 
secretary  had  extended  more  than  three  years.  She  was  succeeded 
by  Mrs.  Minnie  Fisher  Cunningham,  but  just  as  her  marked  gift  for 
political  work  was  making  itself  felt  in  Washington,  the  submission 
of  a  constitutional  amendment  in  Texas  made  it  necessary  for  her  to 
return  home  in  January,  1919.  In  August,  1918,  the  National  Board 
appointed  as  a  special  congressional  steering  committee  two  women 
of  widely  known  political  acumen  and  experience,  Miss  Mary  Gar- 
rett  Hay  of  New  York  and  Mrs.  Guilford  Dudley  of  Nashville,  with 
Mrs.  Catt  and  Mrs.  Park  ex  officio.  In  October  Mrs.  Frank  Roes- 
sing,  who  had  been  residing  in  Washington  since  the  preceding  April 
and  thus  had  been  able  to  give  help  from  time  to  time,  sent  in  her 
resignation.  In  November  Miss  Marjorie  Shuler  was  added  to  the 
committee  as  secretary  in  charge  of  publicity,  a  designation  that  by 


NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    iqiS-IQIQ  567 

no  means  expresses  the  varied  duties  which  have  fallen  to  her  lot 
or  the  extent  to  which  she  has  proved  of  service.  To  Mrs.  Helen  H. 
Gardener  a  new  title,  that  of  vice-chairman  of  the  Congressional 
Committee,  has  been  recently  given  by  the  National  Board.  .  .  . 
Her  work  can  rarely  be  reported  because  of  its  confidential  nature, 
hut  this  may  truly  be  said,  that  whenever  a  miracle  has  appeared 
to  happen  in  our  behalf,  if  the  facts  could  be  told  they  would  nearly 
always  prove  that  Mrs.  Gardener  was  the  worker  of  wonders.  .  .  . 

Other  members  of  the  Congressional  Committee  who  have  been 
in  Washington  for  the  whole  or  a  part  of  the  period  covered  by  this 
rcpiirt  are.  in  addition  to  its  chairman,  Miss  Mabel  Caldwell  Wil- 
lard.  chairman  of  the  social  activities;  Mrs.  George  Bass  and  Mrs. 
Medill  McCormick,  representing  respectively  the  organizations  of 
Democratic  and  Republican  women  affiliated  with  the  national  party 
committees;  Mrs.  J.  Borden  Harriman,  Mrs.  C.  W.  McClure  and 
Mrs.  William  L.  McPherson.  No  report  of  the  Washington  head- 
quarters would  be  complete  without  mention  of  the  help  given  in 
innumerable  ways  by  our  house  manager,  Mrs.  Elizabeth  W.  Walker, 
whose  patience,  tact  and  good  judgment  have  made  comfortable  liv- 
ing possible  under  the  most  trying  circumstances. 

Members  of  the  National  Board  who  have  been  called  on  to 
*  are  first  and  foremost  our  honorary  president.  Dr.  Shaw; 
Mrs.  Katharine  Dexter  McCormick  and  Mrs.  Horace  C.  Stilwell  of 
Indiana.  Upon  Mrs.  Catt,  the  national  president,  your  committee 
has  constantly  depended  for  advice  and  direction.  Our  misfortune 
has  been  that  we  could  not  have  her  continually  in  Washington. 

To  these  a  list  of  names  was  added  of  those  who  assisted  dur- 
ing long  or  short  periods.     There  was  an  account  of  the  social 
>f  the  Washington  headquarters.    In  January,  February  and 
March  of  1918  Miss  Willard,  with  the  help  of  Mrs.  Louis  Brown- 
arrangecl  a  series  of  weekly  teas  on  Wednesday  afternoons. 
Among-  the  hostesses,  the  guests  of  honor  and  those  serving  at 
the  table  were  some  of  the  most  prominent  -women  in  Washing- 
"f  the  members  of  the  Cabinet,  Senators  and  Repre- 
Social   affairs  were   finally   given   up   as  war   relief 
>ed  other  interests.     Under   the   direction  of   Mrs. 
nlo<w,  daughter  of  Representative  Sims  (Tenn.)  and  wife 
of  the  Chief  Commissioner   for  the  District  of  Columbia,  the 
lington  Equal   Franchise  League  established  a  Red  Cross 
t  headquarters  where  valuable  work  was  done  by  suffra- 
cveral  entertainments  for  the  benefit  of  the  Oversea  Hos- 

ven  at  the  house  and  over  $I,OOO  raided, 
the  close  of  this  report  the  convention  ^,-»vr  a  ri  inti;  vote  of 


568  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

thanks  to  Mrs.  Park  and  a  number  of  delegates  paid  special 
tribute  to  the  excellent  work  of  the  chairman  and  the  committee. 
A  discussion  which  followed  by  Miss  Katharine  Ludington 
(Conn.)  ;  Mrs.  Andreas  Ueland  (Minn.)  ;  Miss  Anna  B.  Lawther 
(Iowa)  ;  Mrs.  Lila  Mead  Valentine  (Va.)  and  Mrs.  Leslie  War- 
ner (Tenn.),  under  the  head  "And  Now — What?"  was  de- 
voted to  ways  and  means  for  carrying  the  Federal  Amendment. 
A  number  of  conferences  were  held  to  consider  various  phases 
of  the  work  of  the  association  which  had  become  all-embracing. 
The  one  on  How  to  do  Political  Work  for  Suffrage  was  led  by 
a  past-master  in  it,  Miss  Hay.  One  on  How  to  use  our  Organiza- 
tion to  Win  was  under  the  direction  of  Mrs.  Shuler.  The  confer- 
ence of  press  workers  was  in  charge  of  Miss  Young.  Why  We 
Did  Not  Win  was  told  by  Mrs.  Lydia  Wickliffe  Holmes,  presi- 
dent of  the  Woman  Suffrage  Party  of  Louisiana,  referring  to 
the  defeat  of  the  State  suffrage  amendment ;  Why  We  Did  Win, 
by  Mrs.  Ben  Hooper,  president  of  the  Wisconsin  association, 
describing  the  gaining  of  the  Presidential  franchise.  There  were 
reports  by  the  State  presidents  of  the  work  that  had  been  done 
by  women  during  the  year  throughout  the  country  for  the  war, 
for  suffrage,  for  civic  improvement. 

A  report  that  was  heard  with  the  deepest  interest  was  that  of 
the  Oversea  Hospitals  in  France,  by  Mrs.  Raymond  Brown,  gen- 
eral director,  and  Mrs.  Charles  L.  Tiffany,  chairman  of  the  com- 
mittee. This  had  been  a  very  important  part  during  the  past  two 
years  of  the  work  of  the  association,  which  had  raised  $133,000 
for  its  maintenance.  [See  the  chapter  on  War  Work.] 

When  it  had  been  arranged  to  hold  the  convention  the  last 
week  in  March,  1919,  it  was  supposed  that  the  Federal  Suffrage 
Amendment  would  have  been  submitted  by  Congress  by  that  time, 
as  it  had  passed  the  Lower  House  early  in  January.  It  seemed 
especially  appropriate  that  this  jubilee  convention  could  celebrate 
this  event  on  the  Fiftieth  Anniversary  of  the  founding  of  the 
National  Association  for  the  sole  purpose  of  obtaining  this 
amendment  but  to  the  keen  disappointment  of  its  leaders  and 
members  two  obdurate  Senators  had  spoiled  this  beautiful  plan. 
Its  success,  however,  was  so  universally  conceded  that  it  was  de- 
cided to  hold  the  semi-centennial  celebration  and  the  afternoon  of 


NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQlS-IQIQ  560, 

March  26  was  dedicated  to  this  purpose  and  to  the  honoring  of 
the  early  leaders.  Fifty  Years  of  Ever  Widening  Empire  was 
the  motto  at  the  head  of  the  program.  The  tribute  to  the 
Pioneers  of  the  National  Association  was  paid  by  Mrs.  Rachel 
Foster  A  very,  for  twenty-one  years  from  1881  the  correspond- 
ing secretary  of  the  association  and  closely  associated  with 
Lucretia  Mott,  Airs.  Stanton,  Miss  Anthony  and  the  other  pio- 
neers almost  from  her  girlhood.  To  Miss  Anthony  she  was  like 
a  daughter  and  she  gave  a  touching  account  of  her  personal  re- 
lations with  these  noble  leaders.  Miss  Alice  Stone  Blackwell 
drew  from  her  stores  of  memory  a  wealth  of  incidents  of  the 
lives  of  her  parents  and  the  eminent  men  and  -women  who  were 

nated  with  them  in  founding  the  American  Woman  Suffrage 
Association,  also  begun  in  1869.  A  resolution  offered  by  Mrs. 
Desha  Breckinridge  was  enthusiastically  adopted — that  "we  owe 
an  undying  and  inextinguishable  debt  to  Henry  B.  and  Lucy 
Stone  Blackwell  for  their  great  service  in  behalf  of  suffrage  for 
women  but  believe  their  greatest  gift  was  their  daughter,  who 
has  kept  us  true  to  the  trust  which  they  committed  to  the  care 
of  their  followers." 

Mrs.  Catt,  who  always  had  an  eye  to  the  practical  and  who 

on  the  program  to  urge  the  members  of  the  united  associa- 
tions to  Finish  the  Fight,  soon  yielded  her  time  to  Miss  Hay,  the 
noted  money-raiser,  whose  subject  was,  Make  the  Map  White.  In 
a  very  short  time  the  delegates  had  shown  their  appreciation  of 
the  pioneers  by  subscribing  $120,000,  the  whole  amount  of  the 
"budget"  for  the  work  of  the  coming  year.  Dr.  Shaw  then 
closed  the  afternoon's  services  with  reminiscences  of  her  forty 

'  companionship  with  the  workers  in  both  associations. 
"The  s  M  ff  racist  who  has  not  been  mobbed,"  she  said,  "has  noth- 
ing really  interesting  to  1»>f»k  brick  upon."  She  spoke  of  the  last 

nal  convention  which  Miss  Anthony  ever  attended,  in  1906 

iltimore,  and  how  she  had  set  her  heart  on  a  grand  triumph 

that  old,  conservative  city,  describing  how  her 

in  the  most  successful  one  from  every 

point  of  view  that  ever  had  been  held.     And  then  she  told  with 

pathos  how  one  month  later  Miss  Anthony  passed  into 

eternal  n-st.     Little  did  the  listeners  think  that  the  next  annual 

VOL.   V 


57O  HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

convention  would  hold  memorial  services  for  Dr.  Shaw  herself 
and  for  Mrs.  Avery! 

Throughout  the  week  the  meetings  of  the  National  Associa- 
tion alternated  with  the  conferences  for  organizing  the  enfran-» 
chised  women  and  the  name  officially  decided  on  was  League  of 
Women  Voters.  A  constitution  for  it  was  adopted  and  Mrs. 
Charles  H.  Brooks  of  Kansas  was  elected  chairman.  Mrs.  Catt 
presented  its  first  aims  as  outlined  in  her  annual  address  and 
with  some  additions  they  were  adopted.  The  addresses  made 
by  the  chairmen  of  the  war  committees  evinced  statesmanship 
of  a  high  order.  The  entire  proceedings  of  the  convention  con- 
nected with  this  new  organization  are  fully  described  in  Mrs. 
Shuler's  chapter  on  the  League  of  Women  Voters.  There  could 
be  no  greater  contrast  than  between  the  firmness  and  authority 
of  the  speakers  on  this  program  and  the  pleading  and  argument 
of  just  as  able  women  in  earlier  years  for  the  opportunity  and 
power  to  help  in  the  solution  of  great  national  problems. 

The  large  Odeon  Theater  was  crowded  on  the  evening  of 
March  27  by  an  audience  that  heard  with  much  interest  the  story 
of  the  recent  campaigns  for  full  and  Presidential  suffrage  as  told 
in  the  following  program :  The  Indiana  Irritation,  Mrs.  Richard 
E.  Edwards;  The  Vermont  Vortex,  Mrs.  Halsey  W.  Wilson; 
The  Nebraska  Nightmare,  Mrs.  W.  E.  Barkley;  The  South  Da- 
kota Sore  Disasters,  Mrs.  John  L.  Pyle;  The  Michigan  Mystery, 
Mrs.  Myron  B.  Vorce;  The  Oklahoma  Ordeal,  Mrs.  Nettie  R. 
Shuler;  The  Texas  Turmoil,  Mrs.  Minnie  Fisher  Cunningham; 
The  Duty  of  Citizenship,  Mrs.  Raymond  Robins;  All  Roads 
Lead  to  Rome,  Dr.  Shaw. 

The  report  of  the  Leslie  Bureau  of  Suffrage  Education,  made 
by  its  director,  Miss  Rose  Young,  filled  eighteen  pages  of  the 
printed  Handbook  and  covered  a  vast  field  of  activity  which  in- 
cluded service  to  25,000  publications — 2,500  dailies,  16,000 
weeklies,  3,233  monthlies,  a  number  issued  fortnightly,  quarterly, 
etc.,  and  the  large  syndicates  and  press  associations.  In  addi- 
tion were  the  mimeographed  news  bulletins  and  the  editorial 
service.  An  idea  was  given  of  the  varied  character  of  the  ma- 
terial sent  out  and  the  immense  amount  furnished  during  the 
campaigns.  A  compliment  was  paid  to  the  press  work  of  Mrs. 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQlS-IQIQ  571 

Rose  Geyer,  "whose  task  it  is  to  collect  the  news,  State  by 
State,  and  distribute  the  parts  of  nation-wide  interest  through 
weekly  bulletins,  and  who  has  by  direct  personal  correspondence 
of  an  intimate  and  tactful  kind  trained  State  organization  women 
to  send  in  reports  of  conventions,  political  and  legislative  situa- 
tions, candidates,  etc."  Many  incidents  were  cited  of  important 
publicity,  special  editions  of  papers  and  display  advertising. 
Six  pages  -were  devoted  to  the  mission  of  the  weekly  official 
magazine,  the  Woman  Citizen,  and  the  way  it  had  been  fulfilled. 
A  tribute  was  paid  to  its  very  able  associate  editor,  Miss  Mary 
Ogden  White.  The  invaluable  service  of  the  Research  Bureau, 
under  the  expert  direction  of  Mrs.  Mary  Sumner  Boyd,  assisted 
by  Miss  Eleanor  Garrison,  was  strongly  set  forth. 

Mrs.  Ida  Husted  Harper,  who  conducted  the  editorial  cor- 
respondence, referred  in  her  report  to  her  full  accounts  in  pre- 
ceding years  of  the  wide  correspondence  with  editors.  "The  scope 
of  the  department  was  gradually  enlarged,"  she  said,  "and  many 
letters  were  sent  to  prominent  people  in  reference  to  their 
speeches,  interviews  in  newspapers  and  other  public  expressions. 
For  instance,  in  the  debates  on  the  Federal  Amendment  in  the 
Senate,  whenever  a  speaker  showed  lack  of  correct  information,  a 
letter  giving  it  was  sent  to  him.  Other  letters  also  were  sent  to 
Senators  and  usually  received  courteous  answers  from  them- 
selves, not  their  secretaries."  The  report  continued: 

oral  letters  were  written  to  Colonel  Theodore  Roosevelt  urging 
him  to  use  his  influence  with  the  Republican  leaders  and  always 
were  fully  answered.  A  letter  dictated  and  signed  by  him  on  January 
^.  i oio.  enclosed  one  he  had  just  sent  to  Senator  Moses  of  New 
Hampshire,  strongly  urging  him  to  cast  his  vote  for  the  Federal 
SufFrag-c  Amendment  on  the  loth.  I  received  it  on  January  4  and 
IK-  died  thr  night  of  the  5th. 

were  sent  to  Chairman   Hays  and   members  of   the   Na- 
tional   Republican   Committee   and   to  different   State   chairmen   on 
various  points  connected  with  the  suffrage  amendment.    The  pamph- 
'i  the  Difficulty  of  Amending  State  Constitutions,  which  was 
••rod  and  sent  to  every  Senator,  was  put  into  the  Congressional 
Record  by  Senator  Shafroth,  and  a  circular  letter  on  the  founding 
and  record  of  the  National  Woman's  Party  by  Senator  Thomas. 
f   letters   were   sent  out   showing   up   the   fallacies   of   the 
Anti-suffragists  during  the  year;  others  exposing  the  connection  of 
the  German-American  Alliance  with  the  Antis;  others  giving  his- 


572  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

toric  information  and  still  others  telling  of  gains  in  our  own  and 
foreign  countries. 

During  the  first  year  I  wrote  to  over  2,000  editors  in  the  United 
States  and  Canada.  At  the  end  of  that  time,  and  after  the  New 
York  victory,  so  many  were  in  favor  of  woman  suffrage  itself  that 
during  1918  the  work  was  very  largely  concentrated  on  the  Federal 
Amendment.  In  the  two  months  from  Novemher,  1917,  to  January, 
1918,  when  the  vote  was  taken  in  the  House  of  Representatives,  2,600 
circular  letters  containing  an  argument  for  this  amendment  went 
out  from  this  department  to  the  principal  newspapers  of  the  United 
States  and  in  addition  100  special  articles  were  sent  to  the  largest 
papers.  After  that  vote  was  taken  this  record  was  kept  up  to  obtain 
favorable  action  by  the  Senate  and  a  second  and  different  circular 
argument  was  sent  to  2,000  papers.  A  carefully  selected  list  of 
several  hundred  southern  newspapers  was  furnished  to  Senator 
Morris  Sheppard  of  Texas,  to  which  he  sent  franked  copies  of  his 
excellent  speech  on  this  amendment. 

An  open  letter  to  Senator  Baird  was  supplied  to  all  the  principal 
papers  of  New  Jersey;  one  to  Senator  Benet  to  those  of  South  Caro- 
lina; one  to  Senator  Shields  to  Tennessee  papers.  A  letter  show- 
ing the  attitude  of  the  National  Association  toward  organized  labor 
went  to  a  considerable  number  of  labor  papers  in  the  various  States. 
During  the  week  following  the  failure  to  vote  on  the  Federal  Amend- 
ment in  May,  250  letters  and  articles  in  regard  to  it  were  sent  out 
from  this  department.  Most  of  them  enclosed  printed  or  typed  suf- 
frage literature,  some  of  Mrs.  Catt's  editorials  and  articles,  and 
some  from  other  sources,  including  my  printed  pamphlet  on  the  Fed- 
eral Amendment.  Altogether  nearly  8,000  letters  and  articles  went 
out  from  this  department. 

Several  pamphlets  also  were  prepared  and  an  article  of  about  2.000 
words  was  furnished  every  month  to  the  International  Suffrage  News 
in  London,  with  many  clippings  for  its  files.  A  number  of  letters 
and  clippings  also  were  sent  to  Mrs.  Fawcett,  the  national  president 
of  Great  Britain,  keeping  her  informed  on  the  progress  of  the  move- 
ment in  the  United  States,  of  which  she  was  very  appreciative,  and 
letters  of  information  were  written  to  other  countries. 

My  the  end  of  iQiS  from  300  to  500  editorials  on  woman  suf- 
frage were  received  every  month  and  it  was  as  much  a  subject  of 
rnmment  in  the  newspapers  as  any  political  issue  of  the  day.  The 
old-time  attacks  were  almost  entirely  absent;  the  editorials  showed 
knowledge  and  discrimination;  fully  nine-tenths  of  the  northern 
newspapers  advocated  not  only  woman  suffrage  but  the  Federal 
Amendment,  while  in  every  southern  State  some  leading  papers  were 
in  favor  of  enfranchising  women  and  a  few  approved  of  its  being 
done  through  this  amendment.  This  editorial  department  of  the 
Leslie  Bureau  might  venture  to  claim  some  share  in  the  evolution 
of  editorial  opinion,  to  which,  of  course,  many  causes  contributed. 
While  the  need  for  its  work  was  by  no  means  at  an  end,  another 
task  yet  remained  for  the  bureau  to  see  accomplished. 


NATIONAL  AMERICAN  CONVENTION  OF  1918-1919       573 

Mrs.  Harper  then  stated  that  it  was  the  wish  of  both  the  Leslie 
Commission  and  the  Board  of  the  National  Association  that  the 
final  volume  of  the  History  of  Woman  Suffrage  should  be 
written  -while  the  excellent  facilities  of  the  headquarters  were 
available.  Because  of  her  experience  in  writing  Volume  IV  this 
work  was  entrusted  to  her  and  the  editorial  department,  there- 
fore, was  discontinued  and  the  History  begun  in  January,  1919. 

The  report  of  the  Washington  Press  Bureau  was  made  by 
its  secretary,  Miss  Marjorie  Shuler,  dating  from  the  preceding 
November  and  it  stated  that  weekly  press  articles  had  been  fur- 
nished to  the  big  news  services,  the  200  newspaper  correspon- 
dents in  Washington,  the  papers  of  that  city  and  many  outside; 
State  presidents,  Congressional  and  press  chairmen,  in  addition 
to  a  certain  daily  service;  feature  articles  and  Washington  let- 
ters to  the  Woman  Citizen.  Material  for  favorable  editorials  was 
sent  out  through  the  Washington  correspondents  and  244  friendly 
to  the  policy  of  the  National  Association  were  received  with  only 
12  opposed.  The  social  activities  at  the  Washington  headquarters 
furnished  good  local  publicity. 

In  the  report  of  Miss  Esther  G.  Ogden,  president  of  the  Na- 
tional Woman  Suffrage  Publishing  Co.,  she  called  attention  to 
the  almost  insuperable  difficulties  of  the  publishing  business  dur- 
ing the  past  eighteen  months  through  the  high  cost  of  produc- 
tion, deterioration  of  materials  and  uncertainties  of  transporta- 
tion.   With  all  these  handicaps  the  company  had  printed  5,000,000 
pieces  of  literature  for  the  association  and  1,000,000  for  its  own 
stock.     It  had  filled  orders  from  Great  Britain,  Canada,   South 
America,   Mexico,   Porto   Rico  and  the  Philippines.      She   told 
of    prominent   visitors    from    foreign   countries    who   expressed 
much   surprise  at   the  variety  and  extent  of  the  literature  and 
samples  home  with  them  for  translation.     Mrs.  Arthur  L. 
imore,  chairman  of  the    Literature  Committee,  gave  a  list 
e  new  publications  \\hich  filled  two  printed  pages  and  told  of 
a   iiotaMr   group   of    booklets   dealing   with    patriotic    subjeci 
large  amount  of  special  lite-rat ure  to  facilitate  the  passage  of  the 
:al  Amendment;  maps,  fold<  •  lets  and  posters. 

The    follov,  • -inineiidatioii      \\n<-   made   in    the    Kxecutivc 

;u  il  and  adopted  hy  the  < 


574  HISTORY   OF   WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

T.  That  the  N.  A.  W.  S.  A.  continue  to  support  and  endorse 
the  Federal  Amendment  which  has  been  before  Congress  for  the 
past  forty  years.  2.  That  the  next  convention  be  in  the  nature  of 
a  centennial  celebration  of  the  birthday  of  Susan  B.  Anthony  and  be 
held  in  February,  1920.  3.  That  the  Board  of  Officers  be  asked  to 
serve  until  that  date,  thus  confining  the  election  of  officers  at  this 
convention  to  Directors  only.  4.  That  the  budget  for  1919  be  adopted 
as  presented  by  Mrs.  Henry  Wade  Rogers,  the  treasurer — $120,000 
if  the  Voters'  League  is  formed  and  $100,000  if  it  is  not  formed. 
5.  That  the  six  War  Service  Committees  appointed  at  the  last  con- 
vention be  discontinued  with  the  exception  of  the  Oversea  Hospitals 
Committee,  which  shall  be  discontinued  at  the  conclusion  of  its 
work,  and  those  on  Americanization  and  Industrial  Protection  of 
Women,  which  shall  be  continued.  6.  That  the  post-convention  board 
be  requested  to  reappoint  Mrs.  Maud  Wood  Park  as  chairman  of 
the  Congressional  Committee  and  extend  to  her  a  vote  of  appre- 
ciation of  her  services.  7.  That  the  Board  of  Directors  shall  have 
authority  to  enter  any  State  to  carry  on  work  without  the  author- 
ity of  that  State,  if  necessary.  8.  That  the  policy  of  the  association 
in  regard  to  referendum  campaigns  be  affirmed.  9.  That  an  organi- 
/atiun  of  women  voters  be  formed.  10.  That  the  constitution  wlujn 
amended  and  made  satisfactory  to  the  needs  of  the  association  be 
substituted  for  the  present  constitution;  that,  with  this  end  in  view, 
the  Chair  be  instructed  to  appoint  a  committee  of  five  women  from 
enfranchised  States  and  five  from  the  Executive  Council  to  whom 
the  constitution  shall  be  referred.1 

It  was  recommended  that  the  following  resolution  be  adopted 
"in  view  of  the  fact  that  a  request  had  been  made  for  a  new  defini- 
tion of  'non-partisan'  in  relation  to  the  National  Association  as 
at  present  constituted  or  as  it  may  be  constituted" :  "Resolved, 
That  the  N.  A.  W.  S.  A.  shall  not  affiliate  with  any  political  party 
or  endorse  the  platform  of  any  party  or  support  or  oppose  any 
political  candidates  unless  such  action  shall  be  recommended  by 
the  Board  of  Directors  in  order  to  achieve  the  ends  and  purposes 
of  this  organization  as  set  forth  in  its  constitution.  Nothing  in 
this  resolution  shall  be  construed  to  limit  the  liberty  of  action  of 
any  member  or  officer  of  this  association  to  join  or  serve  the 
party  of  her  choice  in  any  capacity  whatsoever  as  an  individual." 

Miss  Alice  Stone  Blackwell,  chairman  of  the  committee,  offered 
fourteen  resolutions,  the  last  which  were  acted  upon  by  representa- 
tives of  the  National  American  Suffrage  Association,  the  first 
having  been  presented  in  1869.  They  illustrate  the  wide  scope 

1  For  action  of  this  committee  ice  Appendix  for  Chapter  XIX. 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQlS-IQIQ  575 

of  women's  interests  considered  by  that  body.  After  full  dis- 
cussion the  following,  which  are  somewhat  condensed,  were 
among  those  adopted : 

Whereas,  women  may  now  vote  for  President  in  twenty-six  States 
of  the  Union,  and  for  all  elective  officers  in  England,  Scotland,  Ire- 
land, Canada  and  throughout  the  largest  part  of  Europe;  our  eastern 
and  southern  States  are  now  the  only  communities  in  the  English- 
speaking  world  in  which  women  are  still  debarred  from  self-govern- 
ment; our  nation  has  just  emerged  from  a  war  waged  in  the  name 
of  making  the  world  safe  for  democracy  and  ought  in  consistency 
to  establish  real  democracy  at  home;  and  every  political  party  in 
the  United  States  has  endorsed  woman  suffrage  in  its  national 
platform ;  therefore  be  it 

Resolved,  that  we  call  upon  the  66th  Congress  to  submit  the  Con- 
stitutional Amendment  for  nation-wide  woman  suffrage  to  the  States 
at  the  earliest  possible  moment. 

Whereas,  one-fourth  of  the  men  examined  for  the  army  were 
unable  to  read  English  or  to  write  letters  home  to  their  families, 
be  it 

Resolved,  that  we  urge  the  establishment  at  Washington  of  a 
national  department  of  education  with  a  Secretary  of  Education  in 
the  Cabinet. 

Resolved,  that  this  association  earnestly  favors  a  League  of  Na- 
tions to  secure  world-wide  peace  based  upon  the  immutable  principles 
of  justice. 

Resolved,  that  we  protest  against  the  unfair  treatment  of  profes- 
sional women  by  the  United  States  authorities  in  declining  the  serv- 
ices of  women  physicians,  surgeons  and  dentists  in  the  recent  war, 
thus  compelling  loyal,  patriotic  women  to  serve  under  the  flag  of  a 
foreign  government.  We  recommend  that  in  future  our  Government 
recognize  the  fitness  of  accepting  the  services  of  professional  women 
for  work  for  which  their  training  and  experience  have  qualified  them. 

Resolved,  That  we  urge  our  Government  to  bring  about  the  prompt 
redress  of  all  legitimate  grievances,  as  the  removal  of  the  sense  of 
injustice  is  the  surest  safeguard  against  revolution  by  violence. 

Whereas,  the  Woman  in  Industry  Service  of  the  U.  S.  Depart- 
ment of  Labor  was  established  as  a  result  of  the  war  emergency. 

Resolved,  that  we  call  upon  Coiujre^  in  establish  this  service  as  a 
permanent  Women's  Bureau  in  the  U.  S.  Department  of  Labor  with 
:iiate  funds  for  the  continuance  and  extension  <•!'  its  work, 
olvcd.  that  we  ask  the  U.   S.   (  I'-vennm-nt  in   its  next   census 
.  definitely  the  unpaid  women  hoiisekei  pers  as  honiemakcrs 
thus  recognizing  their  important   service  to  the  nation. 

>olved,   that   we  call   upon    Congress    n.   ^i\-e   military    rank   to 

olved.   that   we  tender  to  our  national  president.    Mrs.   Carrie 
tt,   our   deep   appreciation    «,f    her    sagacity,   good   judij- 
',    fairnes^    and    indefatigable    devotion    to    tl:< 


576  HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

rights,  and  we  pledge  our  best  efforts  to  carry  out  her  wise  and  far- 
reaching  plans  for  ultimate  victory. 

The  last  evening  of  the  convention  was  given  to  a  second  mass 
meeting  at  the  Odeon  Theater  with  Dr.  Shaw  presiding  and  a 
notable  program.  The  first  speaker  was  Miss  Helen  Fraser  of 
Great  Britain,  who  had  been  making  a  tour  of  the  United  States 
in  the  interest  of  the  women's  war  hospital  work  of  that  country. 
She  was  announced  on  the  program  as  "Great  Britain's  fore- 
most speaker,"  and  she  eloquently  pictured  Women  and  the  Fu- 
ture. The  Hon.  Henry  J.  Allen,  Governor  of  Kansas,  stirred  the 
audience  to  enthusiasm  with  an  address  on  Woman's  Place  in 
War  and  Peace.  Mrs.  Catt's  splendid  closing  speech  on  Looking 
Forward  ended  a  convention  whose  keynote  throughout  had  been 
"progress";  a  farewell  to  the  past  years  of  toil  and  disappoint- 
ment, a  preparation  for  the  future  work  of  women  under  better 
conditions  than  had  ever  before  existed.  A  spirit  of  hope,  cour- 
age and  unlimited  expectation  pervaded  the  army  of  younger 
women,  who  were  soon  to  take  up  the  great  work  committed  to 
their  care. 

On  Saturday  three  important  meetings  took  place.  In  the 
morning  was  the  formal  organization  of  the  League  of  Women 
Voters,  election  of  officers,  appointment  of  committees  and  adop- 
tion of  a  program;  also  the  final  business  session  of  the  conven- 
tion to  harmonize  the  work  of  the  National  Association  and  that 
of  the  league.  In  the  afternoon  the  two  bodies  met  in  joint  ses- 
sion to  discuss  the  question  of  how  voting  and  non-voting  women 
might  best  cooperate  and  the  three  following  objects  were  agreed 
upon :  ( i )  To  secure  the  vote  for  all  the  women  of  the  nation  in 
the  shortest  possible  time;  (2)  to  obtain  the  vote  for  women  in 
all  civilized  countries;  (3)  to  carry  out  the  legislative  program  of 
the  new  organization. 

Thus  ended  the  perfectly  managed  Jubilee  Convention,  prob- 
ably the  most  important  and  far-reaching  in  the  long  history  of  the 
National  Association. 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQlS-IQIQ  577 

HEARING  ON   THE  FEDERAL  SUFFRAGE  AMENDMENT  BEFORE  THE 

HOUSE  COMMITTEE  ON  WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  OF  THE  65TH 

CONGRESS,  JAN.   3-7,    1918. 

There  was  no  longer  any  necessity  for  a  hearing  before  the 
Senate  Committee  on  Woman  Suffrage,  as  it  had  unanimously 
reported  in  favor  of  the  Federal  Amendment.  The  suffrage  lead- 
ers were  profoundly  thankful  that  they  would  never  again  have 
to  address  a  hostile  Judiciary  Committee  of  the  Lower  House, 
which  not  in  all  the  years  had  permitted  the  amendment  to  come 
before  the  Representatives  for  discussion,  and  which  had  now 
under  pressure  reported  it  out  but  "without  recommendation." 
A  new  era  had  dawned  and  a  Committee  on  Woman  Suffrage  had 
been  formed,  whose  chairman,  Judge  John  E.  Raker  of  Califor- 
nia, by  advice  of  Speaker  Clark,  had  introduced  another  resolu- 
tion for  the  submission  of  the  amendment  which  was  sent  to 
this  committee  and  it  desired  to  have  a  hearing.1  This  began 
Jan.  3,  1918,  and  in  opening  it  the  chairman  said:  "We  have 
determined  to  hear  first  the  National  American  Suffrage 
Association  and  then  the  Woman's  Party.  There  seem  to 
be  a  few  opponents — a  few  men — and  they  will  be  given  an 
opportunity  to  be  heard,  as  well  as  Mrs.  Wadsworth  and  her  or- 
ganization." This  hearing  extended  through  four  days  and  the 
stenographic  report  filled  330  closely  printed  pages.  It  was  the 
last  of  the  committee  hearings  on  a  Federal  Suffrage  Amend- 
ment which  began  in  1878  and  had  been  held  during  every  Con- 
gress since  that  date.  If  an  investigator  of  this  subject  has  time 
to  read  only  one  document  it  should  be  the  report  of  this  hearing. 

The  committee  was  composed  of  seven   Democrats  and  six 

Republicans  and  it  was  well  known  that  all  but  three — Saunders, 

k  and  Meeker — would  report  in   favor  of  submitting  the 

amendment.    The  National  SufiY  '>nati«>n  was  represented 

the  first  day  by  its  honorary  president,  Dr.  Anna  Howard  Shaw ; 

'lent,  Mrs.  Carrie  Chapman  Catt;  the  chairman  of  its 

Congressional  Committee,  Mrs.  Maud  Wood  Park;  Mrs.  Rosalie 

1  Names  of  Committee:  John  E.  Raker,  Cnlifornia,  chairman;  Edward  W.  Saunders, 
Virginia;  Frank  Clark,  Florida;  Benjamin  C.  Milliard.  Colorado;  James  H.  Mays,  Utah; 
Christopher  D.  Sullivan.  New  York;  Thomas  L.  Blanton,  Texas;  Jeannette  Rankin, 
Montana;  Frank  W.  Mondcll,  Wyoming;  William  H  Carter,  Massachusetts;  Edward  C. 
Little.  Kansas;  Richard  N.  Elliott,  Indiana;  Jacob  E.  Meeker,  Missouri. 


HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

Loew  Whitney,  an  able  lawyer  of  New  York;  Mrs.  Guilford  Dud- 
ley of  Tennessee,  a  vice-president  of  the  association;  Mrs.  Henry 
Ware  Allen,  a  prominent  suffragist  and  war  worker  of  Kansas. 
Their  speeches  were  among  the  strongest  ever  made  at  a  hearing. 
Those  of  the  opponents  show  the  character  of  their  objections 
up  to  the  very  end  of  the  long  contest.  Dr.  Shaw's  address  was 
especially  notable  for  two  reasons:  it  was  devoted  largely  to  the 
work  of  women  in  the  war,  which  was  now  at  its  height,  and  it 
was  the  last  one  before  a  congressional  committee  by  this  elo- 
quent woman,  -who  had  been  coming  to  the  Capitol  for  almost 
thirty  years  in  behalf  of  the  amendment,  as  she  died  the  follow- 
ing year.  She  was  introduced  as  having  been  appointed  by  the 
Secretary  of  War  chairman  of  the  Woman's  Committee  of  Na- 
tional Defense  and  as  such  the  head  of  the  war  work  of  women 
throughout  the  country.  Dr.  Shaw  began  by  referring  to  the 
new  line  of  attack  -which  was  now  being  made  on  suffragists  as 
pro-Germans  and  pacifists  but  scattered  quotations  can  give  small 
idea  of  the  strength  and  beauty  of  her  answers  to  these  charges. 
Regarding  the  one  of  pacifism  she  said: 

We  grant  that  we  are  in  favor  of  peace;  we  grant  that  we  have 
a  large  sympathy  for  the  sufferings  of  humanity,  but  we  aK» 
claim  to  be  possessed  of  intelligence  and  knowledge  and  these  have 
convinced  us  that  there  could  be  nothing  more  disastrous  to  the 
human  race  than  a  peace  at  this  time,  which  would  lead  to  greater 
suffering  than  a  continuation  of  the  war.  Therefore,  because  we 
love  peace  and  because  we  have  large  sympathy  for  human  suffer- 
ings, we  are  opposed  to  anything  that  will  bring  a  peace  which  does 
not  forever  and  forever  make  it  impossible  that  such  sufferings  shall 
again  be  inflicted  on  the  world,  and  the  women  of  all  countries 
take  that  stand  with  us.  We  have  only  to  face  the  present  situation 
to  know  that  any  charges  that  women  as  a  whole  are  not  courageous, 
are  not  patriotic,  are  not  devoted  to  the  highest  interests  of  their 
country  are  wholly  false.  .  .  .  Even  before  war  was  declared  the 
National  American  Woman  Suffrage  Association  met  in  conven- 
tion in  this  city  and  was  the  first  organized  body  of  women  to 
formulate  a  definite  line  of  action  and  present  to  the  President 
and  the  Government  a  plan  which  would  be  followed  by  its  more 
than  2,000,000  members,  provided  hostilities  went  so  far  that  war 
should  be  declared.  The  President  accepted  our  services,  and  not 
only  did  he  accept  them  but  the  devotion  of  the  suffragists  to  the 
welfare  of  the  country  was  so  uniformly  recognized  that  when  the 
Government  decided  upon  war  and  upon  the  necessity  for  organizing 
the  woman-power  of  the  nation,  it  called  upon  the  leaders  of  this 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQlS-IQIQ          579 

association  and  appointed  them  on  a  committee  for  co-ordinating  the 
war  work  of  women  throughout  the  United  States.  Can  it  for  a 
moment  be  supposed  that  the  men  in  whose  charge  the  great  inter- 
ests of  our  nation  rested  would  have  called  upon  women  whom  they 
did  not  know  to  be  thoroughly  endowed  with  patriotic  devotion  and 
loyalty  to  their  country  for  such  a  service  at  such  a  time? 

Dr.  Shaw  told  of  the  loyalty  of  women  in  other  countries  and 
quoted  from  the  tributes  of  their  distinguished  men,  such  men 
as  Mr.  Asquith,  Lloyd  George,  Lord  Derby  and  General  Joffre 
to  the  services  of  these  women  and  in  our  own  country  of  General 
Pershing  and  scores  of  others.  She  told  of  how  the  Canadian 
Government  gave  the  suffrage  to  women  and  how  they  voted  for 
conscription;  of  the  splendid  courage  of  the  men  of  Australia  and 
New  Zealand,  born  of  enfranchised  mothers.  She  said  that  in 
ten  of  the  eleven  western  States  which  filled  their  quota  of  volun- 
teers before  any  eastern  State  had  done  so,  there  was  equal  suf- 
frage. She  referred  to  the  eminent  supporters  of  the  Federal 
Suffrage  Amendment,  beginning  with  President  Wilson  and  his 
Cabinet  and  Theodore  Roosevelt;  asked  if  these  men  were  pro- 
Germans  and  pacifists  and  matched  them  with  equally  loyal 
women.  In  conclusion  she  said : 

To  fail  to  ask  for  the  suffrage  amendment  at  this  time  would  be 
treason  to  the  fundamental  cause  for  which  we,  as  a  nation,  have 
entered  the  war.    President  Wilson  has  declared  that  "we  are  at  war 
because  of  that  which  is  dearest  to  our  hearts — democracy;  that 
those  who  submit  to  authority  shall  have  a  voice  in  the  Govern- 
ment."    If  this  is  the  basic  reason  for  entering  the  war,  then  for 
those  of  us  who  have  striven  for  this  amendment  and  for  our  free- 
dom and  for  democracy  to  yield  today,  to  withdraw  from  the  battle, 
would  be  to  desert  the  men  in  the  trenches  and  leave  them  to  fight 
alone  across  the  sea  not  only  for  democracy  for  the  world  but  also 
<ur  own  country.  .  .  .  The  time  of  reconstruction  will  come 
and  when  it  comes  many  women  will  have  to  be  both  father  and 
mother  to  fatherless  children,  and  these  mothers  and  their  children 
will  have  no  representatives  in  this  Government  unless  it  is  through 
A  ho  have  given  everything  that  it  mi^ht  be  saved  and 
(  racy  might  be  secured.  .  .  .  No  men  better  than  those  of  the 
:i  know  what  it  owes  to  southern  women  and  shall  those  men 
stand  in  the  way  of  freedom  for  the  women  who  gave  everything 
to  retain   for  our  country   the  very    i  southern  traditions 

shall  they  plead  in  vain  for  the  freedom  of  their  daughters?     What 
;"   the  women  of   ihe   South    is  true  of   the  women  of   the 
North.  .  .  .  We  are  today  a  united  people  with  one  flag  and  one 


580  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

country  because  the  women  are  worthy  of  their  men,  and  we  plead 
because  we  are  a  part  of  the  people,  a  part  of  the  Government 
which  claims  to  be  a  democracy,  and  in  order  that  this  country 
may  stand  clean-handed  before  the  nations  of  the  world. 

The  speech  of  Mrs.  Whitney,  analyzing  the  vote  on  the  suffrage 
amendment  -which  was  carried  in  New  York  State  the  preceding 
November  was  a  complete  statistical  refutation  of  the  charge 
made  by  the  anti-suffragists  that  the  favorable  vote  was  due  to 
Socialists  and  pro-Germans.  A  letter  was  read  from  Secretary 
of  War  Newton  D.  Baker,  saying  that  speaking  personally  and 
not  officially  he  favored  the  submission  of  the  amendment.  Tele- 
grams urging  it  were  received  from  well-known  women  in  the 
southern  States  and  Mrs.  Catt  read  editorials  strongly  favoring 
it  from  a  number  of  southern  newspapers.  Mrs.  George  Bass, 
head  of  the  Democratic  Women's  National  Committee,  protested 
against  the  circulation  in  the  Capitol  which  was  being  made  by 
the  "antis"  of  President  Wilson's  declaration  made  in  i<)i4,  "I 
believe  this  is  a  matter  to  be  fought  out  in  the  individual  Sta; 
because  in  1916  he  addressed  the  National  Suffrage  Convention 
in  Atlantic  City,  saying:  "I  have  come  to  fight  with  you  .  .  . 
and  in  the  end  we  shall  not  differ  as  to  methods." 

Mrs.  Dudley  represented  the  women  of  the  South,  saying  in  the 
course  of  her  addrc 

What  has  happened  to  the  State's  rights  doctrine?  Recently  the 
Federal  Constitution  has  been  twice  amended  and  that  under  a  Demo- 
cratic administration.  While  the  child  labor  bill  and  eight-hour  bill 
not  amendments,  they  are  really  open  to  the  same  objections 
because  they  impose  upon  a  State  laws  to  which  it  has  not  given 
consent.  These  bills  were  proposed  in  one  House  or  both  by  south- 
ern Democrats;  Federal  prohibition  was  proposed  in  both  ll< 
by  southern  Democrats  and  passed  by  the  votes  of  others.  So  it 
appears  that  the  theory  of  State's  rights  is  only  invoked  when  women 
plead  at  the  bar  of  justice  for  that  voice  in  their  Government  to 
which  all  those  who  submit  to  authority  are  entitled.  Now,  as  to 
the  negro  problem.  We  southern  women  feel  that  the  time  has 
come  to  lay  once  and  for  all  this  old,  old  ghost  that  stalks  through 
the  halls  of  Congress.  It  is  a  phantom  as  applied  to  woman  suf- 
frage. In  fifteen  States  south  of  the  Mason  and  Dixon  line  there 
are  over  a  million  more  white  women  than  negro  men  and  women 
combined.  There  are  only  two  States  in  which  the  negro  race  pre- 
dominates. South  Carolina  and  Mississippi.  In  the  former  the  per- 
centage is  55.2,  but  there  a  voter  must  read  and  write  and  own 


NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQlS-IQIQ  ^8l 

and  pay  taxes  on  $300  worth  of  property.  In  Mississippi  the  per- 
centage is  56.2  but  there  also  they  impose  an  educational  qualifica- 
tion. In  the  eight  years  since  these  figures  were  estimated  by  the 
rnment  this  percentage  has  greatly  decreased,  so  that  South 
Carolina  claims  that  there  is  now  no  preponderance  of  negroes. 
In  the  other  four  States  also  in  the  so-called  "black  belt"  an  educa- 
tional test  is  imposed  upon  the  voters.  In  addition  to  all  this  we 
must  consider  that  during  the  last  decade  the  negro  population  has 
increased  i  r  per  cent  and  the  white  population  22  per  cent.  Further- 
more, in  the  past  year  alone  75,ooo  negroes  have  gone  from  one 
soni  hern  State  to  the  north,  and  73,000  have  gone  from  three  other 
southern  States  to  one  northern  State  alone.  So  it  appears  that 
we  must  transfer  part  of  our  rather  hysterical  anxieties  with  regard 
to  the  southern  negro  vote  to  some  other  States. 

Mrs.  Allen  spoke  from  the  standpoint  of  one  who  had  lived 
many  years  in  a  State  where  women  voted  and  asked  the  question  : 
"Can  you  gentlemen  not  think  what  it  means  to  women  to  know 
that  their  men  are  so  chivalrous  and  have  such  a  belief  in  their 
integrity  and  their  intelligence  that  they  are  willing  to  make  them 
their  equal  partners  politically?  Can  you  not  see  that  under  such 
conditions  men  and  women  are  firmer  friends ;  that  husbands  and 
wives  are  closer  together  and  that  all  of  the  family  relations  are 
better  because  the  adults  of  all  the  families  are  equally  interested 
in  city.  State  and  national  affairs?"  She  told  how  on  the  battle- 
field and  in  the  hospitals  in  France  could  be  heard  in  all  languages 
the  one  cry,  "mother,"  and  she  ended  with  the  plea :  "Our  world 
is  weary  and  wounded  and  sick  and  if  you  will  listen  in  the  silence 
of  the  night  you  will  hear  the  same  cry;  the  world  is  calling  for 
the  mother  voice  in  its  councils  and  in  its  activities." 

The  afternoon  was  devoted  to  the  address  of  Mrs.  Catt,  which, 

with  the  questions  of  the  committee  and  her  answers,  filled  twenty- 

<-s   of   the   printed   report.      For   four  decades   the   dis- 

•nsherl  presidents  of  the  National   Suffrage   Association  ha<l 

irguments  and  pleadings  before  committees  of  Con- 

—  Mrs.   Fli/abeth  Cady  Stanton,  Miss  Susan   P>.   Anthony, 

Dr.  Anna  Howard  Shaw,  and  then  Mrs.  Catt   for  eight  yi 

was  the  last   time  it  would  ever  be  necessary  and   the  first 

time  bci'nre  a  I  lou^c  committee  which  intended  to  report  in  favor. 

;  character  of  her  speaki:  liown  in  her  opening 

.   "The   time  <»f   argument   on   w«>man   suffrage   ! 

The  controversy  has  been  waged  over  a  greater  part  of  the 


582  HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

civilized  world  for  the  last  fifty  years,  -with  the  result  that  many 
nations  have  capitulated  and  woman  suffrage  is  now  established 
under  many  flags.  That  it  is  still  pending  in  the  Congress  of  the 
United  States  is  a  disgrace  to  our  country  and  a  reflection  on  the 
intelligence  and  progress  of  our  people."  She  illustrated  how 
the  doctrine  of  State's  rights  had  been  ignored  by  the  southern 
members  in  their  fight  for  prohibition,  led  by  Mr.  Webb  of  North 
Carolina,  who  as  chairman  of  the  House  Judiciary  Committee  had 
also  led  the  opposition  to  woman  suffrage  on  this  same  ground. 
She  proved  by  editorial  quotations  from  southern  papers  the 
changing  attitude  on  this  point. 

The  vast  number  of  American  men  who  would  be  in  the  army 
in  France  at  the  time  of  the  next  election  was  pointed  out  and 
the  question  was  asked:  "When  the  election  comes  who  will  do 
the  voting?  Every  'slacker'  has  a  vote ;  every  newly-made  citizen ; 
every  pro-German  who  cannot  be  trusted  with  any  kind  of  war 
service;  every  peace-at-any-price  man;  every  conscientious  ob- 
jector and  even  the  alien  enemy.  It  is  a  risk,  a  danger,  to  a  nation 
like  ours  to  send  millions  of  loyal  men  out  of  the  country  and 
not  replace  their  votes  by  those  of  the  loyal  women  left  at  home." 
In  referring  to  the  "negro  problem"  in  the  South  Mrs.  Catt  said : 

In  talking  with  some  of  the  members  of  Congress  we  have  learned 
that  an  idea  prevails  throughout  the  South  that  the  colored  women 
are  more  intelligent,  ambitious  and  energetic  than  the  men,  and  that 
while  it  is  easy  enough  to  keep  the  men  from  exercising  too  much 
ambition  in  the  matter  of  politics,  it  will  not  be  easy  to  control  the 
women.  When  talking  with  these  same  men  about  the  white  women 
of  the  South,  I  have  never  known  an  exception  to  the  rule  that  they 
have  finally  rested  their  case  upon  the  statement  that  the  women 
of  the  South  do  not  want  the  vote  anyway  and  if  they  did  they 
would  only  vote  as  their  husbands  do.  To  say  that  means  what? 
That  the  women  of  the  South  in  the  estimate  of  those  men  are  too 
weak-minded  to  have  an  opinion  of  their  own;  it  means  that  they 
have  no  independence  of  character;  it  means  that  they  have  been 
reduced  so  far  to  nonentity  that  they  will  only  echo  their  husbands' 
opinions.  Is  living  in  the  homes  of  the  white  men  of  the  South 
so  degrading  to  the  character  of  the  white  women  that  they  really 
cannot  be  trusted  to  have  an  honest  conviction  of  their  own,  but  that 
living  in  the  South  outside  of  those  homes  renders  women  more 
ambitious  and  more  intelligent  than  the  men?  Do  these  men  realize 
that  they  are  saying  almost  in  the  same  breath  that  the  colored 
woman  is  superior  to  the  colored  man  but  that  the  white  woman 


NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQlS-IQIQ  583 

is  the  inferior  of  the  white  man?  Or  is  it  possible  that  the  climate 
of  the  South  produces  a  stronger  "female  of  the  species"  than  male, 
and  that  the  men  of  the  South  are  afraid  of  both  the  white  and 
the  black  women? 

Detached  quotations  give  a  most  inadequate  idea  of  this  mas- 
terly address  which  embodied  the  complete  case  for  the  advocates 
of  the  Federal  Amendment.  Toward  its  close  Mrs.  Catt,  in 
speaking  of  the  assertion  of  the  "antis"  that  President  Wilson 
was  opposed  to  the  Federal  Suffrage  Amendment,  made  this  sig- 
nificant answer :  "I  request  you,  Mr.  Chairman,  to  ask  Mr.  Wilson 
for  a  conference  and  go  to  it  taking  Democrats  and  Republicans 
and  say :  'Mr.  President,  are  you  or  are  you  not  for  this  Federal 
Amendment?'  Then  you  will  know.  I  trust  that  you  will  do  this 
and  that,  if  then  it  is  possible  to  make  a  public  statement,  you  will 
do  so."  Afterwards  it  was  apparent  that  she  knew  of  Mr.  Wil- 
son's complete  change  of  opinion  and  his  intention  to  support  the 
amendment.  On  January  9  Mr.  Raker  and  eleven  other  members 
of  the  Lower  House  held  a  conference  with  the  President  and  he 
urged  the  submission  of  the  amendment. 

At  the  continuation  of  the  hearing  on  January  4  the  American 
Constitutional  League,  formed  after  the  suffrage  amendment  was 
adopted  in  New  York  out  of  the  Men's  Anti-Suffrage  Association, 
was  represented  by  the  chairman  of  its  executive  committee, 
Everett  P.  Wheeler,  a  lawyer  of  New  York  City,  and  by  one  of 
its  members  introduced  as  "Dr.  Lucian  Howe  of  Buffalo,  a  very 
eminent  surgeon,  a  Fellow  of  the  Royal  Academy  of  Medicine  and 
the  Royal  Academy  of  Surgeons."  The  two  men  occupied  the 
entire  day,  Mr.  Wheeler  about  two-thirds  of  it,  but  the  committee 
Mined  a  good  deal  of  this  time  by  a  running  fire  of  questions 
nr.t  far  from  "heckling."  Mr.  Wheeler  offered  for  insertion  in 
the  Record  a  page  and  a  half  of  finely  printed  statistics  compiled 
by  the  Men's  Anti-Suffrage  Association  to  prove  that  the  laws  for 
women  and  children  were  not  so  good  in  equal  suffrage  States  as 
in  those  where  women  could  not  vote. 

The  session  of  January  5  began  with  the  reading  of  another 
sheaf  of  urgent  telegrams  from  women  of  the  southern  States 
and  petitions  for  the  amendment  signed  by  a  long  list  of  southern 
women.  The  first  speaker  was  Mrs.  L.  A.  Hamilton,  president 


584  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

of  the  National  Equal  Franchise  Association  of  Canada  and  presi- 
dent also  of  the  Women's  Union  Government  League  of  Toronto, 
who  was  thoroughly  informed  on  the  granting  of  Provincial  and 
Dominion  suffrage  and  able  to  answer  convincingly  all  the  ques- 
tions of  the  committee.  The  hearing  was  then  turned  over  to  the 
National  Association  Opposed  to  Woman  Suffrage,  with  its  presi- 
dent, Mrs.  James  W.  Wadsworth,  Jr.,  in  charge.  I  am  much 
pleased  by  the  personnel  of  this  committee,"  she  said,  "because 
both  the  Republican  Speaker,  Mr.  Gillett,  and  the  Democratic  floor 
leader,  Mr.  Kitchin,  promised  us  that,  unlike  the  suffrage  com- 
mittee in  the  Senate,  this  one  would  have  a  fair  representation  of 
'antis.'  I  find  we  have  been  given  two  out  of  thirteen.  Of  course 
we  think  that  a  perfectly  fair  ratio,  as  we  have  always  felt  that 
one  'anti'  was  worth  about  five  suffragists,  but  we  did  not  suppose 
you  would  admit  it."  "That  is  about  the  ratio  that  exists  in  the 
House,"  observed  Mr.  Blanton,  of  the  committee.  "We  will  know 
more  about  that  when  we  vote  in  the  House,"  answered  Mr. 
Clark,  member  from  Florida.  "I  am  going  to  give  you  the  privi- 
lege this  morning  of  hearing  from  my  general  staff,"  said  Mrs. 
Wadsworth,  "and  I  will  have  some  of  my  officers  of  the  line  here 
Monday.  I  want  to  introduce  Miss  Minnie  Bronson,  our  general 
secretary."  The  second  speaker  was  Mr.  Eichelberger,  who  pre- 
sented elaborate  charts  and  figures  to  show  that  woman  suffrage 
was  carried  in  New  York  by  the  Socialists.  To  the  question  of 
Chairman  Raker,  "This  is  nothing  more  or  less  than  a  compilation 
of  figures  as  an  idea  of  your  own,  to  show  what  certain  votes 
could  do  or  certain  figures  would  do,  isn't  it?"  he  answered: 
"Yes,  absolutely,  that  is  the  idea."  At  one  point  Miss  Jeannette 
Rankin  of  the  committee  asked:  "Are  you  the  gentleman  who 
compiled  some  figures  on  the  Democratic  and  Republican  women's 
vote  in  Montana  last  year?"  "I  think  so,"  was  the  answer. 
"Where  did  you  get  your  figures?"  "From  the  official  election 
report."  "How  could  you  tell  a  Democratic  woman's  vote  from 
a  Republican  woman's  vote?"  "Well,  that  part  of  it  was  esti- 
mation !"  The  statements  of  Mr.  Eichelberger  and  the  questions 
of  the  committee  filled  twenty-four  pages  of  the  stenographic 
report  and  with  Miss  Bronson's  address  consumed  one  session. 
The  hearing  in  the  afternoon  was  given  to  the  National 


NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQlS-IQIQ  585 

Woman's  Party,  in  charge  of  its  vice-chairman,  Miss  Anne  Mar- 
tin of  Nevada.     Mrs.  William  Kent  of  California  introduced  the 
speakers — Mrs.  Richard  Wainwright,  Mrs.  Townsend  Scott,  Miss 
Ernestine  Evans,  Mrs.  Francis  J.  Heney,  Miss  Elizabeth  Gram, 
Mi<s  Maud  Younger,  Mrs.  Adeline  Atwater,  Mrs.  Ellis  Meredith. 
Monday  morning  the  hearing  of  the  Anti-Suffrage  Association 
resumed,  Mrs.  Wadsworth  presiding  and  speaking  at  length, 
saying:  "We  never  have  and  never  will  ask  a  man  to  vote  with 
us  against  his  conscience  but  the  men  we  do  blame  are  those  spine- 
less opportunists  who  for  political  expediency  or  because  they  are 
too  lazy  to  fight  are  preparing  to  surrender  their  principles  for  the 
sake  of  a  dishonorable  and,  we  believe,  a  temporary  peace.'*    Mrs. 
Edwin  Ford  followed  and  then  Miss  Lucy  Price.     Her  remarks 
and  the  committee's  questions  filled  fourteen  pages  of  the  report. 
About  fifty  telegrams  opposing  the  amendment  were  received, 
nearly  half  of  them  from  men  and  all  from  Massachusetts.     One 
purported  to  represent  250  women  of  Wellesley  and  another  1,000 
of  New  Bedford.    Henry  A.  Wise  Wood  was  introduced  as  presi- 
dent of  the  Aero  Club  of  America.    During  his  speech  he  declared 
that  "this  was  no  time  to  unman  the  Government  by  this  fool- 
hardy jeopardizing  of  the  rights  of  both  sexes" ;  that  "one  won- 
ders at  the  spectacle  of  strong,  masculine  personalities  urging  at 
such  an  hour  the  demasculinization  of  Government — the  dilution 
with  the  qualities  of  the  cow,  of  the  qualities  of  the  bull  upon 
which  all  the  herd  safety  must  depend" ;  that  "this  from  now  on 
man's  job — the  job  of  the  fighting,  the  dominating,  not  the 
denatured,  the  womanlike  man."     Referring  to  Miss  Rankin's 
against  war  he  said:  "I  do  not  think  she  cried;  I  was  speak- 
>f  the  real  woman,  the  woman  that  men  love."    He  also  said 
that  during1  his  campaign  for  "preparedness"  he  discovered  that 
"the  woman   suffrage  movement  was  hopelessly  given  over  to 
pacifism  in  its  extreme  socialistic  form."    In  closing  he  said  that 
"for  any  sentimental  or  political  reason  it  is  a  damnable  thing 
we  should  weaken  ourselves  by  bringing  into  the  war  the 
ian,  who  has  never  been  permitted  in  the  war  tents  of  any 
'.;,  virile  dominating  nation."     This  speech  was  made  Jan. 
n8,  after  nearly  a  year's  experience  in  the  United  States  of 
the  war  work  done  by  women. 


586  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

At  this  hearing  the  opponents  made  their  supreme  effort,  know- 
ing that  it  was  their  last  chance,  and  they  brought  to  Washington 
one  of  the  South's  most  noted  orators,  former  U.  S.  Senator 
Joseph  W.  Bailey,  of  Texas.  He  began  by  saying :  "I  shall  con- 
fine my  speech  entirely  to  the  political  aspect  of  the  question,  leav- 
ing these  very  intelligent  women  to  explain  the  effect  of  suffrage 
on  their  sex  and  on  our  homes,"  but  he  got  to  the  latter  phase  of 
it  long  before  he  had  finished.  He  believed  that  under  the  Fed- 
eral Constitution  the  right  to  control  the  suffrage  belonged  abso- 
lutely to  the  States  but  he  said :  "I  am  opposed  to  women  voting 
anywhere  except  in  their  own  societies;  I  would  let  them  vote 
there  but  nowhere  else  in  this  country.  .  .  .  No  free  government 
should  deny  suffrage  to  any  class  entitled  to  it  and  no  free  gov- 
ernment should  extend  suffrage  to  any  class  not  entitled  to  it,  for 
the  ultimate  success  or  failure  of  every  free  government  will 
depend  upon  the  average  intelligence  and  patriotism  of  the 
electorate.  I  hope  to  show  that  as  a  matter  of  political  justice  and 
political  safety  women  should  not  be  allowed  to  vote.  .  .  ." 

Giving  other  reasons  why  women  should  not  be  allowed  to 
vote,  he  said:  "The  two  most  important  personal  duties  of  citi- 
zenship are  military  service  and  sheriff's  service,  neither  of  which 
is  a  woman  capable  of  performing.''  Reminded  by  the  chairman 
that  there  were  many  plaees  where  women  then  were  performing 
the  duty  of  sheriff,  constable,  marshal  and  police,  he  answered: 
"They  may  be  playing  at  them  but  they  are  not  really  performing 
them.  If  an  outlaw  is  to  be  arrested  are  you  going  to  order  a 
woman  to  get  a  gun  and  come  with  you?  If  yon  did  she  would 
sit  down  and  cry,  and  she  ought  to  keep  on  crying  until  her  hus- 
band hunts  you  up  and  makes  you  apologize  for  insulting  his 
wife.  ...  A  woman  who  is  able  to  perform  a  sheriff's  duty  is 
not  fit  to  be  a  mother  because  no  woman  who  bears  arms  ought 
to  bear  children.  .  .  .  \Ve  agree,  I  think,  that  the  women  of  this 
country  will  never  go  into  our  armies  as  soldiers  or  be  required 
to  serve  on  the  sheriff's  posse  comitatus.  That  being  true  I 
hardly  think  they  have  the  right  to  make  the  laws  under  which 
you  and  I  must  perform  those  services."  The  chairman  asked: 
"When  the  men  go  to  front  with  the  cartridges  and  guns  the 
women  assisted  in  making  are  the  latter  not  participating  in  the 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQlS-IQIQ          587 

war  the  same  as  men?"  He  answered:  "They  are  doing  their 
part  and  it  may  be  just  as  essential  as  the  man's,  for  if  there  is 
not  somebody  here  to  provide  the  ammunition  the  guns  would  be 
useless,  but  it  is  not  military  service." 

The  war  had  been  in  progress  three  and  a  half  years  when  these 
••tions  were  made  and  the  whole  world  knew  the  part  that 
women  had  taken  in  it. 

"The  third  personal  duty  of  citizenship  is  jury  service,"  Mr. 
Bailey  said,  "and  while  women  are  physically  capable  of  perform- 
ing that  service  there  are  reasons,  natural,  moral  and  domestic, 
which  render  them  -wholly  unfit  for  it.  ...  We  go  to  the  court 
house  for  stern,  unyielding  justice.  Will  women  help  our  courts 
to  better  administer  justice  ?  They  will  not.  Nobody  is  qualified 
to  decide  any  case  until  they  have  heard  all  the  testimony  on  both 
sides  but  the  average  woman  would  make  up  her  mind  before 
the  plaintiff  had  concluded  his  testimony."  The  awful  conse- 
quences of  "sending  women  with  strange  men  into  the  jury  room 
to  discuss  testimony  which  a  sensible  mother  would  not  talk  over 
with  her  grown  daughter"  were  declared  to  be  that  "modesty  for 
which  we  reverence  women  would  disappear  from  among  them." 
"\\lio  will  care  for  the  children  during  the  mother's  absence? 

.  .  They  tell  me  they  -will  require  the  unmarried  women  to  act  as 
jurors.  There  will  be  enough  of  them,  for  marrying  will  become 
t  habit  in  our  country  if  we  apply  ourselves  much  longer  to 
this  business  of  making  -women  like  men."  Mr.  Bailey  aprx 
not  to  know  that  women  had  been  serving  on  juries  for  from 
twenty  to  forty  years  in  the  western  States  where  they  were 
enfranchised. 

"Will  women  vote  intelligently?     Can  they  do  it?     What  time 
will  a  'woman  have  to  prepare  herself  for  these  new  duties  of 
n^hip?     Will  she  take  it   from  her   home  and  husband  or 
from  her  church  and  children  or   from  her  charities  and   -ocial 
-ures?    She  must  take  it  from  one  or  all  of  them  and  will  ^he 
make  herself  or  the  world  better  by  doing  so?"  Mr.  Bailey  asked. 
he  wished  that  "every  woman  in  the  land  was  fortunate 
Igh  to  have  M-rvaiiN  to  do  their  work":  deplored  "the  unfor- 
tunate situation   of   eighty   per   cent,   of   the  good  -women    v 

lot  it  i>  to  toil  from  sunup  to  sundoun"  and  iii<|uircd:    "Do 


$88  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

you  think  when  they  have  done  all  this  they  will  have  time  and 
strength  to  learn  something  about  their  duties  as  a  citizen  ?"  Asked 
if  he  did  not  think  a  woman  ought  to  have  something  to  say  about 
the  laws  that  concern  the  education  and  disposition  of  her  chil- 
dren, he  answered  :  "If  she  cannot  trust  that  to  the  father  of  her 
children  I  pity  her."  "How  about  the -women  who  have  lost  their 
husbands?"  asked  a  member  of  the  committee.  "If  they  have 
neither  Jather  nor  son  nor  brother  to  provide  for  them  the  public 
will  do  so,"  Mr.  Bailey  replied.  In  pointing  out  how  favorable 
"man-made  laws"  are  to  women  he  said :  "In  my  State,  where 
women  have  never  voted  and  where  I  sincerely  trust  they  never 
will,  the  law  gives  to  the  wife  as  her  separate  property  everything 
she  owns  at  the  time  of  her  marriage  and  everything  she  may 
afterwards  acquire  by  gift,  devise  or  descent,"  but  he  omitted 
to  say  that  all  of  it  passes  under  the  absolute  control  of  the  hus- 
band and  that  the  wages  she  earns  belong  to  him. 

Further  on  he  said:  "We  must  have  two  sexes  and  if  the 
women  insist  on  becoming  men  I  suppose  the  men  must  refine 
themselves  into  women.  ...  I  dread  the  effect  of  this  woman's 
movement  upon  civilization  because  I  know  what  happened  to 
the  Roman  republic  when  women  attained  their  full  rights.  They 
married  -without  going  to  church  and  were  divorced  without  going 
to  court."  After  having  discussed  widows*  pensions,  the  double 
standard  of  morals,  divorce,  alimony  and  various  other  matters 
in  carrying  out  his  promise  at  the  beginning  to  confine  his  remarks 
"entirely  to  the  political  aspect  of  the  question"  he  reached  the 
subject  of  women's  smoking.  He  summed  up  his  opinion  of  this 
by  saying:  "If  it  were  a  question  between  their  smoking  and 
their  voting  and  they  would  promise  to  stay  at  home  and  smoke  I 
would  say  let  them  smoke."  In  this  connection  he  said :  "A  single 
standard  of  conduct  for  men  and  women  is  an  iridescent  dream. 
We  cannot  pay  women  a  higher  tribute  than  to  insist  that  their 
behavior  shall  be  more  circumspect  than  ours." 

Finally  Mr.  Blanton  of  Texas,  a  member  of  the  committee,  hav- 
ing obtained  Mr.  Bailey's  assent  that  the  right  of  petition  is  the 
most  sacred  right  of  the  people  and  that  legislators  should  give  it 
careful  consideration,  said :  "I  have  here  a  very  extensive  petition 
from  your  State  signed  by  prominent  citizens  of  the  leading 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQlS-IQIQ  580, 

cities  urging  Congress  to  submit  the  Federal  Suffrage  Amend- 
ment and  I  notice  from  Houston,  your  city,  the  following:  He 
then  read  a  long  list  of  bank  presidents,  judges,  editors,  college 
professors,  the  Mayor  and  other  city  officials,  officers  of  labor 
unions,  and,  in  addition,  the  Chief  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court, 
Attorney  General,  District  Attorney  and  other  State  officials, 
and  pressed  Mr.  Bailey  to  admit  their  high  character  and  stand- 
ing. He  did  so  but  said :  "I  would  not  vote  for  this  amendment 
if  a  majority  of  my  constituents  asked  me  to  do  so." 

An  undue  amount  of  space  is  given  to  the  address  of  Mr. 
Bailey  because  he  had  been  selected  by  the  anti-suffragists  as  the 
strongest  speaker  for  their  side  in  the  entire  country  and  it  em- 
bodied their  views  as  these  had  been  presented  ever  since  the 
suffrage  movement  began.  He  was  thoroughly  representative  of 
the  opposition,  and  the  officers  and  members  of  the  women's  As- 
sociation Opposed  to  Woman  Suffrage  who  were  present  ap- 
plauded his  remarks  from  beginning  to  end.  He  made  this  speech 
Jan.  7,  1918,  and  the  following  March  the  Texas  Legislature  by  a 
large  majority  gave  Primary  suffrage  to  women  for  all  officers 
from  President  of  the  United  States  down  the  list  and  the  bill 
was  immediately  signed  by  the  Governor.  The  primaries  decide 
the  election  in  that  State.1 

The  committee  received  petitions  asking  their  favorable  action 
on  the  amendment  from  the  Texas  State  Federation  of  Women's 
Clubs  and  those  of  Houston  and  other  cities;  from  women's 
clubs  of  many  kinds  in  Waco  representing  2,000  members ;  from 
women's  organizations  all  over  the  State  and  from  individuals, 
number  reaching  thousands.  There  was  the  same  outpouring 
from  the  other  southern  States,  although  it  was  the  principal 
argument  of  the  opposition  that  the  vote  was  being  forced  on 
southern  women.  There  was  also  a  remarkable  expression  from 
southern  men.  Seventy-five  pages  of  these  petitions  were  printed 
in  the  official  report  of  this  hearing.  As  the  sentiment  in  the 
northern  States  was  now  so  largely  in  favor  it  was  considered 

1  In   the   summer   of    1920,   Mr.   Bailey,   who  bad  been  living  in   New  York   City  ever 
b«  resigned   from   the  Senate,  returned   to  Texas  and   made  the  race   for  Governor 
to  "rescue"  the  State   from   woman   suffrage,   prohibition   and   otber  progressive    measures 

had  made  great  headway  since  hr  1  \s  j  .  l.ruUy  d.  tcatcd  for  the 

with    women   voting. 


59°  HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

unnecessary  for  them  to  send  petitions,  although  many  did  so. 
There  were  presented  to  the  committee  a  message  from  the  Gov- 
ernor of  every  equal  suffrage  State  urging  the  immediate  submis- 
sion of  the  amendment  and  strong  letters  to  this  effect  from  Secre- 
tary of  the  Navy  Josephus  Daniels  and  Secretary  of  the  Treasury 
William  G.  McAdoo,  Southerners  and  Democrats.  None  of  this 
pressure  was  necessary  to  influence  it  but  the  leaders  of  the 
National  Suffrage  Association  arranged  this  demonstration  in 
order  to  show  that  favorable  action  by  the  committee  would  be 
fully  sustained  by  the  sentiment  of  the  country,  and  as  an  answer 
to  the  charge  that  "a  small,  insistent  lobby  was  forcing  the  amend- 
ment through  Congress."  The  anti-suffragists  did  not  present  one 
communication  of  any  kind  from  any  State  except  Massachusetts. 

The  valuable  space  in  this  volume  could  not  be  better  used  per- 
haps than  for  the  closing  speeches  of  Mrs.  Park,  chairman  of  the 
association's  Congressional  Committee,  and  Mrs.  Catt,  its  presi- 
dent. A  greater  contrast  can  scarcely  be  imagined  than  that  be- 
tween their  statesmanlike  quality  and  the  rambling,  inconsequen- 
tial, prejudiced  character  of  Mr.  Bailey's.  "After  the  eloquent 
address  of  the  last  speaker,"  began  Mrs.  Park  with  delicious 
satire,  "I  sympathize  with  the  committee  and  the  audience  who 
will  have  to  return  to  the  plain  subject  of  the  Federal  Amendment 
for  Woman  Suffrage.  .  .  .  J  think  those  -who  have  been  listening 
to  all  of  these  hearings  will  agree  that  the  opponents  have  made 
many  interesting  statements  but  have  given  comparatively  few 
facts."  Saying  that  Mrs.  Catt  would  reply  to  Mr.  Bailey's  speech 
she  answered  the  points  in  the  others  with  a  keenness  and  clear- 
ness that  no  lawyer  could  have  exceeded  and  met  with  dignity  and 
acumen  the  questions  of  the  opponents  on  the  committee.  She 
was  not  once  disconcerted  or  unable  to  reply  convincingly  and 
always  with  a  disarming  courtesy  but  she  did  not  deviate  from 
her  subject  or  allow  the  questioners  to  do  so. 

Mrs.  Catt's  answer  to  Mr.  Bailey's  speech,  which  rilled  twenty- 
five  pages  of  the  stenographic  report,  occupied  seven  pages  and 
there  was  not  a  superfluous  -word.  She  began  by  calling  attention 
to  the  petitions  as  a  whole  from  the  southern  States,  printed  copies 
of  which  were  furnished  to  each  member  of  the  committee.  They 
included  the  names  of  over  a  thousand  prominent  men,  among 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQl-igiQ          5QI 


them  two  and  a  half  pages  of  Mayors  ;  the  Governors  of  Arkansas, 
Tennessee  and  Florida  and  many  other  State  officials.  She  said 
that  as  she  listened  to  Mr.  Bailey's  speech  she  was  reminded  of 
the  declaration  of  a  president  of  Harvard  College,  who  asserted 
that  -without  question  there  were  witches  and  it  was  the  duty  of 
all  good  people  to  hunt  them  out,  but  twenty-five  years  later  every 
intelligent  man  knew  there  had  never  been  such  a  thing  as  a  witch. 
A  man  once  wrote  a  book  to  prove  that  a  steamship  could  never 
cross  the  ocean  and  the  book  was  brought  to  America  by  the  first 
one  that  crossed.  Daniel  Webster  made  a  speech  against  ad- 
mitting as  a  State  one  of  the  western  Territories  because  its  mem- 
bers of  Congress  after  their  election  would  not  be  able  to  reach 
Washington  until  the  session  'was  over.  "These  men  lacked 
vision,"  she  said,  "and  so  does  the  last  speaker.  He  does  not  know 
what  has  been  happening  in  the  world."  She  referred  to  the  vast 
changes  in  the  industrial  life  of  women  since  the  days  of  the 
mother  of  Washington  and  the  wife  of  Jefferson,  whom  he  had 
used  as  models  for  those  of  the  present  day,  and  said  :  "It  is  my 
pleasure  to  inform  him  that  I  myself  am  that  which  he  regrets— 
a  voter  —  and  I  would  rather  have  my  vote  as  a  protector  than  the 
reverence  even  of  the  gentleman  from  Texas." 

Mrs.  Catt  continued  :  "The  speech  to  which  we  have  listened 
has  been  interesting  because  it  has  seemed  to  be  a  chapter  from  a 
book  that  was  written  long  ago.  The  week  before  the  war  began 
it  was  my  privilege,  sitting  in  the  balcony  of  the  House  of  Com- 
mons, to  look  down  upon  the  bald  head  of  Mr.  Asquith  while  he 
made  a  speech  against  woman  suffrage.  'I  am  unalterably 
opposed  to  woman  suffrage  because  Great  Britain  is  a  mighty 
empire  and  it  will  always  be  necessary  to  defend  it  by  military 
power  and  what  do  women  know  about  war?'  he  asked.  Three 
years  later  he  humbly  confessed  before  the  world  that  when  a 
nation  like  dreat  Britain  goes  to  war,  and  such  a  -war  as  this  one, 
which  calls  for  every  ounce  of  power  the  nation  can  offer  in  its 
defense,  men  and  women  make  equal  sacrifices  and  therefore  it  is 
not  a  man's  job  but  it  is  a  man's  and  a  woman's  job  and  they  are 
doing  it  together.  So  the  Premier  demanded  woman  suffrage  ;m«l 
voted  for  it  in  the  House  of  Commons.  Remembering  Mr.  As- 
quith, I  think  there  is  hope  for  Mr.  Bailey." 


592  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

Mrs.  Catt  pictured  eloquently  the  marvelous  work  being  done 
by  women  in  Great  Britain  in  the  munitions  factories,  the  railway 
service,  the  dockyards,  and  also  in  our  own  and  all  countries ;  she 
described  the  heroic  sacrifices  of  the  nurses;  she  told  how  the 
women  of  Canada  and  New  Zealand  had  voted  for  conscription 
and  how  in  all  countries  the  women  were  backing  their  men  in  the 
war.  "It  is  declared  that  American  women  cannot  carry  a  gun," 
she  said.  "Why  that  is  the  kind  of  talk  we  heard  forty  years  ago 
and  Mr.  Bailey's  speech  is  just  that  much  behind  the  times.  .  .  . 
I  am  sorry  for  any  man  who  has  stood  still  while  the  world  has 
moved  on." 

Only  the  merest  outline  of  this  convincing  address  is  given  but 
before  its  conclusion  Mr.  Bailey  had  deliberately  insulted  Mrs. 
Catt  by  leaving  the  room.  Mrs.  Wads  worth,  when  asked  if  she 
wished  her  side  to  be  heard  in  rebuttal,  introduced  Miss  Charlotte 
E.  Rowe  of  Yonkers,  N.  Y.,  who  made  a  vigorous  plea  for  saving 
the  home,  children  and  womanhood  and  declared  woman  suf- 
frage would  lead  to  Socialism.  During  the  course  of  her  speech 
she  said,  according  to  the  official  stenographic  report:  "If  working 
girls  and  women  in  colleges  will  study  cooking  and  sewing  and  do- 
mestic science  and  hygiene,  or  simple  rules  of  health  and  how  to 
care  for  the  sick  and  the  fine  and  beautiful  art  of  home  making, 
it  will  be  much  better  for  them  and  better  for  the  country  than 
if  they  spend  their  time  parading  up  the  avenue  of  a  crowded  city 
and  praying  that  they  may  some  day,  somehow,  become  police- 
men or  boiler-makers  side  by  side  with  men.  ...  I  say  to  you 
that  it  has  remained  for  this  self-sufficient  2Oth  century  to  have 
produced  a  womanhood  which  would  stand — even  a  small  propor- 
tion of  it — in  legislative  halls  and  say  that  they  are  doing  more 
in  this  great  and  terrible  war  than  the  men  are  doing.  .  .  . 
Gentlemen,  if  I  were  a  married  woman  and  my  husband  was  a 
feminist  and  on  the  first  Tuesday  after  the  first  Monday  in  No- 
vember he  said  to  me,  'Come,  walk  by  me  so  as  to  strengthen  and 
sustain  me  as  I  go  to  the  polls,'  I  would  say  to  him,  'Look  here, 
Mabel,  here  is  the  key  of  the  flat;  I  am  going  home  to  father.' 
I  would  advise  men  and  women  suffragists — and  especially  those 
suffragist  men  who  need  their  wives  to  strengthen  and  sustain 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQlS-IQIQ  593 

them  on  election  day — I  would  advise  them  to  go  to  the  cellar 
and  check  over  the  laundry." 

This  last  hearing  on  the  Federal  Suffrage  Amendment  closed  on 
January  7  and  the  following  day  the  committee  made  a  favorable 
report  to  the  House  of  Representatives.  By  consent  of  the  Com- 
mittee on  Rules  the  loth  was  set  for  the  debate  and  vote  and  on 
that  day  the  House  by  a  two-thirds  majority  voted  to  submit  the 
amendment  to  the  State  Legislatures. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

NATIONAL  AMERICAN   CONVENTION   OF    1920. 

The  official  report  of  the  Fifty-first  convention,  in  1920,  was 
entitled  Victory  Convention  of  the  National  American  Woman 
Suffrage  Association  and  First  Congress  of  the  League  of  Women 
Voters  and  the  Call  was  as  follows : 

"Suffragists,  hear  this  last  call  to  a  suffrage  convention! 

"The  officers  of  the  National  American  Woman  Suffrage  Asso- 
ciation hereby  call  the  State  auxiliaries,  through  their  elected  dele- 
gates, to  meet  in  annual  convention  at  Chicago,  Congress  Hotel, 
February  I2th  to  i8th,  inclusive.  In  other  days  our  members  and 
friends  have  been  summoned  to  annual  conventions  to  disseminate 
the  propaganda  for  their  common  cause,  to  cheer  and  encourage 
each  other,  to  strengthen  their  organized  influence,  to  counsel  as 
to  ways  and  means  of  insuring  further  progress.  At  this  time 
they  are  called  to  rejoice  that  the  struggle  is  over,  the  aim  achieved 
and  the  women  of  the  nation  about  to  enter  into  the  enjoyment 
of  their  hard-earned  political  liberty.  Of  all  the  conventions  held 
within  the  past  fifty-one  years,  this  will  prove  the  most  momen- 
tous. Few  people  live  to  see  the  actual  and  final  realization  of 
hopes  to  which  they  have  devoted  their  lives.  That  privilege 
is  ours. 

"Turning  to  the  past  let  us  review  the  incidents  of  our  long 
struggle  together  before  they  are  laid  away  with  other  buried 
memories.  Let  us  honor  our  pioneers.  Let  us  tell  the  world  of 
the  ever-buoyant  hope,  born  of  the  assurance  of  the  justice  and 
inevitability  of  our  cause,  which  has  given  our  army  of  workers 
the  unswerving  courage  and  determination  that  at  last  have  over- 
come every  obstacle  and  attained  their  aim.  Come  and  let  us 
together  express  the  joy  which  only  those  can  feel  who  have  suf- 
fered for  a  cause. 

"Turning  to  the  future,  let  us  inquire  together  how  best  we  can 
now  serve  our  beloved  nation.  Let  us  ask  what  political  parties 

594 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1920 

want  of  us  and  we  of  them.  Come  one  and  all  and  unitedly  make 
this  last  suffrage  convention  a  glad  memory  to  you,  a  heritage 
for  your  children  and  your  children's  children  and  a  benefaction 
to  our  nation.1" 

The  seven  days  of  the  convention  were  divided  between  the 
Xational  Association  and  the  League  of  Women  Voters,  the  latter 
having  the  lion's  share  as  a  new  organization  requiring  much 
time  and  attention.  All  of  February  12  was  given  to  the  meetings 
of  its  committees,  -with  dinners  for  all  delegates  and  a  program 
peakers  at  the  Auditorium,  Morrison  and  La  Salle  Hotels  in 
the  evening.  All  matters  relating  to  the  league  are  considered 
in  the  chapter  on  the  League  of  Women  Voters  by  Mrs.  Nettie 
Rogers  Shuler,  corresponding  secretary.  The  addresses  at  the 
convention,  with  the  exception  of  those  on  Miss  Anthony's  one 
hundredth  birthday  and  the  memorial  meeting  for  Dr.  Shaw, 
were  given  under  the  auspices  of  the  league  and  the  Resolutions 
were  prepared  by  its  committee. 

The  convention  of  the  National  Association  began  February  13 
but  the  two  preceding  days  had  been  occupied  by  almost  con- 
tinuous business  sessions  of  the  officers  and  board  of  directors. 
Mrs.  (Irace  Wilbur  Trout,  State  president,  was  chairman  of  the 
local  committee  of  arrangements  of  nearly  forty  women  of  Chi- 
cago, Fvanston  and  suburban  towns  for  this  largest  national  suf- 
frage convention  ever  held  and  the  arrangements  had  never  been 
surpassed.  Nothing  -was  forgotten  which  could  contribute  to  the 
success  or  pleasure  of  the  convention.  A  hostess  was  appointed 
for  each  State  to  make  its  delegates  acquainted  and  contribute  to 
tlu-ir  comfort.  Tin-re  were  present  546  delegates,  a  large  number 

1  Following  are  the  officers  of  the  association   who  were  elected  at  the  convention   in 
St.  Louis  in    1919  and  re-elected  in  Chicago  in   1920  to  remain   in  office  until  the  associa- 
tion should  go  out  of  existence:  President,   Mrs.  Carrie  Chapman  Catt;  first  vice -prcsidrnt. 
Katharine     I  <  ormick;    second    vice-president,    Miss    Mary    Garrett    Hay; 

-i.lnit.    Mis.   Guilford    Dudley;    fourth  •  :it.    Mrs.    Raymond    Brown; 

fifth    vice-president,    Mrs.    Helen    H.    Gardener;    treasurer,    Mrs.    Henry    Wade    Rogers; 
Corresponding    secretary,    Mi  'HIK    secretaty,     Mrs.    Hals< 

All    were    of    New  <-sscc    and     Mrs. 

r  of  the  District  of  Colurn!  nna  Howard  Shaw,  who  had  been  president 

from   1904  to  1915  and  honorary  president  thereafter,  had  died  July  2,   1919. 

.tors:  Mrs.  Charles  H.  Brooks  (Kans.  Q   Cantrill   (Ky.);    Mrs.   Richard 

sards  (Ind.);  Mrs.  George  Gellhorn  (Mo.);  Mrs.  Ben  Hooper  (Wis.);  Mrs.  Arthur 
Miss  Kstlic 


5Q6  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

of  alternates  and  thousands  of  visitors,  while  for  the  audiences 
at  the  public  meetings  there  was  not  even  standing  room.1 

At  the  morning  session  on  the  I3th,  with  Mrs.  Catt  presiding, 
the  following  program  was  presented  by  the  Executive  Council 
for  the  consideration  of  the  delegates  and  was  discussed  at  this 
and  other  business  sessions : 

1.  Shall  the  National  American  Woman  Suffrage  Association 
dissolve  when  the  last  task  concerning  the  extension  of  suffrage 
to  women  is  completed? 

2.  Shall  it  recommend  its  members  to  join  the  League  of 
Women  Voters? 

3.  Shall  this  be  the  last  suffrage  convention  held  under   its 
auspices?    If  not,  when  shall  the  next  be  called? 

4.  If  this  is  to  be  the  last  convention,  shall  a  Board  of  Officers 
be  elected  at  this  convention  to  serve  until  all  tasks  are  completed  ? 
If  this  is  done,  to  whom  shall  such  a  board  render  its  final  report 
and  by  whom  shall  it  be  officially  discharged? 

5.  If  dissolution  is  determined  upon,  what  disposition  shall  be 
made  of  (a)  the  files  of  data;  (b)  the  property;  (c)  the  funds, 
if  any  remain? 

6.  In  the  event  that  the  association  shall  be  dissolved  what 
agency  shall  become  the  auxiliary  of  the  International  Woman 
Suffrage  Alliance? 

7.  What  plan  for  the  intensive  education  of  new  women  voters 
is  possible  and  shall  it  be  recommended  that  the  League  of  Women 
Voters  take  up  this  work  or  shall  it  be  conducted  under  the  Na- 
tional American  Woman  Suffrage  Association? 

At  the  beginning  of  the  afternoon  session  Mrs.  Catt  said  that 
for  twenty-eight  years  the  Rev.  Anna  Howard  Shaw  had  opened 
the  national  conventions  with  prayer  and  she  asked  that  in  mem- 
ory of  her  the  delegates  rise  and  join  in  silent  prayer.  They  did 

1  Fraternal  delegates  were  present  from  the  Association  of  Collegiate  Alumnae; 
Florence  Crittenden  Mission;  General  Federation  of  Women's  Clubs;  Ladies  of  the 
Grand  Army  of  the  Republic;  National  Board  of  the  Young  Women's  Christian  Associa- 
tion; National  Congress  of  Mothers;  Parent  Teachers'  Association;  National  Council  of 
Jewish  Women;  National  Council  of  Women;  National  Council  of  College  Women; 
National  Women's  Trade  Union  League;  National  Women's  Association  of  Commerce; 
National  Women's  Relief  Corps;  National  Women's  Relief  Society;  State  Federation  of 
Women's  Clubs;  State  Trade  Union  League;  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union; 
Women's  City  Club;  State  League  of  Women  Voters;  Womens'  International  League  for 
Peace  and  Freedom. 


NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION'    OF    IQ2O 

so  and  many  were  in  tears.  The  Rev.  Herbert  L.  Willet  then 
offered  the  invocation.  Mrs.  Trout,  president  of  the  Illinois 
Suffrage  Association,  cordially  welcomed  the  delegates  to  Chi- 
cago. The  greeting  from  the  Canadian  Woman  Suffrage  Asso- 
ciation was  brought  by  its  president,  Dr.  Margaret  Gordon.  Mrs. 
Catt  made  a  gracious  response  and  resigning  the  chair  to  the 
first  vice-president,  Mrs.  Katharine  Dexter  McCormick,  gave  a 
brief  address,  reserving  a  longer  one  for  the  League  of  Women 
Voters.  She  said  in  part : 

\Yhen  we  met  at  St.  Louis  a  year  ago  in  the  5oth  annual  conven- 
tion nf  our  association,  we  knew  that  the  end  of  our  long  struggle 
•icar.  We  comprehended  in  a  new  sense  the  truth  of  Victor 
's  sage  epigram :  "There  is  one  thing  more  powerful  than  Kings 
and  Armies — the  idea  whose  time  has  come  to  move."  We  knew 
that  the  time  for  our  idea  was  here,  and  as  State  after  State  has 
joined  the  list  of  the  ratified  we  have  seen  our  idea,  our  cause,  move 
forward  dramatically,  majestically  into  its  appropriate  place  as  part 
of  the  constitution  of  our  nation.  We  have  not  yet  the  official  proc- 
lamation announcing  that  our  amendment  has  been  ratified  by  the 
necessary  thirty-six  States,  but  thirty-one  have  done  so  and  another 
will  ratify  before  we  adjourn;  three  Governors  have  promised  spe- 
cial sessions  very  soon  and  two  more  Legislatures  will  ratify  when 
called  together.  There  is  no  power  on  this  earth  that  can  do  more 
than  delay  by  a  trifle  the  final  enfranchisement  of  women. 

The  enemies  of  progress  and  liberty  never  surrender  and  never 
die.     Kver  since  the  days  of  cave-men  they  have  stood  ready  with 
^l«-dge  hnmmers  to  strike  any  liberal  idea  on  the  head  when- 
red.    They  arc  still  active,  hysterically  active,  over  our 
dmcnt ;  still  imagining,  as  their  progenitors  for  thousands  of 
have  done,  that  a  fly  sitting  on  a  wheel  may  command  it  to 
Ive  no  more  and   it   will  obey.     They  are  running  about  from 
to   State,   a   few   women  and  a  few  paid  men.     They  dash 
to  W.-'-'hi'i'jton  to  hold  hurried  consultations  with  senatorial  friends 
and  away  to  carry  out  instructions.  ...   It  docs  not  matter.     SnfTra- 
re  never  dismayed  when  they  were  a  tiny  gmvtp  and  all  the 
riinst  them.     What  care  they  now  when  all  the  world 
:ih   them?     March   cm.    siifTrni'ists.   the   victory  is  yours!     'Hie 
trail  ha<  bcr-n  long  and  winding;  the  struggle  has  been  tedious  and 
'i  have  made  sacrifices  and  received  many  hard  knocks; 
be  joyful  i o-day.     Our  final  victory  is  due,  is  inevitable,  is  ah 

Vbrate  to-dnv.  and  when  the  proclamation  comes  I 
beg  '  VI, rate  tl  :on  with  some  form  of  joyous  demon- 

•  m  in  your  own  home  State.     Two  armist  made  a 

f  the  war.     Let  two  ratification  days,  one  a  Nat: 

make  a  happy  ending  of  the  dminl  of  politi- 
cal freedom  to  women ! 


HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

Our  amendment  was  submitted  June  4,  1919,  and  to-day,  eight 
months  and  eight  days  later,  it  has  been  ratified  by  thirty-one  States. 
No  other  amendment  made  such  a  record  but  the  time  is  not  the 
significant  part  of  the  story.  Of  the  thirty-one  ratifications  twenty- 
four  have  taken  place  in  special  sessions.  These  mean  extra  cost 
to  the  State,  opportunity  for  other  legislation  and  the  chance  of 
political  intrigue  for  or  against  the  Governor  who  calls  them.  These 
obstacles  have  been  difficult  to  overcome,  far  more  difficult  than  most 
of  you  will  ever  know,  and  in  a  few  instances  well-nigh  insur- 
mountable, but  the  point  to  emphasize  to-day  is  that  theywere  over- 
come. As  a  whole  the  ratifications  have  moved  forward  in  splendid 
triumphal  procession.  There  have  been  many  inspiring  incidents  of 
daring  and  clever  moves  on  the  part  of  suffragists  to  speed  the  cam- 
paign and  there  have  been  many  incidents  of  courage,  nobility 
of  purpose  and  proud  scorn  of  the  pettiness  of  political  enemies 
on  the  part  of  Governors,  legislators  and  men  friends.  On  the  other 
hand  there  have  been  tricks,  chicanery  and  misrepresentation,  but 
let  us  forget  them  all.  Victors  can  afford  to  be  generous. 

Referring  to  the  cost  of  special  sessions,  Mrs.  Catt  said: 

If  the  Governor  is  a  Republican  tell  him  that  had  it  not  been 
that  two  Republican  Senators,  Borah  of  Idaho  and  Wadsworth  of 
New  York,  refused  to  represent  their  States  as  indicated  by  votes 
at  the  polls,  resolutions  by  their  Legislatures  and  planks  in  their 
party  platforms,  the  suffrage  amendment  would  have  passed  the 
65th  Congress.  It  then  would  have  come  into  the  regular  sessions 
of  forty-two  Legislatures  with  more  than  thirty-six  pledged  to  ratify 
and  without  a  cent  of  extra  cost  to  any  State !  When  a  Republican 
Governor  calls  an  extra  session  in  order  to  ratify  he  merely  atones 
for  the  conduct  of  two  members  of  his  own  party.  They,  not  he, 
are  to  blame  that  it  became  necessary.  If  the  Governor  is  Democratic 
say  that  had  it  not  been  for  two  northern  Democratic  Senators, 
Pomerene  of  Ohio  and  Hitchcock  of  Nebraska,  who  refused  to  rep- 
resent their  States  on  the  question  as  indicated  by  their  Legisla- 
tures and  platforms,  Congress  would  have  sent  the  amendment  to 
the  1919  Legislatures  and  it  would  have  cost  the  States  nothing. 
The  Democratic  Governor  who  calls  a  special  session  only  makes 
honorable  amends  for  the  misrepresentation  of  members  of  his  own 
party.  .  .  . 

We  should  be  more  than  glad  and  grateful  to-day,  we  should  be 
proud — proud  that  our  fifty-one  years  of  organized  endeavor  have 
been  clean,  constructive,  conscientious.  Our  association  never  re- 
sorted to  lies,  innuendoes,  misrepresentation.  It  never  accused  its 
opponents  of  being  free  lovers,  pro-Germans  and  Bolsheviki.  It 
marched  forward  even  when  its  forces  were  most  disorganized  by 
disaster.  It  always  met  argument  with  argument,  honest  objection 
with  proof  of  error.  In  fifty  years  it  never  failed  to  send  its  repre- 
sentatives to  plead  our  cause  before  every  national  political  con- 
vention, although  they  went  knowing  that  the  prejudice  they  would 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQ2O  599 

meet  was  impregnable  and  the  response  would  be  ridicule  and  con- 
demnation. It  went  to  the  rescue  of  every  State  campaign  for  half  a 
century  with  such  forces  as  it  could  command,  even  when  realizing 
that  there  was  no  hope.  In  every  corner  it  sowed  the  seeds  of 
justice  and  trusted  to  time  to  bring  the  harvest.  It  has  aided  boys 
in  high  school  with  debates  and  later  heard  their  votes  of  "yes" 
in  Legislatures.  Reporters  assigned  to  our  Washington  conven- 
tions long,  long  ago,  took  their  places  at  the  press  table  on  the  first 
clay  with  contempt  and  ridicule  in  their  hearts  but  went  out  the  last 
clay  won  to  our  cause  and  later  became  editors  of  newspapers  and 
spoke  to  thousands  in  our  behalf.  Girls  came  to  our  meetings,  lis- 
tened and  accepted,  and  later  as  mature  women  became  intrepid 
leaders. 

Tn  all  the  years  this  association  has  never  paid  a  national  lobbyist, 
and.  so  far  as  I  know,  no  State  has  paid  a  legislative  lobbyist.    Dur- 
ing the  fifty  years  it  has  rarely  had  a  salaried  officer  and  even  if 
he  has  been  paid  less  than  her  earning  capacity  elsewhere.     It 
has  been  an  army  of  volunteers  who  have  estimated  no  sacrifice 
jreat,  no  service  too  difficult. 

Mrs.  Catt  enumerated  some  of  the  immortal  pioneer  suffragists 
and  said:  ''How  small  seems  the  service  of  the  rest  of  us  by 
comparison,  yet  how  glad  and  proud  we  have  been  to  give  it. 
Ours  has  been  a  cause  to  live  for,  a  cause  to  die  for  if  need  be. 
It  has  been  a  movement  with  a  soul,  a  dauntless,  unconquerable 
soul  ever  leading  onward.  Women  came,  served  and  passed  on 
hut  others  took  their  places.  .  .  .  How  I  pity  the  women  who 
have  had  no  share  in  the  exaltation  and  the  discipline  of  our 
army  nf  workers!  How  I  pity  those  who  have  not  felt  the  grip 
>f  the  oneness  of  women  struggling,  serving,  suffering,  sacri- 
•ing  for  the  righteousness  of  woman's  emancipation!  Oh, 
omen.  IK-  glad  today  and  let  your  voices  ring1  out  the  gladness 
•iir  hearts!  There  will  never  come  another  day  like  this. 
joy  he  unconfined  and  lot  it  speak  so  clearly  that  its  echo 
}><•  heard  around  the  world  and  find  its  way  into  the  soul  of 
;ry  woman  of  every  race  who  is  yearning  for  opportunity  and 
iberty  still  denied.  .  .  ." 

this   inspiring  address   the  convention  -was  turned    into 
jollification  meeting  i  siderahle  time  until  the  delegates 

re  tired  nut    hv   their  enthusiasm  and   composed   themselves  to 
a  telegram  0  IDg   t"n>in   President   \Ynndro\v  \Vilson 

•mit  me  to  congratulate  your  a 
n  upon  the   fact   that   its  great    \v«nk   is  so  near  its  trinm- 


6OO  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

phant  end  and  that  you  can  now  merge  it  into  a  League  of  Women 
Voters  to  carry  on  the  development  of  good  citizenship  and  real 
democracy ;  and  to  wish  for  the  new  organization  the  same  wise 
leadership  and  success."  On  motion  of  Mrs.  McCormick  it  was 
voted  that  "the  gratitude  of  the  convention  be  expressed  to  the 
President  for  his  constant  cooperation  and  help,  with  deep  regret 
for  his  illness."  On  motion  of  Miss  Mary  Garrett  Hay,  second 
vice-president,  the  convention  authorized  a  letter  of  appreciation 
to  be  sent  to  the  Governors  of  States  that  had  ratified  the  Federal 
Amendment  and  telegrams  to  those  who  had  not  called  special 
sessions  strongly  urging  them  to  do  so.1  This  was  made  es- 
pecially emphatic  to  Governor  Louis  F.  Hart  of  Washington, 
the  only  equal  suffrage  State  which  had  not  ratified.  [The  ses- 
sion was  called  and  the  Legislature  ratified  unanimously  March 
22,  leaving  but  one  more  to  be  gained.] 

At  the  evening  session  the  Recommendations  were  considered 
as  presented  by  the  Executive  Council,  which  consisted  of  the 
president  of  the  association,  officers,  board  of  directors,  chairmen 
of  standing  and  special  committees,  presidents  of  affiliated  or- 
ganizations and  one  representative  of  each  society  which  paid 
dues  on  1,500  or  more  members.  After  discussion  and  some 
amendment  they  were  adopted  as  follows : 

Whereas,  The  sole  object  of  many  years'  endeavor  by  the  Na- 
tional American  Woman  Suffrage  Association  has  been  "to  secure 
the  vote  to  the  women  citizens  of  the  United  States  by  appropriate 
national  and  State  legislation"  and  that  object  is  about  to  be  attained, 
and 

Whereas,  The  association  must  naturally  dissolve  or  take  tip  new 
lines  of  work  when  the  last  suffrage  task  has  been  completed,  there- 
fore, be  it 

Resolved,  That  the  association  shall  assume  no  new  lines  of  work 
and  shall  move  toward  dissolution  by  the  following  process : 

(i)  That  a  Board  of  Officers  shall  be  elected  at  this  convention, 
as  usual,  to  serve  two  years  (if  necessary)  in  accordance  with  the 
provisions  of  the  constitution; 

1  To  Governors  who  called  special  sessions:  "On  behalf  of  the  National  American 
Woman  Suffrage  Association  meeting  in  its  $ist  annual  convention  I  am  instructed  to 
express  its  official  appreciation  and  gratitude  to  you  for  your  assistance  in  ratifying  the 
Federal  Suffrage  Amendment.  Woman  suffrage  will  soon  be  a  closed  chapter  in  the 
history  of  our  country  and  we  are  confident  that  the  pride  and  satisfaction  of  every 
Governor  and  legislator  who  has  aided  the  ratification  will  increase  as  time  goes  on.  We 
want  you  to  know  that  the  women  of  the  nation  are  truly  grateful  to  you  for  your 
fart  in  their  enfranchisement.  Nettie  Rogers  Shuler,  corresponding  secretary. 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION   OF    1920  6oi 

'  J )  That  the  eight  directors  elected  at  the  5oth  annual  conven- 
tion, and  whose  term  of  office  does  not  expire  until  March,  1921,  shall 
be  asked  to  serve  until  the  term  of  elected  officers  shall  expire ; 

(3)  That  any  vacancy  or  vacancies  occurring  in  the  list  of  direc- 
tors shall  be  filled  by  election  at  this  convention ; 

i     That  all  vacancies  in  the  Board  of  Directors  occurring  after 
this  convention  shall  be  filled  by  majority  vote  of  the  board; 

(5)  That  the  Board  of  Officers  so  constituted  shall  have  full 
charge  of  the  remainder  of  the  ratification  campaign  and  all  neces- 

legal  proceedings  and  shall  dispose  of  files,  books,  data,  property 
and  funds  (if  any  remain)  of  the  association  subject  to  the  further 
instruction  of  this  convention.    The  Executive  Council  shall  be  sub- 
t  to  call  by  the  Board  of  Officers  if  necessary; 

(6)  That  the  Board  of  Officers  shall  render  a  quarterly  account 
of  its  procedure  and  an  annual  report  of  all  funds  in  its  possession 
duly  audited  by  certified  accountant,  to  the  women  who  in  February, 
TO2O.  compose  its  Executive  Council.     When  its  work  is  completed 

I  and  its  final  report  has  been  accepted  by  this  council  it  may  by 
formal  resolution  dissolve.1 
A  resolution  was  adopted  regarding  action  in  case  of  a  referen- 
dum to  the  voters  of  ratification  by  a  Legislature  but  later  the 
1T.  S.  Supreme  Court  declared  this  unconstitutional.  Another 
urged  the  new  league  to  make  political  education  of  the  voters 
it<=  first  duty.  The  last  resolution  was  as  follows : 

"We  recommend  that  the  League  of  Women  Voters,  now  a 
section  of  the  National  American  Woman  Suffrage  Association, 
be  organized  as  a  new  and  independent  society,  and  that  its 
auxiliaries,  while  retaining  their  relationship  to  the  Board  of 
Officers  to  be  elected  in  this  ;ist  convention  in  form,  shall  change 
their  names,  objects  and  constitutions  to  conform  to  those  of  the 
:ona1  League  of  Women  Voters  and  take  up  the  plan  of 
work  to  be  adopted  by  its  first  congress." 

Following  the  precedent  of  the  last  convention,  in  order  to 
ive   time,   all  headquarters'  activities  were  summed  up  in  the 
report  of  the  corresponding  secretary,  Mrs.  Nettie  Rogers  Shuler. 
Mnrh  condensed  the  report  was  as  follows: 

In  the  rn-ater  erlory  of  the  Federal  Amendment  and  the  ratifica- 

is  which  are  bringing  about  our  ultimate  victory  we  should  not 

•k   the   solid,   constructive   work   of   the   past   ten    and   a   half 

months  and  th<  <ses  of  the  National  American  Woman  Suf- 

1  For   account  of  meeting*  of  the   Board   of   Officer*   and    Executive   Council   In   April 
and   Junr.   TOST,   see   Appendix   for  this  chapter. 
VOL.  v 


6O2  HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

frage  Association  arid  its  branches  in  the  various  States,  which  made 
possible  the  Federal  Amendment. 

At  our  convention  in  St.  Louis,  March  24-29,  1919,  when  we 
met  to  counsel  together  for  the  future  and  to  gird  on  our  armor  for 
the  "one  fight  more — the  last  and  the  best,"  we  celebrated  the 
Missouri  victory,  the  twenty-seventh  State  to  give  Presidential  suf- 
frage to  women.  Mrs.  Catt,  by  resolution  of  the  convention,  imme- 
diately wrote  to  the  legislators  of  Tennessee  and  Iowa  urging  pas- 
sage of  a  similar  bill.  Tennessee  gave  Presidential  and  Municipal 
suffrage  to  women  April  14  and  Iowa  Presidential  suffrage  on  April 
19,  increasing  the  number  of  presidential  electors  for  whom  women 
may  vote  to  306  out  of  531,  the  total  in  the  United  States. 

Connecticut  women  made  a  magnificent  campaign  for  Presidential 
suffrage,  failing  by  only  one  vote  in  the  Legislature.  The  strength 
displayed  by  the  suffragists,  the  obtaining  of  98,000  women's  signa- 
tures and  the  dignity  and  ability  shown  under  the  leadership  of 
Miss  Katherine  Ludington,  so  advanced  suffrage  in  that  State  as  to 
make  the  battle  seem  a  victory  rather  than  a  defeat. 

Municipal  suffrage  was  given  by  the  Legislature  to  the  women 
of  Orlando,  Fla.,  April  21,  making  sixteen  towns  in  ten  counties 
in  that  State  where  women  have  this  right.  An  effort  to  secure 
a  Primary  suffrage  bill  for  the  entire  State  failed. 

Suffrage  in  the  Democratic  municipal  primaries  was  granted  by 
the  local  Democratic  committee  to  the  women  of  Atlanta,  Ga.,  May 
3,  for  one  election. 

In  a  referendum  vote  on  a  State  amendment,  May  24,  1919,  full 
suffrage  was  defeated  in  Texas.  The  main  causes  were:  The  large 
number  of  men  who  were  so  confident  of  the  success  of  the  amend- 
ment that  they  did  not  take  the  trouble  to  go  to  the  polls  to  vote 
for  it;  illegal  changes  in  the  numbering  and  position  of  the  amend- 
ment on  the  ballots  of  the  various  counties;  the  absence  from  the 
State  of  about  200,000  soldiers;  unfavorable  weather  conditions; 
the  shortness  of  the  time  allowed  for  the  campaign,  and,  chief  of 
all,  the  organized  opposition  of  the  foreign-born  and  negro  voters. 
The  Texas  suffragists  won  a  clear-cut  victory  January  28  when  the 
State  Supreme  Court  upheld  the  decisions  of  the  lower  courts  that 
the  Primary  suffrage  bill  was  constitutional.  .  .  . 

On  June  28  the  women  of  Nebraska  won  a  distinctive  victory 
when  the  State  Supreme  Court  held  the  Presidential  and  Municipal 
suffrage  act  of  1917  to  be  constitutional.  The  history  of  woman 
suffrage  records  no  harder  fought  legal  battle  than  this.  They  won 
another  victory  in  the  decision  by  Attorney  General  Clarence  E. 
Davis  that  they  had  the  right  to  help  choose  delegates  to  the  na- 
tional political  party  conventions.  On  February  12  the  constitutional 
convention  voted  to  leave  the  word  "male"  out  of  the  new  con- 
stitution. 

In  Tennessee  the  decision  of  the  Court  of  Chancery,  which  de- 
clared the  Presidential  and  Municipal  suffrage  bill  of  1918  uncon- 
stitutional, has  been  reversed  by  the  State  Supreme  Court.  .  .  . 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQ2O  603 

On  February  13  the  suffrage  committee  of  the  constitutional  con- 
vention then  in  session  in  Illinois  voted  unanimously  to  strike  "male" 
out  of  the  new  constitution. 

We  began  the  year  1918  with  nineteen  organizers,  but  as  the  legis- 
lative work  came  to  occupy  the  place  of  chief  importance  most  of 
the  States  expressed  a  preference  for  the  services  of  their  own  women 
and  it  became  necessary  to  reduce  the  national  staff.1 

During  the  winter  of  1918-1919  a  series  of  conferences  was  offered 
to  the  southern  States  but  for  various  reasons  not  accepted.  At  the 
St.  Louis  convention  in  March,  1919,  Mrs.  Catt  requested  the  south- 
ern representatives  to  outline  the  definite  help  desired  from  the 
National  Association  and  their  requests  were  accepted  by  the  board 
at  its  post-convention  meeting  as  follows :  The  National  to  give  (a) 
one  speaker  or  organizer  to  each  State  for  two  months;  (b)  a  suf- 
frage school  to  each;  (c)  one  thousand  copies  of  Senator  Pollock's 
speech  to  each.  This  help  from  the  National  was  conditional  upon 
the  promise  of  the  southern  States  (a)  that  each  State  would 
furnish  one  of  its  own  workers  to  be  under  the  instruction  of  the 
national  worker  and  to  continue  in  charge  after  her  departure; 
(b)  that  it  would  establish  and  maintain  a  speakers'  bureau;  (c) 
that  it  would  begin  the  petition  campaign.  By  October  the  associa- 
tion had  fulfilled  its  promise  of  an  organizer  for  two  months  to 
Virginia,  West  Virginia,  North  Carolina,  South  Carolina,  Texas, 
Georgia.  Florida,  Alabama  and  Tennessee  and  had  arranged  to  send 
organizers  to  Kentucky,  Delaware  and  Mississippi  when  those  States 
ready  for  them.  Later,  because  of  ratification,  it  gave  addi- 
tional help,  sending  Mrs.  McMahon  to  Delaware,  Mrs.  Cunningham, 
Mi^s  Watkins  and  Miss  Peshakova  to  Mississippi;  Miss  Pidgeon, 
Miss  Miller  and  Mrs.  McMahon  to  Alabama,  where  a  splendid  cam- 
paign for  ratification  was  directed  by  Mrs.  Pattie  Ruffner  Jacobs, 
State  suffrage  president. 

t  only  were  the  promised  copies  of  Senator  Pollock's  speech 
1)iit   an   additional    TO,OOO  pieces  of   literature   were  given  to 
land.  North  Carolina  and  Delaware;  5,000  to  Virginia.  South 
Hna.  Georgia  and  Florida;  36,000  to  West  Virginia  and  51,000 
to  Mississippi.     Tn  place  of  the  suffrage  schools  a  series  of  confer- 
ences was  agreed  to  by  the  southern  States.     Three  speakers  were 
'<•(]  with  great  rare  and  an  outline  for  the  trip  was  submitted 
to  the  States.     Some  responded  that  rhev  could  not  arrange  satis- 
•v  conferences,  others  that  they  could  not  make  dates  to  fit  the 

1  The    names    of    the    organizers    retained,    all    of    whom    Rave    most    effective    service. 

Vfm.  Augusta  Hughston,  Miss  Edna  Annette  Beveridge,  Mrs.  Maria  S.  McMahon. 
Miss  Mary  Elizabeth  Pidgeon.  Miss  Josephine  Miller,  Miss  Lola  Trax.  Miss  Edna 

•,  Miss  Marie  Ames  and  Miss  Gertrude  Watlrin*.  Their  organized  work  ex- 
tended  over  Towa,  Missouri,  Texas,  Mississippi,  Alabama,  Florida,  Georgia,  South  Carolina, 
North  Carolina,  Virginia,  West  Virginia.  Tennessee,  Kentucky,  Delaware  and  New 
Hampshire.  In  addition  to  the  regular  force  Mrs.  Minnie  Fisher  Cunningham  and  Misa 
Llba  Peshakova  were  sent  to  Mississippi  for  two  months.  The  work  of  the  organizers  is 
regarded  aa  the  hardest  and  most  difficult  connected  with  a  State  campaign  and  Mrs. 
Bhdcr  paid  high  tribute  to  them. 


604  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

itinerary,  two  did  not  reply  in  time  and  two  did  not  respond  at  all. 
Since  speakers  could  not  be  sent  at  such  great  cost  for  small,  unsatis- 
factory meetings  or  on  an  incomplete  itinerary,  we  were  reluc- 
tantly forced  to  cancel  the  conferences.  With  regard  to  the  work 
which  the  southern  States  agreed  to  do,  only  one  State  met  the  pro- 
vision to  provide  a  worker  of  its  own  under  the  direction  of  the 
national  organizer  to  take  charge  after  her  departure.  None  of  the 
States  established  a  speakers'  bureau.  Three  States  started  the 
petition  campaign  but  none  finished  it. 

KKMKKAL  AMENDMENT.  We  were  confident  of  victory  for  the 
amendment  in  1919  in  the  66th  Congress.  The  House  passed  it 
May  21  by  an  affirmative  vote  of  304,  a  majority  of  42  votes,  and 
June  4  the  Senate  by  a  vote  of  56  to  25.  The  passage  of  this 
amendment  introduced  in  Congress  over  forty  years  ago  by  the 
National  Suffrage  Association  closed  a  long  and  interesting  chapter 
of  the  movement.  The  completion  of  that  part  of  our  work  made 
it  no  longer  necessary  for  us  to  maintain  a  Washington  headquarters. 
Accordingly  June  30,  1919,  the  doors  of  the  Suffrage  House,  1626 
Rhode  Island  Avenue,  were  closed  after  having  received  cabinet 
members,  senators,  congressmen,  distinguished  persons  from  this 
and  foreign  countries,  thousands  of  American  men  and  women  and 
those  active  suffragists  who  were  called  to  Washington  from  time 
to  time  to  assist  in  the  work  of  the  congressional  committee.  Mrs. 
Maud  Wood  Park,  to  whose  indefatigable  energy,  honesty  of  pur- 
pose and  action  and  infinite  tact  we  owe  much,  led  the  way  to 
victory  for  the  amendment.  Mrs.  Helen  H.  Gardener,  whose  diplo- 
matic abilities  made  her  the  constant  adviser  of  the  committee,  Miss 
Marjorie  Shuler,  chief  of  publicity,  Miss  Mabel  Willard  in  charge 
of  social  affairs,  Miss  Caroline  I.  Reilly  and  Mrs.  Minnie  Fisher 
C Cunningham,  secretaries,  formed  the  personnel  of  the  Congressional 
Committee  at  the  time  of  victory. 

During  the  months  preceding  the  passage  of  the  Federal  Amend- 
ment the  National  Association  had  carried  not  only  the  burden  of 
the  actual  amendment  campaign  but  had  planned  and  carried  out 
tlu-  preparatory  work  for  ratification.  Legislatures  had  been  polled, 
Governors  interviewed  on  the  subject  of  special  sessions  and  organi- 
zation and  publicity  built  up,  looking  forward  to  the  final  ratification 
battle.  The  presidential  suffrage  campaigns  and  the  resolutions  call- 
ing upon  Congress  to  pass  the  suffrage  amendment,  which  the  Na- 
tional Association  had  secured  in  State  Legislatures,  were  all  part 
df  the  ratification  strategy,  a  test  of  the  suffrage  sentiment  in  the 
current  Legislatures  as  well  as  an  impelling  force  on  Congress  to 
pass  the  amendment. 

We  had  hoped  that  from  this  point  the  State  associations  would 
undertake  their  own  campaigns  and  to  that  end  Mrs.  Catt  issued  a 
bulletin  May  24  telling  each  one  just  what  steps  to  take.  She 
stated  that  the  National  Association  would  immediately  ask  Gover- 
nors of  all  equal  suffrage  States  to  call  sessions  and  would  circularize 
all  the  Legislatures.  She  called  upon  the  State  associations  to  (i) 


NATIONAL  AMERICAN  CONVENTION  OF  1920  605 

circularize  their  legislators  with  the  news  of  the  final  victory;  (2) 
send  deputations  to  secure  the  pledge  of  the  vote  of  each  legislator 
for  ratification;  (3)  begin  a  statewide  campaign  through  the  press, 
petitions,  literature  and  meetings  to  secure  their  own  special  sessions. 
It  soon  became  apparent  that  the  States  as  a  whole  were  not  carry- 
ing out  these  plans  and  instead  of  promises  of  special  sessions 
excuses  came  from  the  men  with  the  endorsement  of  the  women 
themselves.  It  was  evident  that  the  national  office  in  New  York 
must  be  in  command. 

During  the  following  weeks  up  to  the  present  time  the  days  and 
nights  have  been  filled  with  intensive  effort.  Never  before  have 
the  members  of  the  national  force,  the  board,  the  office  force  of 
forty  persons  in  the  national  headquarters,  the  Leslie  Commission, 
the  publicity  department,  the  Woman  Citizen  and  the  Publishing 
Company  worked  with  so  little  sparing  of  themselves  and  with  such 
absolute  concentration  upon  the  matter  in  hand,  still  carrying  on 
citizenship  preparation,  organization  and  all  the  routine  work  but 
always  giving  Ratification  the  right  of  way.  It  was  Mrs.  Catt  who 
sounded  the  rallying  call,  who  mapped  out  every  step  of  the  way,  who 
did  the  work  of  a  dozen  women  herself  and  cheered  the  rest  on. 
No  one  will  ever  know  the  full  story  of  her  ingenious  plans  which 
brought  about  the  ratification  and  in  some  States  even  the  women 
think  it  was  easily  won  because  they  do  not  know  of  the  efforts 
put  forth  from  the  national  office. 

As  soon  as  the  amendment  had  passed  the  Senate,  Mrs.  Catt  kept 
the  agreement  made  by  her  in  the  bulletin  and  sent  telegrams  to  the 
Governors  of  full  suffrage  States,  asking  for  special  sessions,  and 
to  Legislatures  then  in  session  asking  for  ratification.  With  the  co- 
operation of  the  suffrage  associations,  Illinois,  Wisconsin  and  Michi- 
gan ratified  on  June  TO,  in  six  days  after  the  amendment  was  sub- 
mitted by  Congress.  Kansas  and  New  York  ratified  in  special 
session  and  Ohio  in  regular  session  on  June  16.  Pennsylvania  rati- 
fied on  June  24,  its  blackness  wiped  off  the  map.  The  change  of 
black  Massachusetts  to  the  ratified  white  on  June  25  gave  another 
big  impetus  to  the  campaign.  Texas  distinguished  itself  by  ratifying 
on  June  28.  This  made  nine  ratifications  in  nineteen  davs! 

Mrs.  Catt  had  previously  asked  the  presidents  of  State  suffrage 

iations  to  interview  their  Governors  regarding  special  sessions 

and   she   had   sent   personal   Idlers   to  them  and   to  members  of  the 

enclosing     facts    concerning    the     I'Yderal    Amendment. 

lit  the  Governors  of  Nebraska.  Indiana  and  Minnesota  sent 

d   telegrams   to   twenty-two  other  Governors  asking   them 

1  sessioi 

To  can  -'peal  t<>  the  \\Y-t.  two  cnnimissinns  were  sent  mil 

the   I;  !nly.   Mrs.  John  Glover   South   of    Kentucky   and    Miss 

Shnler  of    NYw    York   to  the   Republican   States;    Mrs.   Cunningham 
and   Mr  Cf  of   WlSCOnSIt]  to  the  Democratic-  S; 

the  States  and   vi  :i     to  thr  Governors  they  went 
lOvernors*  <"onfe<  Their  reports 


606  HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

revealed  the  fact  that  women  in  the  enfranchised  States  had  been 
absorbed  into  the  political  parties,  and,  with  their  suffrage  campaign 
organizations  practically  dissolved,  were  in  no  position  to  determine 
or  carry  out  independent  political  action.  The  replies  of  the  Gover- 
nors— that  "the  women  of  my  State  have  the  suffrage,  it  will  not 
help  us,  the  cost  of  a  special  session  is  too  great,  ill-advised  legisla- 
tion might  be  considered" — revealed  an  even  more  deplorable  fact, 
that  both  men  and  women  in  those  States  were  bounded  in  thought 
by  their  State  lines  and  did  not  have  a  national  point  of  view  on 
national  issues. 

From  the  first  Mrs.  Catt  had  believed  that  the  strategy  of  ratifica- 
tion demanded  rapid  action  by  the  western  full  suffrage  States, 
the  partial  suffrage  States  falling  into  line  and  the  last  fight  com- 
ing in  the  eastern  States  where  women  had  not  yet  become  politi- 
cal factors.  Therefore  the  Governors  of  the  fully  enfranchised 
States  were  wired  as  soon  as  the  Federal  Amendment  passed.  Those 
of  Kansas  and  New  York  responded  at  once  with  special  sessions 
on  June  16.  Then  came  an  ominous  pause.  No  far  western  States 
had  yet  ratified.  What  mysterious  cause  delayed  them  ? 

'  Ratifications  came  in  Iowa  July  2 ;  Missouri  July  3 ;  Arkansas  July 
28 ;  Montana  July  30 ;  Nebraska  August  2 ;  Minnesota  September  8 ; 
New  Hampshire  September  10;  Utah  September  30.  Another 
ominous  pause,  with  Montana  and  Utah  the  only  far  western  States 
yet  heard  from. 

On  October  23  Mrs.  Catt  opened  a  "drive"  for  ratification  through 
sixteen  conferences  in  twelve  States,  all  but  two  with  equal  suffrage. 
She  was  accompanied  by  two  chairmen  of  the  League  of  Women 
Voters,  Dr.  Valeria  Parker  of  the  Committee  of  Social  Hygiene, 
and  Mrs.  Edward  P.  Costigan  of  the  Committee  on  Food  Supply  and 
Demand,  with  Mrs.  Jean  Nelson  Penfield  speaking  for  the  Com- 
mittee on  Unification  of  Laws  and  Miss  Shuler  for  that  on  Child 
Welfare.  Mrs.  Catharine  Waugh  McCulloch  of  the  Committee  on 
Unification  of  Laws  and  Miss  Julia  Lathrop,  chairman  of  the  Child 
Welfare  Committee,  spoke  at  one  of  the  conferences  and  Miss  Jessie 
Haver  substituted  for  Mrs.  Costigan  during  the  latter  part  of  the  trip. 
Mrs.  Catt's  address — Wake  Up  America — was  an  appeal  for  special 
sessions  to  ratify  in  those  States  where  there  were  to  be  no  regular 
sessions  until  1921  and  an  appeal  to  both  men  and  women  to  use 
their  votes  for  a  better  America.  Ratifications  in  North  Dakota 
December  i;  South  Dakota  December  4;  Colorado  December  12; 
Oregon  January  12;  Nevada  February  7 — were  in  answer  to  those 
stirring  appeals.  California  ratified  November  I ;  Maine  November 
5;  Rhode  Island  and  Kentucky  January  6;  Indiana  January  16. 
Following  soon  New  Jersey  ratified  by  regular  session  February  9- 
Idaho  by  special  session  February  n  ;  Arizona  February  12.  The 
special  session  is  called  in  New  Mexico  February  16  and  in  Okla- 
homa February  23.  [Both  ratified.] 

In  the  story  of  our  ratification  campaign  there  occurs  often  the 
name  of  our  second  vice-president,  Miss  Mary  Garrett  Hay,  whose 


NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    TQ2O  607 

work  for  the  National  Association  has  always  been  valuable  but  who 
has  made  her  greatest  contribution  in  work  for  the  passage  of  the 
Federal  Amendment  in  the  campaign  to  secure  special  sessions  and 
the  overwhelming  number  of  ratifications  in  Republican  States. 

Mrs.  Shuler  told  of  the  Oversea  Hospitals,  which  are  consid- 
ered in  another  chapter.  She  gave  an  eloquent  tribute  to  Dr.  Anna 
1  Toward  Shaw  and  spoke  of  the  beautiful  memorial  booklet  pre- 
pared by  a  committee  of  officers  of  the  National  Association,  -who 
distributed  5,000  copies.  It  also  aided  in  circulating  10,000 
copies  of  her  last  speech — What  the  War  Meant  to  Women — 
prepared  as  a  memorial  by  the  League  to  Enforce  Peace.  She 
spoke  tenderly  of  the  death  of  Mrs.  Rachel  Foster  Avery,  corre- 
sponding secretary  of  the  National  Association  twenty-one  years ; 
of  that  of  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Wheeler  Walker,  who  presided  so 
charmingly  over  the  headquarters  in  Washington,  and  of  Miss 
Aloysius  Larch-Miller,  who  as  secretary  of  the  committee  on 
ratification  in  Oklahoma  sacrificed  her  life  through  her  work 
for  it.  Reference  was  made  to  the  contributory  work  of  the 
National  Board  in  stabilizing  the  League  of  Women  Voters ;  to 
the  Citizenship  Schools  and  Travelling  Libraries,  and  the  very 
complete  report  closed  with  a  testimonial  to  the  immeasurable 
value  of  the  national  organization  which  read  in  part : 

Our  State  suffrage  associations  welded  into  a  great  chain  have 
made  the  National  Association.  Our  members  have  been  one  in  heart. 
one  in  hope,  one  in  purpose.  We  have  held  the  same  standards. 
the  same  ideals.  When  the  way  has  seemed  long  and  dark  and  the 
goal  of  our  efforts  afar  off,  we  have  supported,  cheered  and  encour- 
aged each  other.  We  have  rejoiced  over  even  the  smallest  victory 
and  have  never  been  a  downhearted  group.  The  suffrage  spirit  has 
ever  buoyed  us  up  and  carried  us  on  even  when  the  road  was  the 
-st  and  the  obstructions  seemed  almost  insurmountable.  These 
experiences  could  not  have  been  realized  through  fifty-one  years 
without  "lengthening  the  cords  and  strengthen  ing  the  stakes  of 
friendship"  hut  more  the  result  has  hern  a  hheral  training,  a 
•er  belief  in  each  other  and  more  confidence  in  the  merits  of 

>e. 

While    the    value    of    any    movement    depends    upon    the    success 
with    which    its    practical    details    are    worked    mil .    yet    in    the    final 
;lie  idealism  of  a  movement  is  the  mainspring  of  its  \itality. 
"The   spirit    M.mds   behind   the  deed. 
In  holy  thought  the  dream  must  start 
And  every  cause  that  mo\es  the  world 
Was  born  within  a  single  heart." 


608  HISTORY   OF   WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

So  to-day  we  render  homage  to  our  great  leader,  Mrs.  Catt,  whose 
hand  has  guided  and  whose  genius  has  vitalized  our  movement.  She 
has  given  to  a  world  of  women  her  love,  her  faith.  She  has  dreamed 
a  dream  and  then  with  prophetic  vision  and  undaunted  courage  led 
the  way  to  victory  and  the  consummation  of  that  dream. 

The  exquisite  poem,  "Oh,  Dreamer  of  Dreams,"  was  quoted 
and  the  report  ended :  "Year  after  year  at  national  conventions 
women  have  agreed  to  'carry  on.'  How  well  this  has  been  done 
the  records  prove.  All  who  have  shared  in  the  service  and  sacri- 
fice which  were  necessary  to  bring  about  the  great  victory  which 
we  are  here  to  celebrate  will  be  glad  that  they  were  given  and 
rejoice  that  they  helped  in  putting  to  flight  the  powers  of  dark- 
ness." 

In  the  course  of  her  report  as  national  treasurer  Mrs.  Henry 
Wade  Rogers  said : 

It  was  in  November,  1914,  at  the  Nashville  convention,  that  I  was 
elected  treasurer  of  the  National  Suffrage  Association.  In  Novem- 
ber, 1919,  I  completed  my  fifth  year  of  service,  these  last  three 
months  additional  being  by  way  of  good  measure.  I  succeeded  with 
trepidation  Mrs.  Katharine  Dexter  McCormick's  very  efficient 
service.  She  and  I  are  the  only  members  on  the  present  board  who 
were  members  in  1914. 

In  February,  1918,  the  duties  of  treasurer  of  the  Women's  Over- 
sea Hospitals  were  added  to  those  of  the  association  and  the  sum 
of  $178,000  has  passed  through  the  special  treasury  of  the  hospi- 
tals to  carry  on  the  splendid  war  work  undertaken  by  the  National 
Suffrage  Association.  A  balance  of  about  $35,000  remains  in  that 
treasury,  the  use  of  which  in  some  form  of  memorial  this  convention 
will  be  asked  to  designate.1 

The  receipts  of  the  treasury  since  I  took  office  have  been,  for 
1914-1915,  $43,186;  1915-1916,  $81,862;  1916-1917,  $103,826;  1917- 
1918,  $107,736;  1919-1920,  $97,379;  a  totaj  of  $443>989-  Adding 
the  fund  raised  for  the  Hospitals  the  total  is  $611,991.  Each  year 
I  have  solicited  funds  for  the  National  Association  from  hundreds 
of  suffragists,  in  addition  to  the  large  sums  pledged  at  the  conven- 
tions, and  have  had  always  most  generous  responses.  In  Novem- 
ber and  December,  1919,  38,000  letters  were  sent  out  signed  by  the 
president  and  treasurer  of  the  National  Suffrage  Association  asking 
for  a  ratification  fund  of  $100,000.  Very  gratifying  returns  have 
come  from  this  appeal  and  are  still  coming.  .  .  . 

We  come  to  this  final  convention  of  our  National  Association 
with  a  balance  in  the  treasury  and  it  must  be  determined  here  whether 
or  not  this  sum  is  sufficient  to  finish  the  fight  for  nation-wide  suf- 

*The  final  report  of  the  Oversea  Hospitals  Committee  is  given  in  the  chapter  on  War 
Work  of  Organized  Suffragists. 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQ2O  609 

frage.  Because  of  your  sympathy  and  generous  cooperation  I  have 
found  the  treasurership  a  real  pleasure.  The  actual  work  has  been 
lightened  by  the  faithful  service  of  Miss  Eleanor  Bates,  accountant 
of  the  association  since  1912.  We  cannot  too  gratefully  acknowl- 
edge also  the  devoted  service  of  many  others,  who,  unheralded  and 
unsung,  have  helped  to  make  possible  this  victory  hour.  .  .  . 

With  this  report  were  ten  closely  printed  pages  of  perfectly 
kept  and  audited  accounts.  They  showed  a  balance  of  $10,905 
in  the  treasury.  Mrs.  Rogers  continued  the  duties  of  her  office 
at  unanimous  request  having  given  up  to  the  present  time  about 
seven  years  of  most  efficient  service,  spending  days,  weeks  and 
months  at  the  national  headquarters  with  no  remuneration  except 
the  joy  of  helping  the  cause  of  woman  suffrage.  At  one  session 
through  the  efforts  of  Miss  Mary  Garrett  Hay  and  Mrs.  Raymond 
Brown,  pledges  of  $44,500  were  obtained  for  the  League  of 
Women  Voters,  Miss  Lucy  E.  Anthony  making  the  first  contri- 
bution of  $1,000  in  memory  of  her  aunt,  Susan  B.  Anthony.  The 
Leslie  Commission  guaranteed  $15,000  of  this  amount. 

The  Board  of  Regents  o.f  the  Smithsonian  Institution  in  Wash- 
ington had  during  the  year  set  apart  a  division  of  space  for 
mementoes  of  distinguished  suffragists,  and  Mrs.  Helen  H.  Gar- 
dener, through  whose  efforts  chiefly  this  concession  had  been 
secured,  offered  the  following  resolution,  which  was  unanimously 
adopted :  "This  convention  expresses  to  the  Directors  of  the 
Smithsonian  Institution  profound  appreciation  of  this  section 

jvoted  to  the  great  women  leaders  of  liberty  and  civilization  on 
the  same  broad  basis  accorded  to  men  and  believes  that  this  shrine 
be  an  object  of  the  reverence  and  education  of  all  woman- 
lood.1 

1  In    this    space    have    been    placed    the    little    mahogany    table    on    which    were    written 
Call  for  the  first  Woman's  Rights  Convention   in    1848,   the   Declaration   of   Principles 
the  Resolutions;  a  portrait  in  oil  of  Miss  Anthony  on  her  eightieth  birthday;   large 
led    photographs   of    Dr.    Shaw    and    Mrs.    Catt;    photographs    of    the    signing    of    the 
ral   Suffrage   Amendment    by    Vice-president    Marshall   and    Speaker   Gillctt,   the    i><  us 
th    which   it    was  done   and   the    pen   with   which    Secretary    of   State    Colby    signed    the 
ition   that   it    was  a  part   of   the    National   Constitution,   and    personal    mementoes 
M   Anthony.      The   table    has   SJM-»  ial    historical    value.      It    stood    for   years    in    thi- 
ef   the    McClintock    family    at    Waterloo,    N.    Y.,    and    was    bequeathed    to    Mrs. 
Cady    Stantoo,    who,    with    Mrs.    McClintock,    Lucretia    Mott    and    her    sister, 
C.    Wright,    wrote   the   Call,    etc.      When    Mrs.    Stanton   died    in    New    York 
od  at  the  head  of  her  casket  holding  the  Biography  of  Susan  B.  Anthony  and  the 
ry  of  Woman   Suffrage,   of  which   Mrs.   Stanton  and   Miss  Anthony    wrote  the   first 
volumes.     The  table  was  left  to  Miss  Anthony  and  was  in  her  home  at   Rt> 
.,   until  her  death,  when  it  stood  at  the  head  of  her  casket,  bearing  a  floral  tribute 


6lO  HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

A  resolution  was  adopted  to  send  congratulatory  and  affection- 
ate letters  to  the  pioneers,  Miss  Emily  Rowland  of  Sherwood, 
N.  Y. ;  the  Rev.  Antoinette  Brown  Blackwell  of  Elizabeth,  N.  J., 
and  Mrs.  Charlotte  Pierce  of  Philadelphia.  The  Rev.  Olympia 
Brown  of  Racine,  Wis.,  one  of  the  few  remaining  pioneers,  was 
guest  of  honor  of  the  convention  and  received  especial  attention 
throughout  the  week.  A  telegram  was  sent  to  Mrs.  Ida  Husted 
Harper  of  New  York  in  recognition  of  her  constant,  untiring  work 
on  the  last  volumes  of  the  History  of  Woman  Suffrage,  still  in 
progress.  Very  laudatory  resolutions  of  "sincere  gratitude"  were 
adopted  and  sent  to  Will  H.  Hays  and  Homer  Cummings,  chair- 
men of  the  Republican  and  Democratic  National  Committees,  for 
their  services  in  behalf  of  the  Federal  Suffrage  Amendment. 

Five  large  rooms  in  the  hotel  were  required  for  the  1,400 
guests  who  attended  the  "ratification  banquet"  the  evening  of 
February  14  and  there  were  almost  as  many  disappointed  women 
who  could  not  obtain  seats.  Mrs.  Catt  presided  and  the  following 
program  of  sparkling  speeches  was  given :  The  Apology  of  New 
York  [for  re-election  of  U.  S.  Senator  Wadsworth],  Mrs.  K. 
Louis  Slade;  The  Specials  of  the  Middle  West,  Mrs.  Peter  Ole- 
sen,  Minnesota;  Tradition  vs.  Justice,  Mrs.  Pattie  Jacobs,  Ala- 
bama; By  the  Grace  of  Governors,  Dr.  Grace  Raymond  Ilebard, 
Wyoming;  "All's  Well  That  Ends  Well,"  Mrs.  T.  T.  Cotnam, 
Arkansas.  Mrs.  Halsey  W.  Wilson,  "cheer  leader,"  had  pre- 
pared a  program  of  well-known  songs  cleverly  adapted  to  suffrage 
and  set  to  popular  airs. 

The  culminating  feature,  arranged  by  Mrs.  Richard  E.  Ed- 
wards, was  a  living  "ratification  valentine."  On  the  stage  was 
disclosed  a  big  heart  of  silver  and  blue  and  in  the  opening  appeared 
one  after  another  the  faces  of  the  presidents  of  the  States  \vl 
Legislatures  had  ratified  and  they  recited  caustic  but  guod 
humored  rhymes  at  the  expense  of  the  women  whose  States  were 
still  in  outer  darkness.  It  was  a  hilarious  occasion  greatly 
enjoyed  by  the  younger  suffragists  and  those  who  had  come  late 

from  the  National  American  Woman  Suffrage  Association.  It  then  passed  to  Dr.  Anna 
Howard  Shaw  and  was  in  her  home  at  Moylan,  Penn.,  until  the  national  suffrage 
headquarters  were  opened  in  Washington  December,  1916,  when  it  was  taken  there. 
At  the  time  they  were  closed,  after  the  Federal  Suffrage  Amendment  had  been  submitted 
by  Congress,  the  table  found  a  final  haven  in  the  Smithsonian  Institution. 


NATIONAL   AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IO.2O  6l  I 

into  the  movement.  Many  memories  were  awakened,  however, 
in  those  older  in  years  and  service  of  the  days  when  conventions 
were  largely  a  time  of  serious  conferences  and  impassioned 
appeal ;  a  time  when  one  banquet  table  was  all  sufficient  but  those 
who  gathered  around  it  were  very  near  and  dear  to  each  other 
as  they  consecrated  themselves  anew  to  continue  the  work  till  the 
hour  of  victory,  which  seemed  very  far  ahead. 

The  1 4th  of  February  was  the  seventy-third  birthday  of  Dr. 
Shaw,  who  had  died  the  preceding  July  2,  and  the  I5th  -was  the 
one  hundredth  of  Susan  B.  Anthony,  falling  on  Sunday  this  year, 
but  it  was  arranged  to  have  the  memorial  services  for  Dr.  Shaw 
on  the  afternoon  of  this  day.  The  following  program  was  car- 
ried out: 

MEMORIAL  TO  DR.  ANNA  HOWARD  SHAW 

Fourth  Presbyterian  Church 

Corner  Lake  Shore  Drive  and  Delaware  Place 

Dr.  Stone,  pastor  of  the  church,  presiding. 

Sunday,  February  15,  1921. 

"She  was  a  genuine  American  with  all  the  qualities  which  in  fiction 
collect  about  that  name  but  which  are  not  so  often  seen  in  real  life;  an 
American  with  the  measureless  patience,  the  deep  and  gentle  humor, 
the  whimsical  and  tolerant  philosophy  and  the  dauntless  courage, 
physical  as  well  as  moral,  which  we  find  most  satisfyingly  displayed 
in  Lincoln,  of  all  our  heroes." — New  York  Times. 

an  Prelude,  "In  Memoriam." 
Anthem  by  Choir,  "How  blest  are  they." 
Invocation. 

them,  "Crossing  the  bar." 

Scripture  Lesson,  Bishop  Samuel  Fallows,  D.D.,  LL.D. 
Greetings  and  Communications,  Miss  (  amline  Kuutz-Rees. 

Ircss — Memory  Pictures,  Mrs.  Florence  Cotnam. 
Anthem — The*   Shepherds   and    Wise    Men.      ( ( 'ompn^ed    for  this 
occasion  by  \\  ittrr  1'vnner  and  A.  Madely  Richardson.) 

-The  Courageous  Leader,  Mrs.  James  Lees  Laidlaw. 
Address  -Reminiscences,  Miss  Jane  Addams. 
Address — Mrs.  Carrie  Chapman  Catt. 

ig  Word,  Rev.  John  Timothy  Stone,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

•iix  well,  Dr.  Caroline  Hartlett  Crane. 
:im~-"My  Country  Tis  of  Thee." 

•  diction. 

•  ir  Kef  rain. 

<  'ri-aii    I'c.tlude — Toccata. 


6l2  HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

Eric  Delamater,  formerly  director  of  the  Chicago  Symphony 
Orchestra,  was  the  organist.  It  was  a  most  impressive  occasion 
with  many  evidences  of  deep  feeling,  and,  although  it  was  a 
church  service,  the  audience  responded  with  warm  applause  as 
Mrs.  Catt  closed  her  eulogy  with  this  beautiful  comparison:  "A 
significant  ceremony  is  performed  each  Easter  in  the  Church  of 
the  Holy  Sepulcher  in  Jerusalem.  In  the  wall  that  encloses  the 
tomb  of  Christ  there  is  an  opening  which  on  Easter  Sunday  is 
surrounded  by  priests  of  the  shrine  carrying  unlighted  candles. 
It  is  believed  that  the  candles  are  touched  into  flame  by  a  holy 
fire  emanating  from  Divinity  through  this  opening.  Also  pro- 
vided with  candles  are  the  worshippers  who  throng  the  church, 
the  nearby  receiving  their  light  from  the  priests  and  passing  it 
on  until  every  candle  is  aflame.  Men  nearest  the  door  hasten  to 
light  the  candles  of  horsemen  outside  who  speed  away  on  the 
mission  of  torchbearer  to  every  home,  so  that  by  nightfall  the 
candles  on  every  altar  burn  with  a  new  brightness  that  has  been 
transmitted  from  the  holy  fire.  Likewise  the  fire  of  inspiration, 
kindled  in  the  great  soul  of  Anna  Howard  Shaw,  touched  into 
flame  the  zeal  and  courage  of  her  messengers,  who  in  turn  reached 
the  homes  throughout  the  nation  with  her  fervor  and  power." 

[Dr.  Shaw  had  given  forty-five  years  of  consecrated  devotion 
to  the  cause  of  woman  suffrage  and  this  was  the  first  national 
convention  for  nearly  thirty  years  without  the  inspiration  of  her 
presence.  She  first  met  Miss  Anthony  at  the  International  Coun- 
cil of  Women  in  Washington  in  1888  and  from  that  time  gave 
her  the  deepest  affection  and  truest  allegiance.  While  the  years 
went  by  she  became  nearer  and  dearer  to  Miss  Anthony  and  was 
loved  by  her  beyond  all  others.  As  an  orator  she  played  upon 
the  whole  gamut  of  human  emotions,  lifting  her  audiences  to 
intellectual  heights,  touching  their  sentiment  with  her  exquisite 
pathos,  convincing  them  with  her  keen  logic  and  winning  their 
hearts  with  her  irresistible  humor.  People  not  only  admired  but 
loved  her,  and  this  was  true  not  alone  in  the  United  States  but  in 
all  parts  of  the  world,  as  she  had  addressed  international  con- 
gresses in  most  of  the  large  cities  of  Europe.  She  lived  to  see 
the  submission  by  Congress  of  the  Federal  Suffrage  Amendment 


NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    1Q2O  613 

and  to  render  most  valuable  assistance  to  her  country  during  the 
\Vnrld  War  as  chairman  of  the  Woman's  Committee  of  the 
Council  of  National  Defense,  and  she  died  in  its  service.] 

There  was  considerable  discussion  in  the  convention  of  a  suit- 
able memorial  to  Dr.  Shaw  and  finally  a  resolution  was  adopted 
that  the  association  establish  an  official  joint  memorial — at  Bryn 
Mawr  College  a  Foundation  in  Politics  and  at  the  Woman's  Medi- 
cal ( 'ollege  of  Pennsylvania  a  Foundation  in  Preventive  Medicine 
— as  a  fitting  continuation  of  her  life  work; l  that  a  committee 
he  appointed  to  carry  out  the  project  by  appealing  to  the  women 
throughout  the  country  and  that  this  committee  be  incorporated 
and  assume  the  financial  responsibility.2  The  Chair  presented  as 
the  first  donation  towards  the  fund  a  check  of  $1,000  sent  by  Mrs. 
( ieorge  Howard  Lewis  of  Buffalo,  in  memory  of  Dr.  Shaw  on  her 
birthday.  The  gift  -was  accompanied  by  an  eloquent  tribute  from 
Mrs.  Lewis,  an  intimate  and  devoted  friend  of  nearly  twenty 
>,  in  which  she  gave  beautiful  quotations  from  Dr.  Shaw's 
letters  and  an  extract  from  her  charming  autobiography,  The 
Story  of  a  Pioneer.3 

As  had  long  been  the  custom  the  officers  of  the  association  gave 
an  informal  reception  to  the  delegates  and  friends  on  Sunday 
evening.  This  took  place  in  the  Congress  Hotel  and  they  were 
assisted  by  the  local  committee  of  arrangements. 

The  final  report  of  the  Oversea  Hospitals  maintained  by  the 

1  Dr.  Shaw  was  a  graduate  of  Albion  College,  Mich.;  of  the  medical  department  of 
ton  University  and  of  its  School  of  Thcolopy.  The  honorary  degree  of  LL.D.  was 
iferred  on  her  by  Temple  University,  Philadelphia. 

:  Mrs.  John  O.  Miller,  president  of  the  Pennsylvania  State  Suffrage  Association,  was 
linted  chairman  of  this  committee,  to  which  six  others  were  added  and  it  was 
to  raise  $500,000  to  be  divided  between  the  two  colleges.  When  Bryn  Mawr 
IK  making  its  "drive"  for  $2,000,000  in  1920  it  included  an  appeal  for  $100.000  for 
lis  chair  in  politics,  which  were  subscribed.  The  Medical  College  raised  $30.000  for 
chair  in  preventive  medicine.  The  committee  hopes  to  have  the  full  amount  by 
?eb.  14,  1922. 

Several  months  before,  at  the  invitation  of  Dean  Virginia  C.   Gildersleeve,  a  meeting 
been    held    at    Barnard    College,    Columbia    University,    to    arrange    for    the    Anna 
Shaw  Chair  of  American   Citizenship.      It  was  addressed   by   President    Nicholas 
lurray  Butler,  who  strongly  favored  it;  by  Dean  Gildersleeve,  Mrs.  James  Lees  Laidlaw 
other   alumnae  and   a  committee    formed   to   raise  $100,000,    of  which   amount   $4,000 
re  subscribed  at  that  tin\e.     Mrs.  George   McAncny   (a  daughter  of  Dr.   Mary  Putnam 
i)    was   made   chairman   and    the  .hers   were    Barnard    alumnae    and    well- 

workers  for  woman  suffrage.     The  convention  was  asked  to  endorse  the  project, 
was  done.     Thr  expects  soon  to  have  the  full   amount.     These  lectures 

m    Citizenship   will    not   be    confined    to   Barnard    students   but   will   be   offered 
women  in  general. 
'  For  accounts  and  tributes  see  Appendix  for  this  chapter. 


614  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

National  Association,  as  given  by  Mrs.  Charles  L.  Tiffany,  chair- 
man, and  Mrs.  Raymond  Brown,  general  director  in  France,  is 
in  the  chapter  on  the  War  Work  of  Organized  Suffragists. 

A  brief  report  of  the  Leslie  Bureau  of  Education  was  made  by 
Miss  Young  who  said :  "The  Leslie  Bureau  was  founded  by  Mrs. 
Catt  in  1917,  as  administratrix  of  the  fortune  left  to  her  to  pro- 
mote the  cause  of  suffrage  by  Mrs.  Frank  Leslie.  Mrs.  Catt 
cherished  the  view  that  if  the  public  were  thoroughly  educated  on 
the  subject  of  suffrage  it  would  be  wholly  in  favor  of  it.  She 
proposed  to  set  aside  a  large  part  of  the  Leslie  fund  for  use  in 
channels  of  education.  I  was -appointed  director  of  the  bureau 
and  departmentalized  it  under  the  following  heads :  News,  Field 
Work,  Features,  Research.  .  .  .  The  Woman  Citizen  was  termed 
"an  adventure  in  journalism."  Miss  Young  -was  editor-in-chief 
and  business  manager  and  Miss  Mary  Ogden  White  was  associate 
editor.  "The  great  body  of  testimony  shows,"  she  said,  "that  the 
service  of  the  magazine  has  been  at  all  times  indispensable." 

Miss  Esther  G.  Ogden,  president  of  the  National  Woman  Suf- 
frage Publishing  Co.,  supplemented  Mrs.  Shuler's  report  of  its 
dissolution,  paid  a  tribute  to  its  board  of  directors  and  said :  "In 
reviewing  the  six  years  of  the  company's  existence  a  few  facts 
come  to  my  mind  which  I  think  may  interest  you.  We  have 
printed  and  distributed  over  50,000,000  pieces  of  literature.  Be- 
sides supplying  suffrage  material  to  practically  every  State  in  the 
Union  we  have  filled  orders  from  Switzerland,  France,  Italy, 
Great  Britain,  Norway,  Canada,  Philippine  Islands,  Hawaiian 
Islands,  Porto  Rico,  Argentina,  China  and  Japan.  Recently  we 
have  been  asked  to  send  a  complete  line  of  our  publications  to 
the  new  American  Library  in  Rome,  Italy,  and  nearly  every  day 
•we  receive  requests  for  pamphlets  from  libraries  all  over  the 
United  States  and  from  universities  for  their  extension  courses. 
My  correspondence  and  association  with  suffragists  over  the  coun- 
try through  the  Publishing  Company  will  ever  be  among  the  hap- 
piest memories  of  my  life." 

Almost  every  State  president  submitted  a  report  of  vigorous 
work  either  to  secure  the  suffrage  or  where  this  had  been  done 
to  organize  and  put  into  operation  a  League  of  Women  Voters. 


NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQ2O  615 

Never  before  in  the  history  of  the  National  Association  had  so 
much  interest  and  activity  been  manifest  in  the  States. 

The  Pioneer  Suffrage  Luncheon  with  Mrs.  McCormick  pre- 
siding brought  together  many  of  the  older  workers,  whose  re- 
joicing over  the  final  victory  after  their  long  years  of  toil  and 
sacrifice  such  as  the  younger  ones  had  never  known,  was  les- 
sened by  the  thought  that  this  was  the  last  of  the  love  feasts 
which  they  had  shared  together  for  many  decades.  The  re- 
sponse to  the  leading  toast — What  the  Modern  Woman  Owes  to 
the  Pioneers — was  made  by  the  Rev.  Olympia  Brown,  now  eighty- 
four  years  old,  whose  excellent  voice  was  not  equalled  among  any 
of  the  younger  women.  Songs,  reminiscences  and  clever,  infor- 
mal speeches  contributed  to  a  most  delightful  afternoon. 

It  had  been  a  keen  disappointment  that  the  Jubilee  Convention 
of  the  preceding  year — March,  1919 — which  marked  the  fiftieth 
anniversary  of  the  founding  of  the  association,  could  not  have 
celebrated  the  submission  of  the  Federal  Suffrage  Amendment 
but  this  had  to  await  a  new  Congress.  Now  it  -was  almost  unen- 
durable that  this  commemoration  of  Miss  Anthony's  one  hun- 
dredth birthday  could  not  have  been  glorified  by  the  proclamation 
that  this  amendment  was  forever  a  part  of  the  National  Consti- 
tution. However,  by  the  time  another  month  had  rolled  by,  this 
culmination  of  her  life  work  awaited  the  ratification  of  only  one 
more  Legislature  and  it  was  so  universally  recognized  as  near  at 
hand  that  this  last  meeting  could  appropriately  be  termed  the 
Victory  Convention.  Following  is  the  program  of  the  celebration 
of  her  centenary: 

SUSAN   B.   ANTHONY  CENTENARY    <TM  T.R  VI  loN. 

"To  me  Susan  R.  Anthony  was  an  unceasing  inspiration — the  torch 

thai   illumined  my  life.     We  went  through  some  difficult  times  to- 

r — years   when   we    fought   hard    for   each    inch   of    headway 

md  full  compensation  for  every  effort  in  the  glory 

<>rkiii£  with  her  for  the  cause  that  was  first  in  our  hearts  and 

in  the  happiness  of  being  her  trusted  friend." — Anna  Howard  Shaw. 

MONDAY,  FEBRUARY  16,  1920,  2  p.  m. 

What  Happened  in  Ten  Decades  Briefly  Told: 
1820-1830—  I  and  1 

Mrs.  1C.  !•".  1'Yicl.  dent  of  New  Jersey. 


6l6  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

1830-1840— The  First  School  Suffrage. 

Mrs.  Desha  Breckenridge,  president  of  Kentucky. 
1840-1850 — The  Dawn  of  Property  Rights. 

Mrs.  Walter  McNab  Miller,  former  president  of 

Missouri. 
1850-1860— The  First  High  School  for  Girls. 

Miss  Alice  Stone  Blackwell,  president  of  Massa- 
chusetts. 
1860-1870— The  World's  First  Full  Suffrage. 

Dr.  Grace  Raymond  Hebard,  professor  of  Political 

Science,  University  of  Wyoming. 
1870-1880— The  Negro's  Hour. 

Mrs.  Henry  Youmans,  president  of  Wisconsin. 
1880-1890— The  First  Municipal  Suffrage. 

Mrs.  William  A.  Johnston,  president  of  Kansas. 
1890-1900 — Suffrage  Spreads. 

Mrs.  Ida  Porter  Boyer,  former  press  director  of 

Pennsylvania. 
1900-1910 — Ridicule  Gives  Way  to  Argument,  Indifference  to 

to  Organization. 

Mrs.  Harriet  Taylor  Upton,  president  of  Ohio. 
1910-1920 — The  Portent  of  Victory. 

Mrs.  Raymond  Brown,  national  vice-president. 
Miss   Anthony — An   Appreciation,    Mrs.    Harriette   Taylor   Tread- 
well,  member  of  the  Illinois  board. 

Miss  Anthony — A  Historical  Recognition,  Mrs.  Helen  H.  Gardener, 
national  vice-president. 

THE  SUFFRAGE  HONOR  ROLL. 

"Undaunted  by  opposition  brave  spirits  led  on." 
PRESENTATION  OF  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS  BY  THE  NATIONAL  AMERI- 
CAN  WOMAN   SUFFRAGE   ASSOCIATION   to   Pioneers,   those  who 
labored  before  1880;  Veterans,  those  who  labored  between  1880 
and  1900;  Honor  Workers  after  1900. 

While  Mrs.  Catt  was  busy  handing  out  the  honor  rolls  to 
pioneers  and  veterans  with  a  few  precious  words  to  each,  Mrs. 
Upton  came  suddenly  forward  and  laid  a  detaining  hand  on  her 
arm.  With  tender  reminiscence,  relieved  by  the  sparkles  of 
humor  never  absent  from  whatever  she  said,  she  presented  in  the 
name  of  countless  suffragists  an  exquisite  pin,  a  large  star  sapphire 
surrounded  by  diamonds  and  set  in  platinum.  It  was  the  asso- 
ciation's parting  gift  to  its  beloved  leader,  whose  usually  perfect 
poise  deserted  her  and  she  could  not  acknowledge  it.  To  her 
whispered  appeal  to  Mrs.  Upton  to  speak  for  her,  the  latter  laugh- 


NATIONAL    AMERICAN    CONVENTION    OF    IQ2O  617 

ingly  answered  that  this  was  the  first  time  she  ever  was  able  to 
do  something  that  Mrs.  Catt  could  not. 

The  evening  part  of  the  celebration  began  with  community 
singing,  William  Griswold  Smith,  director,  and  was  followed  by 
an  illustration  of  Then  and  Now,  Told  in  Pictures,  under  the 
management  of  Miss  Young.  Down  a  wide  flight  of  stairs  came 
one  picturesque  figure  after  another  garbed  to  represent  the 
passing  years  during  the  suffrage  contest,  beginning  with  the 
middle  of  the  last  century,  many  clothed  in  the  actual  garments 
worn  at  the  period,  and  after  crossing  the  stage  they  took  their 
seats  in  tiers,  a  lovely  spectacle.  At  the  last  came  the  Red  Cross 
workers,  the  nurses,  the  motor  corps  and  others  in  war  service. 
The  picture  ended  with  a  gay  group  of  debutantes  in  filmy  chiffon 
gowns  to  symbolize  the  present  day  of  rejoicing.  The  triumphs 
of  women  in  the  intellectual  field  were  told  in  the  program  that 
followed:  Education — Professor  Maria  L.  Sanford;  Medicine — 
Dr.  Julia  Holmes  Smith ;  Law — Miss  Florence  Allen ;  Theology 
— the  Rev.  Olympia  Brown ;  Journalism — Miss  Ethel  M.  Colson ; 
Politics — Miss  Mary  Garrett  Hay. 

Different  sections  of  the  League  of  Women  Voters  were  in 
session  day  and  night  perfecting  the  organization  of  this  most 
significant  association  of  women  ever  attempted.  The  culmination 
of  seventy  years'  continuous  effort  was  about  to  be  reached  in  the 
complete  and  universal  enfranchisement  of  women  and  now  a 
new  generation,  under  the  guidance  of  the  older  workers  who 
remained,  was  bravely  taking  up  another  great  task,  that  of  bring- 
ibout  cooperation  among  women  in  the  effective  use  of  this 
supreme  power  for  the  highest  welfare  of  the  State.  On  the  last 
afternoon  of  the  convention  the  National  American  Woman  Suf- 
frage Association  and  the  League  of  Women  Voters  held  a  joint 
ion  for  discussion  of  matters  in  which  they  had  a  mutual  in- 
terest. On  the  last  evening,  just  before  the  beginning  of  the 
session  of  the  School  for  Political  Education  in  the  Floren- 
tine Room,  Mrs.  Catt,  with  suitable  ceremony  formally  adjourned 
Victory  Convention,  the  last  of  a  series  held  for  fifty  years 
by  the  old  association. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

THE    FEDERAL    AMENDMENT     FOR    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE.1 

The  first  convention  in  all  history  to  consider  the  Rights  of 
Women  was  called  by  Lucretia  Mott,  Elizabeth  Cady  Stanton 
and  two  others  to  meet  July  19,  20,  1848,  at  Seneca  Falls  in 
western  New  York,  Mrs.  Stanton's  home.2  In  1851  the  work- 
was  taken  up  by  Susan  B.  Anthony,  destined  to  be  its  supreme 
leader  for  the  next  half  century.  Meetings  soon  began  to  take 
place  and  societies  to  be  formed  in  various  States,  so  that  by 
1 86 1  there  was  a  well-defined  movement  toward  woman  suffrage. 
Large  conventions  were  held  annually  in  eastern  and  western 
cities,  in  which  the  most  prominent  men  and  women  participated. 
The  commencement  of  the  Civil  War  ended  all  efforts  for  this 
object  and  its  leaders  devoted  themselves  for  the  next  five  years 
to  the  women's  part  of  every  war.  In  May,  1866,  Mrs.  Stanton 
and  Miss  Anthony  issued  a  call  for  the  scattered  forces  to  come 
together  in  convention  in  New  York  City,  and  here  began  the 
movement  for  woman  suffrage  which  continued  without  a  break 
for  fifty- four  years. 

No  large  extension  of  the  franchise  had  been  made  since  the 
government  was  founded  except  to  the  working  men  between 
iXjo  and  1830  and  this  had  been  accomplished  by  amending 
State  constitutions.  There  had  been  no  thought  of  enfranchising 
women  in  any  other  way  but  now  Congress,  for  the  purpose  of 
giving  the  ballot  to  the  recently  freed  negro  men,  was  about  to 
submit  an  amendment  to  the  National  Constitution.  This  con- 
vention was  called  to  protest  against  "class  legislation"  and  de- 
mand that  women  should  be  included.  It  adopted  a  Memorial  to 
Congress,  prepared  by  Mrs.  Stanton,  which  contained  a  portion  of 
Charles  Sumner's  great  speech,  Equal  Rights  for  All,  and  was 

1  The    History    is   indebted    for    this   chapter    to    Mrs.    Ida    Husted    Harper,    author    of 
the  Life  and  Work  of  Susan   B.   Anthony,  and   with   Miss  Anthony  of  Volume   IV  of  the 
History    of    Woman    Suffrage,    which    ended    with    1900. 

2  For  full  account  see   History  of   Woman   Suffrage,  Volume   I,   page   67. 

618 


FEDERAL    AMENDMENT    FOR    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

a  complete  statement  of  woman's  right  to  the  franchise.  In  Miss 
Anthony's  address  she  said:  "Up  to  this  hour  we  have  looked 
only  to  State  action  for  recognition  of  our  rights  but  now,  by 
the  results  of  the  war,  the  whole  question  of  suffrage  reverts  to 
Congress  and  the  United  States  Constitution.  The  duty  of 
( 'ongress  at  this  moment  is  to  declare  what  shall  be  the  true  basis 
of  representation  in  a  republican  form  of  government." 

As  soon  as  the  intention  to  submit  the  I4th  Amendment  was 
announced  Miss  Anthony  and  her  co-workers  began  rolling  up 
petitions  to  Congress  that  it  should  provide  for  the  enfranchise- 
ment of  women  and  tens  of  thousands  of  names  had  been  sent  to 
\Yashingtnn.  These  petitions  represented  the  first  effort  ever 
made  for  an  amendment  to  the  Federal  Constitution  for  woman 
suffrage  and  the  action  of  this  convention  marked  the  first  or- 
ganized demand — May  10,  1866.  At  this  time  the  American 
Kcjiial  Rights  Association  was  formed  and  the  Woman's  Rights 
Society  merged  with  it,  as  having  a  larger  scope.1 

The  following  month  the  I4th  Amendment  was  submitted  by 
Congress  for  the  ratification  of  the  State  Legislatures  and  it  was 
declarer!  adopted  by  the  necessary  three-fourths  in  July,  1868. 
liy  this  amendment  the  status  of  citizenship  was  for  the  first 
time  definitely  established — "All  persons  born  or  naturalized  in 
the  United  States  and  subject  to  the  jurisdiction  thereof  are 
citizens."  This  plainly  put  men  and  women  on  an  exact  equality 
as  to  citizenship.  Then  followed  the  broad  statement :  "No  State 
shall  make  or  enforce  any  law  which  shall  abridge  the  privileges 
or  immunities  of  citizens  of  the  United  States"  This  al-o 
Denned  to  guarantee  the  equal  rights  of  men  and  women.  It  was 
the  second  section  which  aroused  the  advocates  of  suffrage  for 
women  to  vigorous  protest: 

Section  2.    Representatives  shall  be  apportioned  among  the  several 

3   according   to   their   respective   numbers,    counting    the   whole 

numl)er  of  persons  in  each  State,  excluding  Indians  not  taxed.     But 

when  the  right  to  v<>te  at  any  election  for  the  choice  of  electors  for 

lent  and  Vice-President  of  the  United  States,  Representatives 

•Tigress,  the  Kxe-  'udicial   officers  of   a   State  or   the 

nietnl.fi-  'ature  thereof,  is  denied  to  the  wiilc  inhabitants 

i  years  of  age  and  eiti/cns  <>i  the  United  States, 

<  Life  and   Work  of   SUMO   B.   Anthony.  Chapter   XVI. 


620  HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

or  in  any  way  abridged  except  for  participation  in  rebellion  or  other 
crime,  the  basis  of  representation  therein  shall  be  reduced  in  the 
proportion  which  the  number  of  such  male  citizens  shall  bear  to  the 
whole  number  of  male  citizens  21  years  of  age  in  such  State. 

Up  to  this  time  there  was  no  mention  of  suffrage  in  the  Federal 
Constitution  except  the  provision  for  electing  members  of  the 
Lower  House  of  Congress  but  now  for  the  first  time  it  actually 
discriminated  against  women  by  imposing  a  penalty  on  the  States 
for  preventing  men  from  voting  but  leaving  them  entirely  free 
to  prohibit  women.  When  even  this  penalty  proved  insufficient 
to  protect  negro  men  in  their  attempts  to  vote,  Congress  in  1869 
submitted  a  I5th  Amendment  which  was  declared  ratified  the 
following  year :  "The  right  of  citizens  of  the  United  States  to 
vote  shall  not  be  denied  or  abridged  by  the  United  States  or  by 
any  State  on  account  of  race,  color  or  previous  condition  of 
servitude." 

Those  who  had  been  striving  for  two  decades  to  obtain  suffrage 
for  women  protested  by  every  means  in  their  power  against  this 
second  discrimination.  They  implored  and  demanded  that  the 
word  "sex"  should  be  included  in  this  amendment,  which  would 
have  forever  settled  the  question,  just  as  the  omission  of  the 
word  "male"  in  the  I4th  Amendment  would  have  settled  it.  The 
most  of  the  men  who  had  stood  by  them  in  their  early  struggles 
for  the  vote,  when  both  were  working  together  for  the  freedom 
of  the  slaves,  now  sacrificed  them  rather  than  imperil  the  political 
rights  of  the  negro  men.  Some  of  the  women  themselves  were 
persuaded  to  abandon  their  opposition  to  these  amendments  by 
the  promise  of  the  Republican  leaders  that  as  soon  as  they  were 
safely  intrenched  in  the  constitution  another  should  be  placed 
there  providing  for  woman  suffrage.  This  promise  they  did  not 
try  to  keep  and  it  remained  unfulfilled  over  fifty  years.  Miss 
Anthony  and  Mrs.  Stanton  were  never  for  one  moment  deceived 
or  silenced  but  in  their  paper,  The  Revolution,  they  opposed  these 
amendments  as  long  as  they  were  pending. 

Although  the  protests  were  in  vain  the  women  had  learned 
that  they  might  be  relieved  of  the  intolerable  burden  of  having 
to  obtain  the  suffrage  State  by  State  through  permission  of  a 


FEDERAL    AMENDMENT    FOR    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE  621 

majority  of  the  individual  voters.  They  had  seen  an  entire  class 
enfranchised  through  the  quicker  and  easier  way  of  amending 
the  Federal  Constitution  and  they  determined  to  invoke  this 
power  in  their  own  behalf.  From  the  office  of  The  Revolution  in 
New  York  in  the  autumn  of  1868  went  out  thousands  of  peti- 
tions to  be  signed  and  sent  to  Congress  for  the  submission  of  an 
amendment  to  enfranchise  women.  Immediately  after  its  as- 
sembling in  December,  1868,  Senator  S.  C.  Pomeroy  of  Kansas 
introduced  a  resolution  providing  that  "the  basis  of  suffrage  shall 
be  that  of  citizenship  and  all  native  or  naturalized  citizens  shall 
enjoy  the  same  rights  and  privileges  of  the  elective  franchise  but 
each  State  shall  determine  the  age,  etc."  A  few  days  later  Rep- 
resentative George  W.  Julian  of  Indiana  offered  one  in  the  House 
which  declared :  "The  right  of  suffrage  shall  be  based  on  citizen- 
ship .  .  .  and  all  citizens,  native  or  naturalized,  shall  enjoy  this 
right  equally  .  .  .  without  any  distinction  or  discrimination 
founded  on  sex."  These  were  the  first  propositions  ever  made  in 
Congress  for  woman  suffrage  by  National  Amendment. 

In  order  to  impress  Congress  with  the  seriousness  of  the  de- 
mand, a  woman's  convention — the  first  of  its  kind  to  meet  in 
the  national  capital — was  held  in  Washington  in  January,  1869. 
It  continued  several  days  with  large  audiences  and  an  array  of 
eminent  speakers,  including  Lucretia  Mott,  Clara  Barton,  Mrs. 
Stanton,  a  number  of  men  and  Miss  Anthony,  the  moving  spirit 
of  the  whole.  In  response  Congress  the  next  month  submitted 
the  1 5th  Amendment  with  even  a  stronger  discrimination  against 
women  than  the  I4th  contained. 

The  annual  gatherings  of  the  Equal  Rights  Association  had 
in  growing  more  and  more  stormy  while  the  I4th  and  15111 
Amendments  were  pending  and  the  point  was  reached  where  any 
criticism  of  them  made  by  the  women  was  met  by  their  advocates 
with  hisses  and  denunciation.  Finally  at  the  meeting  of  May  12, 
1869,  in  New  York  City,  with  Mrs.  Stanton  presiding,  an  attempt 
was  made,  led  by  Frederick  Douglass,  to  force  through  a  resolu- 
of  endorsement.  Miss  Anthony  opposed  it  in  an  impassioned 
h  in  which  she  said:  "h  you  will  not  give  the  whole  loaf 
<>t  justice  to  the  entire  people,  then  give  it  first  to  women,  to  the 


622  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

most  intelligent  and  capable  of  them  at  least.  ...  If  Mr.  Doug- 
lass had  noticed  who  applauded  when  he  said  black  men  first  and 
white  women  afterwards,  he  would  have  seen  that  it  was  only 
the  men." 

The  men  succeeded  in  wresting  the  control  of  the  convention 
from  the  women,  who  then  decided  that  the  time  had  come  for 
them  to  have  their  own  organization  and  endeavor  to  have  the 
question  of  their  enfranchisement  considered  entirely  on  its  own 
merits.  Three  days  later,  at  the  Women's  Bureau  in  East  23rd 
Street,  where  now  the  Metropolitan  Life  Building  stands,  with 
representatives  present  from  nineteen  States,  the  National  Woman 
Suffrage  Association  was  formed.  Mrs.  Stanton  was  made  presi- 
dent, Miss  Anthony  chairman  of  the  executive  committee.  One 
hundred  women  became  members  that  evening  and  here  was  begun 
the  organized  work  for  an  Amendment  to  the  Federal  Constitu- 
tion to  confer  woman  suffrage  which  was  to  continue  without 
ceasing  for  half  a  century.1  Its  constitution  declared  the  object 
of  the  association  to  be  "to  secure  the  ballot  to  the  women  of  the 
Nation  on  equal  terms  with  men."  On  June  I  its  executive  board 
sent  a  petition  to  Congress  for  "a  loth  Amendment  to  1>e  sub- 
mitted to  the  Legislatures  of  the  States  for  ratification  which  shall 
secure  to  all  citi/ens  the  rijjht  of  suffrage  without  distinction  of 
sex." 

Before  the  work  for  a  i6th  Amendment  was  fairly  organized 
a  number  of  members  of  Congress  and  constitutional  lawyers  took 
the  ground  that  women  were  already  enfranchised  by  the  first 
clause  of  the  I4th  Amendment.  At  the  convention  held  in  St. 
Louis  in  the  autumn  of  1869,  Francis  Minor,  a  prominent  lawyer 
of  that  city,  presented  this  position  so  convincingly  that  the  newly 
formed  National  Association  conducted  an  active  campaign  in  its 
favor  for  several  years.  In  1872  women  tried  to  vote  in  a  number 
of  States  and  in  a  few  of  them  were  successful.  Miss  Anthony's 
vote  was  accepted  in  Rochester,  N.  Y.,  and  later  she  was  arrested, 
charged  with  a  crime,  tried  by  a  Justice  of  the  U.  S.  Supreme 
Court  and  fined  $100.  The  inspectors  in  St.  Louis  refused  to 

1  The  American  Woman  Suffrage  Association  was  organized  in  Cleveland,  O.,  Nov.  25, 
1869,  with  the  Rev.  Henry  Ward  Beecher,  president;  Lucy  Stone,  chairman  of  the 
executive  committee,  to  work  especially  for  amending  State  constitutions.  The  two 
bodies  united  in  February,  1890,  under  the  name  National  American  and  the  association 
thenceforth  worked  vigorously  by  both  methods. 


FEDERAL    AMENDMENT    FOR    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE  623 

register  Mrs.  Francis  Minor,  she  brought  suit  against  them,  and 
her  husband  carried  the  case  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States  (Minor  vs.  Happersett).  He  made  an  able  and  exhaustive 
argument  but  an  adverse  decision  was  rendered  March  29,  I875.1 

The  women  then  returned  to  the  original  demand  for  a  i6th 
Amendment,  which  indeed  many  of  them,  including  Miss  Anthony 
and  Mrs.  Stanton,  never  had  entirely  abandoned.  Beginning  with 
1869  Congressional  committees  had  granted  hearings  on  woman 
suffrage  every  winter,  even  though  no  resolution  was  before  them. 
ruder  the  auspices  of  the  National  Association  petitions  by  the 
tens  of  thousands  continued  to  pour  into  Congress,  which  were 
publicly  presented.  Finally  on  Jan.  10,  1878,  Senator  A.  A. 
Sargent  of  California  offered  the  following  joint  resolution: 
"The  right  of  citizens  of  the  United  States  to  vote  shall  not  be 
denied  or  abridged  by  the  United  States  or  by  any  State  on  account 
of  sex." 

The  Committee  on  Privileges  and  Elections  granted  a  hearing 
which  consumed  a  part  of  two  days,  with  the  large  Senate  re- 
ception room  rilled  to  overflowing  and  the  corridors  crowded. 
Extended  hearings  were  given  also  by  the  House  Judiciary  Com- 
mittee and  constitutional  arguments  of  the  highest  order  were 
made  by  noted  women  in  attendance  at  the  national  suffrage  con- 
vention. The  Senate  committee  reported  adversely,  however, 
and  the  House  committee  not  at  all.  This  took  place  over  forty 
years  ago.  Senator  Sargent's  amendment,  which  in  later  years 
was  sometimes  called  the  Susan  B.  Anthony  Amendment,  was 
presented  to  every  Congress  during  this  period  and  hearings  were 
granted  by  committees  of  every  one.  The  women  who  made 
their  pleadings  and  arguments  simply  to  persuade  these  com- 
mittees to  give  a  favorable  report  and  bring  the  question  before 
their  respective  Houses  for  debate  comprised  the  most  distin- 
guished this  country  had  produced.  It  is  only  by  reading  their 
addresses  in  the  History  of  Woman  Suffrage  that  one  can  form 
an  idea  of  their  masterly  exposition  of  laws  and  constitution, 
their  logic,  strength  and  oftentimes  deep  pathos. 

There  are  in  the  pages  of  history  many  detached  speeches  of 
rare  eloquence  for  the  rights  of  man  but  nowhere  else  is  there  so 

story  of  Woman  Suffrage,  Volume  II.  pace  734- 


624  HISTORY   OF   WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

long  an  unbroken  record  of  appeals  for  these  rights — the  rights  of 
man  and  woman.  Again  and  again  at  the  close  of  the  suffrage 
hearings  the  chairman  and  members  of  the  committee  said  that 
none  on  other  questions  equalled  them  in  dignity  and  ability.  From 
1878  to  1896  there  were  five  favorable  majority  reports  from 
Senate  committees,  two  from  House  committees  and  four  adverse 
reports.  Thereafter,  when  Miss  Anthony  no  longer  spent  her 
winters  in  Washington  and  persisted  in  having  a  report,  none  of 
any  kind  was  made  until  the  movement  for  woman  suffrage 
entered  a  new  era  in  1912.  One  significant  event,  however,  oc- 
curred during  this  time.  Largely  through  the  efforts  of  Senator 
Henry  W.  Blair  (Rep.)  of  New  Hampshire,  the  resolution  for  a 
1 6th  Amendment  was  brought  before  the  Senate.  After  a  long 
and  earnest  discussion  the  vote  on  Jan.  25,  1887,  resulted  in 
1 6  ayes,  all  Republican;  34  noes,  eleven  Republican,  twenty-three 
Democratic;  twenty-six  absent.1 

It  early  became  apparent  to  the  leaders  of  the  movement  that 
there  would  have  to  be  a  good  deal  of  favorable  action  by  the 
States  before  Congress  would  give  serious  consideration  to  this 
question  and  therefore  under  the  auspices  of  the  National  Ameri- 
can Association,  they  continuously  helped  with  money  and  work 
the  campaigns  for  securing  the  suffrage  by  amendment  of  State 
constitutions.  Miss  Anthony  herself  took  part  in  eight  such  cam- 
paigns, only  to  see  all  of  them  end  in  failure.  Up  to  1910  there 
had  been  at  least  twenty  and  only  two  had  been  successful- 
Colorado,  1893;  Idaho,  1896;  Wyoming  and  Utah  had  equal 
suffrage  while  Territories  and  came  into  the  Union  with  it  in 
their  constitutions,  but  all  were  sparsely  settled  States  whose  in- 
fluence on  Congress  was  slight.  Commercialism  had  become  the 
dominating  force  in  politics  and  moral  issues  were  crowded  into 
the  background.  Nevertheless  in  every  direction  was  evidence  of 
an  increasing  public  sentiment  in  favor  of  woman  suffrage  in  the 
accession  of  men  and  women  of  influence,  in  the  large  audiences 
at  the  meetings,  in  the  official  endorsement  of  all  kinds  of  organi- 
zations— the  Federation  of  Labor,  the  Grange  and  many  others  of 
men,  of  women  and  of  the  two  together,  for  educational,  patriotic, 

1  For  full  account  see  History  of  Woman  Suffrage,  Volume  IV,  Chapter  VI. 


FEDERAL    AMENDMENT    FOR    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE  625 

religious,  civic  and  varied  purposes  almost  without  number. 
There  was  not  yet,  however,  any  strong  political  influence  back 
of  this  movement  which  was  so  largely  of  a  political  nature. 

In  1910  an  insurgent  movement  developed  in  Congress  and 
extended  into  various  States  to  throw  off  the  party  yoke  and  the 
domination  of  "special  interests"  and  adopt  progressive  measures. 
One  of  its  first  fruits  was  the  granting  of  suffrage  to  women  by 
the  voters  in  the  State  of  Washington.  Under  the  same  influence 
the  women  of  California  were  enfranchised  in  1911,  a  far-reach- 
ing victory.  In  1912  Oregon,  Arizona  and  the  well  populated 
State  of  Kansas  adopted  woman  suffrage  by  popular  vote.  In 

1913  the  new  Legislature  of  Alaska  granted  it,  and  that  of  Illinois 
gave  all  that  was  possible  without  a  referendum  to  the  voters, 
including  municipal,  county  and  that  for  Presidential  electors.    In 

1914  Nevada  and  Montana  completed  the  enfranchisement  of 
women  in  the  western  part  of  the  United  States,  except  in  New 
Mexico. 

The  effect  upon  Congress  of  the  addition  of  between  three  and 
four  million  women  to  the  electorate  was  immediately  apparent. 
A  woman  suffrage  amendment  to  the  Federal  Constitution  had 
suddenly  become  a  live  question.  A  circumstance  greatly  in  its 
favor  was  the  shattering  of  the  traditional  idea  that  the  Federal 
^titution  must  not  be  further  amended,  by  the  adoption  of  two 
new  Articles — for  an  income  tax  and  the  election  of  U.  S.  Sena- 
tors by  the  voters. 

In  1912  came  the  division  in  Republican  ranks  and  the  forming 
of  the  Progressive  party,  headed  by  former  President  Theodore 
Roosevelt,  which  made  woman  suffrage  one  of  the  principal  planks 
in  its  platform,  and  for  the  first  time  it  took  a  place  among  the 
ir  political  issues.  The  Republican  party  so  long  in  power  \v;is 
lefeated.  Woman  suffrage  never  had  received  any  special  assist- 
from  this  party  during  its  long  regime'  hut  the  entire  situa- 
liad  now  changed.  The  National  Association  appointed  a 
mgressional  Committee  of  young,  energetic  women  headed  by 
Paul,  a  university  graduate  with  experience  in  civir 
work  in  this  country  and  England.  They  arranged  an  immense 
iffrage  parade  in  which  women  from  many  States  participated. 


626  HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

It  took  place  in  Washington  March  3,  1913,  the  day  before  the 
inauguration  of  Woodrow  Wilson,  and  the  new  administration 
entered  into  office  with  a  broader  idea  of  the  strength  of  the  move- 
ment than  its  predecessor  had  possessed.  An  extra  session  was 
soon  called  and  Senate  and  House  Resolution  Number  One,  intro- 
duced April  7,  was  for  a  Federal  Woman  Suffrage  Amendment. 
The  chairmanship  of  the  new  Senate  Committee  on  Woman  Suf- 
frage, instead  of  being  filled  as  usual  by  an  opponent,  was  given 
to  Senator  Charles  S.  Thomas  (Dem.)  of  Colorado,  always  an 
ardent  suffragist,  and  a  friendly  committee  was  appointed — 
Robert  L.  Owen  (Okla.)  ;  Henry  F.  Ashurst  (Ariz.)  ;  Joseph  K. 
Ransdell  (La.);  Henry  P.  Hollis,  (N.  H.)  ;  George  Sutherland 
(Utah)  ;  Wesley  L.  Jones  (Wash.)  ;  Moses  E.  Clapp  (Minn.)  ; 
Th< nuns  B.  Catron  (N.  M.).  There  were  now  eighteen  members 
of  the  Senate  with  women  constituents  and  several  million  women 
were  eligible  to  vote,  so  that  it  was  possible  to  bring  a  pressure 
which  had  never  before  existed.  Many  of  the  large  newspapers 
were  declaring  that  the  time  had  come  for  the  submission  of  this 
amendment  to  the  State  Legislatures. 

On  May  3  a  great  suffrage  procession  took  place  in  New  York 
with  n  mass  meeting  in  the  Metropolitan  Opera  House  addressed 
by  Colonel  Roosevelt,  who  made  a  ringing  speech  in  favor  of 
votes  for  women.  On  June  13  the  Senate  Committee  on  Woman 
Suffrage  gave  a  unanimous  favorable  report,  Senator  Catron,  the 
only  opponent,  not  voting.  On  July  31  the  resolution  was  dis- 
cussed on  the  floor  of  the  Senate,  twenty-two  speaking  in  favor 
and  three  in  opposition.  It  had  been  referred  to  the  Judiciary 
Committee  in  the  Lower  House,  where  resolutions  also  were  in- 
troduced for  the  creation  of  a  Committee  on  Woman  Suffrage 
and  referred  to  the  Committee  on  Rules.  During  July  pilgrimages 
of  women  came  from  different  parts  of  the  country  and  on  the 
3ist  a  petition  with  200,000  signatures  was  presented  to  the 
Senate  by  531  "pilgrims."  Three  deputations  called  on  President 
Wilson  asking  his  support  of  the  amendment,  one  from  the  Na-  • 
tional  American  Association,  one  from  the  National  College 
Equal  Suffrage  League  and  one  from  the  National  Council  of 
Women  Voters,  and  in  November  a  fourth  from  his  own  State 
of  New  Jersey.  Congress  remained  in  session  all  summer  and 


FEDERAL    AMENDMENT    FOR    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE  627 

mass  suffrage  meetings  in  theaters  were  held  in  Washington. 
The  large  corps  of  newspaper  correspondents  were  constantly  sup- 
plied with  news.  Countless  suffrage  meetings  were  held  in  Mary- 
land, Virginia  and  all  the  way  up  to  New  York  and  the  members 
were  kept  constantly  informed  of  the  activities  in  their  ownjiis- 
tricts.  On  September  18  Senator  Ashurst  announced  on  the  floor 
of  the  Senate  that  he  would  press  the  resolution  to  a  vote  at  the 
earliest  possible  moment  and  Senator  Andrieus  A.  Jones  of  New 
Mexico  spoke  in  favor  and  asked  for  immediate  action. 

During  the  regular  session  in  1914  the  resolution  was  discussed 
at  different  times  and  many  strong  speeches  in  favor  were  made. 
Tin.'  Senate  vote,  which  was  taken  on  March  19,  stood,  ayes,  35 : 
noes,  34;  lacking  eleven  of  a  necessary  two-thirds  majority. 
Twenty  Republicans,  one  Progressive  and  fourteen  Democrats 
voted  aye;  twelve  Republicans  and  twenty-two  Democrats  voted 
no;  ten  Republicans  and  sixteen  Democrats  were  absent.  For 
the  first  time  southern  Senators  declared  in  favor  of  giving  suf- 
frage to  women  by  amending  the  National  Constitution — Sena- 
Owen,  Ransdell,  Luke  Lea  of  Tennessee  and  Morris  Shep- 
pard  of  Texas  voting  in  the  affirmative. 

For  a  trial  vote  this  was  considered  satisfactory.     The  effort 
in  the  Lower  House  was  not  so  successful.     Its  Judiciary  Com- 
mittee had  been  continuously  opposed  to  allowing  the  amendment 
••ach  the  Representatives,  but  two  favorable  majority  reports 
having  been  made  in  the  thirty-six  years  during  which  the  ques- 
tion had  been  before  it    (  1 883.   iS<;o).     A  larger  Congressional 
tnittee  had  been  formed  by  the  National  Suffrage  Associa- 
tion, of  which  the  chairman  was  Mrs.  Ruth  Hanna  McCormick,  a 
daughter  of  former  U.  S.   Senator  Mark  Hanna,  who  had  in- 
herited   her    father's    genius    for   constructive   politics.      Head- 
quarters were  opened  in  the  Munsey  Huilding  in  Washington  and 
the  work  was  divided   into  three  departments — Lobby,  Publicity 
and  Organization.     Cart-fill  and  systematic  effort  was  made  and 
•llowrd  by  the  Senate  vote  recorded  above.    A  record  was 
;.iled  of  the  votes  of  every  member  of  I  on  prohibi- 

tion, child  labor  and  various  humanitarian  and  welfare-  measures 
and  sent  to  the  women  in  his  district  for  use  in  urging  him  to  vote 
i  rage  amendment.     Organizers  were   placed   where 


628  HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

needed  to  hold  meetings  and  arrange  for  chairmen  of  counties 
who  would  cooperate  with  the  national  committee  in  bringing 
pressure  on  members  from  their  own  constituencies. 

The  Federal  Amendment  as  usual  was  held  up  in  the  House 
Judiciary  Committee  in  1914.  The  suffrage  leaders  had  tried  for 
years  to  get  a  House  Committee  on  Woman  Suffrage,  such  as 
the  Senate  had.  A  resolution  for  this  purpose  had  been  introduced 
by  Representative  Edward  T.  Taylor  of  Colorado  in  April,  1913, 
referred  to  the  Committee  on  Rules,  an  extended  hearing  granted, 
but  no  action  taken.  Mrs.  McCormick's  committee  brought  great 
pressure  to  bear  and  on  Jan.  24,  1914,  the  question  came  before 
the  Committee  on  Rules  through  a  motion  by  Representative 
Irvine  L.  Lenroot  (Wis.)  to  make  a  favorable  report.  Eight  of 
the  eleven  members  were  present  and  Martin  D.  Eoster  (Ills.), 
Philip  P.  Campbell  (Kans.),  and  M.  Clyde  Kelly  (Penn.)  voted 
with  Mr.  Lenroot;  James  C.  Cantrill  (Ky.),  Einis  J.  Garrett 
(Tenn.),  Edward  W.  Pou  (N.  C.;  and  Thos.  W.  Hardwick 
(Ga.)  voted  in  the  negative,  making  a  tie.  Two  of  the  absent 
members  were  known  to  be  favorable  and  a  Democratic  caucus 
was  called  for  February  3  to  discuss  the  matter.  Just  before  it 
met  the  Democratic  members  of  the  Ways  and  Means  Committee, 
who  constitute  the  ruling  body  of  that  party's  membership,  met 
in  the  office  of  Representative  Oscar  W.  Underwood  (Ala.). 
Representative  John  E.  Raker  (Cal.)  offered  a  resolution  for  tilt- 
creation  of  a  Committee  on  Woman  Suffrage.  Representative 
J.  Thomas  Heflin  (Ala.)  moved  a  substitute:  "Resolved,  that  it 
is  the  sense  of  this  caucus  that  woman  suffrage  is  a  State  and 
not  a  Federal  question."  It  was  carried  by  123  ayes,  55  noes 
and  further  action  blocked. 

The  House  Judiciary  Committee,  after  granting  a  hearing  to 
the  suffragists  on  March  3,  1914,  voted  to  report  the  resolution 
for  a  Federal  Amendment  "without  recommendation."  At  a 
meeting  of  the  Rules  Committee  August  27  Representative 
Campbell  moved  that  an  opportunity  be  given  to  the  House  to 
vote  on  submitting  this  amendment.  Representatives  Pou,  Gar- 
rett  and  Cantrill  voted  to  adjourn;  Campbell,  Kelly  and  Goldfogle 


FEDERAL    AMENDMENT    FOR    WOMAN    SUFFRA^F,  629 

(N.  Y.)  against  it.     Chairman  Robert  L.  Henry  (Texas)  gave 
the  deciding  vote  to  adjourn.1 

During  this  year  of  1914,  while  such  heroic  efforts  were  being 
made  to  secure  favorable  action  by  Congress  on  a  Federal 
Amendment  and  the  workers  were  being  told  that  they  should 
look  to  the  States  for  the  suffrage,  hard  campaigns  were  carried 
on  for  this  purpose  in  seven  States.  Tn  only  two,  and  those  the 
most  sparsely  settled — Montana  and  Nevada — were  they  suc- 
cessful. Even  these  had  their  influence,  however,  as  they  added 
four  to  the  U.  S.  Senators  who  were  elected  partly  by  the  votes 
of  women.  The  National  Suffrage  Association  continued  Mrs. 
McCormick  as  chairman  of  its  Congressional  Committee  and  she 
increased  her  forces.  Although  the  Judiciary  Committee  had 
reported  the  resolution  for  the  Federal  Amendment  "without 
recommendation"  Representative  Frank  W.  Mondell,  who  intro- 
duced it,  and  its  other  friends  were  determined  to  have  a  vote  on 
it  and  a  reluctant  consent  was  obtained  from  the  Committee  on 
Rules.  The  Congressional  Committee  directed  its  fullest  energies 
toward  obtaining  as  large  an  affirmative  vote  as  was  possible. 
Through  the  courtesy  of  Speaker  Champ  Clark  they  learned  who 
would  be  the  probable  speakers  and  carefully  assorted  literature 
was  ^cnt  them.  Thousands  of  letters  and  telegrams  poured  in  upon 
the  members  from  thoir  constituencies.  Every  available  pres- 

ire  was  used  to  obtain  favorable  votes  and  to  have  all  the  friends 
present.  Mr.  Mondell.  the  Republican  leader,  and  Mr.  Taylor, 
the  Democratic,  j^ave  fullest  support.  The  first  debate  on  this 
amendment  in  the  House  of  Representatives  took  place  on  Jan. 
12,  1915,  and  lasted  ten  hottrs  without  intermission.  At  its  con- 
clusion the  vote  resulted  in  174  ayes,  88  Republicans  and  Pro- 
gressives, 86  Democrats;  204  noes,  33  Republicans  and  171 
Democrats.  The  affirmative  vote  was  larger  than  expected.  The 
suffragists  had  been  thirty-seven  years  trying  to  secure  a  vote  in 
the  Lower  House  and  they  felt  that  this  was  the  beginning  which 
could  have  but  one  end. 

Both  the  suffragists  and  the  anti-suffragists  now  redoubled 
tlu-ir  efforts.     The  four  big  campaigns  of  1^15  in  Massachu 

1  In     101. i    and    the    yrars    following    strenuous    work    with    members   of    Congress    was 
done  by  the  Congressional  Union,  afterwards  called  the  National  Woman's  Party. 


630  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

New  York,  New  Jersey  and  Pennsylvania  for  suffrage  amend- 
ments to  their  State  constitutions  attracted  the  attention  of  the 
whole  country.  All  failed  of  success  at  the  November  election 
but  the  effects  were  not  wholly  disastrous.  The  announcement 
by  President  Wilson  and  the  majority  of  his  Cabinet  that  they 
were  in  favor  of  woman  suffrage  brought  many  doubters  into  the 
fold.  The  two-thirds  vote  of  Massachusetts  in  opposition  set  that 
State  aside  as  one  in  which  women  could  only  hope  to  gain  the 
suffrage  through  a  Federal  Amendment.  In  New  Jersey  in  one 
county  alone  thousands  of  votes  were  afterwards  found  to  have 
been  cast  illegally  and  there  was  colossal  fraud  throughout  the 
State,  yet  the  law  did  not  permit  the  question  to  be  submitted 
again  for  five  years.  In  Pennsylvania  the  amendment  polled  over 
46  per  cent  of  the  whole  vote  cast  on  it  and  was  defeated  by  the 
notoriously  dishonest  election  practices  of  Philadelphia,  but  by 
the  law  of  that  State  it  could  not  be  submitted  again  for  four 
years.  The  facts  thus  disclosed  converted  many  people  to  a  belief 
in  the  necessity  for  an  amendment  to  the  National  Constitution. 

In  New  York  the  measure  had  received  42^/2  per  cent,  of  the 
vote  cast  on  it;  in  New  Jersey  42  per  cent,  (by  the  returns),  and 
the  total  vote  in  the  four  States  of  a  million  and  a  quarter  for  the 
amendments  was  indisputable  evidence  of  the  large  sentiment  for 
woman  suffrage.  The  immense  cost  of  these  campaigns  in  time, 
labor  and  money  made  it  seem  more  than  ever  necessary  to  bring 
about  the  short  cut  to  the  universal  enfranchisement  of  women 
through  a  Federal  Amendment.  The  Congressional  Committee 
was  strengthened  and  as  Mrs.  McCormick  could  no  longer  act  as 
chairman  it  was  headed  by  Mrs.  Frank  M.  Roessing,  the  efficient 
president  of  the  State  association  in  the  recent  Pennsylvania  cam- 
paign. Resolutions  for  the  amendment  were  presented  to  the 
Senate  on  December  7  by  Senators  Thomas,  Sutherland  and 
Thompson  (Kans.).  On  Jan.  8,  1916,  the  favorable  report  was 
made  by  Senator  Thomas,  a  valuable  document,  widely  circulated 
by  the  National  Association.  This  was  the  year  of  the  Presi- 
dential campaign  and  there  was  no  time  when  the  prospect  for  a 
majority  vote  seemed  good  enough  to  take  the  risk.  It  was  care- 
fully considered  after  Judge  Charles  E.  Hughes,  the  Republican 
candidate  for  President,  made  his  declaration  for  the  Federal 


FEDERAL    AMENDMENT    FOR    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE  63! 

Amendment  but  many  members  were  absent  and  a  vote  was  not 
deemed  advisable.  The  planks  in  the  Republican  and  Democratic 
national  platforms  demanding  woman  suffrage  by  State  action  de- 
prived it  of  political  support. 

The  Judiciary  Committee  of  the  House,  Edwin  Y.  Webb 
(N.  C),  chairman,  added  to  its  unpleasant  reputation.  Resolu- 
tions for  the  amendment  were  introduced  in  December,  1915,  by 
live  members — Representatives  Mondell,  Raker,  Taylor,  Keating 
of  Colorado  and  Hayden  of  Arizona.  They  were  referred  to  a 
sub-committee  which  on  Feb.  9,  1916,  reported  one  of  them 
to  the  main  committee  "without  recommendation."  On  the  I5th 
it  sent  the  resolution  back  to  the  sub-committee  to  hold 
until  the  next  December  by  a  vote  of  9,  all  Democrats,  to  7, 
three  Democrats  and  four  Republicans.  As  this  was  done  when 
many  were  absent  the  Congressional  Committee  undertook  to 
have  the  Judiciary  take  up  the  resolution  again  when  the  full 
committee  could  be  present.  It  finally  agreed  to  do  so  on  March 
14.  Twenty  of  the  twenty-one  members  were  present,  nine  opr>o- 
ncnts  and  eleven  friends,  Hunter  H.  Moss  of  West  Virginia 
among  the  latter  coming  from  a  sick  bed.  A  motion  was  made 
to  reconsider  the  action  of  February  15,  which  Chairman  Webb 
ruled  out  of  order.  A  debate  of  an  hour  and  a  half  followed 
and  to  relieve  the  parliamentary  tangle  unanimous  consent  was 
given  to  act  on  the  amendment  resolution  March  28  at  10:30 
a.m.  Four  members  of  the  National  Association's  Congressional 
Committee  were  on  hand  at  that  time  but  the  Judiciary  went  at 
once  into  executive  session,  which  barred  them  out.  Instead  of 
nting  the  amendment  resolution  for  consideration,  which 
lie  chairman's  duty  when  there  was  a  special  order  of  busi- 
;.  lie  permitted  a  motion  to  postpone  all  constitutional  amend- 
u-iits  indefinitely!  Ten  of  the  members  present  were  pledged  to 

!<•  for  a  favorable  report  but  Representative  Leonidas  C.  Dyer 
if  Missouri  defaulted  and  voted  with  the  nine  opponents  and 
further  action  in  1916  was  possible. 


With  the  whole  country  now  aroii-c«|  to  the  importance  of  the 
)tes  of  women  in  the  election  •  idcnt  the  suffrage  leaders 

iw  the  opportune  time   for  pushing  a  measure  which  they  had 


632  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

long  advocated,  namely,  the  granting  to  women  by  State  Legisla- 
tures of  the  right  to  vote  for  Presidential  electors.  That  of 
Illinois  had  been  persuaded  to  do  this  in  1913 ;  they  had  exercised 
it  in  1916  and  its  constitutionality  had  been  established  by  the 
acceptance  of  the  State's  vote  in  the  Electoral  College.  As  soon 
as  the  Legislatures  of  the  various  States  met  in  1917  they  re- 
ceived from  the  headquarters  of  the  National  American  Associa- 
tion in  New  York  the  opinion  of  Chief  Justice  Walter  Clark  of 
North  Carolina  that  the  Federal  Constitution  empowered  Legis- 
latures to  determine  who  should  vote  for  Presidential  electors, 
with  the  authorities  and  arguments  to  support  it.  The  presidents 
of  the  State  suffrage  associations  affiliated  with  the  National  were 
prepared  to  take  up  the  matter  at  once  with  their  Legislatures  and 
as  a  result  those  of  North  Dakota,  Nebraska,  Indiana,  Michigan, 
Ohio  and  Rhode  Island  conferred  this  vote  on  women  during 
the  winter.  That  of  Arkai,  e  to  women  full  suffrage  in 

all  Primaries,  equivalent  to  a  vote  in  regular  elections,  and  that 
of  Vermont  gave  the  Municipal  franchise.  The  following 
November  came  the  great  victory  in  New  York. 

This  was  the  situation  when  Congress  met  in  December,  1917. 
Mrs.  Roessing  could  not  serve  longer  as  chairman  of  the  Con- 
gressional Committee  and  the  National  Association  had  appointed 
Mrs.  Maud  Wood  Park  (Mass.),  a  founder  and  organizer  of  the 
National  College  Women's  Suffrage  League,  who  had  taken  up 
the  work  in  March.  The  association,  whose  headquarters  were 
in  New  York  City,  had  enlarged  its  staff  in  Washington  and 
taken  a  large  house  for  this  committee  and  its  work.  There  on 
April  2  the  first  woman  ever  elected  to  Congress,  Miss  Jeannette 
Rankin  of  Montana,  was  entertained  at  breakfast,  made  a  speech 
from  an  upper  balcony  and  was  escorted  to  the  Capitol  by  Mrs. 
Carrie  Chapman  Catt,  national  president,  at  the  head  of  a  caval- 
cade of  decorated  automobiles,  filled  with  suffragists.  That  day 
the  President  asked  Congress  for  a  declaration  of  war  against 
Germany.  The  resolution  for  the  Federal  Suffrage  Amendment 
was  to  have  been  the  first  introduced  in  the  Senate  but  the  War 
Resolution  took  its  place  and  it  became  Number  Two  on  the 
calendar.  Senator  Thomas  had  given  up  the  chairmanship  of  the 
Committee  on  Woman  Suffrage  and  Senator  Andrieus  A.  Jones 


BALCONY  OF  THE  NATIONAL  SUFFRAGE  HEADQUARTERS  IN  WASHINGTON. 
Mrs.  Helen  H.  Gardener,  Mrs.  Carrie  Chapman  Catt,  Mrs.  Maud  Wood  Park 


FEDERAL    AMENDMENT   FOR    WOMAN   SUFFRAGE          633 

(N.  M.)  had  been  appointed.  Senators  Nelson  (Minn.),  John- 
son (S.  D.)  Cummins  (Iowa)  and  Johnson  (Cal.)  had  been 
added  to  the  committee  and  Senators  Ashurst,  Sutherland,  Clapp 
and  Catron  had  retired. 

In  the  House  the  resolution  was  introduced  by  Representatives 
Rankin,  Raker,  Mondell,  Taylor,  Keating  and  Hayden.  Both 
Houses  agreed  that  only  legislation  pertaining  to  the  war  program 
should  be  considered  during  the  extra  session,  which  excluded  the 
amendment,  but  there  were  some  forms  of  work  not  prohibited. 
On  April  20  the  Senate  Committee  gave  a  hearing  on  it  with  Mrs. 

in  charge  and  very  strong  addresses  were  made  by  her  and 

Senators    Shafroth     (Colo.),     Kendrick     (Wyo.j,     Walsh 

•nO,  Smoot  (Utah).  Thomas,  Thompson  and  Representative 

Rankin.     Thousands  of  copies  were  franked  and  given  to  the 

>nal  Association  for  distribution.  On  September  15  Chair- 
man Jones  made  a  unanimous  favorable  report  to  the  Senate. 
In  the  House  efforts  were  concentrated  on  securing  a  Committee 
on  Woman  Suffrage,  resolutions  for  which  had  been  introduced 
by  Representatives  Raker,  Hayden  and  Keating  and  referred 
to  the-  Committee  on  Rules.  Mrs.  Park's  report  said : 

Our  first  step  was  to  get  the  approval  of  Speaker  Clark,  who  gave 

u*  cordial  support.     Later,  to  offset  the  fear  on  the  part  of  certain 

members  of  conflicting  with  President  Wilson's  legislative  program. 

a  letter  was  sent  to  Chairman  Edward  W.  Pou  (N.  C.)  of  the  Rules 

•nittee  bv  the  President,  who  stated  that  he  thought  the  creation 

of  the  committee  "would  be  a  very  wise  act  of  public  policy  and  also 

an  art  of  fairness  to  the  best  women  who  are  engaged  in  the  cause 

•man  suffrage." 

-•etition   asking  for  the  creation  of  a   Committee  on  Woman 

signed  by  all  members  from  equal  suffrage  States  and 

nny   of    those    from    Presidential    suffrage    States,    and    from 

Arkansas.     This  was  presented  to  the  Rules  Committee,  which,  on 

1  $.  granted  a  hearing.    On  Juno  6.  bv  a  vote  of  o"  to  5.  on  motion 

"-.  Cintrill  a  resolution  calling  for  the  creation  of  a  Committee 

on  Woman   Suffrage  to  consist  of  thirteen  members,  to  which  all 

action  touching  the  subject  of  woman  suffrage  should  be 

-^1.  was  adopted  bv  the  Rules  Committee,  with  an  amendment. 

Mr.  Lenroot  to  the  effect  that  the  resolution  should  not  be 

reported  in  the  House  until  the  pending  war  legislation  was  out  of 

the  v 

Tho  report  of  the  Rules  Committee,   therefore,  was  not  brought 

rnuse  until  September  24,  when  the  extrrmelv  active  orv 
•->f   Chairman  Webb  and   most   of   the  other  members   of   the 


634  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

Judiciary  Committee  made  a  hard  fight  inevitable.  Thanks  to  the 
hearty  support  of  Speaker  Clark,  the  good  management  of  Chairman 
Pou  and  the  help  of  loyal  friends  of  both  parties  in  the  House,  as 
well  as  to  the  admirable  work  done  by  our  own  State  congressional 
chairmen,  the  report  was  adopted  by  a  vote  of  180  yeas  to  107  nays, 
with  3  answering  present  and  142  not  voting.  Of  the  favorable 
votes,  82  were  from  Democrats  and  96  from  Republicans.  Of  the 
unfavorable  votes,  74  were  from  Democrats  and  32  from  Repub- 
licans. Of  those  not  voting,  59  were  Democrats  and  81  were 
Republicans.  These  facts  show  that  the  measure  was  regarded,  as 
we  had  hoped  that  it  would  be,  as  strictly  non-partisan.  The  victory 
came  so  late  in  the  session  that  the  appointment  of  the  new  com- 
mittee was  postponed  until  the  present  session. 

At  the  November  election  in  1917  occurred  the  greatest  victory 
for  woman  suffrage  ever  achieved,  when  the  voters  of  New  York 
by  a  majority  of  102,353  declared  in  favor  of  an  amendment  to 
the  State  constitution  granting  the  complete  franchise  to  women. 
This  added  45  to  the  members  of  Congress  elected  partly  by  votes 
of  women  and  presumably  obligated  to  support  a  Federal  Amend- 
ment. Colonel  Roosevelt  and  other  leading  Republicans  and  Pro- 
gressives were  advocating  it  and  William  Jennings  Bryan  headed 
the  Democratic  leaders  in  its  favor.  President  Wilson  had  not 
yet  reached  this  point  but  he  had  congratulated  Mrs.  Catt,  Dr. 
Anna  Howard  Shaw  and  the  other  leading  suffragists  on  every 
victory  gained.  Both  Republican  and  Democratic  opponents  now 
realized  that  it  was  inevitable  and  they  could  only  hope  to  post- 
pone it.  After  strong  efforts  to  prevent  it  the  Committee  on 
Woman  Suffrage  was  appointed  in  the  House  on  December  13 
with  Judge  Raker  (Cal.)  chairman.  Besides  himself  nine  of  the 
thirteen  members  were  openly  in  favor  of  submitting  the  amend- 
ment: Benjamin  C.  Hilliard  (Colo.);  James  H.  Mays  (Utah); 
Christopher  D.  Sullivan  (N.  Y.)  ;  Thomas  L.  Blanton  (Texas) ; 
Jeannette  Rankin  (Mont);  Frank  W.  Mondell  (Wyo.)  ;  Wil- 
liam H.  Carter  (Mass.)  ;  Edward  C.  Little  (Kans.)  ;  Richard  N. 
Elliott  (Ind.).  Three  were  opposed:  Edward  W.  Saunders 
(Va.)  ;  Frank  Clark  (Fla.)  ;  Jacob  E.  Meeker  (Mo.). 

The  Judiciary  refused  to  turn  over  the  amendment  resolution  to 
the  new  Committee  but  amended  it  by  limiting  to  seven  years  the 
time  in  which  the  Legislatures  could  ratify  it,  and  reported  it 
"without  recommendation"  on  December  n.  Democratic  floor 


FEDERAL   AMENDMENT    FOR    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE          635 

leader  Claude  Kitchin  (N.  C.)  announced  that  it  would  come  to 
a  vote  on  the  I7th.  He  was  strongly  pressed  to  set  a  later  date, 
as  the  required  number  of  votes  were  not  yet  assured,  but  the 
alternative  was  probably  a  long  postponement.  Finally  he  con- 
sented to  wait  until  January  10.  At  the  beginning  of  the  session, 
through  the  initiative  of  Mrs.  Park,  a  "steering  committee"  of 
fifty-three  friendly  Republicans  had  been  brought  together  with 
an  executive  composed  of  Mr.  Hayden  chairman,  Mr.  French 
(Ida.)  secretary,  Mr.  Keating,  Mr.  McArthur  (Ore.)  and  Mr. 
Cantrill,  who  had  now  become  an  ally.  During  all  of  December 
the  National  Suffrage  Association  had  a  large  lobby  of  influential 
women  working  daily  at  the  Capitol  with  the  members  from  their 
States.  The  national  suffrage  convention  met  in  Washington 
December  10-16,  and,  following  a  plan  of  Mrs.  Catt,  the  president, 
Senators  from  abou{  thirty  States  invited  the  Representatives  to 
their  offices  to  meet  the  women  from  their  States  who  were 
attending  the  convention  and  many  pledges  of  votes  were  obtained. 
In  the  meantime,  at  the  suggestion  of  Speaker  Clark  and  Chair- 
man Pou,  Judge  Raker  introduced  a  new  amendment  resolution, 
which  went  automatically  to  his  own  committee,  where  it  was  in 
the  hands  of  a  strong  friend  instead  of  a  bitter  opponent  as  was 
Mr.  Webb. 

The  Committee  on  Woman  Suffrage  held  hearings  Jan.  3-7, 
1918,  for  the  National  Suffrage  Association,  the  National  Wo- 
man's Party  and  the  Anti-Suffrage  Association.1  On  the  8th  it 
reported  favorably  and  on  the  Qth  the  Committee  on  Rules  voted 
to  give  to  it  instead  of  the  Judiciary  Committee  charge  of  the 
hearing. 

Great  efforts  were  made  to  secure  the  cooperation  of  Demo- 
cratic and  Republican  leaders.  Letters  of  endorsement  were  given 
out  by  Secretaries  McAdoo,  Daniels  and  P»aker  of  the  Cabinet 
among  others  of  influence.  It  was  now  understood  that  President 
Wilson  had  come  to  favor  the  Federal  Amendment  but  he  had 
not  yet  spoken.  Finally  through  the  mediation  of  Mrs.  Helen  H. 
<-ner,  vice-president  of  the  National  Suffrage  Association,  an 
appointment  was  made  for  Chairman  Raker  and  eleven  Demo- 
cratic Representatives  to  call  on  the  President  January  9.  After 

1  For  full  report  of  this  hearing  see  Chapter  XVIII. 


636  HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

a  conference  he  wrote  with  his  own  hand  the  following  statement 
to  be  made  public :  "The  Woman  Suffrage  Committee  found  that 
the  President  had  not  felt  at  liberty  to  volunteer  his  advice  to 
members  of  Congress  in  this  important  matter  but  when  we 
sought  his  advice  he  very  frankly  and  earnestly  advised  us  to  vote 
for  the  amendment  as  an  act  of  right  and  justice  to  the  women 
of  the  country  and  of  the  world."  This  declaration  had  a  marked 
effect  on  the  Democratic  members  and  on  the  party  outside. 

On  the  Republican  side,  Colonel  Roosevelt  wrote  a  letter  to 
Chairman  Willcox  of  the  Republican  National  Committee,  urging 
that  the  party  do  everything  possible  for  the  amendment,  and  Mr. 
Willcox  went  more  than  once  to  Washington  to  labor  with  Re- 
publican leaders  in  the  House  to  secure  fuller  party  support  for 
it.  On  the  evening  of  January  9,  a  meeting  was  called  in  the 
hope  of  securing  caucus  action.  It  could  not  be  had  but  the  fol- 
lowing very  moderate  resolution  was  adopted :  "The  Republican 
conference  of  the  House  of  Representatives  recommends  and 
advises  that  the  Republican  members  support  the  Federal  Suffrage 
Amendment  in  so  far  as  they  can  do  so  consistently  with  their 
convictions  and  the  attitude  of  their  constituents" ! 

Shortly  after  12  o'clock  on  Jan.  10,  1918,  with  the  galleries  of 
the  House  crowded,  Representative  Foster  (Ills.)  presented  the 
rule,  which,  when  adopted,  provided  for  the  closing  of  debate  at 
five  o'clock  that  afternoon  and  even  division  of  time  between  sup- 
porters and  opponents.  With  Chairman  Raker's  consent  the  gen- 
eral debate  was  opened  by  Miss  Rankin  and  it  continued  until 
five  o'clock,  when  amendments  were  in  order.  One,  offered  by 
Representative  Moores  of  Indiana,  providing  for  ratification  by 
convention  in  the  several  States  instead  of  by  the  Legislatures, 
was  defeated  by  a  vote  of  131  to  274.  A  second,  by  Representa- 
tive Card  of  Ohio,  limiting  the  time  allowed  for  ratification  by 
the  States  to  seven  years,  was  defeated  by  a  vote  of  158  to  274. 

Analyzed  by  parties  and  not  including  pairs,  the  vote  on  the 
joint  resolution  for  submitting  the  Federal  Suffrage  Amendment 
to  the  Legislatures  was  as  follows : 

Republicans 165  ayes,     33  noes 

Democrats   104  102 

Miscellaneous 5  _L 

274  136 


FEDERAL   AMENDMENT    FOR    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE          637 

This  vote  was  a  fraction  less  than  one  over  the  necessary  two- 
thirds.  Twenty-three  State  delegations  voted  solidly  for  the 
amendment:  Arizona,  Arkansas,  California,  Colorado,  Idaho, 
Illinois,  Indiana,  Kansas,  Maine,  Minnesota,  Montana,  Ne- 
braska, Nevada,  New  Hampshire,  New  Mexico,  North  Dakota, 
Oklahoma,  Oregon,  Rhode  Island,  South  Dakota,  Utah,  Wash- 
ington and  Wyoming.  The  delegations  of  only  six  States  voted 
solidly  against  it — Alabama,  Delaware,  Georgia,  Louisiana,  Mis- 
sissippi and  South  Carolina. 

A  number  of  men  who  voted  favorably  came  to  the  Capitol  at 
considerable  inconvenience  to  cast  their  votes.  Republican 
Leader  Mann  of  Illinois  at  much  personal  risk  came  from  a  hos- 
pital in  Baltimore.  He  had  not  been  present  in  Congress  for 
months  and  his  arrival  shortly  before  five  o'clock  caused  great 
excitement  in  the  chamber.  Representative  Sims  of  Tennessee, 
who  had  broken  his  shoulder  two  days  before,  refused  to  have  it 
set  until  after  the  suffrage  vote  and  against  the  advice  of  his 
physician  was  on  the  floor  for  the  discussion  and  the  vote.  Rep- 
resentative Barnhart  of  Indiana  was  taken  from  his  bed  in  a 
ho.Npital  in  Washington  and  stayed  at  the  Capitol  just  long  enough 
to  cast  his  vote.  One  of  the  New  York  Representatives  came 
immediately  after  the  death  of  his  wife,  who  had  been  an  ardent 
suffragist,  and  returned  on  the  next  train. 

When  it  became  apparent  that  the  resolution  had  carried,  the 
opponents  became  very  active  on  the  floor  attempting  to  persuade 
some  member  to  change  his  vote.  They  demanded  a  recapitula- 
tion but  it  stood  the  same  as  the  original  vote.  Speaker  Clark 
had  given  his  assurance  that  in  case  of  a  tie  he  would  vote  in 
r.  Only  one  member  broke  his  pledge  to  the  women.  The 
most  remarkable  feature  was  that  56  of  the  affirmative  votes  were 
from  .-Mniilieni  States. 

The  women  were  jubilant,  as  they  believed  the  end  of  their 

long  struggle  was  near.     It  was  not  anticipated  that  there  would 

-.-rious  difficulty  in  the  Senate.     Its  committee  had  reported 

rably  and  in  a  short  time  promises  were  obtained   for  the 

needed  two-thirds  lacking  only  three  or  four.     There  had  been, 

ho\\ever,  an  unprecedented  series  of  deaths  in  the  Senate  during 

the  pa.M    few   months  \\hich  in   the  early  part  of    1918  were   in- 


638  HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

creased  to  ten,  seven  of  whom  were  pledged  to  vote  for  the 
amendment.  Some  of  the  vacancies  were  filled  by  friends  and 
some  by  foes  but  there  was  a  net  loss  to  it  of  one.  Nevertheless 
no  means  were  left  untried  to  obtain  help  from  individuals,  com- 
mittees and  organizations  with  influence. 

Through  the  national  headquarters  in  New  York  a  petition 
signed  by  a  thousand  men  of  nation  wide  reputation  was  obtained 
and  presented  to  the  Senate.  Among  the  most  important  favor- 
able resolutions  adopted  were  those  by  the  Democratic  National 
Committee  Feb.  n,  1918;  by  the  Republican  National  Commit- 
tee February  12;  by  the  Democratic  Congressional  Committee 
June  4;  by  the  model  State  platforms  of  the  Republican  and 
Democratic  parties  in  Indiana  in  May  and  June ;  by  the  Republi- 
can Congressional  Committee;  by  the  General  Federation  of 
Women's  Clubs  May  3;  by  the  American  Federation  of  Labor 
June  14.  Will  H.  Hays,  newly  elected  chairman  of  the  Republi- 
can National  Committee,  gave  interviews  in  favor  and  worked 
diligently  in  many  other  ways  for  its  success,  as  did  Vance  Mc- 
Cormick,  former  chairman,  and  Homer  Cummings,  present  chair- 
man of  the  National  Democratic  Committee,  and  many  other  men 
conspicuous  in  public  life. 

It  was  finally  decided  to  take  a  vote  on  May  10  but  on  the  Qth 
so  serious  a  fight  in  opposition  had  developed  that  it  was  con- 
sidered best  to  postpone  it.  By  June  27  the  outlook  was  so  favor- 
able that  the  amendment  was  brought  before  the  Senate.  Sena- 
tors Poindexter  (Wash.)  and  Thompson  (Kans.)  spoke  in  favor, 
Brandegee  (Conn.)  in  opposition.  A  wrangle  over  "pairs"  fol- 
lowed and  Reed  (Mo.)  launched  a  "filibuster."  After  he  had 
spoken  two  hours  Chairman  Jones  saw  that  the  situation  was 
hopeless  and  withdrew  his  motion. 

During  the  summer  representatives  of  the  National  Association 
obtained  in  Delaware  a  petition  of  over  11,000  to  Senators  Wol- 
cott  and  Saulsbury  to  support  the  amendment.  Petitions  poured 
in  on  other  opposing  Senators  and  influence  of  many  kinds  was 
exerted.  Only  two  more  votes  were  needed  and  it  seemed  im- 
portant to  put  the  amendment  through  before  the  fall  election. 
On  August  24  a  conference  of  Republican  Senators  was  held  in 
Washington  to  elect  a  floor  leader  in  place  of  Senator  Gallinger 


FEDERAL   AMENDMENT    FOR    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE          639 

(N.  H.),  who  had  died,  and  it  passed  the  following  resolution: 
"We  shall  insist  upon  the  consideration  of  the  Federal  Suffrage 
Amendment  immediately  after  the  disposition  of  the  pending  un- 
finished business  and  upon  a  final  vote  at  the  earliest  possible  mo- 
ment, provided  that  this  resolution  shall  not  be  construed  as  in  any 
way  binding  the  action  or  vote  of  any  member  of  the  Senate  upon 
the  merits  of  said  suffrage  amendment" ! 

The  friends  of  the  measure  could  have  had  "immediate  con- 
sideration" at  almost  any  time  during  the  past  year.  They  could 
have  had  a  vote  on  May  10  had  they  considered  that  time  favor- 
able. Even  on  June  27  some  way  might  have  been  found  to  obtain 
it  had  there  been  a  very  great  desire  to  have  it  taken  then.  This 
conference  resolution  called  upon  the  Senate  to  vote  on  it  and  get 
it  out  of  the  way,  no  matter  whether  it  should  be  carried  or  de- 
feated, and  did  not  even  give  it  the  prestige  of  a  favorable  en- 
dorsement. Here,  as  in  the  State's  rights  plank  put  into  the  Re- 
publican national  platform  in  1916,  one  could  easily  see  the  fine 
hand  of  Senator  Henry  Cabot  Lodge  of  Massachusetts. 

The  way  was  now  wide  open  for  President  Wilson  to  secure  for 
the  Democratic  party  the  credit  for  submitting  the  amendment, 
which  the  suffrage  leaders  were  quick  to  take  advantage  of.  On 
September  18  a  delegation  of  Democratic  women,  members  of  the 
National  American  Suffrage  Association,  had  a  conference  with 
him  to  ask  his  help,  which  he  willingly  promised.  A  few  of 
the  newly  elected  or  appointed  Senators  held  out  some  hope  and 
Chairman  Jones  gave  notice  that  he  would  call  up  the  amendment 
on  September  26,  as  it  was  most  important  to  get  it  through  at 
this  session,  so  as  not  to  have  it  go  back  to  the  House. 

On  August  26  a  five  days'  debate  in  the  Senate  began  and  the 
report  of  it  in  the  Congressional  Record  is  a  historic  document 
which  will  take  its  place  with  the  debates  on  slavery  before  the 
Civil  War.  It  was  soon  apparent  that  three  of  the  new  Senators, 
who  there  was  reason  to  hope  would  vote  in  favor — Drew  of  New 
1  lampshire,  Baird  of  New  Jersey  and  Benet  of  South  ( 'arolina — 
were  among  the  opponents  and  there  would  he  two  less  than  a 
two-thirds  majority.  Every  minute  was  filled  with  the  efforts  to 
obtain  tlu-M-  votes  and  finally  an  appeal  was  a^ain  made  to  1'resi 
dent  Wilson.  There  was  the  greatest  anxiety  until  it  was  learned 


640  HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

that  he  would  take  the  unprecedented  step  of  addressing  the  Sen- 
ate in  person  on  the  subject  September  30.  This  was  done  to  the 
joy  of  its  friends  and  the  wrath  of  its  enemies.  Mrs.  Park, 
chairman  of  the  Congressional  Committee  of  the  National  Suf- 
frage Association,  said  in  her  report:  "For  a  while  our  fears 
were  at  rest  and  Monday  afternoon  when  the  words  of  that  noble 
speech  fell  upon  our  ears  it  seemed  impossible  that  a  third  of  the 
Senate  could  refuse  the  never-to-be-forgotten  plea.1 

Scarcely  had  the  door  closed  upon  the  President  when  Sena- 
tor Underwood  took  the  floor  for  a  prolonged  State's  rights  argu- 
ment against  the  amendment.  He  was  followed  by  others  op- 
posed and  in  favor,  during  whose  speeches  the  leaders  of  the  op- 
position of  both  parties  went  about  among  the  members  trying  to 
counteract  the  influence  of  the  President's  address. 

The  next  day  various  amendments  proposed  were  defeated;  one 
by  Senator  Williams  (Miss.)  to  amend  by  making  the  resolution 
read:  "The  right  of  white  citizens  to  vote  shall  not  be  denied, 
etc.,"  was  laid  on  the  table  by  a  vote  of  61  to  22.  One  by  Sena- 
tor Frelinghuysen  (N.  J.),  denying  the  vote  to  "female  persons 
who  are  not  citizens  otherwise  than  by  marriage''  was  also  laid  on 
the  table  by  a  vote  of  53  to  33.  One  by  Senator  Fletcher  (Fla.) 
to  strike  out  the  words  "or  by  any  State"  so  that  the  section 
would  read:  "The  right  of  citizens  of  the  United  States  to  vote 
shall  not  be  denied  or  abridged  by  the  United  States  on  account 
of  sex,"  was  laid  on  the  table  by  a  vote  of  65  to  17. 

The  Senate  vote  Oct.  i,  1918,  on  the  amendment  itself,  stood 
54  in  favor  to  30  against,  or,  including  pairs,  62  in  favor  to  34 
against,  two  votes  short  of  the  needed  two-thirds  majority. 
Chairman  Jones  changed  his  vote  and  moved  reconsideration, 
which  put  the  amendment  back  in  its  old  place  on  the  calendar. 
Analyzed  by  parties  and  including  pairs  the  vote  stood : 

Yes         No 

Democrats 30         22 

Republicans    32          12 

Total 62          34 

1  For  speech  in  full  see  Appendix  for  this  chapter. 


FEDERAL   AMENDMENT    FOR    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE          64! 

President  Wilson  on  the  eve  of  sailing  for  Europe  to  the  Peace 
Conference  included  in  his  address  to  a  joint  session  of  Congress 
December  2  another  eloquent  appeal  for  the  passage  of  the  Fed- 
eral Suffrage  Amendment. 

It  had  become  evident  by  the  action  of  the  65th  Congress  that 
something  more  efficacious  than  public  opinion  or  pressure  from 
high  sources  was  required  to  secure  the  needed  two  votes  in  the 
Senate.  The  official  board  of  the  National  Suffrage  Association, 
therefore,  for  the  first  time  in  its  history  decided  to  enter  the 
political  campaigns.  Those  of  New  Hampshire,  New  Jersey, 
Massachusetts  and  Delaware  were  selected  in  the  hope  of  defeat- 
ing the  Senatorial  candidates  for  re-election  who  had  opposed 
the  amendment  and  electing  those  who  would  support  it.  It  was 
necessary  to  use  influence  against  Republican  candidates  in  three 
States  and  a  Democratic  candidate  in  Delaware.  Two  of  these 
efforts  were  successful  and  a  Republican,  J.  Heisler  Ball,  de- 
feated the  Democratic  Senator  Saulsbury  of  Delaware,  and  a 
Democrat,  David  I.  Walsh,  defeated  the  Republican  Senator 
Weeks  of  Massachusetts.  Both  of  the  new  members  voted  for 
the  amendment  in  the  66th  Congress. 

The  election  returns  on  November  6  indicated  that  the  necessary 
two -thirds  majority  in  the  66th  Congress  had  been  secured. 
This  belief  was  shared  by  prominent  Democrats,  who  from  that 
time  spared  no  effort  to  make  unfriendly  Democratic  Senators 
realize  the  folly  of  their  position  in  leaving  the  victory  for  the 
Republican  Congress  which  had  been  elected.  At  this  election  the 

ters  of  Michigan,  South  Dakota  and  Oklahoma  by  large  ma- 
jorities fully  enfranchised  their  women,  adding  six  Senators  and 

renty-four  Representatives  to  the  number  partly  elected  by  the 
rotes  of  women.     Texas  this  year  had  given  women  a  vole  at 
'riniary  elections,  almost  equal  to  the  complete  suffrage.     1\ 
hit  ions  were  passed  by  twenty-five  State  Legislatures  in  January 
and  early  February,  1919,  calling  upon  the  Senate'  to  submit  the 
ral  Amendment.    William  P.  Pollock  of  South  Carolina,  who 
had   been  elected  to  succeed   Senator   P*enet,    was    not    only   in 
r  of  it  but  was  working  to  secure  the  one  vote  ainon-  the 
southern  Senators  which,  added  to  his  own,  would  complete  the 
:hirds.     A  conference  of   friendly   Democratic   Sen. 


642  HISTORY   OF   WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

February  2  decided  that  a  vote  must  be  taken  the  following  week 
if  this  party  was  to  have  the  credit.  The  next  day  the  Senate 
Woman  Suffrage  Committee  met  and  unanimously  voted  to  bring 
up  the  amendment  on  February  10.  The  reasons  for  the  decision 
were,  first,  that  there  was  a  chance  to  win  and  nothing  to  be  lost 
by  recording  the  friends  and  enemies;  second,  that  one  man  had 
been  gained  since  the  last  vote  and  there  was  a  possibility  that 
another  could  be  won.  President  Wilson  cabled  from  Paris  urg- 
ing doubtful  Senators  to  vote  in  favor.  William  Jennings  Bryan 
came  to  Washington  to  intercede  for  it. 

On  petition  of  twenty-two  Democratic  Senators,  a  party  caucus 
on  suffrage  was  held  on  February  5,  but  the  enemies  died  hard. 
They  immediately  made  a  motion  to  adjourn  but  the  suffragists 
without  proxies  defeated  the  "antis,"  who  voted  proxies,  by  22 
to  1 6.  On  a  resolution  that  the  Democratic  Senators  support  the 
Federal  Suffrage  Amendment,  twenty-two  voted  in  the  affirmative 
but  when  ten  had  voted  in  the  negative  those  ten  were  allowed 
by  Senator  Thomas  S.  Martin  (Va.),  Democratic  floor  leader,  to 
withdraw  their  votes  in  order  that  he  might  declare  that,  as  the 
vote  stood  22  to  o,  a  quorum  had  not  voted ! 

After  the  close  of  the  morning  business  on  Feb.  10,  1919, 
Chairman  Jones  moved  to  take  up  the  amendment.  An  extremely 
strong  speech  in  its  favor  was  made  by  Senator  Pollock.  The 
only  other  speeches  were  by  Senator  Frelinghuysen  on  points  of 
naturalization  and  by  Edward  J.  Gay,  the  new  Senator  from 
Louisiana,  in  opposition.  The  vote  taken  early  in  the  afternoon 
showed  55  in  favor  and  29  opposed.  As  on  October  i,  all  the 
members  who  were  not  present  to  vote  were  accounted  for  by 
pairs,  so  that  it  stood  practically  63  to  33.  In  other  words  the 
amendment  was  lost  in  the  65th  Congress  by  only  one  vote  and 
the  individual  responsibility  for  the  defeat  lay  at  the  door  of  every 
Senator  who  voted  against  it. 

From  the  States  west  of  the  Mississippi  River  only  three  Sena- 
tors voted  "no" — Borah  of  Idaho,  Reed  of  Missouri  and  Hitch- 
cock of  Nebraska. 

Only  three  States — Alabama,  Delaware  and  Georgia — cast  all 
their  votes  in  both  Senate  and  House  against  the  amendment. 

Twenty  States  cast  all  their  votes  in  Senate  and  House  in  favor 


FEDERAL    AMENDMENT    EOR    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE          643 

— Arizona,  Arkansas,  California,  Colorado,  Idaho,  Illinois,  In- 
diana, Kansas,  Minnesota,  Montana,  Nevada,  North  Dakota, 
New  Mexico,  Oklahoma,  Oregon,  Rhode  Island,  South  Dakota, 
Utah,  Washington  and  Wyoming.  In  all  of  these  women  already 
had  full  or  partial  suffrage. 

On  February  17  Senator  Wesley  L.  Jones  of  Washington  re- 
introduced  the  amendment  in  its  old  form,  stating  that  he  ex- 
pected no  action  during  the  present  Congress.  On  the  following 
day  Senator  Gay  introduced  an  amendment  in  which  the  right  of 
enforcement  was  given  to  the  various  States  and  Congress  was 
excluded.  On  the  2Oth  Senator  Kenneth  McKellar  of  Tennessee 
introduced  one  requiring  personal  naturalization  of  alien  women. 
Senator  Gay  agreed  to  support  an  amendment  introduced  Febru- 
ary 28  by  Chairman  Jones,  giving  the  States  the  right  to  enforce 
the  amendment,  but,  in  case  of  their  failure  to  do  so,  permitting 
Congress  to  enact  appropriate  legislation.  Just  before  the  close 
of  the  session  on  March  3,  a  southern  Democrat,  in  response  to  a 
cablegram  from  President  Wilson,  consented  to  give  the  measure 
the  lacking  vote  if  it  could  be  brought  up  again  but  this  the  Re- 
publicans declined  to  permit. 

During  this  winter  of  1919  the  National  American  Association 
continued  the  work  of  obtaining  from  the  Legislatures  Presiden- 
tial suffrage  for  women  and  to  the  list  were  added  Maine,  Ver- 
mont, Wisconsin,  Minnesota,  Iowa,  Missouri  and  Tennessee, 
fourteen  altogether.  By  May  I,  adding  the  States  with  this 
Presidential  suffrage  to  the  fifteen  where  women  had  the  com- 
plete franchise,  it  was  estimated  that  about  15,500,000  would  be 
able  to  "vote  for  the  President"  in  the  general  election  of  1920. 
1  In  y  could  vote  for  306  of  the  531  members  of  the  Electoral 
College,  40  more  than  half.  About  half  of  the  above  number 
would  rxrreise  the  full  suffrage.  Thirty-four  Senators  and  130 
Representatives  were  now  elected  partly  by  women,  including 
from  Arkansas  and  Texas. 

One-third  of  the  Senate  and  all  of  the  House  of  Represent;! 
re  elected  in  November,  1918.     Many  of  the  old  members 
"  re-elected,  some   friends  and  some  enemies  of  the   l-Yderal 
Suffrage  Amendment.    Tin-  Re-publicans  had  a  large  majority  and 


644  HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

both  parties  wanted  an  early  vote  on  it.  President  Wilson  made 
this  possible  by  calling  a  special  session  to  meet  May  19,  1919. 
Representative  Frank  W.  Mondell  (Wyo.)  was  elected  majority 
leader  of  the  House  and  Representative  James  R.  Mann  (Ills.) 
appointed  chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Woman  Suffrage,  both 
Republicans.  The  resolution  for  the  Federal  Amendment  was 
introduced  by  six  members  on  the  opening  day  and  on  the  2oth 
was  favorably  reported  by  the  committee  and  placed  on  the  calen- 
dar for  the  next  day,  even  before  the  President's  message  was 
read,  in  which  it  was  recommended.  On  May  21,  after  two 
hours'  discussion,  it  was  passed  by  42  more  than  the  needed  two- 
thirds.  The  vote  stood  as  follows: 

In  Favor       Opposed 

Republicans    200  19 

Democrats    102  70 

Miscellaneous   .  2  o 


304  89 

Members  from  southern  States  cast  71  of  the  affirmative  votes 
and  four  from  the  North  were  born  in  the  South.  The  Demo- 
crats polled  54  per  cent,  of  their  voting  strength  for  the  amend- 
ment and  the  Republicans  polled  84  per  cent,  of  theirs. 

In  all  the  great  area  west  of  the  Mississippi  River,  excluding 
Texas  and  Louisiana,  only  one  vote  in  the  lower  house  was  cast 
against  the  amendment — that  of  Representative  H.  E.  Hull 
(Rep.),  Iowa.  In  the  group  of  Middle  States  only  five  opposing 
votes  were  cast — two  from  Wisconsin,  one  from  Michigan,  two 
from  Ohio.  The  opposition  centered  in  the  coast  States  from 
Louisiana  to  Maryland ;  aside  from  these  the  largest  opposing  ma- 
jorities were  from  Pennsylvania  and  Massachusetts.  Twenty-six 
States — over  half  of  the  whole  number — gave  unanimous  support; 
thirteen  had  large  favorable  majorities ;  one  was  tied — Maryland ; 
five  gave  opposing  majorities — Alabama,  Georgia,  Louisiana, 
North  Carolina,  Virginia ;  only  two  cast  a  solid  vote  in  opposition 
— Mississippi  and  South  Carolina. 

These  statistics  did  not  indicate  that  "a  few  States  were  trying 
to  force  this  amendment  on  a  vast  unwilling  majority  of  States," 
as  the  opponents  asserted.  The  increase  from  the  majority  of 


FEDERAL   AMENDMENT    FOR    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE         645 

one  in  1918  to  42  in  1919  is  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that  at  the 
congressional  election  during  the  interim  117  new  members  were 
elected,  of  whom  103  voted  for  the  amendment.  As  it  had  been 
an  issue  in  the  campaign  they  represented  the  sentiment  of  their 
constituencies.  Fifteen  of  the  former  members  who  were  re- 
elected  changed  from  negative  to  affirmative.  From  January, 
n)i8,  to  June,  1919,  not  one  member  of  either  House  broke  his 
promise  to  vote  for  the  amendment  except  Representative  Daniel 
J.  Riordan  (Dem.)  of  New  York,  although  many  of  them  were 
subjected  to  extreme  pressure  by  the  interests  opposed  to  it. 

The  resolution  for  the  Amendment  was  introduced  in  the  Sen- 
ate May  23,  1919,  by  four  members  and  half  a  dozen  others  ex- 
pressed a  wish  to  present  it.  The  new  Committee  on  Woman 
Suffrage  had  not  been  appointed  and  it  was  referred  to  the  old 
one,  whose  chairman,  Senator  Jones,  asked  unanimous  consent  to 
have  it  placed  on  the  calendar  at  once.  Senators  Underwood  of 
Alabama;  Hoke  Smith  of  Georgia;  Swanson  of  Virginia;  Reed 
of  Missouri,  Democrats;  Borah  of  Idaho;  Wadsworth  of  New 
York,  Republicans,  and  other  opponents  objected  and  it  was  de- 
layed several  days.  Meanwhile  a  new  committee  was  appointed 
with  Senator  James  E.  Watson  (Rep.)  of  Indiana,  as  chairman. 
Finally  on  May  28  he  was  able  to  report  the  resolution  favorably, 
by  unanimous  vote  of  the  committee,  and  have  it  placed  on  the 
calendar  for  June  3. 

The  discussion  was  continued  for  two  days,  principally  by  the 
opposition,  the  friends  of  the  amendment  having  agreed  to  con- 
sume  no  time  except  when  necessary  to  correct  misstatements. 
For  this  purpose  Senators  Lenroot  of  Wisconsin  and  Walsh  of 
Montana.  F\ (-publicans,  and  Thomas  of  Colorado,  King  of  Utah, 
Kirhy  of  Arkansas  and  Ashnrst  of  Arizona,  Democrats,  made 
eches.  Senators  Wadsworth,  UrandriM-c  (  I\ep.)  of  Con- 
necticut and  P.orali;  Underwood,  Smith  (Dem.)  of  South  Caro- 
lina and  K'ecd,  consumed  the  rest  of  the  time.  Reed  speaking  scv- 
« -ral  hours.  Senator  Underwood  offered  an  amendment  to  have 
>ns  by  conventions  instead  of  lures,  and  Sena- 

'helan  (Dem.)  of  California  wanted  to  amend  this  hv  reqnir- 
hcrn  to  be  called  the  first  week  in  December.  Senator  Ilarri- 
(Dem.)  of  Mississippi  tried  to  have  the  word  "white"  in- 


646  HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

serted  in  the  original  amendment.  Senator  Guy  (Dem.)  of 
Louisiana  wished  to  amend  by  providing  that  the  States  instead 
of  the  Congress  should  have  power  to  enforce  it.  All  these 
amendments  were  defeated  by  large  majorities. 

The  Senators  knew  that  all  this  debate  was  a  waste  of  time,  as 
enough  votes  were  pledged  to  pass  the  amendment.  Senator  Wat- 
son opened  and  closed  it  in  a  dozen  sentences.  The  roll  was 
called  at  5  p.  m.  June  4,  and  the  vote  was  announced,  56  ayes,  25 
noes.  With  the  "pairs"  that  had  been  arranged  the  entire  96 
members  of  the  Senate  were  recorded  and  they  stood  as  follows : 

Ayes         Noes 

Republicans 40  9 

Democrats 26  21 

Total    66  30 

The  certificate  to  be  sent  to  the  Legislatures  for  ratification  was 
signed  by  President  of  the  Senate  Thomas  R.  Marshall  (Ind.)  and 
Speaker  of  the  House  Frederick  H.  Gillett  (Mass.)  both  unyield- 
ing opponents  of  the  amendment. 

Thus  ended  the  struggle  for  the  submission  to  the  Legislatures 
of  an  amendment  to  the  National  Constitution  to  give  complete 
universal  suffrage  to  women,  which  had  been  carried  on  without 
cessation  for  almost  exactly  fifty  years — a  struggle  which  has  no 
parallel  in  history. 

It  is  not  possible  to  give  in  this  limited  space  due  recognition 
to  all  the  Senators  and  Representatives  who  during  this  long 
period  stood  faithfully  by  this  Federal  Amendment,  many  of  them 
at  serious  political  risk.  This  was  especially  true  of  those  from 
the  South.  The  speech  of  Senator  Morris  Sheppard  of  Texas, 
Aug.  5,  1918,  was  as  strong  an  argument  as  ever  was  made  for 
the  Federal  Amendment.  The  great  corporate  interests  of  the 
country,  including  the  liquor  interests,  which  were  the  dominating 
force  in  politics,  were  implacably  opposed  to  woman  suffrage  and 
the  women  had  no  material  influence  to  counteract  them.  All 
the  more  honor  is  due,  therefore,  to  those  members  who  loyally 
supported  it  in  this  long  contest  founded  upon  abstract  right,  jus- 
tice and  democracy. 


FEDERAL   AMENDMENT    FOR    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE          647 


VOTE  ON  FEDERAL  WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  AMENDMENT  IN  THE 
U.  S.  SENATE,  JUNE  4,  1919. 

Republicans,  Ay*  Democrats,   Aye 

Ari* 


'• 


Cal 


Kans  .........................  I     Capper    La 

(     Curtis      Mass. 

.........................  s  a" 


Ransd.il 


Townsend      N.  M 


Tonei 

::'f§ow7 


jj    D  <     Gronna 

(     McCumber 

Ohio Harding 

Ore McNary 

R.   I Colt 

S.  D Sterling 

Utah Smoot 

Vt ••••    Page 

Wash \     fexter 

W    Va  $     Elkins 

W'   Va \     Sutherland 

w;«  5     LaFollette 

Wls 1     Lenroot 

Wyo Warren 


Total    .............................    40 

Republicans.   No 


Total 


Democrats.  No 


Ida  ..............................    Borah 

Mass  .............................   Lodge 

N.  H  .............................  Moses 

N.  Y  .........................  Wadsworth 

p__,  J     Knox 

nn  ........................  I     Penrose 

Vt  ..........................    Dillingham 


Del Wolcott 

Fla  $     Fletcher 

*  *  <     Trammell 

Ga Smith 

Ky Beckham 

La Gay 

Md Smith 

A>T;««  J     Harrison 

MlM I     Williams 

Mo Reed 

Neb Hitchcock 

w    r«  (     Overman 

'  *  I     Simmons 

Ohio    Poroerene 

o     r  <     Dial 

*•    *"*    \     Smith 

Tcnn Shields 

Martin 
Swanson 


Va. 


Total 


Total 


31 


Benet  was  appointed  for  a  few  months  to  succeed  Senator  Till- 
man  and  voted  against  the  amendment  Octobei  I.  Pollock  was 
elected  to  serve  until  March  and  voted  for  it  February  10.  Dial 


648  HISTORY   OF   WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

was  elected  for  the  full  term  beginning  March  4.  Senator  Hale 
of  Maine  was  the  only  hold-over  Senator  who  changed  his  posi- 
tion, voting  "no"  in  October  and  "aye"  in  June.  The  suffragists 
deeply  regretted  that  Senator  John  F.  Shafroth  of  Colorado,  an 
able  and  valued  friend  for  the  past  twenty-five  years,  was  no 
longer  a  member  of  the  Senate. 

After  the  woman  suffrage  amendment  had  become  a  part  of 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  Mrs.  Carrie  Chapman  Catt, 
the  national  president,  prepared  a  complete  summary  of  the  several 
votes  on  it  in  the  two  Houses  of  Congress  according  to  the  politi- 
cal parties  and  sent  it  to  Chairman  Will  H.  Hays  of  the  Republi- 
can National  Committee  and  Chairman  George  White  of  the 
Democratic.  To  the  former  she  said  in  part:  "I  take  the  occa- 
sion to  express  to  you  personally  on  behalf  of  the  National  Ameri- 
can Woman  Suffrage  Association,  our  grateful  appreciation  of 
your  own  faithful,  consistent  and  always  sincere  efforts  to  carry 
out  the  platforms  of  your  party  wherein  they  referred  to  the  en- 
franchisement of  women.  Ratification  at  this  date  would  not  have 
been  achieved  without  your  conscientious  and  understanding  help. 
I  wish  also  to  express  our  gratitude  to  the  Republican  party  fof 
its  share  in  the  final  enfranchisement  of  the  women  of  the  United 
States.  .  .  ." 

To  Mr.  White  Mrs.  Catt  said  :  "There  is  one  important  Demo- 
cratic factor  which  should  be  included  in  the  record  and  that  is 
the  fearless  and  able  sponsorship  of  the  amendment  by  the  leader 
of  your  party,  the  President  of  the  United  States.  .  .  .  He  has 
never  hesitated  to  let  members  of  his  party  know  in  every  State 
that  he  favored  ratification.  .  .  .  His  championship  furnishes 
cause  for  pride  to  all  forward-looking  Democrats,  since  his  vision 
foresaw  this  now  achieved  fact  of  the  enfranchisement  of  the 
women  of  this  country.  On  behalf  of  the  National  American 
Woman  Suffrage  Association,  I  wish  to  thank  you  and  your 
party  for  its  share  in  the  completion  of  the  task  to  which  our 
association  set  itself  more  than  fifty  years  ago." 

Mrs.  Catt  said  in  the  course  of  her  summing  up :  "Women 
owe  much  to  both  political  parties  but  to  neither  do  they  owe  so 
much  that  they  need  feel  themselves  obligated  to  support  that 
party  if  conscience  and  judgment  dictate  otherwise.  Their  politi- 


FEDERAL    AMENDMENT    FOR    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE  649 

cal  freedom  at  this  time  is  due  to  the  tremendous  sentiment  and 
pressure  produced  by  their  own  unceasing  activities  over  a  period 
of  three  generations.  Had  either  party  lived  up  to  the  high  ideals 
of  our  nation  and  courageously  taken  the  stand  for  right  and  jus- 
tice as  against  time-serving,  vote-winning  policies  of  delay,  wom- 
en would  have  been  enfranchised  long  ago.  ...  If,  however, 
neither  of  the  dominant  parties  has  made  as  clean  and  progressive 
a  record  as  its  admirers  could  have  wished,  there  is  no  question 
but  that  individual  men  of  both  parties  have  given  heroic  service 
to  the  cause  of  woman  suffrage  and  this  has  been  true  in  every 
Slate,  those  which  ratified  and  those  which  rejected.  Women 
should  not  forget  these  men  who  have  stepped  in  advance  of  the 
more  slow  moving  of  their  own  constituents  to  help  this  great 
cause  of  political  freedom." 

RATIFICATION. 

Before  this  Federal  Amendment  could  become  effective  it  had 
to  be  ratified  by  the  Legislatures  of  thirty-six  States,  three- 
fourths  of  the  whole  number.  The  plan  by  which  Mrs.  Catt, 
president  of  the  National  American  Suffrage  Association,  had 
expected  ratification  to  follow  the  submission  immediately  was 
that  all  of  the  western  equal  suffrage  States  would  ratify  at  once. 
To  make  certain  that  this  would  be  done  a  representative  of  the 
association  was  sent  on  a  circuit  of  these  States  while  the  amend- 
ment was  still  pending.  She  called  on  the  Governors  and  in- 
structed the  women  as  to  the  procedure  when  it  was  submitted. 
If  there  had  been  the  expected  early  vote  this  plan  would  have 
succeeded  but  it  was  thwarted  by  the  late  submission.  Had  the 
taken  place  even  as  late  as  February.  1010.  the  Legislatures 
could  have  considered  it,  which  was  the  principal  reason  why  the 
opponents  prevented  it.  By  June  4  most  of  them  had  adjourned 
not  to  meet  again  for  two  years.  A  few,  however,  were  still  in 
ion  and  of  these  Illinois,  Wisconsin  and  Michigan  ratified  it 
within  six  days  of  its  submission  and  Pennsylvania  and  Massa- 
etts  a  little  later.  That  of  Ohio  had  taken  a  recess  until  June 
ind  ratified  it  on  this  date. 

To  obtain  enough  extra  sessions,  \\it1i  all  the  expense,  time  and 
trouble  entailed,  seemed  a  hopeless  undertaking.  Nevertheless, 


650  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

scarcely  had  the  Senate  vote  been  announced  when  Mrs.  Catt 
began  telegraphing  to  the  Governors  of  many  States  a  request  that 
they  would  call  special  sessions  for  the  purpose  of  ratification. 
This  was  favored  by  leaders  in  both  political  parties  in  order  that 
it  might  be  completed  in  time  for  the  women  of  the  entire  country 
to  vote  in  the  general  election  of  1920. 

Governors  Alfred  E.  Smith  (Dem.)  of  New  York  and  Henry 
J.  Allen  (Rep.)  of  Kansas  were  the  first  to  call  special  sessions. 
They  were  followed  by  a  few  others,  some  willingly,  others  under 
great  pressure  from  the  women  of  their  States.  Even  the  Gov- 
ernors of  some  of  the  equal  suffrage  States  were  hesitating  for 
various  reasons  and  vigorous  action  seemed  to  be  necessary. 
Under  the  auspices  of  the  National  Association  four  women,  Mrs. 
Minnie  Fisher  Cunningham  of  Texas,  Mrs.  John  G.  South  of 
Kentucky,  Mrs.  Ben  Hooper  of  Wisconsin  and  Miss  Marjorie 
Shuler  of  New  York,  were  sent  to  these  States  in  July.  The  two 
Republican  women  visited  Republican  States  and  the  two  Demo- 
cratic women  visited  Democratic  States,  the  four  reaching  Salt 
Lake  City  to  attend  the  National  Conference  of  Governors.  De- 
spite their  pledges  of  extra  sessions  some  of  them  still  demurred, 
as  special  sessions  were  not  approved  by  the  taxpayers.  Two 
of  these  Governors,  one  Republican  and  one  Democratic,  were 
threatened  with  impeachment  proceedings  whenever  the  Legisla- 
ture should  meet.  Others  feared  that  matters  besides  the  ratifi- 
cation might  come  up. 

The  summer  waned  and  the  required  number  of  special  ses- 
sions were  not  called,  although  letters  and  telegrams  and  every 
kind  of  influence  were  being  used.  Finally  Mrs.  Catt  herself 
headed  a  deputation  consisting  of  Miss  Julia  Lathrop,  chief  of 
the  U.  S.  Children's  Bureau;  Mrs.  Jean  Nelson  Penfield  of  New 
York;  Dr.  Valeria  H.  Parker  of  Connecticut;  Mrs.  Catharine 
Waugh  McCulloch  of  Illinois,  Mrs.  Edward  P.  Costigan  of 
Colorado  and  Miss  Shuler,  who  had  continued  working  in  those 
western  States.  The  Governors  were  again  interviewed;  the 
situation  was  prestented  to  the  States  through  public  meetings  and 
at  last  the  desired  pledges  were  secured.  In  Oregon  the  women 
agreed  to  raise  the  money  to  pay  for  a  special  session.  In  Ne- 
vada, Wyoming  and  South  Dakota  campaigns  to  persuade  the 


FEDERAL   AMENDMENT    FOR    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE          65! 

members  to  attend  at  their  own  expense  were  started  and  carried 
through.  Altogether  sixteen  conferences  were  held  in  twelve  west- 
ern States.  While  this  campaign  in  the  West  was  under  way 
the  women  of  other  States  were  hard  at  work  to  obtain  legisla- 
tive action.  Those  of  Indiana  had  the  Herculean  task  of  col- 
lecting a  petition  of  86,000  names  asking  for  a  special  session  and 
securing  pledges  from  two-thirds  of  the  Legislature  to  consider 
no  other  business,  before  the  Governor  would  call  the  session. 

While  this  strenuous  work  was  in  progress,  which  continued 
into  HJJ<>,  the  National  Republican  and  Democratic  Committees, 
Will  H.  Hays  and  Homer  S.  Cummings,  chairmen,  used  all  of 
their  great  influence  for  special  sessions  and  for  favorable  action. 
Prominent  politicians  of  both  parties  lent  their  assistance.  The 
successful  efforts  to  secure  ratification  planks  in  the  national 
platforms  of  all  the  political  parties  are  described  in  Chapter 
XXIII.  Every  candidate  for  President  and  Vice-president  gave 
his  full  endorsement. 

It  was  only  necessary  for  thirteen  Legislatures  to  hold  out 
against  ratification  to  prevent  the  adoption  of  the  amendment  and 
thn-e  of  the  nine  southeastern  States  from  Maryland  to  Louisiana 
were  certain  to  do  this.  All  of  them  defeated  it  except  that  of 
Florida,  which  did  not  vote  on  it.  By  March  22,  1920,  thirty- 
five  Legislatures  had  ratified,  leaving  but  four  States  from  which 
htain  the  thirty-sixth  and  final  ratification.  Delaware  de- 
feated it  in  June,  leaving  only  Tennessee,  Connecticut  and  Ver- 
mont. A  provision  in  the  State  constitution  of  Tennessee  pre- 
vented action  by  its  Legislature.  The  Republican  Governors  of 
Connecticut  and  Vermont  refused  absolutely  to  call  a  special  ses- 
The  former  declared  that  there  was  no  emergency  requir- 
ing it  and  was  adamant  to  every  argument.  Mrs.  Catt  and  her 
1  then  undertook  another  Herculean  task  of  bringing  to 
Connecticut  an  influential  woman  from  every  State,  and,  cooper- 
ating with  those  of  Connecticut,  a  mass  meeting  was  held  in 
Hartford.  After  this  they  divided  into  groups  and  held  meetings 
in  every  city  and  large  town,  ending  the  campaign  with  a  visit  to 
the  Governor,  at  which  earnest  pleas  were  made  that  he  would 
call  i  ire  to  g\ve  the  final  vote  for  ratification,  as  the 

.en  of  the  nation  were  waiting  for  it.  In  Vermont,  under 


652  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

the  auspices  of  the  National  Board,  400  women  of  the  State  under 
most  trying  weather  conditions  met  in  Montpelier  and  called  on 
the  Governor  with  pleadings  and  arguments  for  a  special  session, 
through  whose  action  the  women  of  tlic  whole  country  would  be 
enfranchised.  Both  Governors  remained  obdurate. 

In  the  meantime  the  opponents  had  succeeded  in  Maine  under 
its  Initiative  and  Referendum  law  in  having  the  ratification 
submitted  to  the  voters  and  they  threatened  to  take  this  action 
in  all  Stales  having  this  law.  The  Ohio  Supreme  Court  sustained 
the  legality  of  a  petition  for  a  referendum  and  it  was  carried  to 
the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States — Hawk  vs.  the  Secretary 
of  the  State  of  Ohio.  Here  it  was  argued  April  23,  1920.  On 
June  i  the  Court  announced  its  decision  that  the  ratification  of  a 
Federal  Amendment  was  not  subject  to  action  by  the  voters. 

This  decision  removed  the  obstacle  that  existed  in  Tennessee 
and  its  Governor  called  a  special  session  for  August  9.  Mrs.  Catt 
took  charge  of  the  campaign  in  person  and  the  ratification  was 
obtained  in  the  Senate  on  the  i^th  and  the  House  on  the  iSth, 
in  the  latter  with  the  greatest  difficulty.  It  called  for  assistance 
from  President  Wilson,  from  both  of  the  Presidential  candidates, 
the  National  Committees  of  both  parties  and  many  prominent 
men  and  women  within  and  without  the  State.  A  full  account 
will  be  found  in  the  Tennessee  chapter.  A  vote  for  reconsidera- 
tion followed  ;  enough  members  left  the  S:-il<-  ;<>  prevent  a  quorum 
and  it  was  not  until  the  24th  that  Governor  Roberts  could  forward 
the  certificate  of  ratification  to  Secretary  of  State  Bainbridge 
Colby  in  Washington.1  Here  on  August  26  he  proclaimed  the 

1  As  soon  as  the  certificate  was  despatched  Mrs.  Catt  left  Nashville,  where  she  had 
been  for  six  weeks,  accompanied  by  Mrs.  Harriet  Taylor  Upton,  vice-chairman  of  the 
National  Republican  Executive  Committee;  Miss  Cbarl  Williams,  vice-chairman  of  the 
Democratic  National  Committee,  and  Miss  Marjoric  Shuler,  the  National  Association's 
chairman  of  publicity,  who  had  been  working  with  her  during  this  time.  They  went  to 
Washington,  called  on  the  President  and  Secretary  of  State  and  in  the  evening  addressed 
an  enthusiastic  mass  meeting  that  filled  the  largest  theater  to  overflowing.  Secretary 
Colby  represented  President  Wilson,  from  whom  he  brought  this  message: 

"Will  you  take  the  opportunity  to  say  to  my  fellow  citizens  that  I  deem  it  one  of 
tlic  greatest  honors  of  my  life  that  this  great  event,  the  ratification  of  this  amendment, 
should  have  occurred  during  the  period  of  my  administration.  Nothing  has  given  me 
more  pleasure  than  the  privilege  that  has  been  mine  to  do  what  I  could  to  advance  the 
cause  of  ratification  and  to  hasten  the  day  when  the  womanhood  of  America  would  be 
recognized  by  the  nation  on  the  equal  footing  of  citizenship  that  it  deserves." 

From  Washington  the  women,  joined  by  others,  went  to  New  York,  where  Governor 
Alfred  E.  Smith  was  waiting  at  the  station  and  said  in  greeting  Mrs.  Catt:  "I  am  here 
on  behalf  of  the  people  of  the  State  of  New  York  to  convey  congratulations  to  you  on 
your  great  victory  for  the  motherhood  of  America."  [See  frontispiece  Volume  VI.] 


FEDERAL    AMENDMENT    FOR    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE  653 

1 9th  Amendment  a  part  of  the  Federal  Constitution.  A  body  of 
the  Tennessee  legislators,  headed  by  Speaker  of  the  House  Seth 
Walker,  went  immediately  to  Washington  and  undertook  to  obtain 
an  injunction  on  this  action  but  it  was  refused  by  the  court. 

Although  the  ratification  by  the  Tennessee  Legislature  was  due 
to  the  votes  of  both  Democrats  and  Republicans  the  former 
claimed  the  credit.  The  general  election  was  close  at  hand  in 
which  all  women  could  take  part  and  Republican  leaders  felt  that 
some  action  was  necessary.  Governor  Marcus  H.  Holcomb  of 
Connecticut  called  a  special  session  of  the  Legislature  for  Sep- 
tember 14  and  its  first  act  was  to  ratify  the  Federal  Amendment 
by  unanimous  vote  of  the  Senate  and  216  to  II  in  the  House. 
Owing  to  a  technical  question  the  ratification  was  repeated  Sep- 
tember 2I.1 

The  stories  of  these  37  ratifications  are  interesting — in  some 
States  occasions  of  much  pleasure  accompanied  by  music  and 
feasting;  in  others  strenuous  contests  which  left  some  unpleasant 
memories.  They  are  described  in  each  State  chapter  and  the 
failures  as  well.  Especial  reference  should  be  made  to  those  of 
States  mentioned  here  and  of  Delaware,  Virginia,  West  Virginia, 
North  Carolina,  Georgia,  Mississippi  and  Louisiana. 

When  the  opponents  could  not  prevent  ratification  they  had 
•irse  to  the  law.  The  attempt  to  have  a  referendum  to  the 
rs  has  lieen  referred  to.  K  (Torts  were  made  in  many  States 
to  have  the  Attorney  Generals  declare  that  the  ratification  was 
unconstitutional  or  that  further  legislation  by  the  States  would 
be  necessary,  but  they  were  unavailing.  In  May,  1920,  the  official 
board  of  the  National  Woman  Suffrage  Association  retained  for- 
mer I'.  S.  Supreme  Court  Justice  Charles  Evans  Hughes  as  coun- 
sel and  his  advice  and  his  opinions  widely  published  proved  to  be 
of  the  grealeM  hem-fit.  Although  one  of  the  most  eminent  of 
his  interest  in  woman  suffnu  -eat  that  he  never 

any  appeal  for  assistance. 

( )n  July  7,  1920,  before  the  36th  State  had  ratified,  Charles  S. 
Fail-child,  president  of  the  American  Constitutional  League,  for- 

1  Vermont  was  thus  Irft  the  only  State,  « -\«  •  \<i  th.i-.i-  in  tli.  s()  rallr.l  "Mack  belt," 
which  <li.l  not  ratify  ll>  Amendment  I  •  nisl.-ilurr  w;is  rc.i.ly  to  do  to  any 

day  when   ('...-.  «n  M    |»imit    it    to   inn  I        It    i.ilifi<<l    nu.iimmmxl  v 

B        <•    v.  IK  ii    it     ii.it    in    regular 
•etsiun   in    . 


654  HISTORY   OF   WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

merly  the  Men's  Anti-Suffrage  Association  of  New  York,  insti- 
tuted injunction  proceedings  in  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  District 
of  Columbia  against  Secretary  of  State  Bainbridge  Colby  and 
Attorney  General  A.  Mitchell  Palmer.  They  sought  to  restrain 
the  Secretary  from  proclaiming  the  Federal  Suffrage  Amend- 
ment when  it  should  receive  the  final  ratification  and  the  Attorney 
General  from  doing  anything  to  enforce  it.  On  July  13  the  case 
for  the  Government  was  argued  by  Solicitor  General  William  L. 
Frierson  and  Assistant  U.  S.  District  Attorney  James  B.  Archer. 
Mr.  Fairchild  and  the  league  were  represented  by  Everett  P. 
Wheeler,  a  New  York  attorney  and  officer  of  the  league.  He 
contended  that  under  the  U.  S.  Constitution  Congress  had  no 
power  to  submit  the  amendment  and  that  various  ratifications  were 
illegal.  Justice  Thomas  J.  Bailey  dismissed  the  injunction  pro- 
ceedings on  the  ground  that  neither  Mr.  Fairchild  nor  the  league 
had  sufficient  interest  to  entitle  them  to  ask  for  an  injunction  and 
that  the  court  had  no  authority  to  go  behind  the  action  of  the 
Legislatures  in  voting  for  ratification.  The  case  was  taken  to 
the  District  Court  of  Appeals.  On  October  4  this  court  denied 
the  injunction  and  dismissed  the  case  as  "frivolous  and  brought 
for  delay."  It  was  then  carried  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States. 

Litigation  was  threatened  in  Tennessee.  In  Maryland  a  League 
for  State  Defense  was  formed  to  defeat  ratification.  It  suc- 
ceeded in  the  Maryland  Legislature  and  had  delegations  of  legis- 
lators sent  to  Tennessee  and  West  Virginia  for  the  purpose,  who 
were  not  successful.  On  Oct.  30,  1920,  this  league  brought  a 
test  case  in  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  in  Baltimore  through 
Attorney  William  L.  Marbury  against  J.  Mercer  Garnett  et  al., 
constituting  the  Board  of  Registry,  to  compel  them  to  strike  the 
names  of  two  women  from  the  registration  books.  The  suit  was 
filed  in  the  name  of  Oscar  Leser,  a  former  Judge,  who  had  long 
fought  woman  suffrage,  and  twenty  members  of  the  league,  on  the 
following  grounds :  The  alleged  igth  Amendment  is  not  au- 
thorized by  Article  V  of  the  U.  S.  Constitution;  it  was  never 
legally  ratified  by  the  Legislatures  of  three-fourths  of  the  States ; 
(those  of  West  Virginia,  Tennessee  and  Missouri  were  cited)  ; 
it  was  rejected  by  the  Maryland  Legislature.  Everett  P.  Wheeler 


FEDERAL    AMENDMENT    FOR    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE  655 

assisted  in  the  trial  just  before  Christmas.  The  case  was  con- 
ducted for  the  State  by  Attorney  General  J.  Lindsay  Spencer. 
Judge  Heuisler  gave  an  adverse  decision  on  Jan.  29,  1921.  The 
case  was  taken  to  the  Court  of  Appeals  and  set  for  April  7.  The 
decision  of  the  lower  court  was  sustained — that  "the  power  to 
amend  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  granted  by  Article 
V  is  without  limit  except  as  to  the  words  'equal  suffrage  in  the 
Senate.'  .  .  .  From  all  the  exhibits  and  other  evidence  submitted 
the  court  is  of  the  opinion  that  there  was  due,  legal  and  proper 
ratification  of  the  amendment  by  the  required  number  of  State 
Legislatures.'* 

This  case  also  went  to  the  U.  S.  Supreme  Court  and  there  both 
of  them  rested.  Meanwhile  millions  of  women  voted  in  the  gen- 
eral election  on  Nov.  2,  1920,  and  in  the  State  and  local  elections 
which  followed  through  1921,  and  the  cases  were  almost  forgotten. 
Finally  in  February,  1922,  the  court  heard  the  arguments,  the 
Government  represented  by  Solicitor  General  James  M.  Beck. 
On  the  27th  it  handed  down  its  decision  on  the  two  cases.  It 
upheld  the  authority  of  Congress  under  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States  to  submit  the  amendment;  declared  that  "the  valid- 
ity of  the  1 5th  Amendment  had  been  recognized  for  half  a  cen- 
tury"; that  "the  Federal  Constitution  transcends  any  limitations 
sought  to  be  imposed  by  the  State" ;  that  "the  Secretary  of  State 
having  issued  the  proclamation  the  amendment  had  become  a  part 
of  the  National  Constitution." 

This  was  the  decision  of  the  highest  legal  authority,  from 
which  there  was  no  appeal. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

VARIOUS  WOMAN  SUFFRAGE  ASSOCIATIONS  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

The  National  Woman  Suffrage  Association  formed  in  New 
York  City  May  15,  1869,  by  pioneers  in  the  movement  from  nine- 
teen States  was  the  first  of  the  kind  in  the  world.  [History  of 
Woman  Suffrage,  Volume  II,  page  400.]  This  was  followed  by 
the  forming  on  November  24  at  Cleveland,  O.,  of  the  American 
Woman  Suffrage  Association.  [Same,  page  576.]  In  1890  these 
two  were  combined  under  the  name  National  American.  [Volume 
IV,  pages  164,  174.]  For  various  reasons  other  organizations 
came  into  existence,  as  the  years  passed,  which  had  some  claim 
to  being  considered  national,  but  this  great  united  association  was 
the  bulwark  of  the  movement  for  woman  suffrage  from  its 
beginning  to  its  end  in  1920.  It  was  always  the  official  authority 
recognized  by  Congress,  State  Legislatures,  the  press  and  the 
public,  but  all  of  the  others  assisted,  each  in  its  own  way  and 
degree,  and,  except  in  the  case  of  one,  the  National  Woman's 
Party,  there  was  no  antagonism  among  them,  as  all  were  con- 
secrated to  a  common  cause,  and  followed  similar  methods. 

THE   FEDERAL  SUFFRAGE   ASSOCIATION. 

This  association  was  organized  on  March  3rd  and  loth,  1892, 
in  the  lecture  room  of  the  Sherman  House,  Chicago,  with  the  fol- 
lowing officers :  President,  the  Hon.  M.  B.  Castle,  Sandwich,  Ills. ; 
vice-president,  the  Rev.  Olympia  Brown,  Racine,  Wis. ;  secretary, 
Mrs.  A.  J.  Loomis,  Chicago;  treasurer,  Mrs.  S.  M.  C.  Perkins, 
Cleveland,  O.  Judge  Charles  B.  Waite  of  Chicago ;  Mrs.  Isabella 
Beecher  Hooker  of  Hartford,  Conn. ;  Mrs.  Lucinda  H.  Stone  of 
Kalamazoo,  Mich.,  and  Mrs.  Lucia  E.  Blount  of  Washington, 
D.  C.,  with  many  other  prominent  people  assisted.  The  object 
was  to  secure  the  passage  of  a  Law  by  Congress  authorizing 
women  to  vote  for  members  of  the  House  of  Representatives, 

656 


WOMAN    SUFFRAGE    ASSOCIATIONS    IN    Till'.    rXITKD    STATES      657 

according  to  Sections  2  and  4,  Article  I  of  the  Federal  Constitu- 
tion, which  gives  Congress  authority  to  change  the  regulations 
made  by  the  States  for  the  election  of  these  members.  The  way 
for  this  organization  had  been  prepared  by  articles  in  the  Forum 
and  the  Arena  by  Judge  Francis  Minor  of  St.  Louis,  presenting 
the  arguments  for  this  law.  He  quoted  James  Madison,  who  said 
at  the  time  Virginia  adopted  the  National  Constitution  that  "the 
power  was  given  to  Congress  to  change  the  regulations  made  by 
the  States  in  order  to  protect  the  people.  Should  the  people  at 
any  time  be  deprived  of  the  right  of  suffrage  for  any  cause  it  was 
deemed  proper  that  it  should  be  remedied  by  the  general  govern- 
ment." At  the  first  meeting  a  memorial  was  adopted  asking  Con- 
gress to  enact  this  law,  which  later  was  presented  by  Representa- 
tive Clarence  D.  Clark  of  Wyoming.  The  officers  of  the  asso- 
ciation -were  instructed  to  present  a  memorial  to  the  Republican 
national  convention  in  Minneapolis  that  summer  asking  that  a 
plank  approving  this  Federal  suffrage  be  inserted  in  the  platform. 
The  Rev.  Mrs.  Brown  and  Mrs.  Perkins  attended  the  convention, 
where  they  were  treated  witli  marked  courtesy  and  given  promi- 
nent seats.  They  secured  a  hearing  and  the  presentation  of  the 
memorial  in  the  Committee  on  Resolutions.  The  papers  of 
Minneapolis  printed  it  in  full,  which  was  something  unusual  at 
that  time  when  woman  suffrage  was  scarcely  recognized  by  the 

.  At  the  Columbian  Exposition  in  1893  a  section  in  the 
Political  Congress  was  assigned  to  the  Federal  Association  and  a 
day  appointed  for  its  meetings.  Two  sessions  were  held,  ad- 
dressed by  prominent  speakers  and  attended  by  large  audiences. 

Much  propaganda  work  was  done  and  efforts  were  made  to 
form  local  organizations.  The  subject  -was  kept  before  the  Re- 
publican and  Democratic  parties  by  memorials  presented  lo  their 
national  conventions.  In  10,02  the  society  was  reorganized  as 
tin-  Woman's  Federal  Finality  Association  in  order  to  include 
ts  of  women  beside-  snlYra^e.  It  was  hoped  thus  t.» 

t  the  cooperation  of  those  employed  hy  the  <  .overnmcnt  but 
this  hope  not  being  reali/.cd  the  nam<  d  to  the  original. 

Belva  A.   Lockwood  had  hern  cho-cn  president  in   HM>..'  and 

followed  in    !«)<>}  n>'  tnr  'v>(>v    (  ^"ipia   '''"own.  \\ho  held  the 
C  until  the  end  in    [920,   Mrs.   LocltWOOd  contiimini;  as  hoOO 


658  HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

rary  president  until  her  death.  Mrs.  Clara  Bewick  Colby  was 
chosen  corresponding  secretary  in  1902  and  devoted  herself  to 
the  interests  of  the  association  unceasingly  until  her  death  Sept. 
7,  1916.  No  session  of  Congress  was  allowed  to  pass  without 
the  presenting  of  a  bill  demanding  the  right  of  women  to  vote 
for  federal  officers.  These  bills  were  referred  to  the  Committee 
on  Election  of  President,  Vice-President  and  Representatives  in 
Congress.  Usually  hearings  were  granted  and  arranged  for  with 
much  care  by  Mrs.  Colby,  who  resided  in  Washington.  They 
were  very  effective.  Among  the  most  important  was  that  of  1904, 
which  attracted  so  much  attention  that  the  committee  appointed 
a  second  day  to  continue  it  and  invited  Mrs.  Colby  to  explain 
more  fully  the  demand  of  the  association.  Another  important 
hearing  was  that  of  1913,  when  the  largest  committee  room  was 
filled,  many  standing  outside.  It  began  in  the  morning  and  was 
continued  in  the  evening,  with  the  speakers  nearly  all  members 
of  Congress,  a  remarkable  circumstance  at  that  time. 

At  the  hearings  of  1914,  1915  and  1916  Representative  Burton 
L.  French  of  Idaho  was  a  valuable  speaker,  as  was  Representative 
John  E.  Raker  of  California.  Mrs.  Lockwood  and  other  women 
took  part  at  different  times,  Mrs.  Colby  in  all  the  hearings  and  the 
Rev.  Mrs.  Brown  in  most  of  them.  Dr.  Clara  McNaughton,  the 
treasurer,  rendered  important  service  in  raising  money  and  in 
other  ways.  At  the  great  Gettysburg  celebration  in  1913  she  and 
Mrs.  Anna  Harmon  represented  the  association,  obtaining  signa- 
tures to  petitions,  circulating  literature  and  finding  a  wide  senti- 
ment for  woman  suffrage  among  the  old  soldiers. 

On  July  11-13,  1915,  the  Federal  Suffrage  Association  held 
a  Congress  at  the  Panama  Pacific  Exposition  in  San  Francisco, 
over  which  the  Rev.  Olympia  Brown  presided.  Mrs.  Colby  went 
out  some  time  before  the  meeting  and  made  the  arrangements. 
Among  the  distinguished  people  who  took  part  were  Mrs.  May 
Wright  Sewall,  founder  of  the  International  Council  of  Women, 
Mrs.  Ida  Husted  Harper,  historian  of  woman  suffrage  and 
biographer  of  Susan  B.  Anthony;  Mrs.  Adelaide  Johnson,  the 
noted  sculptor;  the  eminent  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Lowe  Watson  of 
California;  Mrs.  Emma  Smith  DeVoe  of  Tacoma,  president  of 
the  National  Council  of  Women  Voters,  and  Mrs.  Mary  G.  Bel- 


WOMAN    SUFFRAGE    ASSOCIATIONS    IN   THE   UNITED   STATES     659 

lamy,  former  member  of  the  Wyoming  Legislature.  The  most 
notable  of  the  exercises  was  the  fine  pageant  in  the  Court  of 
Abundance  on  the  closing  night.  This  court  was  a  most  beauti- 
ful place  for  scenic  display,  the  arrangement  of  the  platform, 
lights  and  decorations  all  contributing  to  make  any  function 
there  an  enchanting  scene.  Mrs.  Colby  had  prepared  a  com- 
prehensive lecture  on  Woman's  Part  in  the  Building  of  America, 
and.  with  the  assistance  of  a  skilful  specialist,  Mrs.  Andrea  Hofer, 
had  arranged  a  memorable  entertainment.  She  stood  on  the 
pedestal  of  a  massive  column  while  she  gave  her  lecture,  which 
was  illustrated  by  tableaus  on  the  platform  in  the  presence  of  a 
large  audience.  The  congress  was  continued  at  San  Diego  with 
largely  attended  meetings. 

The  history  of  Federal  Suffrage  would  not  be  complete  with- 
out some  mention  of  the  work  of  Miss  Laura  Clay  and  her  sister, 
Mrs.  Sarah  Clay  Bennett,  of  Kentucky,  who  advocated  the  idea 
of  Federal  Suffrage  even  before  the  forming  of  the  association 
and  long  worked  for  a  U.  S.  Elections  Bill.  Miss  Clay's 
maintenance  of  the  Federal  suffrage  principles,  her  writings  and 
her  strong  personality  were  a  guarantee  to  many  of  the  southern 
women  that  no  infringement  of  the  State's  rights  idea  was  in- 
tended. By  Aug.  26,  1920,  the  Federal  Amendment  had  been  sub- 
mitted by  Congress  and  ratified.  All  the  women  of  the  United 
States  were  fully  enfranchised  and  the  association  had  no  longer 
any  reason  for  being. 

[Prepared  by  the  Rev.  Olympia  Brown.] 

UNITED  STATES  ELECTIONS  BILL. 

From  the  time  the  National  Woman  Suffrage  Association  was 

organized  to  secure  the  enfranchisement  of  women  by  amending 

tin-  1-Vderal  Constitution  there  were  aim  mi;  its  members  those  who 

did  not  favor  this  method  because  it  was  contrary  to  the  doctrine 

ii^hts.     They  did,  however,  want  Congress  to  provide 

that    woman    should    vote    for    its    own     Representatives,    which 

d  l>e  done  simply  by  a  Law  requiring  only  a  majority  vote 

of  each  I  louse.     From  the  early  8o's  this  group  was  led  by  Miss 

Laura  <  lay  and  Mrs.  Sarah  Clay  Bennett  of   Kentucky.     There 

was  no  doubt  that  Congress  had  authority  over  the  election  of  its 


nf>O  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFI- RAGE 

Representatives,  as  -was  clearly  shown  in  Article  I,  Section  2, 
which  prescribes  the  manner  of  their  election  and  the  qualifica- 
tions of  the  electors  in  the  different  States.  Later  it  fixed  a  time 
for  these  elections.  This  authority  was  conferred  when,  after 
the  amendment  was  adopted  for  the  election  of  U.  S.  Senators 
by  the  voters,  Congress  enacted  that  all  who  were  qualified  to 
vote  for  Representatives  should  be  eligible  to  vote  for  Senators. 
The  leaders  of  the  National  American  Suffrage  Association  recog- 
nized the  constitutionality  of  the  bill  and  for  many  years  kept 
a  standing  committee  on  it  but  they  did  not  believe  Congress 
ever  would  accept  it.  Us  advocates  claimed  that  if  members  of 
Congress  had  -women  for  their  constituents  they  would  soon  sec 
that  the  States  enfranchised  them.  The  national  leaders  held 
that  if  women  could  elect  members  of  Congress  it  would  not 
take  them  long  to  compel  the  submission  of  :i  federal  Aineml- 
nient  and  that  the  members  would  not  put  this  power  into  their 
hands.  They  held  also  that  it  would  be  just  as  much  a  violation 
of  the  State's  right  to  determine  its  own  voters  as  would  the 
Federal  Amendment  itself.  The  Southern  Woman  Suffrage 
Conference,  or  Association,  however,  had  a  committee  to  further 
this  I'.  S.  Klections  Liill. 

At  the  annual  convention  of  the  National  American  Associa- 
tion in  1914  its  Congressional  Committee  was  instructed  to  in- 
clude this  bill  in  the  measures  which  it  promoted.  It  was  re- 
endorsed  at  the  conventions  of  1915  and  1916.  Miss  Clay  went 
to  Washington  and  lobbied  for  it  with  all  the  prestige  of  her 
family  back  of  her  and  with  all  her  commanding  ability,  sup- 
porting it  by  unanswerable  argument.  Members  often  presented 
it  in  both  Mouses  but  it  never  was  reported  by  a  committee. 

NATIONAL  COLLEGE  EQUAL  SUFFRAGE  LEAGUE. 

While  Miss  Maud  Wood  of  Boston  was  a  senior  in  Radcliffe 
College  her  attention  was  directed  to  woman  suffrage  by  the 
efforts  of  its  women  opponents  in  Cambridge  to  enlist  the  college 
girls  on  their  side.  Later,  hearing  a  speech  in  favor  of  it  by 
Miss  Alice  Stone  Blackwell,  she  associated  herself  with  the 
Massachusetts  Suffrage  Association,  spoke  at  its  next  annual 
convention  and  was  drawn  into  its  work.  After  hearing  and 


WOMAN    SUFFRAGE     \S-oei\llo\s    IN     Till'.    r\lTU>    STATES      66l 

meeting  MLs  Susan  B.  Anthony  she  felt  a  deeper  obligation  of 
service  to  tlie  cause  for  which  Miss  Anthony  and  her  associates 
had  sacrificed  so  much  and  she  thought  that  college  women 
especially  should  pay  their  deht  to  those  who  had  made  their 
education  possible  by  helping  them  fight  the  battle  for  woman 
suffrage.  In  ujw.  with  the  help  of  Mrs.  Inez  I  laynes  (lillmore, 
also  a  Radcliffe  student,  Miss  Wood,  now  Mrs.  Park,  founded 
the  Massachusetts  College  Lqual  Suffrage  League  and  steps  -were 
at  once  taken  to  form  leagues  in  other  Slates.  In  10,06  the  Na- 
tional American  Woman  Suffrage  Association  held  its  annual 
convention  in  Baltimore  and  under  the  auspices  of  Dr.  M.  Carey 
Thomas,  president  of  Bryn  Mawr,  there  occurred  that  remark- 
able "college  women's  evening,"  when  before  an  audience  that 
filled  the  theater  women  professors  from  the  largest  Colleges  for 
Women  in  the  United  States  paid  their  tributes  to  Miss  Anthony 
and  announced  their  allegiance  to  her  cause. 

Tt  was  decided  at  this  meeting  that  there  ought  to  be  a  national 

iatioii  of  college  women,  the  first  steps  toward  it  were  taken, 
and  Mrs.  Park  was  appointed  to  organize  leagues  in  the  States. 
In  KjnS  ;i  ('all  was  sent  out  signed  by  Dr.  Thomas,  President 
Mary  K.  Woolley  of  Mt.  1  lolyokc  College:  Miss  Mary  E.  fiarrett, 

under  of  the  Johns  Hopkins  Medical  School;  Mrs.  Elsie 
("lev.  >ns,  Ph.D.  of  Barnard  College;  Miss  Caroline  E. 

•  \v  (  Barnard),  president  of  the  New  York  College  Equal 
Suffrage  League,  and  Miss  Florence  Garvin  of  the  Rhode  Island 

ne.  to  meet    for  organization.     The  time  and  place  sel< 

during  the  annual  convention  of  the  National  American 
Woman  Suffrage  Association  in  Buffalo.  X.  Y..  October  15-21. 
By  this  time  College  Leagues  had  been  formed  in  fifteen  States 
the  country  to  California.  On  October  17,  in 
the  beautiful  club  house  nf  the  Woman's  Twentieth  ( Vntury  ( 'lub, 
with  d(  '  -it  from  most  of  these  States,  the  National 

Col;-  -lizcd  with  the  following  officer^  :     Presi- 

dent, Dr.  Thomas;  Professor  Sophonisha  Breckinridgc  of  (  h: 
University  at  the  head  of  a  list  of  five  vice-presidents:  » 

i  )r.  Ma:  iith)  of  Denver; 

Mrs.    Park   was  made  chairman   of   the  organization   committee'. 
The  purpos.  ie  was  announced  to  be  "to  promote 


662  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

suffrage  sentiment  among  college  -women  and  men  both  before 
and  after  graduation."  It  became  auxiliary  to  the  National  Asso- 
ciation and  its  annual  conventions  were  to  be  held  at  the  same 
time  and  place  as  those  of  the  association.  In  its  early  existence 
office  space  was  given  in  the  national  suffrage  headquarters  in 
New  York  City. 

For  the  next  nine  years  this  National  College  League  was  a 
vital  force  in  the  movement  for  woman  suffrage.  It  soon  had 
the  largest  voting  delegation  at  the  national  suffrage  conventions 
except  that  of  New  York.  Dr.  Thomas  remained  its  president 
and  Dr.  Anna  Howard  Shaw  its  honorary  vice-president.  Miss 
Martha  Gruening  and  Miss  Florence  Allen  (now  Judge  of  the 
Court  of  Common  Pleas  in  Cleveland,  O.),  were  secretaries,  and, 
from  1914  Mrs.  Ethel  Puffer  Howes  (Smith)  of  New  York  City. 
Organizers  were  sent  throughout  the  States  to  form  new  leagues 
and  lecturers  of  note  -were  engaged  to  address  league  meetings. 
Among  the  latter  were  Professor  Frances  Squire  Potter  of  the 
University  of  Minnesota;  Dr.  B.  O.  Aylesworth  and  Mrs.  Helen 
Loring  Grenfell,  State  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction  of 
Colorado;  Mrs.  Charlotte  Perkins  Oilman  of  New  York  and 
Mrs.  Philip  Snowden  of  England.  Dr.  Shaw  spoke  a  number 
of  times.  In  1915  a  lecture  tour  among  the  colleges  was  ar- 
ranged for  Mrs.  Emmeline  Pankhurst.  Literature  and  letters 
were  sent  to  colleges  and  to  graduates.  In  1914,  for  instance, 
twenty  colleges  in  New  York  State  were  supplied  and  letters  were 
sent  to  a  thousand  graduates  in  New  Jersey,  campaigns  being 
in  progress  in  those  States.  During  the  Iowa  campaign  in  1916 
the  colleges  of  that  State  received  12,000  leaflets.  Travelling 
libraries  of  twenty-five  volumes  relating  to  suffrage  were  circu- 
lated among  the  colleges.  The  most  important  achievement  of 
an  individual  league  was  that  in  California  in  1911.  Under  the 
presidency  of  Miss  Charlotte  Anita  Whitney  the  work  of  the 
league  of  over  a  thousand  members  was  a  large  factor  in  the 
success  of  the  campaign  for  a  woman  suffrage  amendment.  In 
1917,  during  the  second  New  York  campaign,  Miss  M.  Louise 
Grant  (Columbia),  under  the  auspices  of  the  National  and  State 
leagues,  made  forty-five  speeches  to  arouse  the  college  women, 


WOMAN    SUFFRAGE    ASSOCIATIONS    IN    THE    UNITED   STATES     663 

which  contributed  to  the  victory  for  the  suffrage  amendment  in 
November. 

The  gaining  of  the  franchise  in  this  influential  State  made  a 
Federal  Amendment  a  certainty  of  the  not  distant  future  and  in 
December  the  following  oflkial  notice  was  sent  to  the  branches  of 
the  National  League : 

At  the  meeting  of  the  annual  council  of  the  National  College 
(1  Suffrage  League,  held  at  the  New  Ebbitt  Hotel  in  Washing- 
ton, D.  C,  on  Dec.  15,  1917,  it  was  unanimously  voted  on  recom- 
mendation of  the  president  and  executive  secretary  to  close  its 
work  and  go  out  of  existence.  The  delegates  present,  the  officers, 
and  many  other  suffragists  who  had  been  consulted  were  of  the 
opinion  that  the  objects  for  which  the  league  was  originally  or- 
ganized had  been  fully  attained  and  that  there  was  no  reason  for 
it  to  continue  its  work  as  a  separate  suffrage  organization.  .  .  . 

At  the  time  when  the  league  began  its  work  the  subject  of  suffrage 
could  scarcely  be  mentioned  in  gatherings  of  college  students  and 
collect  faculties  and  was  forbidden  even  as  a  topic  for  discussion  in 
the  annual  conventions  of  the  Association  of  Collegiate  Alumnae, 
but  in  the  nine  years  that  have  elapsed  since  then  an  overwhelming 
change  of  opinion  has  taken  place.  Many  colleges  in  which  it  was 
planned  to  organize  chapters  have  stated  that  there  is  no  need  for 
them,  as  practically  all  the  members  of  their  faculties  and  most 
of  their  students  are  already  suffragists.  At  the  last  biennial  con- 
vention of  the  Association  of  Collegiate  Alumnae  held  in  Washing- 
ton. I).  (".,  in  April.  1917,  by  a  unanimous  vote  it  not  only  reaffirmed 
its  belief  in  woman  suffrage  but  urged  its  members  to  win  it  for  all 
American  women  by  working  for  the  Federal  Amendment.  In 
bringing  about  this  revolution  in  educated  opinion  we  are  happy  to 
believe  that  the  National  College  Equal  Suffrage  League  has  played 
an  important  part.  .  .  . 

There  are  belonging  to  the  National  League  5,000  members  en- 
rolled in  over  fifty  State  leagues  and  chapters  and  it  suggests  that 
they  become  "J-Yderal  Amendment  Suffrage  Clubs"  and  arrange  for 
speakers  and  student  debates  on  the  amendment.  ...  Its  officers 
wish  to  make  an  urgent  appeal  to  all  its  leagues  and  chapters  and  to 
one  of  its  individual  members  to  put  their  whole  force  be- 
hind the  drive  for  this  amendment.  .  .  .  We  can  perform  no  more 
patriotic  service  for  our  country  or  for  the  world  than  to  win 
11  ff rage  while  we  are  working  with  all  our  might  to  win 
the  war.1 

1  The  following  were  the  officers  of  the  National  College  Equal  Suffrage  League  at  the 
time    it    disbanded:    President,    M.    Carey    Thomas,    president    of    Bryn    Mawr    College; 
ice-president,  Dr.  Anna  Howard  Shaw,  honorary  president  of  the  National  Ameri- 
oman  Suffrage  Association;  vice-presidents:   Mary  E.  Woolley,   president  of   Mount 
>1yoke  College;    Ellen   F.    Pcndlcton.  president  of  Wellesley   College;   Lucy   M.    Salmon, 
>fessor    of    history    in    Vaasar    Collrgr;     Lillian    Welch,    professor    of    physiology    and 
in    Goucher    College    (Baltimore);    Virginia    C.    Gildersleere,    dean    of    Barnard 


664  n  I  STORY    OK    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

This  notice  contained  a  statement  that  the  small  dues  and 
special  gifts  had  never  been  sufficient  to  meet  the  expenses  of 
the  league  and  said:  "With  the  exception  of  $450  lent  by  o'ne 
of  its  former  officers  all  the  loans  and  debts  of  the  National 
College  League,  amounting  to  $6,686  were  paid  off  by  its  presi- 
dent, who  stated  that  in  thus  financing  its  work  during  the  past 
few  years  she  believed  she  -was  making  the  most  valuable  financial 
contribution  that  she  could  make  to  the  cause  of  woman  suf- 
frage." 

FRIENDS'  EQUAL  RTC.HTS  ASSOCIATION.1 

The  Society  of  Friends  always  has  held  advanced  views  on 
I  lie  woman  question  and  was  for  a  long  time  the  only  religious 
body  which  gave  women  equal  rights  with  men  in  the  church. 
Women  of  this  sect  were  naturally  leaders  in  the  great  movement 
for  the  emancipation  of  women  educationally,  professionally  and 
politically.  Lucretia  Mott  stepped  forth  almost  alone  at  first  but 
soon  Susan  P..  Anthony  and  Lucy  Stone  (both  of  Quaker  an- 
cestry) stood  by  her  side,  powerful  in  vision  to  see  and  will  to 
do  and  dedicated  to  their  great  task. 

With  such  heritage  comes  unusual  responsibility,  and,  feeling 
the  surge  of  this  tremendous  -wave  everywhere  for  human  rights, 
the  Society  of  Friends  at  its  Biennial  or  General  Conference 
(liberal  branch)  representing  the  seven  Yearly  Meetings  of  the 
Tnited  States  and  Canada — Philadelphia,  Baltimore,  New  York, 
(  )hio,  Indiana,  Illinois  and  Genesee  (western  New  York  and  Can- 
ada)— held  at  Chautauqua,  N.  Y.,  8th  month,  24th  day,  1900, 
through  the  Union  for  Philanthropic  Labor,  created  a  new  depart- 
ment to  be  known  as  Women  in  Government  and  recommended  to 
the  committees  of  the  various  Yearly  Meetings  that  they  "should 
work  in  this  direction/'  Before  the  adjournment  of  the  con- 

College  (Columbia  University) ;  Lois  K.  Mathews,  dean  of  women  in  the  University 
of  Wisconsin;  Eva  Johnston,  dean  of  women  in  the  University  of  Missouri;  Florence 
M.  Fitch,  dean  of  college  women  and  professor  of  Biblical  literature,  Oberlin  College; 
Maud  Wood  Park,  Boston;  executive  secretary,  Mrs.  Ethel  Puffer  Howes,  New  York 
City;  treasurer,  Mrs.  Raymond  B.  Morgan,  president  Washington,  D.  C.,  Collegiate 
Alumnae. 

ETHEL  PUFFER  HOWES,  M.  CAREY  THOMAS, 

Executive  Secretary.  President 

1  The  History  is  indebted  for  this  sketch  to  Anne  Webb  (Mrs.  O.  Edward)  Janney, 
president  of  the  Friends'  Equal  Rights  Association  and  superintendent  of  the  department 
of  equal  rights  of  the  Committee  of  Philanthropic  Labor  of  the  Friends'  General 
Conference. 


WOMAN    SUFFRAGE    ASSOCIATIONS    IN    THE    UNITED   STATES     665 

ference  Mariana  W.  Chapman  of  Brooklyn  was  made  superin- 
tendent of  the  department  and  the  name  was  changed  to  Equal 
Rights  for  Women.  This  official  action  committed  all  the  Yearly 
Meetings  of  this  branch  of  Friends  to  the  endorsement  of  political 
rights  for  women. 

Realizing  the  need  for  increased  enthusiasm  and  active  partici- 
pation in  the  imminent  struggle  for  the  enfranchisement  of  wo- 
men, members  of  the  New  York  Yearly  Meeting  organized  the 
State  Friends'  Equal  Rights  Association,  with  annual  member- 
ship dues  to  meet  necessary  expenses.  A  definite  list  of  members 
was  thus  made,  who  could  be  called  upon  when  opportunity  for 
service  occurred.  At  Westbury  (Long  Island)  Quarterly  Meet- 
ing in  1901  a  proposal  was  approved  that  this  association  should 
ask  to  co-operate  as  an  auxiliary  with  the  National  American 
\Yoman  Suffrage  Association  and  at  the  following  annual  con- 
vention of  that  body  in  Washington,  D.  C.,  it  was  represented  by 
five  delegates.  In  December,  1902,  Mrs.  Chapman,  president  of 
the  Xew  York  association,  addressed  a  meeting  in  Philadelphia 
and  a  branch  was  formed  there,  which  in  less  than  three  months 
numbered  about  200  members,  with  Susan  W.  Janney  as  presi- 
dent. The  Baltimore  Yearly  Meeting  quickly  followed  with  a 
paid-up  membership  of  85,  which  increased  the  following  year 
to  114,  with  Elizabeth  B.  Passmore  president. 

In  1904  the  entire  dues-paying  membership  was  over  500. 
The  New  York  association  sent  letters  to  members  of  the  State 
Senate  and  Assembly  bearing  on  woman  suffrage  bills  and  was 
active  in  all  State  suffrage  campaigns.  Much  energy  was  de- 

1  to  public  meetings  and  literature.     The  Philadelphia  and 

Baltimore  associations  worked  mainly  along  educational   lines. 

This  year  the  Baltimore  branch  sent  out  4,000  leaflets — For  Kqual 

The  Philadelphia  association  rcnr-ani/cd  in  1905,  with 

-rolled  instead  of  a  paid  membership.     Their  Yearly  Meeting 

large  body  with  a  membership  scattered  over  Pennsylvania, 

Jersey,  Delaware  and  the  eastern  shore  of  Maryland.   .   .  . 

The  a-  -is  continued  their  work,  holding  meetings  and 

•id  tables,"  especially  at   tin  'innal   and  biennial   con- 

one  of  the  most  effective  of  the-e  meeting  being  held 
in  1914,  addressed  by  Mrs.  Carrie  Chapman  Catt, 


YOU   T 


666  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

president  of  the  International  Woman  Suffrage  Alliance.  The 
subject  was  kept  constantly  under  consideration  by  the  Society  of 
Friends  at  large  and  in  local  gatherings,  such  as  monthly  and 
quarterly  meetings,  where  it  was  brought  up  in  regular  order  as 
one  of  the  departments  of  philanthropic  labor  or  social  service 
to  be  reported  upon.  Each  branch  held  a  meeting  at  the  time 
of  its  Yearly  Meeting.  A  business  meeting  of  the  whole  associa- 
tion (branches  and  general  membership)  was  always  held  at  the 
Biennial  Conference  of  the  seven  Yearly  Meetings.  Usually  a 
fine  speaker  was  engaged  to  address  the  conference  at  a  public 
meeting  numbering  from  800  to  1,500.  The  Superintendent  of 
the  Department  for  Equal  Rights  in  the  General  Conference  was 
always  the  president  of  the  Friends'  Equal  Rights  Association 
as  a  whole  and  made  the  contact  between  the  Society  of  Friends 
and  the  National  American  Woman  Suffrage  Association. 

In  1911  Mrs.  Effie  L.  D.  McAfee,  a  member  of  the  New  York 
branch,  was  sent  by  the  Friends'  Equal  Rights  Association  to  the 
congress  of  the  International  Alliance  held  at  Stockholm,  Sweden, 
•where,  in  honor  of  a  sect  so  long  identified  with  the  cause  of 
woman  suffrage,  she  was  given  a  place  on  the  program  and  filled 
it  most  acceptably.  In  1916  the  Philadelphia  branch  returned  to 
the  regular  dues-paying  basis,  with  Rebecca  Webb  Holmes  of 
Swarthmore  as  president.  The  New  York  branch,  notwithstand- 
ing the  enfranchisement  of  the  women  of  that  State  in  1917, 
continued  its  organization  in  order  to  help  the  less  fortunate 
sisters,  with  P.  Francena  Maine  as  president.  The  Illinois  Yearly 
Meeting  in  1919  added  to  the  membership  of  the  Friends'  Equal 
Rights  Association. 

The  association  usually  has  been  represented  at  the  annual 
conventions  of  the  N.  A.  W.  S.  A.  Its  presidents  have  been: 
Mrs.  Chapman,  New  York ;  Lucy  Sutton,  Baltimore ;  Mary  Bent- 
ley  Thomas,  Ednor,  Md. ;  Ellen  H.  E.  Price,  Philadelphia ;  Anne 
Webb  Janney,  Baltimore.  The  specific  task  of  the  association  has 
been  to  get  a  clear  utterance  on  woman  suffrage  from  the  dif- 
ferent Yearly  Meetings,  representing  in  total  membership  about 
20,000.  Invariably  they  have  endorsed  the  principle  and  any 
pending  legislation  in  favor.  Affiliation  with  the  National  Asso- 
ciation has  been  deeply  appreciated  by  its  members,  as  to  be  an 


WOMAN    SUFFRAGE    ASSOCIATIONS    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES     66/ 

integral  part  of  one  of  the  glorious  world  forces  is  a  privilege  not 
to  be  lightly  held. 

THE    MISSISSIPPI    VALLEY    CONFERENCES.1 

For  half  a  dozen  years  toward  the  end  of  the  long  contest  for 
the  enfranchisement  of  women — 1912-1917  inclusive — an  organ- 
ization that  'played  a  considerable  part  in  it  was  the  Mississippi 
Valley  Conference.  From  the  time  that  the  National  Suffrage 
Association  was  formed  in  1869  to  1895  its  annual  conventions 
were  held  in  Washington,  and  from  that  date  to  1912  nine  of  the 
seventeen  were  held  in  eastern  States.  Because  of  the  expense 
of  travel  the  representation  of  western  women  was  very  small 
compared  to  that  of  the  eastern  section  of  the  country.  All  the 
national  presidents  were  from  the  East  and  in  order  that  the 
officers  might  attend  board  meetings  and  conferences  most  of  them 
were  eastern  women.  Those  of  the  West  keenly  realized  the 
need  of  greater  opportunity  of  getting  together,  becoming 
acquainted,  developing  leadership  and  planning  their  work,  as 
all  of  the  suffrage  campaigns  at  this  time  took  place  in  the  western 
States.  This  was  felt  more  especially  by  the  women  of  the 
Middle  West,  as  many  of  the  States  in  the  far  West  had  given 
the  vote  to  their  women. 

Finally  in  1912  the  initiative  was  taken  by  a  group  of  women 
in  Chicago,  headed  by  Mrs.  Ella  S.  Stewart,  six  years  president 
of  the  Illinois  Suffrage  Association;  Miss  Jane  Addams,  national 
president,  and  Mrs.  Catharine  Waugh  McCulloch,  a  former 
State  and  national  officer,  to  form  an  organization  in  the  central 
part  of  the  country  that  could  hold  occasional  conferences.    They 
!   the   presidents  of   the   State  associations   in    that    section 
if    they    would    join    in    a   call    for    a    meeting    in    Chicago    for 
thi<    purpose    and    sixteen    responded    in    the    affirmative.      Mrs. 
chairman  of  the  committee,  took  charge  of  the  ar- 
rangements assisted  by  Mrs.  Mary  R.   I  Mummer,  and  prepared 
the    program.      The    meeting   took    place    in    La    Salle    Motel, 
May  21-23,  witn  the   following  States  represented  by  women 
linent  in  the  movement  for  woman  suffrage :     Illinois  \Yis- 
in,    Minnesota,    Michigan,    Indiana.    Ohio.    Kentucky,    Ten- 

1  Detailed    accounts    of    thene    conferences    may    be    found    in    the    Woman' t    Journal 
(Beaton)  of  the  dates  folowing  those  on  which  they  were  held. 


668  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

nessee,  Alabama,  Mississippi,  Louisiana,  Missouri,  Kansas,  Okla- 
homa, Iowa,  Nebraska,  South  Dakota,  Mrs.  Elvira  Downey, 
president  of  the  Illinois  Suffrage  Association,  presiding.  There 
were  three  sessions  daily  with  large  audiences  and  the  Wonmn's 
Journal  said :  "Every  session  was  like  a  great  study  class  -with 
teachers  and  students,  questions,  answers  and  discussion.  It  was 
not  an  occasion  for  a  display  of  oratory  but  a  practical  and  busi- 
ness-like conference."  All  phases  of  the  work  for  suffrage  were 
considered  and  especially  the  management  of  campaigns,  which 
were  now  frequent.  The  third  day  a  meeting  -was  held  in  Milwau- 
kee, arranged  by  Miss  Gwendolen  Brown  Willis.  The  great  need 
and  value  of  such  an  organization  was  clearly  apparent  and  the 
Misissippi  Valley  Conference  was  organized  with  Mrs.  Stewart 
president.  There  was  no  constitution  or  fixed  rules,  it  was  simply 
decided  to  hold  a  meeting  the  next  year  and  a  committee  to  ar- 
range for  it  appointed  :  Mrs.  Stewart,  chairman ;  Miss  Kate  Gor- 
don of  Louisiana  and  Mrs.  Maud  C.  Stockwell  of  Minnesota. 

The  second  conference  met  in  St.  Louis  April  2-4,  1913, 
in  the  Buckingham  Hotel,  at  the  Call  of  nineteen  State  presidents. 
Mrs.  George  Gellhorn,  president  of  the  Missouri  association,  had 
charge  of  the  arrangements,  with  a  corps  of  committee  chairmen. 
Mrs.  Stewart  presided  and  the  conference  -was  welcomed  by  Mrs. 
David  M.  O'Neil.  The  three  daily  sessions  were  crowded  with 
eager,  interested  women.  At  one  evening  mass  meeting  in  the 
Sheldon  Memorial  Governor  Joseph  K.  Folk  made  an  address. 
Miss  Harriet  E.  Grim  of  Illinois  was  elected  president  and  Mrs. 
Gellhorn  and  Mrs.  Pattie  Ruffner  Jacobs,  president  of  the  Ala- 
bama Suffrage  Association,  were  appointed  to  assist  her  in  arrang- 
ing for  the  next  conference. 

The  third  conference  took  place  in  Des  Moines,  Iowa,  March 
29-31,  1914,  in  the  Savery  Hotel,  with  the  presidents  of 
twenty  State  Suffrage  Associations  among  the  delegates.  It 
opened  with  a  mass  meeting  on  Sunday  afternoon  in  Berchel 
Theater  and  an  overflow  meeting  had  to  be  held  for  the  hundreds 
who  could  not  gain  admittance.  Governor  George  W.  Clark, 
Miss  Jane  Addams,  Rabbi  Mannheimer,  Miss  Dunlap  and  Mrs. 
Stewart  were  the  speakers.  In  the  morning  and  evening  most  of 
the  pulpits  in  the  city  were  filled  by  delegates.  The  conference 


WOMAN    SUFFRAGE   ASSOCIATIONS   IN    THE   UNITED   STATES   669 

was  welcomed  Monday  by  Miss  Flora  Dunlap,  president  of  the 
Iowa  Suffrage  Association  and  Mrs.  Marie  M.  Carroll,  president 
of  the  Des  Moines  Woman's  Club,  and  at  the  mass  meeting  in 
the  evening  by  Mayor  James  R.  Hanna.  Several  hundred  dele- 
gates were  in  attendance  and  a  valuable  program  of  work  occupied 
the  sessions.  Mrs.  Harriet  Taylor  Upton,  president  of  the  Ohio 
association,  was  elected  president  and  with  Miss  Laura  Clay  and 
Mrs.  John  Pyle,  presidents  of  the  Kentucky  and  South  Dakota 
Suffrage  Associations,  -was  appointed  to  arrange  for  the  next 
conference. 

The  fourth  conference  was  held  at  Indianapolis,  March  7-9, 
1915,  in  the  Hotel  Claypool,  with  Dr.  Amelia  R.  Keller,  president 
of  the  Equal  Franchise  League,  chairman  of  the  committee  of 
arrangements.  It  opened  with  a  mass  meeting  Sunday  afternoon 
in  Murat  Theater,  Dr.  Keller  presiding.  An  address  of  welcome 
was  made  by  James  A.  Ogden  in  behalf  of  the  Chamber  of  Com- 
merce, to  which  Mrs.  Upton  responded.  The  principal  speaker 
was  Rosika  Schwimmer  of  Hungary,  formerly  an  officer  of  the 
International  Woman  Suffrage  Alliance.  Presidents  and  dele- 
gates from  twenty-two  State  Suffrage  Associations  carried  out  the 
usual  comprehensive  program.  Mrs.  Florence  Bennett  Peterson 
of  Chicago  was  elected  president,  with  Mrs.  W.  E.  Barkley  and 
Miss  Annette  Finnegan,  presidents  of  the  Nebraska  and  Texas 
Suffrage  Associations,  to  assist  in  the  plans  for  the  next  meeting. 

The  conference  of  1916  met  in  Minneapolis,  May  7-10,  four 
days  now  being  none  too  long  to  carry  out  the  important  program 
of  work.  Mrs.  Andreas  Ueland,  president  of  the  Minnesota  Suf- 
frage Association,  was  chairman  of  the  large  committee  of  ar- 
rangements. The  conference  opened  with  a  mass  meeting  in  the 
Auditorium  Sunday  afternoon,  Mrs.  I  'eland  presiding.  The  in- 
vocation was  pronounced  by  Dr.  Cyrus  Northrop,  president 
emeritus  of  the  State  University.  The  conference  was  welcomed 
by  Mayor  Wallace  G.  Nye  and  Mrs.  1'eterson  responded.  Pro- 
i  Maria  L.  San  ford  of  the  State  University;  president  Frank 
Nelson  of  Minnesota  College;  Mrs.  Nellie  McC'lung  of  Alberta. 
Can.;  Mrs.  Carrie  Chapman  Call,  president  of  the  International 
Suffrage  Alliance  and  the  National  \mcrican  Association,  and 
others  made  An  evening  mass  meeting  was  held  in 


670  HISTORY   OF   WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

St.  Paul.  At  a  banquet  attended  by  500  guests  Dr.  George  E. 
Vincent,  president  of  the  State  University,  made  his  first  declara- 
tion in  favor  of  woman  suffrage.  Twenty-six  States  were  now 
members  of  the  organization  and  nearly  all  of  those  who  took 
part  at  this  time  were  prominent  in  the  activities  of  their  various 
States.  The  Woman's  Journal  said :  "It  was  a  magnificent  and 
glorified  Work  Conference."  Mrs.  Peterson  was  continued  as 
president  and  Mrs.  Ueland  and  Miss  Elizabeth  J.  Hauser  of  the* 
Ohio  Suffrage  Association  were  placed  on  her  committee,  the 
latter  to  act  as  chairman  for  arranging  the  next  conference. 

The  sixth  annual  meeting  of  what  had  now  become  an  im- 
portant factor  in  the  movement  for  woman  suffrage  took  place 
at  Columbus,  O.,  May  12-14,  I9I7i  m  Hotel  Deshler.  At  the 
Sunday  afternoon  mass  meeting  in  Memorial  Hall,  the  Hon. 
William  Littleford  of  Cincinnati,  president  of  the  Ohio  Men's 
League  for  Woman  Suffrage,  was  in  the  chair  and  a  number 
of  eminent  men  and  women  were  on  the  platform.  The  speakers 
were  Governor  James  M.  Cox  and  Mrs.  Catt.  The  Governor 
strongly  endorsed  the  movement  and  pledged  his  support.  Mrs. 
Catt  gave  a  masterly  review  of  its  progress  throughout  the  world. 
Twenty-one  States  were  represented  on  the  program.  An  im- 
portant feature  of  this,  as  of  several  preceding  conferences,  was 
the  reports  of  what  -women  had  been  able  to  accomplish  in  the 
many  States  where  they  were  now  enfranchised.  Organization 
and  political  action  in  order  to  carry  State  amendments  formed 
the  principal  theme  of  discussion.  Mrs.  John  R.  Leighty  of 
Kansas  was  elected  president  with  Mrs.  Ueland  and  Mrs.  Grace 
Julian  Clarke  of  Indianapolis  on  her  committee  to  arrange  for 
the  next  conference.  The  shadow  of  war  rested  over  the  meet- 
ing, yet  in  all  the  speeches  was  a  note  of  victory  for  woman 
suffrage,  which  evidently  was  not  far  distant. 

It  was  planned  to  hold  the  next  Conference  in  Sioux  Falls, 
May  26-28,  1918,  as  South  Dakota  was  in  the  midst  of  an 
amendment  campaign,  but  Mrs.  Catt  called  the  Executive  Council 
of  the  National  Association  to  meet  at  Indianapolis  during  the 
Indiana  State  convention  April  16-18,  to  plan  action  on  the 
Federal  Amendment,  which  seemed  near  passing.  This  required 
the  attendance  of  its  members  from  every  State  and  as  many  of 


WOMAN    SUFFRAGE    ASSOCIATIONS   IN    THE    UNITED   STATES    67! 

them  did  not  wish  to  spare  the  time  and  money  for  another 
meeting  so  soon  the  conference  was  given  up.  In  1919  the  con- 
vention of  the  National  Association  was  held  in  St.  Louis  and 
in  1920  in  Chicago,  which  made  the  conference  unnecessary, 
and  then  the  Federal  Amendment  was  ratified  and  the  long  con- 
test was  ended. 

THE    SOUTHERN    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE    CONFERENCE. 

The  Southern  Woman  Suffrage  Conference  was  formed  as 
the  result  of  a  Call  sent  out  in  1913  by  women  of  the  southern 
States  to  the  Governors  of  those  States  to  meet  them  in  conference 
and  prepare  for  the  extension  of  woman  suffrage  by  State  enact- 
ment rather  than  by  Federal  Amendment.  Women  from  every 
southern  State  signed  the  Call,  although  in  North  and  South 
Caroliha  and  Florida  not  a  vestige  of  suffrage  organization 
existed.  Miss  Kate  Gordon,  who  inaugurated  the  conference, 
felt  impelled  to  begin  some  distinctly  southern  suffrage  move- 
ment when  listening  to  the  effort  of  the  Speaker  of  the  House  of 
Representatives  in  Louisiana,  to  secure  the  ratification  of  the 
Income  Tax  Amendment  upon  the  sole  and  only  ground  that  it 
was  a  Democratic  party  measure.  To  make  woman  suffrage  a 
Democratic  party  measure  seemed  then  the  logical  field  for  im- 
mediate, intensive  propaganda.  The  Congressional  Committee 
of  the  National  American  Association  was  vitalizing  into  activity 
the  Federal  Woman  Suffrage  Amendment.  What  more  logical 
from  a  political  standpoint  than  for  the  southern  suffrage  forces 
to  advance  with  a  flank  movement  in  harmony  with  the  traditions 
and  policies  of  the  Democratic  party? 

In  November,  1913,  there  assembled  in  New  Orleans  the  organ- 
ization force  of  the  Southern  Conference,  with  representative 
from  almost  all  of  the  southern  States.  The  platform  adopted 
was  primarily  for  State's  l\it;ht  Suffrage.  Miss  (.<>nl<>n  was 
elected  president  and  Miss  Laura  Clay  of  Kentucky  vice-presi- 
dent :  Mrs.  John  \>>.  Parker  of  Louisiana  corresponding  SCCretaT)  ; 
Mrs.  Nellie  Nugent  Soinerville  of  Mississippi  treasurer.  'I  lie 
plan  of  campaign  counted  of  the  establishment  of  headquarters 
in  New  Orleans;  tlie  creating  of  an  acii  bureau  and  the 

holding  Of  Conferences  in  tin-  -outhern  States,  particularly 


672  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

where  no  suffrage  organization  existed.  It  was  originally  hoped 
that  the  National  Association  would  encourage  with  active  support 
the  development  of  this  specialized  suffrage  work  but  it  refused 
any  financial  assistance. 

The  founders  undaunted  pursued  their  own  plan  of  financing, 
when  suddenly  through  the  generosity  of  Mrs.  Oliver  H.  P.  Bel- 
mont  of  New  York  the  wheels  were  set  in  motion.  Under  caution 
that  secrecy  be  maintained,  Mrs.  Belmont,  a  southern  born  wo- 
man, attracted  by  the  practicability  of  the  plan,  endorsed  it  by 
sending  a  check  for  $10,000.  Later  at  a  meeting  of  the  con- 
ference in  Chattanooga,  Tenn.,  she  said:  "I  plead  guilty  to  so 
strong  a  desire  for  the  political  emancipation  of  women  that  I 
am  not  at  all  particular  as  to  how  it  shall  be  granted.  I  have 
sworn  allegiance  to  the  National  Amendment  for  woman  suffrage, 
while  the  Southern  States  Conference,  of  which  I  am  proud  to  be 
a  member,  holds  rigidly  to  the  principle  of  State's  rights.  As  a 
southerner  I  thoroughly  understand  the  problems  which  create 
this  attitude  and  if  that  method  proves  effective  I  shall  gratefully 
accept  the  results." 

In  May,  1914,  the  headquarters  were  opened  in  New  Orleans 
with  Mrs.  Ida  Porter  Boyer  of  Pennsylvania  as  their  secretary. 
Within  three  months  1,000  southern  newspapers  were  using  the 
specially  prepared  weekly  editorials  and  fillers  sent  out.  In 
October  was  launched  the  New  Southern  Citizen,  a  monthly  suf- 
frage magazine,  which  made  its  initial  trip  with  a  distinctively 
southern  suffrage  appeal.  This  little  arsenal  of  facts  reached 
every  legislator  in  the  South  prior  to  the  sessions  of  the  Legisla- 
tures. Special  bills  endorsed  by  suffragists  or  women  were  made 
the  theme  of  weekly  news  articles,  which  called  out  editorials  by 
wholesale.  To  illustrate :  When  Mississippi  women  were  mak- 
ing an  effort  to  secure  an  amendment  to  enable  women  to  serve  on 
public  boards,  an  enthusiastic  Mississippian  wrote  to  the  con- 
ference of  the  support  given  by  local  papers  in  their  editorials 
and  general  comments.  Every  word  printed  had  been  furnished 
by  the  news  bulletins  from  the  conference  headquarters. 

The  -work  of  the  Southern  Conference  would  be  incomplete 
without  special  mention  of  the  valuable  services  of  Mrs.  Wesley 
Martin  Stoner  of  Washington,  D.  C.  Mrs.  Stoner  had  been 


WOMAN   SUFFRAGE   ASSOCIATIONS   IN    THE   UNITED   STATES    673 

sent  as  the  special  representative  of  the  National  Association's 
Congressional  Committee  to  make  a  survey  of  southern  condi- 
tions, in  the  winter  of  1913-14,  and  reported  that  her  observa- 
tions led  her  to  believe  that  the  best  results  would  be  obtained  by 
a  furtherance  of  the  policies  of  the  Southern  Conference  and 
from  that  time  she  became  a  valued  worker  in  its  ranks. 

The  conference  felt  that  in  a  great  measure  its  chief  purpose 
had  been  achieved  when  the  Democratic  party,  in  its  national 
platform  of  1916,  went  on  record  for  woman  suffrage  by  State 
enactment.  It  kept  up  an  active  organization  throughout  the 
South,  however,  until  May,  1917,  when  the  war  situation  de- 
manded caution  in  continuing  a  movement  which  was  costing 
over  $600  a  month.  An  additional  reason  for  discontinuance  was 
that  Miss  Gordon,  who  had  been  donating  all  of  her  time  to  the 
work,  was  obliged  to  give  attention  to  her  own  business  affairs. 

[Prepared  by  Miss  Kate  Gordon.] 

INTERNATIONAL  AND   NATIONAL   MEN'S   LEAGUES 
FOR    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE. 

The  National  Men's  League  for  Woman  Suffrage  in  the  United 
States  was  the  outgrowth  of  the  State  League  in  New  York, 
formed  in  1910,  an  account  of  which  is  in  the  New  York 
chapter.  National  Leagues  were  afterwards  formed  in  other 
countries.  In  Great  Britain  the  Earl  of  Lytton  was  president  and 
among  the  vice-presidents  were  Karl  Russell,  the  Lord  Bishop  of 
Lincoln,  Sir  John  Cockbum,  K.C.,  M.G.,  Forbes  Robertson,  Israel 
Xangwill  and  others  of  prominence  in  various  fields.  At  the  time 
of  the  congress  of  the  International  \Vmnan  Suffrage  Alliance  in 
Stockholm  in  the  summer  of  191  i  delegates  from  these  national 
leagues  held  a  convention  there  and  formed  an  International 
Men's  League.  The  United  States  I  «  a^iu-  was  represented  by 
lerick  Nathan  of  New  York.  A  second  international  con 
vention  of  National  Men's  I. rallies  to<'k  place  in  London  in  i 
the  sessions  com  inning  one  week.  The  third  convention  occurred 
in  Budapest  in  June,  [913,  when  the  International  \\Oman  Snf 
irld  its  congress  and  the  delegates  were  warmly 
welcomed  by  the  M<  -tie  of  Hungary.  In  M»I  j  came-  the 

World  War.     At  th<  ongress  of  the  Alliance,  in  Geneva  in 


674  HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

1920,  the  International  Men's  League  was  represented  by  a 
fraternal  delegate,  Colonel  William  Mansfeldt,  president  of  the 
National  League  of  The  Netherlands. 

The  New  York  Men's  League  soon  received  requests  for  in- 
formation from  far  and  wide  and  it  was  evident  that  such  a 
league  was  needed  in  every  State.  Correspondence  followed  and 
in  1911  Omar  E.  Garwood,  Assistant  District  Attorney  of 
Colorado,  came  to  New  York.  An  association  of  influential  men 
had  been  formed  in  that  State  two  years  before  to  refute  the 
misrepresentations  of  the  effects  of  woman  suffrage  and  he  was 
interested  in  the  New  York  Men's  League.  While  here  he 
assisted  in  organizing  a  National  League  and  consented  to  act 
as  secretary.  James  Lees  Laidlaw,  a  banker  and  public-spirited 
man  of  New  York  City,  who  was  at  the  head  of  the  State  Men's 
League,  was  the  unanimous  choice  for  president  and  continued 
in  this  office  until  the  Federal  Woman  Suffrage  Amendment  was 
ratified  in  1920.  In  a  comparatively  short  time  Men's  Leagues 
were  formed  in  California,  Colorado,  Connecticut,  Florida, 
Georgia,  Illinois,  Iowa,  Kansas,  Kentucky,  Maine,  Maryland, 
Massachusetts,  Michigan,  Montana,  Nebraska,  Nevada,  New 
Hampshire,  New  Jersey,  North  Dakota,  Oregon,  Pennsylvania, 
Tennessee,  Texas  and  Virginia. 

As  the  years  went  by  leagues  were  formed  in  other  States  and 
were  more  or  less  active  in  furthering  the  cause  of  woman  suf- 
frage according  to  their  leaders.  Their  officers  assisted  the  cam- 
paigns in  various  States,  spoke  at  hearings  by  committees  of 
Congress  and  sent  delegations  to  the  conventions  of  the  National 
American  Suffrage  Association.  Here  an  evening  was  always  set 
apart  for  their  meetings,  at  which  Mr.  Laidlaw  presided,  and 
addresses  were  made  by  men  well  known  nationally  and  locally. 
A  delegation  from  the  National  League  marched  in  the  big  suf- 
frage parade  in  Washington  March  3,  1913.  In  every  State  the 
members  were  of  so  much  prominence  as  to  give  much  prestige 
to  the  movement.  For  instance  in  Pennsylvania  Judge  Dimner 
Beeber  was  president  and  the  Right  Reverend  James  H.  Darling- 
ton a  leading  member.  In  Massachusetts  Edwin  D.  Mead  was 
president;  former  Secretary  of  the  Navy  John  D.  Long  vice- 
president;  John  Graham  Brooks  treasurer;  Francis  H.  Garrison 


WOMAN    SUFFRAGE   ASSOCIATIONS   IN    THE   UNITED   STATES    675 

chairman  of  the  executive  committee.  A  similar  roster  could 
be  given  in  other  States.  In  New  York  the  most  eminent  men 
in  many  lines  were  connected  with  the  league.  The  leagues  re- 
mained in  existence  until  their  services  were  no  longer  needed. 

THE  NATIONAL  WOMAN'S  PARTY. 

The  National  Woman's  Party  was  organized  in  the  spring  of 
1913  under  the  name  of  the  Congressional  Union  for  Woman 
Suffrage.  Its  original  purpose  was  to  support  the  work  of  the 
Congressional  Committee  of  the  National  American  Woman  Suf- 
frage Association  and  its  officers  were  the  members  of  that  com- 
mittee: Miss  Alice  Paul  (N.  J.)  ;  Miss  Crystal  Eastman  (Wis.)  ; 
Miss  Lucy  Burns  (N.  Y.) ;  Mrs.  Lawrence  Lewis  (Penn.) ;  Mrs. 
Mary  Beard  (N.  Y.).  In  successive  years  names  added  to  its 
executive  committee  were  those  of  Mesdames  Oliver  H.  P.  Bel- 
mont,  William  Kent,  Gilson  Gardner,  Donald  R.  Hooker,  John 
Winters  Brannan,  Harriot  Stanton  Blatch,  Florence  Bayard 
Hilles,  J.  A.  H.  Hopkins,  Thomas  N.  Hepburn,  Richard  Wain- 
wright ;  Miss  Elsie  Hill,  Miss  Anne  Martin  and  others.  A  large 
advisory  committee  was  formed. 

The  object  of  the  Union  was  the  same  as  that  of  the  National 
Association — to  secure  an  amendment  to  the  Federal  Constitution 
which  would  give  universal  woman  suffrage.  At  the  annual  con- 
vention of  the  association  in  December,  1913,  a  new  Congres- 
sional Committee  was  appointed  and  the  Congressional  Union 
became  an  independent  organization.  Its  headquarters  were  in 
Washington,  D.  C.  It  never  was  regularly  organized  by  States, 
districts,  etc.,  although  there  were  branches  in  various  States. 
The  work  was  centralized  in  the  Washington  headquarters  and 
the  forces  were  easily  mobilized.  The  exact  membership  probably 
was  never  known  by  anybody.  It  was  a  small  but  very  active 
organization  and  Miss  Paul  was  the  supreme  head  with  no  rest  He 
tions.  A  great  deal  of  initiative  was  allowed  to  the  workers  in 
other  parts  of  the  country  who  were  often  governed  by  the 
exigencies  of  the  situation.  After  tin-  first  few  years  annual 
ventions  were  lu-ld  in  \\  a^hin^ton. 

While  the  principal  object  <>t   tin-   National    \ss»  >eiation  always 
;tl  Amendment,  tor  which  it  worked  unceasingly,  it 


676  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

realized  that  Congress  would  not  submit  one  until  a  number  of 
States  had  made  the  experiment  and  their  enfranchised  women 
could  bring  political  pressure  to  bear  on  the  members.  There- 
fore the  association  campaigned  in  the  States  for  amendments 
to  their  constitutions.  The  Union  did  no  work  of  this  kind  but 
when  it  was  organized  nine  States  had  granted  full  suffrage  to 
women,  the  time  was  ripe  for  a  big  "drive"  for  a  Federal  Amend- 
ment and  it  could  utilize  this  tremendous  backing.  Within  the 
next  five  years  six  more  States  were  added  to  the  list,  including 
the  powerful  one  of  New  York.  In  addition  the  National  Asso- 
ciation, cooperating  with  the  women  in  the  States,  had  secured 
in  fourteen  others  the  right  for  their  women  to  vote  for  Presi- 
dential electors.  The  Federal  Amendment  was  a  certainty  of  a 
not  distant  future  but  there  was  yet  a  great  deal  of  work  to  do. 

In  carrying  on  this  work,  while  the  two  organizations  followed 
similar  lines  in  many  respects  there  were  some  marked  differences. 
The  National  Association  was  strictly  non-partisan,  made  no  dis- 
tinction of  parties,  and  followed  only  constitutional  methods. 
The  Congressional  Union  held  the  majority  party  in  Congress 
wholly  responsible  for  the  success  or  failure  of  the  Federal 
Amendment  and  undertook  to  prevent  the  re-election  of  its  mem- 
bers. In  the  Congressional  elections  of  1914  its  representatives 
toured  the  States  where  women  could  vote  and  urged  them  to 
defeat  all  Democratic  candidates  regardless  of  their  attitude 
toward  woman  suffrage.  This  policy  was  followed  in  subsequent 
campaigns. 

In  1915  the  Union  held  a  convention  in  San  Francisco  during 
the  Panama-Pacific  Exposition  and  sent  envoys  across  the  country 
with  a  petition  to  President  Wilson  and  Congress  collected  at 
its  headquarters  during  the  exposition.  In  1916  it  held  a  three 
days'  convention  in  Chicago  during  the  National  Republican 
convention  and  at  this  time  organized  the  National  Woman's 
Party  with  the  Federal  Suffrage  Amendment  as  the  only  plank 
in  its  platform  and  a  Campaign  Committee  was  formed  with 
Miss  Anne  Martin  of  Nevada  as  chairman.  At  a  meeting  in 
Washington  in  March,  1917,  the  name  Congressional  Union  was 
officially  changed  to  National  Woman's  Party  and  Miss  Paul 
was  elected  chairman. 


WOMAN    SUFFRAGE    ASSOCIATIONS   IN    THE    UNITED    STATES    677 

On  Jan.  10,  1917,  the  Union  began  the  "picketing"  of  the 
White  House,  delegations  of  women  with  banners  standing  at 
the  gates  all  day  "as  a  perpetual  reminder  to  President  Wilson 
that  they  held  him  responsible  for  their  disfranchisement."  They 
stood  there  unmolested  for  three  months  and  then  the  United 
States  entered  the  war.  Conditions  were  no  longer  normal, 
feeling  was  intense  and  there  were  protests  from  all  parts  of  the 
country  against  this  demonstration  in  front  of  the  home  of  the 
President.  In  June  the  police  began  arresting  them  for  "obstruct- 
ing the  traffic"  and  during  the  next  six  months  over  200  were 
arrested  representing  many  States.  They  refused  to  pay  their 
fines  in  the  police  court  and  were  sent  to  the  jail  and  workhouse 
for  from  three  days  to  seven  months.  These  were  unsanitary, 
they  were  roughly  treated,  "hunger  strikes"  and  forcible  feeding 
followed,  there  was  public  indignation  and  on  November  28 
President  Wilson  pardoned  all  of  them  and  the  "picketing"  was 
resumed.  Congress  delayed  action  on  the  Federal  Amendment 
and  members  of  the  Union  held  meetings  in  Lafayette  Square 
and  burned  the  President's  speeches.  Later  they  burned  them 
and  a  paper  effigy  of  the  President  on  the  sidewalk  in  front  of 
the  White  House.  Arrests  and  imprisonments  followed. 

While  these  violent  tactics  were  being  followed  the  L^nion 
worked  also  along  legitimate  lines,  organized  parades,  lobbied 
in  Congress,  attended  committee  hearings,  went  to  political  con- 
ventions, interviewed  candidates  and  worked  unceasingly.  When 
the  amendment  was  submitted  for  ratification  it  transferred  its 
activities  to  the  Legislatures  and  the  Presidential  Candida! 

After  the  Federal  Amendment  was  proclaimed  a  convention 
was  called  to  meet  in  Washington  Feb.  15-19,  1921,  and  decide 
whether  the  organization   should   disband   or  continue   its   work 
until  women  stood  on  the  same  legal,  civil,  and  economic  basis 
••IT.    The  convention  decided  on  the  latter  course.     The  name 
lined.     Miss  Paul  insisted  upon  retiring  from  office  and 
Msjc  I  lill,  who  had  long  been  an  officer,  was  elected  chair- 
in.     A  large  executive  committee  was  named,  headed  by  Mrs. 
Hiver  II.  P.  P.elmont  of  New  York.     An  impressive  ceremony 
place  in  the  rotunda  of  the  Capitol  on  February  15,  the 
loist  birthday  of  Susan  B.  Anthony,  when  the  party  presented 


678  HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

to  Congress  a  marble  group  of  Miss  Anthony,  Mrs.  Stanton  and 
Lucretia  Mott,  the  work  of  Mrs.  Adelaide  Johnson,  with  repre- 
sentatives of  sixty  organizations  of  women  taking  part.  It  was 
officially  accepted  by  Congress. 

The  National  Woman's  Party  will  undertake  to  secure  a  Fed- 
eral Amendment  removing  all  disabilities  on  account  of  sex  or 
marriage  and  will  also  have  bills  for  this  purpose  introduced  in 
State  Legislatures.  In  1921  Mrs.  Belmont,  who  had  been  the 
largest  contributor,  gave  $146,000  for  the  purchase  of  a  historic 
mansion  in  Washington  to  be  used  for  permanent  headquarters 
and  for  a  national  political  clubhouse  for  women.  At  a  new 
election  Mrs.  Belmont  was  made  president;  Miss  Paul  vice- 
president  and  Miss  Hill  chairman  of  the  executive  committee. 

ASSOCIATIONS  OPPOSED  TO  WOMAN  SUFFRAGE. 

The  first  society  of  women  opposed  to  the  suffrage  seems  to 
have  been  formed  in  Washington,  D.  C,  in  1871,  -with  the  wife 
of  General  Sherman,  the  wife  of  Admiral  Dahlgren  and  Mrs. 
Almira  Lincoln  Phelps,  a  sister  of  Miss  Emma  Willard,  as  officers. 
Their  first  public  effort  on  record  was  two  letters  to  the  Washing- 
ton Post  published  in  1876  and  a  memorial  from  Mrs.  Dahlgren  in 
1878  to  a  Senate  Committee  which  was  to  grant  a  hearing  to  the 
suffragists  on  a  Federal  Amendment. 

An  Anti-Suffrage  Committee  was  formed  in  Massachusetts  in 
the  early  '8o's  with  Mrs.  Charles  D.  Homans  as  chairman.  About 
twenty  prominent  •women  signed  a  remonstrance  against  a  State 
suffrage  amendment,  which  was  first  presented  to  the  Legislature 
in  1884  and  each  year  afterwards  when  there  was  a  resolution 
before  it  for  this  purpose.  An  Association  Opposed  to  the 
Further  Extension  of  Suffrage  to  Women  was  organized  in 
Massachusetts  in  May,  1895,  with  Mrs.  J.  Elliott  Cabot  president 
and  Mrs.  Charles  E.  Guild  secretary;  Laurence  Minot,  treasurer. 
Executive  Committee,  chairman,  Mrs.  Henry  M.  Whitney.  A 
paper  called  the  Remonstrance,  started  about  1890,  was  published 
quarterly  in  Boston,  edited  for  some  years  by  Frank  Foxcroft.  It 


WOMAN    SUFFRAGE   ASSOCIATIONS   IN    THE    UNITED   STATES     679 

ceased  publication  October,  1920,  at  which  time  Mrs.  J.  M. 
Codman  was  editor. 

In  1894,  when  a  convention  for  revising  the  constitution  of 
New  York  State  was  held,  Anti-Suffrage  Committees  -were  formed 
in  Brooklyn,  April  18;  in  New  York  City,  April  25;  in  Albany, 
April  28.  These  committees  combined  to  form  the  New  York 
State  Association  Opposed  to  Woman  Suffrage  on  April  8,  1895, 
with  Mrs.  Francis  M.  Scott,  president.  The  other  States  in 
which  there  was  an  association  or  committee  in  late  years  were  as 
follows:  Alabama,  Connecticut,  Delaware,  Georgia,  Illinois, 
I"\\a,  Maine,  Maryland,  Michigan,  Minnesota,  New  Hampshire, 
Nebraska,  New  Jersey,  North  Dakota,  Ohio,  Pennsylvania,  Ver- 
mont, Virginia,  Washington,  D.  C.,  Wisconsin. 

The  National  Association  Opposed  to  Woman  Suffrage  was 
organized  in  New  York  City  in  November,  1911,  with  the  follow- 
ing officers  :  President,  Mrs.  Arthur  M.  Dodge ;  vice-presidents, 
Miss  Mary  A.  Ames,  Boston,  and  Mrs.  Horace  Brock,  Phila- 
delphia; secretary,  Mrs.  William  B.  Glover,  Fairfield,  Conn.; 
treasurer,  Mrs.  Robert  Garrett,  Baltimore.  Mrs.  James  W. 
Wads-worth,  Jr.,  succeeded  Mrs.  Dodge  in  July,  1917,  and  was 
followed  by  Miss  Mary  G.  Kilbreth  in  1920.  The  aim  of  the 
association  was  "to  increase  general  interest  in  the  opposition 
to  universal  woman  suffrage  and  to  educate  the  public  in  the 
belief  that  women  can  be  more  useful  to  the  community  without 
the  ballot  than  if  affiliated  with  and  influenced  by  party  politics." 
It  held  mass  meetings  during  campaigns ;  sent  delegates  to  hear- 
ings given  by  committees  of  Congress  on  a  Federal  Suffrage 
Amendment  and  other  matters  connected  with  national  woman 
suffrage;  also  to  Legislatures  to  oppose  State  amendments;  sent 
-peakers  and  workers  to  States  where  amendment  campaigns  were 
in  progress  and  circulated  vast  quantities  of  literature. 

The  national  headquarters  were  in  New  York  City  at  37  West 
39th  St.  until  1918  when  they  were  moved  to  Washington,  D.  C. 
e  papers  were  published,  the  Anti-Suffragist  in  Albany;  the 
Woman's  Protest  in  New  York  from  May,  1912  to  March  i, 
1918,  when  it  -was  succeeded  by  the  Woman  Patriot,  published  in 
Washington. 


680  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

THE   MAN   SUFFRAGE  ASSOCIATION. 

It  is  difficult  to  get  statistics  of  the  men's  association  to  pre- 
vent woman  suffrage.  Everett  P.  Wheeler,  a  prominent  lawyer 
of  New  York  City,  always  the  moving  spirit  of  the  association 
and  its  branches,  sent  the  following  information: 

"The  Man  Suffrage  Association,  opposed  to  political  suffrage 
for  women,  was  organized  in  New  York  in  1913  at  the  request 
of  the  State  Woman's  Anti-Suffrage  Association.  Its  officers 
were :  Everett  P.  Wheeler,  chairman ;  executive  committee : 
Walter  C.  Childs,  Arthur  B.  Church,  John  R.  DosPassos,  Chas. 
S.  Fairchild,  Eugene  D.  Hawkins,  Henry  W.  Hayden,  George 
Douglas  Miller,  Robert  K.  Prentice,  Louis  T.  Romaine,  Herbert 
L.  Satterlee,  George  W.  Seligman,  Prof.  Munroe  Smith,  Francis 
Lynde  Stetson,  John  C.  Ten  Eyck,  Gilbert  M.  Tucker,  Dr.  Tal- 
cott  Williams,  George  W.  Wickersham. 

"The  association  issued  many  pamphlets,  briefs,  legal  argu- 
ments, articles  and  speeches  by  prominent  men,  editorials,  etc.  The 
Case  Against  Woman  Suffrage,  a  pamphlet  of  80  pages,  was 
prepared  as  a  Manual  for  writers,  lecturers  and  debaters  and 
contained  historical  sketches,  statistics,  opinions  of  men  and 
women,  bibliography,  answers  to  suffrage  arguments — a  mass 
of  information  from  the  viewpoint  of  opponents. 

"The  association  continued  in  existence  until  after  the  adoption 
of  the  suffrage  amendment  to  the  State  constitution  of  New  York 
in  November,  1917.  It  -was  not  national  in  scope  but  was  in 
affiliation  with  similar  societies  in  other  States.  The  name  of 
the  New  Jersey  association  was  Men's  Anti-Suffrage  League  and 
its  principal  officers  were:  Colonel  William  Libbey,  president; 
Edward  Q.  Keasbey,  vice-president;  Walter  C.  Ellis,  secretary; 
John  C.  Eisele,  treasurer.  There  was  also  an  association  in 
Maryland  and  other  States. 

"The  name  of  the  New  York  association  was  not  changed  but 
in  November,  1917,  a  new  one  called  the  American  Constitutional 
League,  was  formed.  The  reason  for  the  change  was  that  the 
question  so  far  as  the  constitution  of  New  York  was  concerned 


WOMAN    SUFFRAGE    ASSOCIATIONS   IN    THE   UNITED    STATES    68 1 

had  been  settled  by  vote  and  agitation  was  being  pressed  with 
vigor  in  Congress  for  the  proposal  by  that  body  of  a  National 
Suffrage  Amendment.  This  league  is  still  in  existence  (1920). 
It  was  active  in  opposing  the  adoption  of  the  Federal  Amendment, 
heard  before  committees  of  Congress  and  afterwards  before 
Committees  of  the  Legislatures  opposing  ratification.  It  is  na- 
tional in  its  scope  and  has  members  in  fifteen  States. 

"When  it  was  announced  that  the  Legislature  of  West  Virginia 
had  passed  a  resolution  ratifying  the  Federal  Amendment,  the 
league  presented  to  Secretary  of  State  Colby  the  evidence 
that  it  had  not  been  legally  adopted.  This  evidence  he 
declared  he  had  no  power  to  consider  but  was  bound  by  any 
certificate  he  might  receive  from  the  Secretary  of  West  Virginia. 
The  league  also  urged  upon  him  that  under  the  constitution  of 
Tennessee,  when  the  Legislature  was  called  in  extra  session  it 
had  no  power  to  ratify  the  amendment.  This  evidence  he  also 
declined  to  consider.  Thereupon  a  suit  was  brought  in  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  District  of  Columbia  to  restrain  him  from 
issuing  the  proclamation  of  ratification.  The  ground  was  taken 
that  the  proposed  amendment  was  not  within  the  amending  power 
of  Article  V  of  the  National  Constitution ;  that  its  first  ten  amend- 
icnts  form  a  Bill  of  Rights  which  can  only  be  changed  by  the 
manimous  consent  of  all  the  States.  It  was  contended  that  it 
•  ssential  to  a  republican  form  of  government  that  the  States 
>hould  have  the  right  to  regulate  and  determine  the  qualifications 
for  suffrage  for  the  election  of  their  own  officers  and  that  the 
irantee  in  the  National  Constitution  of  a  republican  form  of 
rernment  would  be  violated  if  this  amendment  should  be  held 
be  valid.  The  bill  was  dismissed  in  the  Supreme  Court  on 
?ral  grounds,  partly  technical,  and  the  decree  was  affirmed  in 
the  District  Court  of  Appeals  apparently  on  the  ground  that  the 
proclamation  of  ratification  was  not  final.  An  appeal  from  this 
decree  is  now  pending  in  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States.  All  this  litigation  has  been  conducted  by  the  American 

stitutional  League. 

"The  New  York  headquarters  are  in  Mr.  Wheeler's  office  in 
William  Street;  the  Washington  headquarters  are  where  the 
official  anti-suffrage  organ,  the  Woman  Patriot,  is  published. 


682  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

While  the  declared  object  of  the  League  is  'to  protect  the  Federal 
Constitution  from  further  invasion'  the  only  effort  it  has  made 
is  to  defeat  woman  suffrage.  The  Hon.  Charles  S.  Fairchild, 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury  under  President  Cleveland,  is  president; 
honorary  vice-presidents,  Dr.  Lyman  Abbott,  Francis  Lynde 
Stetson,  Herbert  L.  Satterlee,  George  W.  Wickersham,  John  C. 
Milburn,  George  W.  Seligman,  the  Rev.  Anson  P.  Atterbury  and 
Dr.  William  P.  Manning;  Mr.  Wheeler,  chairman  of  the  executive 
committee." 

During  the  struggle  to  secure  ratification  of  the  Federal  Suf- 
frage Amendment  from  the  Tennessee  Legislature  in  August, 
1920,  Mr.  Wheeler  went  to  that  State  and  a  branch  of  the  league 
was  formed  there.  The  strongest  possible  fight  against  it  was 
made.  Chancellor  Vertrees  wrote  articles  and  delivered  speeches 
against  it.  Professor  G.  W.  Dyer  of  Vanderbilt  University; 
Frank  P.  Bond,  a  Nashville  attorney,  and  others  made  a  speaking 
tour  of  the  State.  When  Governor  Roberts  sent  the  certificate 
of  ratification  to  Secretary  of  State  Colby,  Speaker  of  the  House 
Seth  M.  Walker  headed  a  delegation  to  Washington  to  protest 
against  its  being  accepted.  Failing  in  this  they  went  on  to  Con- 
necticut to  try  to  prevent  ratification  by  its  Legislature. 

In  Maryland  the  Men's  Anti-Suffrage  Association  took  the 
name  of  League  for  State  Defense.  Having  defeated  ratification 
in  the  Legislature  of  that  State  a  delegation  -went  to  the  West 
Virginia  Legislature  in  a  vain  effort  to  prevent  it  there.  After 
Maryland  women  had  voted  in  1920,  suit  was  brought  in  the 
Court  of  Common  Pleas  to  invalidate  the  action  in  the  name 
of  Judge  Oscar  Leser  and  twenty  members  of  the  league's  board 
of  managers.  Receiving  an  adverse  decision  they  carried  the 
case  to  the  Court  of  Appeals,  which  sustained  the  decision.  Mr. 
\Vheeler  and  William  L.  Marbury,  George  Arnold  Frick  and 
Thomas  F.  Cadwalader  of  Baltimore  represented  the  league. 
They  carried  the  case  to  the  U.  S.  Supreme  Court,  where  it  re- 
mains at  present.1 

1  As  this  volume  goes  to  press  the  U.  S.  Supreme  Court  on  Feb.  27,  1922,  rendered 
a  unanimous  adverse  decision  in  both  cases  and  declared  that  the  Federal  Amendment  had 
been  legally  ratified. 


CHAPTER  XXn. 

THE  LEAGUE  OF  WOMAN  VOTERS.1 

The  League  of  Women  Voters  was  first  mentioned  at  the  con- 
vention of  the  National  American  Woman  Suffrage  Association 
in  Washington,  D.  C,  Dec.  12-15,  I9I7>  when  its  president,  Mrs. 
Carrie  Chapman  Catt,  outlined  a  plan  to  unite  the  women  of  the 
equal  suffrage  States.  She  suggested  organization  committees 
of  five  women  in  each,  these  committees  to  be  united  in  a  central 
body  known  as  the  National  League  of  Women  Voters.  Upon 
the  enfranchisement  of  its  women  each  State  would  automatically 
join  the  organization,  which  would  provide  a  way  to  retain  suf- 
frage associations  for  work  on  the  Federal  Amendment  and  vari- 
ous reforms.  It  was  voted  that  a  committee  be  appointed  to 
undertake  such  a  plan  of  organization.  [Handbook  of  convention, 
page  48.] 

The  League  of  Women  Voters  was  organized  at  the  national 
convention  in  St.  Louis  March  24-29,  1919,  in  commemoration  of 
the  Fiftieth  Anniversary  of  the  first  grant  of  suffrage  on  equal 
terms  with  men  in  the  world  (in  Wyoming)  and  the  Fiftieth 
Anniversary  of  the  organization  of  the  first  National  Woman 
Suffrage  Association.  Women  were  eligible  at  this  time  to  vote 
for  President  in  twenty-eight  States.  The  submission  of  the 
ral  Woman  Suffrage  Amendment  was  promised  by  the  Sixty- 
sixth  Congress  and  early  ratification  was  assured,  so  that  the 
object  for  which  the  association  had  labored  through  half  a 
century  of  arduous  sacrifice  and  toil  was  nearly  attained.  The 
natural  question,  therefore,  was,  Should  the  association  make 
plans  to  dissolve  immediately  upon  ratification  or  was  there  reason 
for  continuance? 

On  the  opening  night  of  the  convention  Mrs.  Catt  answered 

1  The  History  is  indebted  for  this  chapter  to  Mrs.  Nettie  Rogers  Sbuler,  corresponding 
secretary  of  the  National  American  Woman  Suffrage  Association. 

683 


684  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

this  question  and  gave  the  purpose  and  aims  of  the  new  organ- 
ization in  her  address  The  Nation  Calls.  She  said  in  part : 

Every  suffragist  will  hope  for  a  memorial  dedicated  to  the  mem- 
ory of  our  brave  departed  leaders,  to  the  sacrifices  they  made  for 
our  cause,  to  the  scores  of  victories  won.  ...  I  venture  to  propose 
one  whose  benefits  will  bless  our  entire  nation  and  bring  happiness 
to  the  humblest  of  our  citizens — the  most  natural,  the  most  appro- 
priate and  the  most  patriotic  memorial  that  could  be  suggested — a 
League  of  Women  Voters  to  "finish  the  fight"  and  to  aid  in  the 
reconstruction  of  the  nation.  What  could  be  more  natural  than 
that  women  having  attained  their  political  independence  should 
desire  to  give  service  in  token  of  their  gratitude?  What  could  be 
more  appropriate  than  that  such  women  should  do  for  the  coming 
generation  what  those  of  a  preceding  did  for  them?  What  could 
be  more  patriotic  than  that  these  women  should  use  their  new  free- 
dom to  make  the  country  safer  for  their  children  and  their  chil- 
dren's children  ? 

Let  us  then  raise  up  a  League  of  Women  Voters,  the  name  and 
form  of  organization  to  be  determined  by  the  members  themselves; 
a  league  that  shall  be  non-partisan  and  non-sectarian  and  consecrated 
to  three  chief  aims:  I.  To  use  its  influence  to  obtain  the  full  en- 
franchisement of  the  women  of  every  State  in  our  own  republic 
and  to  reach  out  across  the  seas  in  aid  of  the  woman's  struggle  for 
her  own  in  every  land.  2.  To  remove  the  remaining  legal  discrim- 
inations against  women  in  the  codes  and  constitutions  of  the  sev- 
eral States  in  order  that  the  feet  of  coming  women  may  find  these 
stumbling  blocks  removed.  3.  To  make  our  democracy  so  safe  for 
the  nation  and  so  safe  for  the  world  that  every  citizen  may  feel  se- 
cure and  great  men  will  acknowledge  the  worthiness  of  the  American 
republic  to  lead. 

The  following  ten  points  covered  by  Mrs.  Catt  in  her  address 
were  adopted  later  as  the  first  aims  of  the  League  of  \Vomen 
Voters  and  made  the  plan  of  work  for  the  Committee  on  Ameri- 
can Citizenship:  i.  Compulsory  education  in  every  State  for 
all  children  between  six  and  sixteen  during  nine  months  of  each 
year.  2.  Education  of  adults  by  extension  classes  of  the  public 
schools.  3.  English  made  the  national  language  by  having  it 
compulsory  in  all  public  and  private  schools  where  courses  in 
general  education  are  conducted.  4.  Higher  qualifications  for 
citizenship  and  more  sympathetic  and  impressive  ceremonials  for 
naturalization.  5.  Direct  citizenship  for  women,  not  through 
marriage,  as  a  qualification  for  the  vote.  6.  Naturalization  for 
married  women  to  be  made  possible.  7.  Compulsory  publica- 


THE    LEAGUE    OF    WOMEN    VOTERS  685 

tion  in  foreign  language  newspapers  of  lessons  in  citizenship. 
8.  Schools  of  citizenship  in  conjunction  with  the  public  schools, 
a  certificate  from  such  schools  to  be  a  qualification  for  naturaliza- 
tion and  for  the  vote.  9.  An  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  United 
States  to  be  one  qualification  for  the  vote  for  every  citizen  native 
and  foreign  born.  10.  An  educational  qualification  for  the  vote 
in  all  States  after  a  definite  date  to  be  determined. 

With  Mrs.  Catt  in  the  chair  and  Miss  Katharine  Pierce  of 
Oklahoma  secretary,  after  full  discussion  the  League  of  Women 
Voters  was  launched  to  replace  the  National  American  Woman 
Suffrage  Association  when  the  work  for  which  the  latter  was 
organized  was  fully  accomplished.  Dr.  Anna  Howard  Shaw, 
honorary  president  of  the  association,  expressed  herself  as  "whole- 
heartedly in  favor  of  the  proposed  action."  [Handbook  of  con- 
vention, page  43.]  Mrs.  Charles  H.  Brooks  of  Kansas  was  elected 
national  chairman.  The  recommendations  of  the  sub-committees 
on  organization  plans,  Mrs.  Raymond  Brown  (N.  Y.)  chair- 
man, were  adopted  as  follows:  i.  The  Council  of  the  League 
of  Women  Voters  will  consist  of  the  presidents  of  the  States 
having  full,  Presidential  or  Primary  suffrage  and  the  chairmen  of 
the  Ratification  Committees  in  the  seven  States  of  Montana, 
Idaho,  Washington,  Colorado,  Nevada,  Arizona  and  Wyoming — 
this  Council  to  pass  upon  all  policies  of  the  league  and  approve 
the  legislative  programs.  2.  The  permanent  chairman,  who  will 
also  be  chairman  of  the  legislative  committee,  will  conduct  cor- 
respondence, direct  organization  in  unorganized  States  and  visit 
States  with  the  view  of  stimulating  organization  and  clarifying 
the  objects  of  the  league,  the  work  for  suffrage  to  remain  in 
the  National  Congressional  Committee  and  the  State  Ratifica- 
tion Committees.  3.  The  State  Leagues  of  Women  Voters  will 
ist  of  individual  members  and  organized  committees  with 
the  addition  of  associations  already  established  which  subscribe 
to  the  principles  of  the  league.  At  the  regular  State  convention 
or  at  a  special  State  conference  to  be  called  the  object  of  the  league 
will  be  set  forth  and  each  department  presented,  with  publicity 
and  advertising  to  bring  it  to  the  attention  of  the  public. 

Kight  departments  each  composed  of  a  national  chairman  and 
one  woman  from  every  State  were  recommended,  the  members  of 


686  HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

these  departments  to  become  familiar  with  all  laws  on  the  sub- 
jects under  consideration,  recommend  legislative  programs,  pre- 
pare and  issue  literature  on  their  subjects  and  work  in  the  States 
through  the  State  committees.  A  "budget"  of  $20,000  was 
recommended. 

The  program  for  the  Women  in  Industry  Committee  presented 
by  Mrs.  Raymond  Robins  (Ills.)  was  adopted.  The  greatest 
needs  for  Unification  and  Improvement  of  Laws  defining  the 
Legal  Status  of  Women  were  named  by  Mrs.  Catharine  Waugh 
McCulloch  (Ills.),  such  as  joint  guardianship  of  children,  mar- 
riage and  divorce  laws,  property  rights,  industry,  civil  service, 
morality,  child  welfare  and  elections.  Education  was  set  forth 
as  the  best  means  to  Social  Morality  and  Social  Hygiene  by  Dr. 
Valeria  Parker  (Conn.).  Miss  Julia  Lathrop  (Washington, 
D.  C),  chief  of  the  Federal  Child  Welfare  Bureau,  spoke  on 
present  needs,  saying :  "Child  labor  and  an  educated  community, 
child  labor  and  modern  democracy  cannot  co-exist.  .  .  .  Time 
does  not  wait,  the  child  lives  or  dies.  If  he  lives  he  takes  up  his 
life  well  or  ill  equipped,  not  as  he  chooses  but  as  we  choose  for 
him." 

The  following  needed  Improvements  of  Election  Laws  -were 
named  by  Mrs.  Ellis  Meredith  (Colo.)  :  Federal — A  national 
amendment  guaranteeing  women  the  franchise  on  the  same  terms 
as  men;  restricting  the  franchise  to  those  who  are  citizens;  re- 
pealing the  Act  of  1907  which  disfranchises  women  marrying 
foreigners ;  an  extension  of  the  present  five-year  time  after  which 
a  foreigner  becomes  a  full  citizen  by  virtue  of  having  taken  out 
two  sets  of  papers  and  giving  the  oath  of  allegiance.  State — 
Adoption  of  the  Australian  ballot;  reduction  of  number  of  bal- 
lots printed  to  not  more  than  5  per  cent,  more  than  registration ; 
for  "military"  and  "poll  tax"  substitution  of  "election  tax,"  to  be 
remitted  to  persons  voting  and  collected  from  those  failing  to  do 
so  when  not  unavoidably  prevented  by  illness ;  adoption  of  absent 
voter  law — Montana  or  Minnesota  statutes  recommended;  dis- 
continuance of  vehicles  except  for  sick  or  feeble  or  crippled  per- 
sons; even  division  of  Judges  between  major  political  parties, 
examination  required,  more  latitude  in  appointment  and  removal 


THE   LEAGUE   OF    WOMEN    VOTERS  687 

for  cause ;  election  of  judicial,  legislative  and  educational  officers 
at  a  different  time  from  that  for  national  and  State. 

Miss  Jessie  R.  Haver,  legislative  representative  of  the  National 
Consumers'  League  and  executive  secretary  of  the  Consumers' 
League  of  the  District  of  Columbia,  read  a  paper  on  The  Gov- 
ernment and  the  Market  Basket,  after  which  she  presented  a 
resolution  urging  the  chairman  of  the  Senate  and  House  Inter- 
state Commerce  Committee  to  re-introduce  and  pass  the  bill 
drafted  by  the  Federal  Trade  Commission  in  reference  to  the 
Packers'  Trust. 

During  the  convention  sectional  conferences  were  held  on  the 
department  subjects.  Out  of  these  conferences  came  many  sug- 
gestions and  two  resolutions  were  adopted :  i.  That  the  League 
of  Women  Voters  supports  the  Federal  Trade  Commission  in  its 
efforts  to  secure  remedial  legislation  in  the  meat-packing  industry. 
2.  That  the  convention  endorses  the  principle  of  federal  aid  to  the 
States  for  the  removal  of  adult  illiteracy  and  the  Americanization 
of  the  adult  foreign  born. 

In  June,  1919,  the  initial  conference  of  the  president,  Mrs. 
Brooks,  and  the  committee  chairmen  of  the  League  of  Women 
Voters,  was  held  at  the  headquarters  of  the  National  Suffrage 
Association,  171  Madison  Avenue,  New  York  City,  and  plans  were 
made  to  render  the  league  effective  throughout  the  United  States. 


The  record  of  the  action  of  the  Official  Board  of  the  National 
American  Woman  Suffrage  Association  in  1919  on  questions  per- 
taining to  the  League  of  Women  Voters  is  as  follows :  In  April 
it  was  voted  that  the  Americanization  Committee  and  the  Com- 
mittee on  Protection  of  Women  in  Industry  of  the  association 
be  united  with  the  committees  of  the  same  name  in  the  league. 
In  May  the  following  chairmen  for  new  committees  were  selected, 
subject  to  endorsement  of  the  Council  of  the  league :  Mrs.  Edward 
P.  Costigan,  Washington,  D.  C,  Food  Supply  and  Demand; 
Mrs.  Jacob  Baur  (Ills.),  Improvement  of  Election  Laws  and 
Methods;  Mrs.  Percy  V.  Pennbacker  (Tex.),  Child  Welfare. 
In  July  an  appropriation  of  $200  for  each  of  the  eight  depart- 
ments of  the  league  was  made  from  the  treasury  of  the  association. 


688  HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

As  the  National  Association  was  the  convener  of  the  first  con- 
gress of  the  League  of  Women  Voters  and  there  was  no  method 
of  determining  the  number  of  delegates  that  any  league  was 
entitled  to,  the  Board  on  December  30,  in  preparation  for  the 
approaching  annual  convention  in  Chicago,  adopted  the  follow- 
ing resolution:  i.  That  each  State  auxiliary  of  the  association 
be  invited  to  secure  for  the  league  congress,  which  would  be  held 
at  the  same  time,  one  delegate  from  the  State  Federation  of 
Women's  Clubs,  one  from  the  State  Woman's  Christian  Tem- 
perance Union  and  one  from  the  State  Women's  Trade  Union 
League;  and  ten  delegates  at  large  from  the  national  organi- 
zations of  each.  2.  That  invitations  be  extended  to  the  following 
national  bodies,  asking  each  to  send  ten  delegates  at  large :  Asso- 
ciation of  Collegiate  Alumnae,  International  Child  Welfare 
League,  Ladies  of  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic,  Ladies  of  the 
Maccabees,  National  Council  of  Jewish  Women,  National  Con- 
gress of  Mothers  and  Parent-Teachers'  Associations,  Federation 
of  College  Women,  Florence  Crittenden  Mission,  Women's  Relief 
Corps,  Women's  Relief  Society,  Women's  Benefit  Association  of 
the  Maccabees,  Women's  Department  National  Civic  Federation, 
United  Daughters  of  the  Confederacy  and  the  Young  Women's 
Christian  Association.  3.  That  each  of  the  ten  unorganized 
western  States  be  entitled  to  ten  delegates  to  be  secured  by  the 
chairman  of  ratification. 

At  the  convention  of  the  National  American  Woman  Suffrage 
Association  and  the  League  of  Women  Voters  in  Chicago  Feb. 
1 2- 1 8,  1920,  there  were  present  507  delegates,  102  alternates  and 
89  fraternal  delegates.  Among  the  resolutions  for  dissolving 
the  association  recommended  by  its  Executive  Council  and 
adopted  by  vote  of  the  delegates  was  the  following  pertaining  to 
the  League  of  Women  Voters : 

Citizenship — Whereas,  millions  of  women  will  become  voters 
in  1920,  and,  Whereas,  the  low  standards  of  citizenship  found 
in  the  present  electorate  clearly  indicate  the  need  of  education  in 
the  principles  and  ideals  of  our  Government  and  the  methods  of 
political  procedure,  therefore  be  it  resolved:  i.  That  the  Na- 
tional League  of  Women  Voters  be  urged  to  make  Political  Edu- 
cation for  the  new  women  voters  (but  not  excluding  men)  its 


THE   LEAGUE   OF    WOMEN    VOTERS  689 

first  duty  for  1920.  2.  That  the  nation-wide  plan  shall  include 
normal  schools  for  citizenship  in  each  State  followed  by  schools 
in  each  county.  3.  That  we  urge  the  League  of  Women  Voters 
to  make  every  effort  to  have  the  study  of  citizenship  required  in 
the  public  schools  of  every  State,  beginning  in  the  primary  grades 
and  continuing  through  the  upper  grades,  high  schools,  normal 
schools,  colleges  and  universities. 

The  recommendations  were:  i.  That  the  League  of  Women 
Voters,  now  a  section  of  the  National  American  Woman  Suffrage 
Association,  be  organized  as  a  new  and  independent  society.  2. 
That  the  present  State  auxiliaries  of  the  association,  while  retain- 
ing their  relationship  in  form  to  the  Board  of  Officers  to  be 
elected  in  this  convention,  shall  change  their  names,  objects  and 
constitutions  to  conform  to  those  of  the  league  and  take  up  the 
plan  of  work  to  be  adopted  in  its  first  congress. 

At  the  opening  session  of  the  congress  of  the  League  of  Women 
Voters  Saturday  afternoon,  February  14,  Mrs.  Brooks,  the  chair- 
man, presiding,  Mrs.  Catt  was  made  permanent  chairman  and 
Mrs.  Halsey  W.  Wilson  recording  secretary  for  the  convention. 
By  vote  of  the  convention  the  chair  named  the  following  com- 
mittees and  chairmen :  Constitution,  Mrs.  Raymond  Brown 
(N.  Y.)  ;  Nominations,  Mrs.  George  Gellhorn  (Mo.);  Regions, 
Mrs.  Andreas  Ueland  (Wis.).  The  constitution  was  adopted 
defining  the  aims  of  the  league — to  foster  education  in  citizenship; 
to  urge  every  woman  to  become  an  enrolled  voter,  but  as  an 
organization  the  league  not  to  be  allied  with  or  support  any  party. 

Following  are  the  officers  elected  for  19201921,  the  regional 
division  of  States  and  the  chairmen  of  departments :  Directors  at 
Large — Mrs.  Maud  Wood  Park  (Mass.),  Mrs.  Richard  E.  Ed- 
wards (Ind.),  Mrs.  Pattie  Ruffner  Jacobs  (Ala.).  Board  as 

•ganized — Chairman,  Mrs.  Park;  vice-chairman,  Mrs.  Gellhorn  ; 
reasurer,  Mrs.  Edwards;  secretary,  Mrs.  Jacobs.  Mrs.  Catt  was 
made  honorary  chairman  by  the  board. 

Regional  Directors — First  Region:  Miss  Katharine  Ludington 
(Conn.) — Maine,  Vermont,  New  Hampshire,  Massachusetts 
Connecticut  and  Rhode  Island.  Second:  Mrs.  F.  Louis  Slade 
(N.  Y.) — New  York,  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  Maryland  ami 
Delaware.  Third:  Miss  Ella  Dortch  (Tenn.; — Virginia,  Dis- 


6gO  HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

trict  of  Columbia,  North  Carolina,  South  Carolina,  Georgia,  Ala- 
bama, Florida,  Mississippi,  Louisiana  and  Tennessee.     Fourth: 
Miss  Elizabeth  J.  Hauser  (O.) — Michigan,  Ohio,  Indiana,  Ken- 
tucky, Illinois,  West  Virginia  and  Wisconsin.    Fifth :  Mrs.  James 
Paige  (Minn.) — Minnesota,  Iowa,  North  Dakota,  South  Dakota, 
Wyoming  and  Montana.    Sixth:  Mrs.  George  Gellhorn  (Mo.)— 
Nebraska,  Kansas,  Colorado,  New  Mexico,  Oklahoma,  Texas, 
Arkansas  and  Missouri.    Seventh :  Mrs.  C.  B.  Simmons  (Ore.)— 
Washington,  Oregon,  Idaho,  Nevada,  Utah,  Arizona  and  Cali- 
fornia. 

Chairmen  of  Departments. — i.  American  Citizenship,  Mrs. 
Frederick  P.  Bagley,  Boston ;  2.  Protection  of  Women  in  Indus- 
try, Miss  Mary  McDowell,  Chicago;  3.  Child  Welfare,  Mrs.  Percy 
V.  Pennybacker,  Austin  (Tex.);  Social  Hygiene,  Dr.  Valeria 
H.  Parker,  Hartford  (Conn.)  ;  5.  Unification  of  Laws  Concern- 
ing Civil  Status  of  Women,  Mrs.  Catharine  Waugh  McCulloch, 
Chicago;  6.  Improvement  in  Election  Laws  and  Methods,  Mrs. 
Carrie  Chapman  Catt,  New  York;  7.  Food  Supply  and  Demand, 
Mrs.  Edward  P.  Costigan,  Washington,  D.  C. ;  8.  Research,  Mrs. 
Mary  Sumner  Boyd,  New  York. 

The  recommendations  of  the  Committee  on  Plans  for  Citizen- 
ship Schools,  appointed  by  the  National  Suffrage  Association, 
Mrs.  Nettie  Rogers  Shuler,  chairman,  were  adopted  as  follows: 

i.  That  a  normal  school  be  held  in  the  most  available  large 
city  in  each  State,  to  which  every  county  shall  be  asked  to  send 
one  or  more  representatives,  the  school  to  be  open  to  all  local 
people.  2.  That  no  State  shall  feel  that  it  has  approached  the 
task  of  training  for  citizenship  which  has  not  had  at  least  one 
school  in  every  county,  followed  by  schools  in  as  many  town- 
ships and  wards  as  possible,  with  the  ultimate  aim  of  reaching  the 
women  of  every  election  district.  3.  That  minimum  requirement 
of  a  citizenship  school  should  include  (a)  the  study  of  local, 
State  and  national  government;  (b)  the  technique  of  voting  and 
election  laws;  (c)  organization  and  platform  of  political  parties; 
(d)  the  League  of  Women  Voters — its  aims,  its  platforms,  its 
plans  of  work.  4.  That  each  State  employ  a  director  for  citizen- 
ship schools  to  be  under  the  direction  of  the  national  director  of 
such  schools.  5.  That  the  States  urge  the  assistance  of  State 


THE    LEAGUE   OF   WOMEN    VOTERS  69 T 

universities  through  summer  schools,  extension  departments  and 
active  participation  by  professors  from  these  departments  to 
make  the  teaching  of  citizenship  of  real  benefit  to  the  State.  6. 
That  the  States  invite  the  cooperation  of  local  men  who  are 
experienced  in  public  affairs  and  that  every  agency,  including  that 
of  publicity,  be  employed  which  will  tend  to  increased  interest  in 
the  teaching  of  citizenship.  7.  That  the  States  try  to  make  the 
study  of  citizenship  compulsory  in  the  public  schools  from  the 
primary  grades  up. 

The  following  resolutions  were  adopted:  i.  That  a  copy  of  the 
legislative  program  as  selected  by  the  Board  of  Directors  shall  be 
submitted  to  all  State  presidents  and  presidents  of  national 
women's  organizations  for  approval,  and  that  a  deputation  from 
the  League  of  Women  Voters  be  sent  to  the  conventions  of  two 
at  least  of  the  dominant  political  parties  to  present  this  program 
to  the  delegates  and  to  chairmen  of  the  Resolutions  Committees 
if  announced  in  advance,  leaders  of  these  parties  having  been  pre- 
viously interviewed  or  circularized.  2.  That  the  recommenda- 
tions of  the  standing  committees  as  accepted  by  the  convention 
be  referred  to  the  Board  of  Directors  of  the  League  of  Women 
Voters;  after  consultation  with  the  chairmen  the  Board  in  turn 
to  pass  on  its  recommendations  to  the  State  chairmen  with  the 
request  that  they  use  as  many  of  them  as  possible.  3.  That  reso- 
lutions relating  to  Federal  legislation,  after  submission  to  the 
National  Board,  be  considered  binding;  that  resolutions  affect- 
ing State  legislation  be  considered  recommendations  to  be  sub- 
mitted to  States.  4.  That  in  order  to  create  a  better  understand- 
ing of  the  purposes  of  the  League  of  Women  Voters  and  its  rela- 
tion to  other  national  organizations  of  women,  the  directors  of 
the  league  make  the  purposes  of  the  league  exceedingly  clear  to 
local  groups — namely,  that  its  function  is  for  the  purpose  of 
fostering  education  in  citizenship  and  of  supporting  improved 
legislation;  that  as  far  as  possible  organizations  already  existing 
and  doing  similar  work  be  used  and  asked  to  cooperate  in  the 
work  of  educating  women  to  an  understanding  of  these  purposes; 
that  a  Committee  on  Congressional  Legislation  be  created  with 
headquarters  in  Washington  and  that  in  addition  to  a  chairman 


6Q2  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

the  committee  be  made  up  of  a  representative  from  each  of  the 
great  national  organizations  of  women. 

It  was  moved  by  Mrs.  John  L.  Pyle  (S.  D.),  seconded  by  Mrs. 
Harriet  Taylor  Upton  (O.)  and  carried  by  the  convention  that, 
Whereas,  all  women  citizens  of  the  United  States  would  today 
be  fully  enfranchised  had  not  James  W.  Wadsworth,  Jr.,  mis- 
represented his  State  and  his  party  when  continuously  and  re- 
peatedly voting,  working  and  maneuvering  against  the  pro- 
posed i  Qth  Amendment  to  the  Federal  Constitution,  be  it  Re- 
solved, That  we,  representing  the  enfranchised  women  of  the 
country,  extend  to  the  women  of  New  York  our  appreciation  and 
our  help  in  their  patriotic  work  of  determining  to  send  to  the 
U.  S.  Senate  to  succeed  the  said  James  W.  Wadsworth,  Jr.,  a 
modern-minded  Senator  who  will  be  capable  of  comprehending 
the  great  American  principles  of  freedom  and  democracy. 

Before  the  convention  opened  there  were  eight  conferences  fol- 
lowed by  dinners  presided  over  by  the  chairmen  of  the  depart- 
ments. The  voting  members  of  each  conference  were  the  chairman 
and  forty-eight  State  members  and  representatives  of  other  agen- 
cies doing  the  same  work.  The  purpose  of  each  conference  was  to 
formulate  a  legislative  program  combining  the  best  judgment  and 
experience  of  all  workers  for  the  same  cause.  This  program  was 
presented  to  the  convention  of  the  League  of  Women  Voters  for 
its  consideration  and  after  adoption  it  became  the  platform  to 
which  the  league  was  pledged.  These  conferences  were  open  to 
visitors  without  speaking  or  voting  privileges. 

The  program  as  submitted  by  the  chairmen,  approved  by  the 
conferences  and  amended  and  adopted  by  the  convention  was  as 
follows :  Women  in  Industry,  Mrs.  Raymond  Robins ;  recommen- 
dations presented  by  Miss  Grace  Abbott  (Ills.)  : 

I.  We  affirm  our  belief  in  the  right  of  the  workers  to  bargain 
collectively  through  trade  unions  and  we  regard  the  organization  of 
working  women   as   especially   important   because   of    the   peculiar 
handicaps  from  which  they  suffer  in  the  labor  market. 

II.  We  call  attention  to  the  fact  that  it  is  still  necessary  for 
us  to  urge  that  wages  should  be  paid  on  the  basis  of  occupation  and 
not  on  sex. 

III.  We  recommend  to  Congress  and  the  Federal  Government: 
i.     The   establishment   in  the   U.    S.    Department   of   Labor   of   a 


THE    LEAGUE    OF    \\OMKN    YOTKRS  693 

permanent  Women's  Bureau  with  a  woman  as  chief  and  an  ap- 
propriation adequate  for  the  investigation  of  all  matters  pertaining 
to  wage  earning  women  and  the  determination  of  standards  and 
policies  which  will  promote  their  welfare,  improve  their  working 
conditions  and  increase  their  efficiency.  2.  The  appointment  of 
women  in  the  Mediation  and  Conciliation  Service  of  the  U.  S.  De- 
partment of  Labor  and  on  any  industrial  commission  or  tribunal 
which  may  hereafter  be  created.  3.  The  establishment  of  a  Joint 
Federal  and  State  Employment  Service  with  women's  departments 
under  the  direction  of  technically  qualified  women.  4.  The  adop- 
tion of  a  national  constitutional  amendment  giving  to  Congress  the 
power  to  establish  minimum  labor  standards  and  the  enactment  by 
Congress  of  a  Child  Labor  Law  extending  the  application  of  the 
present  Federal  child  labor  tax  laws,  raising  the  age  minimum  for 
general  employment  from  14  to  15  years  and  the  age  for  employ- 
ment at  night  to  18  years.  5.  Recognizing  the  importance  of  a 
world-wide  standardization  of  industry  we  favor  the  participation 
of  the  United  States  in  the  International  Labor  Conference  and  the 
appointment  of  a  woman  delegate  to  the  next  conference. 

IV.  We  recommend  to  the  States  legislative  provision  for:     I. 
The  limitation  of  the  hours  of  work  for  wage  earning  women  in 
industrial  undertakings  to  not  more  than  8  hours  in  any  one  day 
or   ||  hours  in  any  one  week  and  the  granting  of  one  day's  rest  in 

i.  2.  The  prohibition  of  night  work  for  women  in  industrial 
undertakings.  3.  The  compulsory  payment  of  a  minimum  wage 
to  be  fixed  by  a  Minimum  Wage  Commission  at  an  amount  which 
will  insure  to  the  working  woman  a  proper  standard  of  health, 
comfort  and  efficiency.  4.  Adequate  appropriations  for  the  en- 
forcement of  labor  laws  and  the  appointment  of  technically  qualified 
women  as  factory  inspectors  and  as  heads  of  women  in  industry 
divisions  in  the  State  Factory  Inspection  Departments. 

V.  We  urge  upon  the  Federal  Board  of  Vocational  Education 
and  upon   State  and  local    Boards  of  Commissioners  of  Education 
the  necessity  of  giving  to  girls  and  women  full  opportunity  for  edu- 
cation  along   industrial    lines,   and   we    further   recommend   the  ap- 
pointment  of   women   familiar  with  the  problems  of  women  in  in- 
dmtry  as  members  and  agents  of  the  Federal  Board  of  Vocational 
Education  and  of  similar  State  and  local  Boards. 

VI.  l\eco[rni/iii£  that  the  Federal,  State  and  Local  Governments 
arc  the  1;  -.iployers  of  labor  in  the  United  Slates,  we  urge  (a) 
an   actual    merit    system    of    appointment    and    promotion    based   on 
qualifications   for  the  work  to  be  performed,  these  qualifications  to 
be  determined   in  open   competition,    free   from   special   privilr: 

c  of  any  kind  and  especially  free  from  discrimination  on 
the   ground   of    sex;    (hi  n   of   th  deral 

civil  upon  tlr  ith  a   \v  brv  scale  determined 

by  the  skill  and  training  required  for  the  worl  !  and 

r)  A  minimum  wage  in  Federal.  State  and 
local  which  shall  not   b«-   IcSI  than  tin  living  as  de- 


694  HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

termined  by  official  investigations;  (d)  Provisions  for  an  equitable 
retirement  system  for  superannuated  public  employees;  (e)  En- 
larging of  Federal  and  State  Civil  Service  Commissions  so  as  to 
include  three  groups  in  which  men  and  women  shall  be  equally  rep- 
resented; namely,  representatives  of  the  administrative  officials,  of 
the  employees  and  of  the  general  public,  and  (f)  The  delegating  to 
such  commissions  of  full  power  and  responsibility  for  the  mainte- 
nance of  an  impartial,  non-political  and  efficient  administration. 

VII.  Finally  this  department  recommends  that  the  League  of 
Women  Voters  shall  keep  in  touch  with  the  Women's  Bureau  of  the 
U.  S.  Department  of  Labor  securing  information  as  to  the  success 
or  failure  of  protective  legislation  in  this  and  other  countries,  as 
to  standards  that  are  being  discussed  and  adopted  and  as  to  the 
results  of  investigations  that  are  made. 

Upon  motion  of  Miss  Abbott,  duly  seconded,  it  was  voted  that 
the  following  resolutions  be  adopted :  "That  the  report  of  the 
Women  in  Industry  Department  of  the  National  League  of 
Women  Voters  in  its  entirety  be  officially  transmitted  by  the  sec- 
retary to  the  congressional  legislative  bodies  or  committees  thereof 
before  which  legislation  on  the  subject  is  now  pending  and  to 
the  administrative  officials  who  may  have  authority  to  act  upon 
any  of  its  recommendations ;  that  the  article  concerning  the  estab- 
lishment on  a  permanent  basis  of  the  Women's  Bureau  of  the 
U.  S.  Department  of  Labor  be  telegraphed  tonight  to  Repre- 
sentative James  W.  Good  and  Senator  Francis  E.  Warren,  chair- 
men of  the  House  and  Senate  Appropriations  Committees  in 
Congress,  and  to  Senator  William  S.  Kenyon  and  Representa- 
tive J.  M.  C.  Smith,  chairmen  of  the  Senate  and  House  Com- 
mittees on  Labor  before  which  this  legislation  is  now  pending; 
that  the  whole  of  the  article  concerning  the  Federal  civil  service 
be  telegraphed  tonight  to  Senator  A.  A.  Jones,  chairman  of  the 
Joint  Congressional  Commission  on  Reclassification  of  the  Fed- 
eral Service ;  to  Senator  Kenyon  of  the  State  Labor  Committee ; 
Senator  Thomas  Sterling  and  Representative  Frederick  R.  Leh- 
bach,  chairmen  of  the  Senate  and  House  Committees  on  the  Civil 
Service. 

Food  Supply  and  Demand,  Mrs.  Edward  P.  Costigan,  chair- 
man. Whereas,  in  addition  to  the  results  of  inflated  currency  due 
to  the  war,  the  high  cost  of  living  in  the  United  States  is  in- 
creased and  the  production  of  necessary  food  supplies  diminished 


THE   LEAGUE   OF    WOMEN    VOTERS  6Q5 

by  unduly  restrictive  private  control  of  the  channels  of  com- 
merce, markets  and  other  distributing  facilities  by  large  food  or- 
ganizations and  combinations;  and,  Whereas,  if  our  civilization 
is  to  fulfil  its  promise,  it  is  vital  that  nourishing  food  be  brought 
and  kept  within  the  reach  of  every  home  and  especially  of  all  the 
growing  children  of  the  nation,  be  it 

Resolved,  First,  that  the  principles  and  purposes  of  the  Kenyon- 
Kendrick-Anderson  Bills  now  pending  in  Congress  for  the  regu- 
lation of  the  meat-packing  industry  be  endorsed  for  prompt  and 
effective  enactment  into  laws  and  that  this  declaration  be  brought 
to  the  attention  of  the  leading  political  parties  in  advance  of  an 
urgent  request  for  corresponding  and  unqualified  platform 
pledges;  Second,  that  the  Food  Supply  and  Demand  Committee 
be  authorized  to  keep  in  touch  with  the  progress  of  the  proposed 
Nation  and  to  cooperate  with  the  National  Consumers'  League, 
the  American  Live  Stock  Association,  the  Farmers'  National 
Council  and  other  organizations  of  like  policy  in  an  effort  to  pro- 
mote through  legislation  the  realization  of  such  principles  and 
purposes ;  furthermore,  that  the  committee  be  authorized  to  confer 
with  the  Department  of  Agriculture  in  regard  to  the  extension  of 
its  service,  with  a  view  to  establishing  long-distance  information 
to  enable  shippers  and  producers  to  know  daily  the  supplies  and 
demands  of  the  food  market;  Third,  that  the  early  enactment  of 
improved  State  and  Federal  Laws  to  prevent  food  profiteering, 
•e  and  improper  hoarding  is  urged  and  the  strict  enforcement 
ill  such  present  laws  is  demanded;  Fourth,  that  the  various 
State  Leagues  of  Women  Voters  are  requested  to  consider  the 
advisability  of  establishing  public  markets,  abattoirs,  milk  depots 
and  other  terminal  facilities;  Fifth,  that  aid  be  extended  to  all 
branches  of  the  league  in  spreading  knowledge  of  the  methods  and 
:its  of  legitimate  cooperative  associations  and  that  endorse- 
ment be  given  to  suitable  national  and  State  legislation  favoring 
their  organization  and  use. 

The  meat  packers  asked  for  a  hearing  and  by  vote  of  the  con- 
vention ten  minutes  were  allowed  them  to  present  their  case. 
This  was  done  by  Louis  D.  Weld,  m  rol  the  coinnuni.il  re- 

fa   department   of   Swift    and   Company,  Chicago,  who 
during  his  remarks:  'I  lu-licve  you  ladies  are  not  prepared  to  pass 


696  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

on  such  a  vital  matter  as  this  proposed  legislation ;  it  is  a  mighty 
complicated  and  intricate  subject."  A  decided  titter  ran  around 
the  room.  Women  who  had  been  making  a  study  of  the  question 
from  the  home  side  for  a  number  of  years  did  not  resent  being 
told  that  they  did  not  understand  it  but  they  smiled  at  a  man's 
coming  to  tell  them  so.  To  show  that  they  were  fair,  when  he 
said  that  the  packers  did  a  great  amount  of  good  in  carrying  food 
in  time  of  war  he  was  cheered.  His  argument  had  no  effect. 
After  he  had  finished  the  league  adopted  the  committee's  recom- 
mendations and  passed  the  resolution  against  which  the  packers 
had  directed  their  efforts. 

Social  Hygiene,  Dr.  Valeria  H.  Parker,  chairman.  Resolu- 
tions recommended  and  adopted  on  the  abolition  of  commercial- 
ized prostitution:  (a)  The  abolition  of  all  segregated  or  protected 
vice  districts  and  the  elimination  of  houses  used  for  vicious  pur- 
poses, (b)  Punishment  of  frequenters  of  disorderly  houses  and 
penalization  of  the  payment  of  money  for  prostitution  as  well  as 
its  receipt,  (c)  Heavy  penalties  for  pimps,  panderers,  procurers 
and  go-betweens,  (d)  Prevention  of  solicitation  in  streets  and 
public  places  by  men  and  women,  (e)  Elimination  of  system  of 
petty  fines  and  establishment  of  indeterminate  sentences,  (f) 
Strict  enforcement  of  laws  against  alcohol  and  drug  trades. 

Drastic  resolutions  were  passed  for  the  control  of  venereal 
diseases,  applying  alike  to  men  and  women.  Those  on  delin- 
quents, minors  and  defectives  were  as  follows:  (a)  Legal  age  of 
consent  to  be  not  less  than  18  and  laws  to  include  protection  of 
boys  under  18  as  well  as  of  girls,  (b)  Trying  cases  involving 
sex  offenses  in  chancery  courts  instead  of  in  criminal  courts  is 
advocated,  (c)  Mental  examination  and  diagnosis  of  all  children, 
registration  of  abnormal  cases,  education  suited  to  their  possi- 
bilities; supervision  during  and  after  school  age;  custodial  care 
for  those  unable  to  adjust  to  a  normal  environment,  (d)  Re- 
formatory farms  for  delinquent  men  and  women  .  .  .  these  insti- 
tutions to  have  trained  officers.  (f)  Women  on  governing 
boards  of  all  charitable  and  penal  institutions;  as  probation  and 
parole  officers ;  as  State  and  local  police ;  as  protective  officers ;  as 
court  officials,  as  jurors ;  as  physicians  in  institutions  for  women 
and  on  all  State  and  local  boards  of  health.  The  committee  recom- 


THE    LEAGUE    OF    WOMEN    VOTERS  697 

mends  the  establishment  of  local  protective  homes  for  girls  in 
all  the  larger  cities,  proper  detention  quarters  for  women  await- 
ing trial  and  separate  detention  quarters  for  juvenile  offenders, 
as  well  as  Travelers'  Aid  agents  at  all  large  railroad  stations  and 
steamship  embarkation  points. 

Child  Welfare — Mrs.  Percy  V.  Pennybacker,  chairman.  The 
resolutions  adopted  covered :  i.  The  endorsement  of  the  Sheppard- 
Towner  Bill  for  the  Public  Protection  of  Maternity  and  Infancy; 
(2)  of  the  principle  of  a  bill  for  physical  education  about  to  be 
introduced  into  Congress  to  be  administered  by  the  Bureau  of 
Education  of  the  Department  of  the  Interior;  (3)  of  an  appro- 
priation of  $472,220  for  the  Children's  Bureau  of  the  U.  S. 
Department  of  Labor;  (4)  of  the  Gard-Curtis  Bill  for  the  regu- 
lation of  child  labor  in  the  District  of  Columbia. 

American  Citizenship — Mrs.  Frederick  P.  Bagley,  chairman. 
Resolutions  provided  for:  i.  Compulsory  education  which  shall 
include  adequate  training  in  citizenship  in  every  State  for  all 
children  between  six  and  sixteen  nine  months  of  each  year.  2. 
Education  of  adults  by  extension  classes  of  the  public  schools. 
3.  English  made  the  basic  language  of  instruction  in  the  common- 
school  branches  in  all  schools  public  and  private.  4.  Specific 
qualifications  for  citizenship  and  impressive  ceremonials  for 
naturalization.  5.  Direct  citizenship  for  women,  not  through 
marriage,  as  a  qualification  for  the  vote.  6.  Naturalization  for 
married  women  made  possible,  American  women  to  retain  their 
citizenship  after  marriage  to  an  alien.  7.  Printed  citizenship 
instruction  in  the  foreign  languages  for  the  use  of  the  foreign 
born,  as  a  function  of  the  Federal  Government.  8.  Schools  of 
citizenship  in  conjunction  with  the  public  schools,  a  certificate 
from  such  schools  to  be  a  qualification  for  the  educational  test  for 
naturalization,  o.  An  educational  qualification  for  the  vote  in 
all  States  after  a  sufficient  period  of  time  and  ample  opportunity 
for  education  have  been  allowed. 

Laws  Concerning  the  Legal  Status  of  Women,  Mrs.  Catharine 

McCulloch,  chairman.     Following  resolutions  presented 

and   adopted :      I.   Independent  <  ':ip   for  married   women. 

2.  Equal  interest  of  spouses  in  each  other's  real  estate.     3.  The 

married  woman's  wages  and  business  under  her  sole  control. 


VOU    V 


698  HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

4.  Just  civil  service  laws  in  all  cities  and  States  now  under  the 
spoils  system ;  amendments  to  existing  civil  service  laws  to  enable 
men  and  women  to  have  equal  rights  in  examinations  and  appoint- 
ments. 5.  Mothers'  pensions  with  a  minimum  amount  adequate 
and  definite;  the  maximum  amount  left  to  the  discretion  of  the  ad- 
ministering court ;  the  benefits  of  all  such  laws  extended  to  neces- 
sitous cases  above  the  age  specified  in  the  law,  at  the  discretion 
of  the  administering  body,  and  residence  qualifications  required. 
6.  The  minimum  "age  of  consent"  eighteen  years.  7.  Equal  guar- 
dianship by  both  parents  of  the  persons  and  the  property  of  chil- 
dren, the  Utah  law  being  a  model.  8.  Legal  workers  should  read 
a  book  published  by  the  Department  of  Labor  entitled  Illegiti- 
macy Laws  of  the  United  States.  9.  A  Court  should  be  estab- 
lished having  original  exclusive  jurisdiction  over  all  affairs  per- 
taining to  the  child  and  his  interests.  10.  The  marriage  age  for 
women  should  be  eighteen  years,  for  men  twenty-one  years.  The 
State  should  require  health  certificates  before  issuing  marriage 
licenses.  There  should  be  Federal  legislation  on  marriage  and 
divorce  and  statutes  prohibiting  the  evasion  of  marriage  laws. 

11.  Laws  should  provide  that  women  be  subject  to  jury  service 
and  the  unit  vote  of  jurors  in  civil  cases  should  be  abolished. 

12.  Members  of  committees  of  the  League  of  Women  Voters 
should  not  use  their  connection  with  the  league  to  assist  any 
political  party. 

On  February  1 7  Miss  Mary  Garrett  Hay  in  an  appeal  for  funds 
secured  pledges  of  $44,450.  Of  this  sum  the  amount  of  $15,000 
by  the  Leslie  Commission  was  offered  by  Mrs.  Catt  as  follows : 

1 i )  The  Woman  Citizen  as  an  organ  of  the  league  until  Jan. 
i,  1921,  at  which  time  we  believe  that  it  should  issue  a  Bulletin  of 
its  own. 

(2)  The  full  use  of  the  publicity  department  of  the  National 
American  Woman  Suffrage  Association  until  May  i,  1920. 

(3)  The  remainder  for  the  use  of  the  league  during  the  year. 
Following  the  convention  Mrs.  Catt  conducted  a  School  of 

Political  Education  in  the  Auditorium  of  Recital  Hall,  in  Chicago, 
February  19-24.  Its  aim  was  to  train  women  already  equipped 
with  competent  knowledge  of  civil  government  and  political  sci- 
ence to  teach  new  voters  the  ideals  of  American  Citizenship,  the 


THE    LEAGUE    OF    WOMEN    VOTERS  699 

processes  of  registering  and  casting  a  vote,  the  methods  of  mak- 
ing nominations  and  platforms,  the  nature  of  political  parties  and 
the  best  ways  of  using  a  vote  to  get  what  they  want  and  to  effect 
the  general  welfare  of  the  people.  Mrs.  Catt  urged  each  State 
to  hold  a  similar  State  school  to  be  followed  by  others  in  every 
election  district,  to  carry  the  message  to  every  woman  that  good 
citizens  not  only  register  and  vote  but  know  how  to  do  so  and 
why  they  do  it;  to  set  a  standard  of  good  citizenship  with  an 
"irreducible  minimum"  of  qualifications  below  which  no  person 
can  fall  and  lay  claim  to  the  title  good  citizen.  It  was  planned 
to  give  certificates  of  endorsement  to  those  who  passed  75  per 
cent,  in  the  examinations  at  the  close. 

A  widespread  demand  arose  for  Citizenship  Schools,  requests 
coming  even  from  women  who  were  indifferent  or  opposed  to  suf- 
frage but  who,  now  that  the  vote  was  assured,  were  anxious  to 
make  good  and  intelligent  use  of  the  ballot.  Under  the  direction 
of  Mrs.  Gellhorn,  vice-chairman  of  the  National  League  of 
Women  Voters  and  chairman  of  Organization,  twenty-seven  field 
directors  were  employed  and  schools  held  in  thirty-five  States. 
Missouri  had  102  schools,  Nebraska  30,  Ohio  35.  In  sixteen 
States,  the  State  universities  cooperated  with  the  League 
of  Women  Voters  in  their  citizenship  work.  Those  of  Iowa  and 
Virginia  employed  in  their  extension  departments  directors  of 
citizenship  schools,  who,  responding  to  calls,  went  to  various 
localities  and  conducted  courses  in  citizenship.  That  of  Missouri 
put  in  a  required  course  for  every  freshman,  with  five  hours' 
credit.  A  normal  training  school  -was  conducted  in  St.  Louis  in 
August  and  a  correspondence  course  of  twelve  lessons  was  issued 
and  used  by  forty-two  States.  In  many  cases  these  schools  made 
a  thorough  study  of  the  fundamental  principles  of  government. 

In  compliance  with  the  instruction  of  the  convention  the  Board 
Of  Directors  of  the  League  of  Women  Voters  at  its  post- 
convention  meeting  in  Chicago  selected  from  the  program  recom- 
mended by  the  standing  committees  the  issues  to  be  presented  to 
the  Resolution  Committees  of  the  political  parties  with  a  request 
that  they  be  adopted  as  planks  in  the  national  platforms.  Two  of 
the  Federal  measures  endorsed  by  the  League  in  Chicago — the  hill 
for  the  Women's  Bureau  in  the  Department  of  Labor  and  the 


7OO  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

Retirement  Bill  for  Superannuated  Public  Employees — were 
passed  by  Congress  the  following  June  and  became  law.  Twelve 
others  were  grouped  into  six  planks  and  later  condensed  into  a 
single  paragraph  as  follows : 

"We  urge  Federal  cooperation  with  the  States  in  the  protection 
of  infant  life  through  infancy  and  maternity  care;  the  prohibition 
of  child  labor  and  adequate  appropriation  for  the  Children's 
Bureau;  a  Federal  Department  of  Education;  joint  Federal  and 
State  aid  for  the  removal  of  illiteracy  and  increase  of  teachers' 
salaries;  instruction  in  citizenship  for  both  native  and  foreign 
born ;  increased  Federal  support  for  vocational  training  in  home 
economics  and  Federal  regulation  of  the  marketing  and  distribu- 
tion of  food;  full  representation  of  women  on  all  commissions 
dealing  with  women's  work  and  •women's  interests ;  the  establish- 
ment of  a  joint  Federal  and  State  employment  service  with 
women's  departments  under  the  direction  of  technically  qualified 
women ;  a  reclassification  of  the  Federal  Civil  Service  free  from 
discrimination  on  account  of  sex;  continuance  of  appropriations 
for  public;  education  in  sex  hygiene;  Federal  legislation  which 
shall  insure  that  American-born  women  resident  in  the  United 
States  but  married  to  aliens  shall  retain  American  citizenship  and 
that  the  same  process  of  naturalization  shall  be  required  of  alien 
women  as  is  required  of  alien  men." 

Deputations  from  the  Board  of  Directors  of  the  League  of 
Women  Voters  presented  this  program  to  the  Resolutions  Com- 
mittee of  the  Republican  party  at  its  convention  in  Chicago;  to 
that  of  the  Democratic  party  in  San  Francisco,  and  to  the 
convention  of  the  Farmer  Labor  party  and  the  Committee  of 
Forty-eight  held  jointly  in  Chicago.  The  last  named  included  the 
following  planks:  Abolition  of  employment  of  children  under  16 
years  of  age ;  a  Federal  Department  of  Education ;  Public  owner- 
ship and  operation  of  stock  yards,  large  abattoirs,  cold-storage 
and  terminal  warehouses ;  equal  pay  for  equal  work.  Five  of  the 
planks  were  included  in  the  Republican  platform :  Prohibition  of 
child  labor  throughout  the  United  States;  instruction  in  citizen- 
ship for  the  youth  of  the  land ;  increased  Federal  support  for  vo- 
cational training  in  home  economics ;  equal  pay  for  equal  work ; 
independent  citizenship  for  married  women.  The  Democratic 


THE   LEAGUE   OF    WOMEN    VOTERS  7OI 

Resolutions  Committee  incorporated  in  its  platform  all  of  the 
requests  made  by  the  League  of  Women  Voters  except  a  Federal 
Department  of  Education.  The  Socialist  Party  held  its  conven- 
tion before  the  planks  -were  sent  out.  The  Prohibition  Party 
adopted  the  full  program  of  the  League  of  Women  Voters. 

One  of  the  important  steps  taken  in  1920  by  the  League  of 
Women  Voters  in  support  of  its  social  welfare  program  was  the 
presenting  of  these  platform  planks  to  the  Presidential  candidates 
of  the  two  major  parties  for  their  approval.  Its  representatives 
with  a  deputation  went  to  Marion,  O.,  the  home  of  Senator  Hard- 
ing, Republican  candidate,  October  i  and  to  Dayton,  O.,  the  home 
of  Governor  Cox,  Democratic  candidate,  the  following  day.  Each 
promised  assistance  in  the  event  of  his  election. 

At  the  call  of  Mrs.  Park,  chairman  of  the  league,  delegates 
representing  national  organizations  which  collectively  numbered 
about  10,000,000  women,  met  in  Washington  on  November  22. 
These  included  the  National  League  of  Women  Voters,  General 
Federation  of  Women's  Clubs,  National  Council  of  Women,  the 
Women's  Christian  Temperance  Union,  National  Women's  Trade 
Union  League,  National  Consumers'  League,  National  Congress 
of  Mothers  and  Parent-Teachers'  Associations,  Association  of 
Collegiate  Alumme,  American  Home  Economics  Association, 
National  Federation  of  Business  and  Professional  Women's 
Clubs.  They  formed  a  Woman's  Joint  Congressional  Committee 
and  endorsed  the  largest  constructive,  legislative  program  ever 
adopted.  It  -was  arranged  that  all  organizations  might  partici- 
pate to  the  limit  of  their  specific  field  of  work  and  purposes  and 
at  the  same  time  all  possibility  was  eliminated  of  any  being  in- 
volved in  supporting  a  measure  or  a  principle  outside  of  its 
scope  or  contrary  to  its  opinions. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

WOMAN    SUFFRAGE    IN    NATIONAL    PRESIDENTIAL    CONVENTIONS.1 

The  courage  and  patience  of  the  woman  suffrage  leaders  in 
their  long  struggle  for  the  ballot  is  nowhere  more  strongly  evi- 
denced than  in  their  continued  appeals  to  the  national  political 
conventions  to  recognize  in  their  platforms  woman's  right  to 
the  franchise.  These  distinguished  women  were  received  with  an 
indifference  that  -was  insulting  until  far  into  the  2Oth  century. 
To  two  parties,  the  Prohibition  and  the  Socialist,  it  was  never 
necessary  to  appeal.  The  Prohibition  party  was  organized  in 
1872  and  from  that  time  always  advocated  woman  suffrage  in 
its  national  platform  except  in  1896,  when  it  had  only  a  single 
plank,  but  this  was  supplemented  by  resolutions  favoring  equal 
suffrage.  The  Socialist  party,  which  came  into  existence  in  1901, 
declared  for  woman  suffrage  at  the  start  and  thereafter  made  it 
a  part  of  its  active  propaganda.  All  the  minor  parties  as  a  rule 
put  planks  for  woman  suffrage  in  their  platforms.2 

Before  the  conventions  in  1904  the  board  of  the  National 
American  Woman  Suffrage  Association  secured  full  lists  of  dele- 
gates and  alternates  of  the  two  dominant  parties — 667  Republicans 
and  723  Democratic  delegates ;  495  Republican  alternates  and  384 
Democratic,  a  total  of  2,269.  To  each  a  letter  was  sent  directing 
his  attention  to  a  memorial  enclosed,  signed  by  the  officers  of  the 
association,  an  urgent  request  for  the  insertion  in  the  platform 
of  the  following  resolution :  "Resolved,  That  we  favor  the  sub- 
mission by  Congress  to  the  various  State  Legislatures  of  an 
amendment  to  the  Federal  Constitution  forbidding  the  disfran- 
chisement  of  United  States  citizens  on  account  of  sex." 

The  Republican  convention  met  in  Chicago  June  21-23.  The 
committee  appointed  by  the  National  Association  consisted  of 

1  The  History  is  indebted  for  this  chapter  to  Miss  Mary  Garrett  Hay,  second  vice- 
president  of  the  National  American  Woman  Suffrage  Association. 

1  For  a  full  account  of  the  effort  to  obtain  planks  in  the  national  platforms  from 
1868  to  1900,  inclusive,  see  Chapter  XXIII,  Volume  IV,  History  of  Woman  Suffrage. 

702 


WOMAN    SUFFRAGE  IN    PRESIDENTIAL   CONVENTIONS       703 

Mrs.  Harriet  Taylor  Upton  and  Miss  Elizabeth  J.  Hauser  of 
Ohio,  its  treasurer  and  headquarters  secretary,  and  Mrs.  Catha- 
rine Waugh  McCulloch  of  Chicago,  a  former  officer,  who  ar- 
ranged the  hearing.  The  beautiful  rooms  of  the  Chicago  Woman's 
Club  were  placed  at  their  disposal,  where  they  kept  open  house, 
assisted  by  Mrs.  Gertrude  Blackwelder,  president  of  the  Chicago 
Political  League,  Mrs.  Ellen  M.  Henrotin  and  other  prominent 
club  women.  Mrs.  McCulloch  went  to  the  Auditorium  Annex  to 
ask  the  Committee  on  Resolutions  for  a  hearing.  Senator  Hop- 
kins of  Illinois  presented  her  to  Senator  Henry  Cabot  Lodge,  the 
chairman,  and  the  choice  was  given  her  of  having  it  immediately 
or  the  next  morning.  She  chose  the  nearest  hour  and  a  little 
later  returned  with  her  committee.  Mrs.  McCulloch  introduced 
the  speakers  and  made  the  closing  argument.  Mrs.  Upton,  the 
Rev.  Celia  Parker  Woolley  and  the  Rev.  Olympia  Brown  ad- 
dressed the  committee.  They  were  generously  applauded,  the  su  f - 
frage  plank  was  referred  to  a  sub-committee  and  buried. 

The  Democratic  convention  was  held  in  St.  Louis  July  6-9  and 
Mrs.  Priscilla  D.  Hackstaff,  an  officer  of  the  New  York  Suffrage 
Association,  secured  a  hearing  before  the  Resolutions  Committee. 
Mrs.  Louise  L.  Werth  of  St.  Louis  and  Miss  Kate  M.  Gordon  of 
Louisiana  joined  her  on  the  opening  day  of  the  convention  and 
at  8  o'clock  the  evening  of  the  7th  they  appeared  before  the  com- 
mittee. Mrs.  Hackstaff  argued  on  the  ground  of  abstract  justice 
and  Miss  Gordon  from  the  standpoint  of  expediency.  The  com- 
mittee listened  attentively  and  were  liberal  with  applause  but 
the  resolution  never  was  heard  from. 

Undaunted  by  a  failure  which  began  in  1868  and  had  continued 
ever  since,  the  suffragists  made  their  plans  for  1908.  The  Republi 
can  convention  was  again  held  in  Chicago,  June   16-20.  and  a 
committee  of  eminent  women  presented  the  suiVi  >lutx>!i 

Miss  Jane  Addams,  Mrs.  llcnmtin,  the  l\ev.  ('aroline  1'artlett 
<  Vane,  Miss  Harriet  Grim,  Mrs.  I'lackuclder  and  Mrs.  Mar 
riot  Stanton  Hlatch.  They  were  heard  politely  but  not  the  slisjht- 

ttention  was  paid  to  their  re<|in  muel  <  iompe: 

dent  of  the  American  Lcderation  of  Labor,  tried  to  secure  the 
adoption  of  a  plank  plcd^ini;  the  Republican  party  to  support  a 
Federal  Woman  Sut'frai;e  Amendment  hut  also  \\  red 


704  HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

When  the  Democratic  party  met  in  national  convention  in 
Denver  July  7-11,  all  the  delegates  and  alternates  received  an 
appeal  which  read:  "You  are  respectfully  requested  by  the  Na- 
tional American  Woman  Suffrage  Association  to  place  the  fol- 
lowing plank  in  your  platform:  'Resolved,  That  we  favor  the 
extension  of  the  elective  franchise  to  the  women  of  the  United 
States  by  the  States  upon  the  same  qualifications  as  it  is  accorded 
to  men/  We  ask  this  in  order  that  our  Government  may  live  up 
to  the  principles  upon  which  it  was  founded  and  in  order  that 
the  women  in  the  homes  and  the  industries  may  have  equal  power 
with  men  to  influence  conditions  affecting  these  respective  spheres 
of  action.  In  making  this  demand  for  justice  our  association 
calls  your  attention  to  the  fact  that  more  than  5,000,000  women 
who  are  occupied  in  the  industries  of  the  United  States  are  help- 
less to  legislate  upon  the  hours,  conditions  and  remuneration  for 
their  labor.  We  call  your  attention  to  the  fact  that  through  the 
commercialized  trend  of  legislation  the  children  of  our  nation  are 
being  sacrificed  to  a  veritable  Juggernaut — cheap  labor — while 
this  same  trend  is  wasting  our  mineral  land  and  water  resources, 
imperiling  thereby  the  inheritance  of  future  generations.  We  call 
your  attention  to  the  moral  conditions  menacing  the  youth  of  our 
country.  Justice  and  expediency  demand  that  women  be  granted 
equal  power  with  men  to  mould  the  conditions  directly  affecting 
the  industries,  the  resources  and  the  homes  of  the  nation.  We 
therefore  appeal  to  the  Democratic  convention  assembled  to  name 
national  standard  bearers  and  to  determine  national  policies,  to 
adopt  in  its  platform  a  declaration  favoring  the  extension  of  the 
franchise  to  the  women  of  the  United  States." 

This  appeal  was  signed  by  Dr.  Anna  Howard  Shaw,  president, 
Kate  M.  Gordon,  Rachel  Foster  Avery,  Alice  Stone  Blackwell, 
Harriet  Taylor  Upton,  Laura  Clay  and  Mary  S.  Sperry,  national 
officers.  It  received  no  consideration  whatever,  but,  although 
the  suffragists  did  not  know  it,  this  was  the  last  year  when  the 
two  powerful  political  parties  of  the  country  could  stand  with  a 
united  front  hostile  to  all  progressive  movements.  There  was 
shortly  to  be  brought  to  the  assistance  of  such  movements  strong 
forces  which  could  not  be  resisted. 

Early  in   1912  President  William  Howard  Taft  and  U.   S. 


WOMAN    SUFFRAGE   IN    PRESIDENTIAL    CONVENTIONS       705 

Senator  Robert  M.  La  Follette  announced  their  intention  of  try- 
ing to  secure  the  Republican  nomination  for  the  presidency  and 
the  press  of  the  country  took  up  the  burning  question,  "Will 
Roosevelt  be  a  candidate  for  a  third  term?"  On  February  25  he 
announced  his  candidacy  and  from  then  until  the  date  of  the  Re- 
publican national  convention  the  public  interest  was  intense.  The 
convention  met  in  Chicago,  June  16-20.  Miss  Jane  Addams,  vice- 
president  of  the  National  American  Woman  Suffrage  Associa- 
tion, had  arranged  with  a  number  of  women  to  appear  at  a  few 
hours'  notice  before  the  Resolutions  Committee  but  she  could 
not  give  even  that,  as  she  learned  at  8 130  p.m.  on  the  iQth  that 
the  committee  would  meet  at  9 130  in  the  Congress  Hotel  and  she 
must  appear  at  that  time.  There  was  hastily  mustered  into 
sen-ice  a  small  but  distinguished  group  of  suffragists  consisting 
of  Mrs.  Joseph  T.  Bowen  and  Miss  Mary  Bartelme  of  Chicago; 
Professor  Sophonisba  Breckinridge  of  Kentucky;  Mrs.  B.  B. 
Mumford  of  Richmond,  Va. ;  Miss  Lillian  D.  Wald  and  Mrs. 
Simkovitch  of  New  York  City;  Miss  Helen  Todd  of  California; 
Professor  Freund  of  the  Chicago  University  Law  Faculty  and 
a  few  others.  At  ten  o'clock  the  suffragists  were  admitted  to  the 
committee  room  and  greeted  cordially  by  Governor  Hadley  of 
Missouri  and  courteously  by  the  chairman,  Charles  W.  Fair- 
banks. Miss  Addams  was  told  that  she  might  have  five  minutes 
(later  extended  to  seven)  and  present  one  speaker.  She  intro- 
duced Mrs.  Bowen,  president  of  the  Juvenile  Protective  Associa- 
tion, who  spoke  earnestly  four  minutes,  leaving  Miss  Addams 
three  to  make  the  final  plea.  There  were  confusion  and  noise  in 
the  room  and  the  attention  of  the  committee  was  distracted.  The 
platform  contained  no  reference  to  woman  suffrage.  Senator 
LaFollette  presented  his  own  platform  to  the  convention  in  which 
was  a  plank  favoring  the  extension  of  suffrage  to  women  but  it 
went  down  to  defeat.  Two  days  later  the  convention  amid  great 
excitement  nominated  President  Taft  by  a  vote  of  561  while 
Colonel  Roosevelt's  vote  was  only  107.  Directly  after  the  con- 
vention adjourned  the  delegates  who  favored  Roosevelt  assembled 
at  Orchestra  Hall  and  nominated  him  in  the  name  of  the  new 
Progressive  party,  Miss  Addams  seconding  the  nomination. 
Soon  after  Colonel  Roosevelt  announced  his  candidacy  he 


706  HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

was  visited  by  Judge  "Ben"  Lindsey  of  Denver,  a  representative 
of  the  progressive  element  in  politics,  who  pointed  out  to  him  the 
great  assistance  it  would  be  to  his  campaign  for  him  to  come  out 
for  woman  suffrage.  Roosevelt,  who  was  an  astute  politician, 
saw  the  advantage  of  enlisting  the  help  of  women,  who  through 
their  large  organizations  had  become  a  strong  factor  in  public 
life.  Judge  Lindsay  therefore  was  authorized  to  announce  that 
he  would  favor  a  woman  suffrage  plank  in  the  Progressive  plat- 
form and  Roosevelt  confirmed  it.  This  caused  wide  excitement 
and  the  suffragists  throughout  the  country  began  to  rally  under 
the  Roosevelt  banner.  He  had  always  been  theoretically  in  favor 
but  with  many  reservations  and  during  his  two  terms  as  President 
he  had  refused  all  appeals  to  endorse  it  in  any  way.  When  he 
went  to  Chicago  to  the  first  convention  of  the  Progressive  party 
August  5  he  carried  with  him  the  draft  of  the  platform  and  in  it 
was  a  plank  favoring  woman  suffrage  but  calling  for  a  nation- 
wide referendum  of  the  question  to  women  themselves ! 

When  this  plank  was  submitted  to  the  Resolutions  Committee, 
on  which  were  such  suffragists  as  Miss  Addams,  Judge  Lindsay 
and  U.  S.  Senator  Albert  J.  Beveridge,  they  vetoed  it  at  once. 
It  had  already  been  issued  to  the  press  in  printed  form  and  tele- 
grams recalling  it  had  to  be  sent  far  and  wide.  The  plank  pre- 
sented by  the  Resolutions  Committee  and  unanimously  adopted 
by  the  convention  read  as  follows :  "The  Progressive  party,  be- 
lieving that  no  people  can  justly  claim  to  be  a  true  democracy 
which  denies  political  rights  on  account  of  sex,  pledges  itself  to 
the  task  of  securing  equal  suffrage  to  men  and  women  alike." 

Many  States  sent  women  delegates  and  they  were  cordially  wel- 
comed. The  convention  was  marked  by  a  deep,  almost  religious 
zeal,  the  delegates  breaking  frequently  into  the  singing  of  hymns 
of  which  Onward  Christian  Soldiers  was  a  favorite.  Women 
took  a  prominent  part  in  the  proceedings  and  woman  suffrage 
was  made  one  of  the  leading  features.  Senator  Beveridge  re- 
ferred to  it  at  length  in  his  speech,  saying:  "Because  women  as 
much  as  men  are  a  part  of  our  economic  and  social  life,  women 
as  much  as  men  should  have  the  voting  power  to  solve  all  economic 
and  social  problems.  Votes  are  theirs  as  a  matter  of  natural  right 


WOMAN    SUFFRAGE   IN    PRESIDENTIAL    CONVENTIONS        707 

alone ;  votes  should  be  theirs  as  a  matter  of  political  wisdom  also." 
Later  in  a  glowing  tribute  Mr.  Roosevelt  said:  "It  is  idle  to 
argue  whether  women  can  play  their  part  in  politics  because  in  this 
convention  we  have  seen  the  accomplished  fact,  and,  moreover, 
the  women  who  have  actively  participated  in  this  work  of  launch- 
ing the  new  party  represent  all  that  we  are  most  proud  to  asso- 
ciate with  American  womanhood.  My  earnest  hope  is  to  see 
the  Progressive  party  in  all  its  State  and  local  divisions  recog- 
nize this  fact  precisely  as  it  has  been  recognized  at  the  national 
convention.  .  .  .  Workingwomen  have  the  same  need  to  com- 
bine for  protection  that  workingmen  have ;  the  ballot  is  as  neces- 
sary for  one  class  as  for  the  other ;  we  do  not  believe  that  with  the 
two  sexes  there  is  identity  of  function  but  we  do  believe  that 
there  should  be  equality  of  right  and  therefore  we  favor  woman 
suffrage."  The  Progressive  party  in  State  after  State  followed 
the  lead  of  the  convention  and  women  were  welcomed  into  its 
deliberations.  From  this  time  woman  suffrage  was  one  of  the 
dominant  political  issues  throughout  the  country. 

The  Democratic  National  Convention  met  in  Baltimore  June 
25-July  3.  The  Baltimore  suffragists  applied  on  Thursday  for 
a  hearing  before  the  Resolutions  Committee  for  Dr.  Anna 
Howard  Shaw  and  were  informed  that  the  hearings  had  ended 
on  Wednesday.  Urged  by  the  women  the  chairman,  John  W. 
Kern  of  Indiana,  finally  consented  to  give  a  hearing  that  day,  al- 
though he  said  he  had  turned  away  hundreds  of  men  who  wanted 
hearings,  and  he  allotted  five  minutes  to  it.  Mrs.  W.  J.  Brown 
of  Baltimore,  Mrs.  Lawrence  Lewis  of  Philadelphia  and  several 
others  went  with  Dr.  Shaw  but  after  a  long  wait  only  Mrs.  Lewis 
and  she  were  admitted.  With  a  strong,  logical  speech  Dr.  Shaw 
presented  the  following  resolution  and  asked  that  it  be  made  a 
plank  in  the  platform  : 

Whereas,  The  fundamental  idea  of  a  democracy  is  self-govern- 
ment, the  right  of  citizens  to  choose  their  own  representatives,  to 
enact  the  laws  \>y  which  they  are  governed,  and  whereas,  this  rii;ht. 
can  1  '1  only  by  the  e>  ore, 

ed,   That    the   hallnt    in   the   hand   of   every   <|iia1ified   cit 

ue  political  status  of  the  people  and  to  deprive  one- 
le  of   the  use  of  the  hallot    is  u»  deny  the  first  prin- 
ciple of  a  drnv.cratic  ^o \crnmcnt. 


708  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

The  committee  was  courteous  and  listened  with  marked  atten- 
tion, William  Jennings  Bryan  among  them,  but  took  no  action  on 
the  resolution.1 

The  convention  nominated  Woodrow  Wilson,  who  had  an- 
swered a  question  from  a  chairman  of  the  New  York  Woman 
Suffrage  Party  the  preceding  winter,  while  Governor  of  New 
Jersey :  ''I  can  only  say  that  my  mind  is  in  the  midst  of  the  debate 
which  it  involves.  I  do  not  feel  that  I  am  ready  to  utter  my 
confident  judgment  as  yet  about  it.  I  am  honestly  trying  to  work 
my  way  toward  a  just  conclusion."  President  Taft  had  written 
in  answer  to  a  letter  of  inquiry  from  the  secretary  of  the  Men's 
Suffrage  League  of  New  York:  "I  am  willing  to  wait  until  there 
shall  be  a  substantial,  not  unanimous,  but  a  substantial  call  from 
that  sex  before  the  suffrage  is  extended.'' 

As  the  result  of  the  year's  political  work  a  summing  up  in 
December,  1912,  showed  a  woman  suffrage  plank  in  the  national 
platforms  of  the  Progressive,  Socialist  and  Prohibition  parties; 
a  plank  in  the  platform  of  every  party  in  New  York  State  and  in 
that  of  one  or  more  parties  in  many  States.  The  Progressive 
party  with  woman  suffrage  as  one  of  its  cardinal  principles  had 
polled  4,119,507  votes.  Kansas,  Oregon  and  Arizona  by  popular 
vote  had  been  added  to  the  number  of  the  equal  suffrage  States. 
In  1914  these  were  increased  by  Montana  and  Nevada,  making 
eleven  where  women  voted  on  the  same  terms  as  men.  In  1913 
Illinois  granted  a  large  amount  of  suffrage  including  a  vote  for 
Presidential  electors.  In  1915  President  Wilson  and  all  his  Cabi- 
net, except  Secretary  Lansing;  Speaker  Champ  Clark  and  Mr. 
Bryan  publicly  endorsed  suffrage  for  women.  Constitutional 
amendments  were  defeated  in  four  eastern  States  but  they  polled 
1,234,470  favorable  votes. 

By  1916,  the  year  of  the  Presidential  nominating  conventions, 
there  had  been  so  vast  an  advance  of  public  sentiment  that  the 
official  board  of  the  National  American  Woman  Suffrage  Asso- 
ciation was  encouraged  to  believe  that  its  effort  of  nearly  fifty 
years  to  obtain  woman  suffrage  planks  in  the  national  platforms 
of  the  Republican  and  Democratic  parties  would  be  successful. 

1  One  evening  during  the  convention  the  Maryland  suffragists,  reinforced  by  others 
from  surrounding  cities,  had  a  long  and  handsomely  equipped  parade. 


WOMAN    SUFFRAGE    IN    PRESIDENTIAL    CONVENTIONS        7OQ 

Its  president,  Mrs.  Carrie  Chapman  Catt,  in  the  letters  sent  to  the 
delegates,  who  were  circularized  three  times,  called  attention  to 
the  great  gains  and  the  existing  status  of  the  movement,  adapting 
the  appeal  to  each  party.  Under  her  direction,  as  a  preliminary  to 
the  conventions,  favorable  opinions  were  obtained  from  many 
leading  men  who  were  to  attend  them,  similar  to  the  following: 
Representative  John  M.  Nelson  of  the  House  Judiciary  Commit- 
tee said :  "The  endorsement  of  equal  suffrage  by  either  of  the 
two  great  parties  would  do  more  at  this  time  to  simplify  the 
question  than  any  other  one  thing.  It  seems  to  me  that  in  direct- 
ing their  efforts  toward  securing  this  endorsement  its  advocates 
have  exhibited  sound  practical  judgment  and  admirable  political 
acumen."  "I  am  in  favor  of  an  endorsement  in  the  Republican 
platform  of  the  principle  of  equal  suffrage/*  said  Senator  Borah, 
a  Republican  delegate.  "I  have  no  doubt  there  will  be  a  plank 
offered  to  that  effect  and  it  will  receive  my  active  support."  U.  S. 
Senator  Owen  on  the  floor  of  the  Senate  declared :  "This  demand 
ought  to  be  made  by  men  as  well  as  by  thinking,  progressive 
women.  I  hope  that  all  parties  will  in  the  national  conventions 
give  their  approval  to  this  larger  measure  of  liberty  to  the  better 
half  of  the  human  race."  The  suffragists  began  preparations  for 
two  striking  demonstrations  during  the  conventions. 

The  Republican  convention  took  place  in  Chicago  June  7-10. 
On  the  6th  a  mass  meeting  was  held  under  the  auspices  of  the 
association  at  the  Princess  Theater.  Speeches  by  Mrs.  Catt  and 
others  roused  the  audience  to  great  enthusiasm  and  the  follow- 
ing resolution  was  adopted  :  "We,  women  from  every  State,  gath- 
ered in  national  assembly,  come  to  you  in  the  name  of  justice, 
liberty  and  equality  to  ask  you  to  incorporate  in  your  platform 
a  declaration  favoring  the  extension  of  suffrage  to  the  only  re- 
maining class  of  unenfranchised  citizens,  the  women  of  our  na- 
tion, and  to  urge  you  to  give  its  protecting  power  and  prestige 
to  the  final  struggle  of  women  for  political  liberty.  We  are  not 
a -king  your  endorsement  of  an  untried  theory  but  your  rec< 
timi  of  a  fact.  The  men  of  eleven  States  and  Alaska  have  already 
fully  enfranchised  their  women  and  Illr  --ited  a  1. 

degree  of  suffrage,  including  the  Presidential  vote.     The  women 


710  HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

of  five  States  have  gained  the  vote  since  1912,  your  last  conven- 
tion, and  have  party  affiliations  yet  to  make." 

A  parade  of  25,000  -women  had  been  planned  to  show  the 
strength  of  the  movement.  A  cold,  heavy  rain  upset  these  plans 
but  on  June  7,  5,500  women  (the  others  believing  the  demonstra- 
tion would  not  be  given)  braved  the  storm,  gathered  in  Grant 
Park  and  marched  to  the  Coliseum,  where  the  Republican  Reso- 
lutions Committee  was  meeting.  The  Chicago  Hercdd  in  describ- 
ing that  march  said:  "Over  their  heads  surged  a  vast  sea  of 
umbrellas  extending  two  miles  down  the  street ;  under  their  feet 
swirled  rivulets  of  water.  Wind  tore  at  their  clothes  and  rain 
drenched  their  faces  but  unhesitatingly  they  marched  in  unbroken 
formation.  Never  before  in  the  history  of  this  city,  probably 
of  the  world,  has  there  been  so  impressive  a  demonstration  of 
consecration  to  a  cause/'  The  first  division  reached  the  conven- 
tion hall  before  five  o'clock.  The  committee  had  given  a  hear- 
ing to  the  suffragists  and  was  listening  to  the  "antis." 
Just  as  Mrs.  A.  J.  George  of  Brookline,  Mass.,  was  asserting, 
"there  is  no  widespread  demand  for  woman  suffrage"  hundreds 
of  drenched  and  dripping  women  began  to  pour  into  the  hall, 
each  woman's  condition  bearing  silent  witness  to  the  strength  of 
her  wish  for  the  vote.  Thousands  of  converts  were  made  among 
those  who  witnessed  the  courage  and  devotion  of  the  women  in 
facing  this  storm. 

The  hearing  took  place  before  a  sub-committee  of  the  Resolu- 
tions Committee  and  instead  of  seven  minutes  being  allotted  to  it, 
as  in  1912,  representatives  of  the  National  American  Woman 
Suffrage  Association  had  half  an  hour,  the  National  Association 
Opposed  to  Woman  Suffrage  the  next  half  hour  and  the  Con- 
gressional Union  a  final  half  hour.  Mrs.  Catt,  Mrs.  Abbie  A. 
Krebs  of  California,  Mrs.  Ellis  Meredith  of  Colorado,  Mrs.  Grace 
Wilbur  Trout  of  Illinois  and  Mrs.  Frank  M.  Roessing  of  Penn- 
sylvania spoke  for  the  National  Suffrage  Association.  They 
asked  for  the  following  resolution:  "The  Republican  party  re- 
affirming its  faith  in  government  of  the  people,  by  the  people  and 
for  the  people,  as  a  measure  of  justice  to  one-half  the  adult  people 
of  this  country,  favors  the  extension  of  the  suffrage  to  women." 
The  speakers  for  the  Congressional  Union  were  Miss  Anne  Mar- 


WOMAN   SUFFRAGE   IN    PRESIDENTIAL   CONVENTIONS       711 

tin,  Mrs.  Harriot  Stanton  Blatch  and  Mrs.  Sara  Bard  Field  and 
they  asked  for  an  endorsement  of  the  Federal  Suffrage  Amend- 
ment. The  "antis"  were  represented  by  their  national  president, 
Mrs.  Arthur  M.  Dodge,  and  national  secretary,  Miss  Minnie 
Bronson ;  Miss  Alice  Hill  Chittenden,  New  York  State  president, 
and  Mrs.  George.  They  asked  that  there  should  be  no  mention 
of  woman  suffrage. 

The  sub-committee  reported  against  the  adoption  of  a  suf- 
frage plank,  the  vote  standing  five  to  four — Senators  Lodge, 
\Yadsworth,  Oliver,  and  Charles  Hopkins  Clark,  editor  of  the 
Hartford  (Conn.)  Courant,  and  former  Representative  Howland 
of  Ohio  opposed;  Senators  Borah,  Sutherland  and  Fall  and 
Representative  Madden  of  Illinois  in  favor. 

The  question  was  then  taken  up  in  the  full  Committee  on 
Resolutions.  Senators  Borah  and  Smoot  led  a  vigorous  fight  for  a 
plank ;  Senator  Marion  Butler  of  North  Carolina  headed  the  op- 
position. The  strongest  possible  influence  was  brought  to  bear 
against  it  by  the  party  leaders,  Senators  W.  Murray  Crane  and 
Henry  Cabot  Lodge  of  Massachusetts;  Boies  Penrose  of  Pennsyl- 
vania and  James  W.  Wadsworth,  Jr.,  of  New  York  and  Speaker 
Cannon  of  Illinois.  Nevertheless  it  was  carried  by  26  to  21. 
Within  a  half  hour  defeat  was  again  threatened  when  seven  absent 
members  of  the  committee  came  and  asked  for  a  reconsideration. 
After  repeated  parleys  it  was  reconsidered  and  emerged  as  the  last 
plank  in  the  platform.  The  final  vote  was  35  to  11  but  it  was  the 
result  of  a  compromise,  for  it  read :  "The  Republican  party,  re- 
affirming its  faith  in  government  of  the  people,  by  the  people  and 
for  the  people,  as  a  measure  of  justice  to  one-half  the  adult  people 
of  this  country,  favors  the  extension  of  the  suffrage  to  women  but 
recognizes  the  right  of  each  State  to  settle  this  question  for 
itself"! 

For  the  first  time  this  party  declared  for  the  doctrine  of  State's 
rights,  which  was  the  chief  obstacle  in  the  way  of  the  Federal 
Amendment,  the  goal  of  the  National  Association  for  nearly  fifty 
years.  Mrs.  Catt  knew  that  it  would  be  utterly  useless  to  ask 
for  a  plank  favoring  this  amendment  and  so  she  asked  simply  for 
a  clear-cut  endorsement  of  the  principle  of  woman  suffrage.  Thi^ 
was  secured,  after  women  had  been  appealing  to  national  Republi- 


712  HISTORY   OF*    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

can  conventions  since  1868,  and  although  it  was  -weakened  by  the 
qualifying  declaration,  she  realized  that  an  immense  gain  had 
been  made.  By  the  press  throughout  the  country  the  adoption 
of  the  plank  was  hailed  as  "a  victory  of  supreme  importance,"  and 
as  guaranteeing  a  suffrage  plank  in  the  Democratic  national  plat- 
form, which  could  not  have  been  obtained  without  it.  It  was 
adopted  by  the  convention  without  opposition  and  with  great 
enthusiasm. 

The  Democratic  convention  met  in  St.  Louis  June  14-16.  The 
first  day  the  suffragists  staged  their  "walkless  parade,"  which  the 
press  poetically  called  "the  golden  lane,"  as  the  6,000  white-robed 
women  who  formed  a  continuous  lane  from  the  convention 
headquarters  in  the  Jefferson  Hotel  to  the  Coliseum  where  the 
convention  was  held  carried  yellow  parasols  and  wore  yellow 
satin  sashes.  They  gave  resplendent  color  to  the  aisle  through 
which  hundreds  of  delegates  walked  to  their  political  councils. 
On  the  steps  of  the  Art  Museum  the  suffragists  presented  a 
striking  tableau  showing  Liberty,  a  symbolic  figure  effectively 
garbed,  surrounded  by  three  groups  of  women,  those  in  black 
typifying  the  non-suffrage  States;  those  in  gray  representing  the 
partial  suffrage  States ;  those  in  red,  white  and  blue  the  States 
where  political  equality  prevailed.  The  suffragists  had  now  no  dif- 
ficulty in  obtaining  a  hearing  and  plenty  of  time.  Representatives 
of  the  National  American  Association,  the  National  Woman's 
Party,  the  Southern  States  Woman  Suffrage  Conference  and  the 
National  Association  Opposed  to  Woman  Suffrage  appeared 
before  the  sub-committee  of  the  Resolutions  Committee. 

The  entire  Resolutions  Committee  met  in  the  evening  of  the 
1 5th  to  make  the  final  draft  of  the  platform.  Although  it  was 
a  foregone  conclusion  that  it  would  have  to  contain  a  woman 
suffrage  plank  the  enemies  did  not  intend  to  concede  it  willingly. 
It  was  not  reached  until  3  o'clock  in  the  morning,  when  platform 
building  was  suspended  while  a  contest  raged.  The  sleepy  com- 
mitteemen  became  wide  awake  and  their  voices  rose  till  they 
could  be  heard  in  the  corridors  and  out  into  the  street.  The 
unqualified  endorsement  of  woman  suffrage  asked  for  by  the 
National  Association  was  defeated  by  a  vote  of  24  to  20.  The 
approval  of  the  Federal  Amendment  asked  for  by  the  National 


WOMAN    SUFFRAGE    IN    PRESIDENTIAL    CONVENTIONS       713 

Woman's  Party  was  rejected  by  a  vote  of  40  to  4.  The  plea  of 
the  "antis"  not  to  mention  the  subject  was  defeated  by  26  to  17. 
Finally  the  committee  fell  back  on  what  was  said  to  have  been 
President  Wilson's  suggestion  for  a  plank,  which  was  adopted 
by  25  ayes,  20  noes.  A  minority  report  was  immediately  pre- 
pared by  James  Nugent  of  New  Jersey,  Senator  Smith  of  South 
Carolina,  former  Representative  Bartlett  of  Georgia,  Stephen 
B.  Fleming  of  Indiana,  Governor  Ferguson  of  Texas  and  Gov- 
ernor Stanley  of  Kentucky,  in  opposition. 

The  Resolutions  Committee  adjourned  at  7:15  a.m.  and  the 
convention  opened  at  n.     Senator  William  J.  Stone  of  Missouri, 
chairman  of  the  Resolutions  Committee,  brought  forward  the 
platform  but  confessed  that  he  was  too  tired  to  read  it,  so  Sena- 
tors Hollis  and  Walsh  took  turns  at  it  and  when  the  suffrage 
plank  was  reached   it   was   greeted  with   applause   and  cheers. 
Senator  Stone  moved  the  adoption  of  the  platform  and  Governor 
iison  was  given  thirty  minutes  to  present  the  minority  re- 
port, which  finally  was  signed  by  himself,  Nugent,  Bartlett  and 
Fleming.     The  resolution  was  supported  by  the  chairman.     The 
young  Nevada  Senator,  Key  Pittman,  handled  the  signers  of  the 
minority  report  without  gloves,  showed  up  their  unsavory  records 
and  stirred  the  convention  to  a  frenzy.    Yells  and  catcalls  on  the 
floor  were  met  with  the  cheers  of  the  women  who  filled  the  gallery 
and  waved  their  banners  and  yellow  parasols.     Again  and  aeain 
.as  forced  to  stop  until  Senator  John  Sharp  Williams  took 
the  gavel  and  restored  a  semblance  of  order.     Senator  Walsh  of 
Montana  made  a  powerful  speech  from  the  standpoint  of  political 
liency  and  pointed  out  that  the  minority  report  was  signed 
uly  four  of  the  fifty  members  of  the  Resolutions  Committee, 
mpts  were  made  to  howl  him  down  and  in  the  midst  of  the 
turmoil  a  terrific  storm  broke  and  flashes  of  lightning  and  roars 
hunder  added  to  the  excitement.    At  last  the  vote  was  taken 
on  the  minority  report  and  stood  888  noes,  181  ayes.    That  ended 
the  opposition. 

Senator  Stone  had  said  to  the  delegates:     "I  may  say  that 

ident  Wilson  knows  of  this  plank  and  deems  it  imperative 

Xm ember  that  it  1  in  the  platform  " 

plank,  which  was  adopted  by  a  viva  voce  vote  read  as  fol- 


714  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

lows :  "We  favor  the  extension  of  the  franchise  to  the  women 
of  this  country,  State  by  State,  on  the  same  terms  as  to  the  men." 
It  transpired  afterwards  that  President  Wilson  had  written  it. 

As  soon  as  the  convention  adjourned  Mrs.  Catt,  president  of 
the  National  Suffrage  Association,  who  with  the  board  of  officers 
was  present,  sent  the  following  telegram  to  President  Wilson : 
"Inasmuch  as  Governor  Ferguson  of  Texas  and  Senator  Walsh 
of  Montana  made  diametrically  opposite  statements  in  the  Demo- 
cratic convention  today  with  regard  to  your  attitude  toward  the 
suffrage  plank  adopted,  we  apply  to  you  directly  to  state  your 
position  on  the  plank  and  give  your  precise  interpretation  of  its 
meaning."  To  this  message  the  President  replied  on  June  22  :  "I 
am  very  glad  to  make  my  position  about  the  suffrage  plank  clear 
to  you,  though  I  had  not  thought  that  it  was  necessary  to  state 
again  a  position  that  I  have  repeatedly  stated  with  entire  frank- 
ness. The  plank  received  my  entire  approval  before  its  adoption 
and  I  shall  support  its  principle  with  sincere  pleasure.  I  wish 
to  join  with  my  fellow  Democrats  in  recommending  to  the  several 
States  that  they  extend  the  suffrage  to  -women  upon  the  same  terms 
as  to  men."  Later  the  President  made  it  plain  that  the  Demo- 
cratic plank  was  to  be  considered  a  distinct  approval  of  the  suf- 
frage movement  and  that  it  did  not  necessarily  disapprove  of  a 
Federal  Amendment. 

The  general  sentiment  of  the  press  was  to  the  effect  that  as  a 
result  of  the  endorsement  of  the  national  conventions  woman 
suffrage  went  before  the  country  with  its  prestige  immeasurably 
strengthened  and  recognized  as  a  great  force  to  be  reckoned  with. 
The  suffragists  ended  their  political  convention  campaign  with 
planks  in  the  platforms  of  all  the  five  parties,  Republican,  Demo- 
cratic, Progressive,  Prohibitionist  and  Socialist.  The  Progres- 
sive party  made  its  declaration  stronger  than  at  its  national  con- 
vention in  1912,  its  plank  reading:  "We  believe  that  the  women 
of  the  country,  -who  share  with  the  men  the  burden  of  government 
in  times  of  peace  and  make  equal  sacrifice  in  times  of  war,  should 
be  given  the  full  political  right  of  suffrage  both  by  State  and 
Federal  action."  It  was  adopted  unanimously  and  with  great 
applause  at  the  party's  national  convention  in  Chicago  June  7-10. 
The  planks  were  taken  by  the  suffragists  as  pledges  that  the 


WOMAN    SUFFRAGE   IN    PRESIDENTIAL   CONVENTIONS       JI $ 

parties  would  help  in  a  practical  way  to  assist  the  movement  in  the 
various  States  and  nationally  and  this  view  was  made  plain  to  the 
leaders  and  to  the  rank  and  file  of  the  voters. 

Results  were  soon  apparent  and  between  1916  and  1920  the 
cause  of   woman  suffrage  took  immense  strides   forward.      In 

1917  New  York  State  gave  the  complete  suffrage  to  women.     In 

1918  Michigan,  South  Dakota  and  Oklahoma  fully  enfranchised 
them,  increasing  the  number  of  equal  suffrage  States  to  fifteen. 
In  thirteen  other  States  women  obtained  the  Presidential  franchise 
and  in    two   the    vote    in    Primary    elections.      The    resolution 
for  a  Federal  Amendment  passed  both  Houses  of  Congress  in 
May  and  June,  1919,  and  was  submitted  to  the  State  Legislatures 
for  ratification.     By  March  22,  1920,  it  had  been  ratified  by  35, 
lacking  only  one  of  the  three-fourths  required  to  make  it  a  part 
of  the  National  Constitution.    The  women,  therefore,  approached 
the  political  parties  this  year  in  quite  a  different  frame  of  mind 
from  that  of  the  past,  feeling  the  strength  of  their  position  and 
realizing  that  where  they  had  formerly  pleaded  they  could  now  de- 
mand.   The  burning  question  of  the  hour  was  whether  the  36th 
State  would  ratify  in  time  to  enable  the  millions  of  women  to  vote 
in  the  Presidential  elections  in  November.     The  National  Com- 
mittees of  the  two  dominant  parties  had  become  ardently  in  favor 
of  it.     Through  the  influence  of  Republican  women  suffragists, 
the  committee  of  that  party  sent  on  June  i  to  the  Republican  Gov- 
ernors and  legislators  of  Delaware,  Connecticut  and  Vermont  the 
following  appeal  to  ratify  the  Federal  Amendment  so  that  the  Re- 
publican party  might  have  the  credit  of  assisting  women  to  win 
their  final  battle  and  thus  gain  their  gratitude  and  allegiance : 

\Vlu  rca^.  The  Republican  National  Committee  at  its  regular  in 

dorsed  woman  suffrage  and  the  igth  Amend- 
to  tlir  (  (institution  of  the  United  States,  and  has  called  upon 
to  submit  and  the  States  to  ratify  such  amendment  ; 
and,    whereas,    it   still    lacks    ratification   by   a    sufficient    number   of 
i-cnme  a  law,  therefore  1 

-I.   by  the  Republican   National   (Committee   that   the    inth 
:idment  be  and  the  same  is  hereby  again  endorsed  by  this  • 

1  Midi  Republic  re  not  already  done  so  are 

now  nrired   to  take  such  action  by  their  ( ;<>vernnr<;  and  T.einsla' 

ratification  and  establish  the   ri^ht   of  equal   suf- 
frage at  the  earliest  possible  time. 


7l6  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

When  the  Republican  National  Convention  met  in  Chicago 
June  8-12  the  Resolutions  Committee  received  the  following 
memorial : 

The  National  American  Woman  Suffrage  Association  asks  per- 
mission to  place  on  record  with  the  National  Republican  Conven- 
tion its  appreciation  of  the  resolution  of  the  National  Republican 
Executive  Committee  on  June  i.  ...  It  seems  the  spirit  of  fairness 
underlying  the  committee's  action  must  commend  it  to  every  lover 
of  liberty  regardless  of  party  and  its  political  far-sightedness  must 
be  evident  to  every  Republican  desirous  of  party  victory. 

Conceding  to  the  committee's  action  its  full  and  friendly  signifi- 
cance, this  association  further  asks  permission  to  re-emphasize  before 
this  convention  the  fact  that  on  the  very  eve  of  complete  victory  a 
deadlock  supervenes  in  the  ratification  of  this  amendment  and  for 
that  deadlock  the  Republican  party  must  carry  its  full  share  of  re- 
sponsibility, since  three  States  with  Republican  Legislatures  remain 
on  the  unratified  list.  Republican  leaders  frequently  point  out  that 
their  party  has  insured  a  far  larger  proportion  of  ratifications  than 
has  the  Democratic,  and  apparently  count  on  this  situation  to  accrue 
to  its  advantage.  This  position  would  l>e  logical  if  the  relative 
proportion  between  Republicans  and  Democrats  were  the  essential 
thing  but  it  is  by  no  means  the  essential  thing.  The  36th  State  is 
the  essential  thing. 

Women  who  are  waiting  on  that  State  for  their  right  to  vote  in 
the  Presidential  elections  of  1920  cannot  rest  satisfied  with  the  assur- 
ance or  the  evidence  that  Republican  leaders  are  doing  all  in  their 
power  to  bring  about  ratification.  Women  who  are  going  to  vote 
the  Republican  ticket  anyhow  may  be  satisfied  but  they  are  not  the 
women  whose  vote  is  important  to  the  party.  The  important  vote 
is  the  vote  of  the  undecided  woman  who  would  just  as  soon  be  a 
Republican  as  a  Democrat.  That  woman  has  not  been  convinced 
by  the  final  Republican  showing  on  ratification  and  she  will  not  be 
convinced  until  the  36th  State  has  ratified.  This  ratification  is  the 
only  solution  of  the  situation  that  can  make  actual  what  is  so  far  a 
merely  potential  claim  of  the  Republican  party  on  the  woman  voter. 

The  National  American  Woman  Suffrage  Association  urges  upon 
this  convention  the  necessity  for  such  action  as  will  make  inevitable 
and  immediate  the  ratification  of  the  Federal  Suffrage  Amendment 
by  the  36th  State. 

This  was  signed  by  Mary  Garrett  Hay,  acting  president,  in  the 
absence  of  Mrs.  Catt  in  Europe;  Gertrude  Foster  Brown,  vice- 
president  ;  Nettie  Rogers  Shuler,  corresponding  secretary ;  Emma 
Winner  Rogers,  treasurer;  Esther  G.  Ogden,  director,  and  Rose 
Young,  press  chairman. 

Miss  Hay  called  a  conference  of  the  suffragists  attending  the 


WOMAN    SUFFRAGE   IN    PRESIDENTIAL   CONVENTIONS       717 

convention  in  Chicago  and  a  plank  was  drawn  up.  Miss  Hay, 
Mrs.  Richard  Edwards,  Mrs.  Maud  Wood  Park,  Mrs.  George 
Gellhorn,  Miss  Ada  Bush  and  Mrs.  Pattie  Ruffner  Jacobs  con- 
stituted a  committee  to  present  this  plank  to  the  Resolutions 
Committee  of  -which  Senator  James  E.  Watson  (Ind.)  was 
chairman.  Miss  Hay  made  the  principal  speech  and  Mrs.  Gell- 
born  and  Miss  Bush  spoke  briefly.  A  sub-committee  of  the 
Resolutions  Committee  accepted  the  plank  which  was  given  out 
to  the  press  on  June  10.  It  read : 

We  welcome  women  into  full  participation  in  the  affairs  of 
government  and  the  activities  of  the  Republican  party.  We  urge 
Republican  Governors  whose  States  have  not  yet  acted  upon  the 
suffrage  amendment  to  call  immediately  special  sessions  of  their  Leg- 
islatures for  the  purpose  of  ratifying  said  amendment,  to  the  end  that 
all  the  women  of  the  nation  of  voting  age  may  participate  in  the 
coming  election,  so  important  to  the  welfare  of  our  country. 

As  soon  as  this  appeared  in  the  Chicago  papers,  members  of 
the  Connecticut  delegation  rushed  to  leaders  of  the  Platform 
Committee  and  protested  that  it  was  a  gross  insult  to  their  Gov- 
ernor, Marcus  H.  Holcomb,  and  they  wanted  the  wording 
changed.  Accordingly  the  offending  sentence  was  revised  and  in 
the  plank  adopted  by  the  convention  read :  "We  earnestly  hope 
that  Republican  Legislatures  in  States  which  have  not  yet  acted 
upon  the  suffrage  amendment  will  ratify  it,  to  the  end  that  all  the 
women  of  the  nation  of  voting  age  may  participate  in  the  election 
of  1920  so  important  to  the  welfare  of  our  country." 

Republican  women  in  attendance  at  the  convention  united  in 
a  demand  for  a  fifty-fifty  recognition  inside  of  the  party.  They 
,'t^ked  for  a  woman  vice-chairman  of  the  National  Republican 
(  "inmithv  and  for  men  and  women  to  be  represented  on  it  in 
equal  numbers.  The  Committee  on  Uules,  responding  to  this 
demand,  changed  the  rules  for  representation  and  provided  that 
i  members  be  added  to  the  National  Executive  Committee. 
all  to  be  women.  With  this  co  n  the  women  had  to  be 

content. 

The  Democratic  National  Convention  met  in  San  I'rancisco 
June  28-July  5.  Prior  to  the  convention  the  National  ("<.mmittee 
Vd  to  the  pre-Mire  from  tin-  Miffra^e  lea.lers  and  1  )< 


HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

cratic  women  and  on  May  30  sent  out  the  following  Call :  "This 
committee  calls  upon  the  Legislatures  of  the  various  States  for 
special  sessions,  if  necessary,  to  ratify  woman  suffrage  when  the 
Constitutional  Amendment  is  passed  by  Congress,  in  order  to 
enable  women  to  vote  at  the  Presidential  election  in  1920."  On 
June  26,  after  the  amendment  had  been  submitted  by  Congress, 
the  committee  again  gave  its  aid  by  sending  the  following  message 
to  Governor  Roberts  of  Tennessee : 

We  most  earnestly  emphasize  the  extreme  importance  and  ur- 
gency of  an  immediate  meeting  of  your  State  Legislature  for  the 
purpose  of  ratifying  the  proposed  iQth  Amendment  to  the  Federal 
Constitution.  We  trust  that  for  the  present  all  other  legislative 
matters  may,  if  necessary,  be  held  in  abeyance  and  that  you  will 
call  an  extra  session  for  such  brief  duration  as  may  be  required 
to  act  favorably  on  the  amendment.  Tennessee  occupies  a  position 
of  peculiar  and  pivotal  importance  and  one  that  enables  her  to 
render  a  service  of  incalculable  value  to  the  women  of  America. 
We  confidently  expect,  therefore,  that  under  your  leadership  and 
through  the  action  of  the  Legislature  of  your  State,  the  women  of 
the  nation  may  be  given  the  privilege  of  voting  in  the  coming 
Presidential  election. 

The  National  American  Woman  Suffrage  Association  ap- 
pointed Mrs.  Guilford  Dudley,  one  of  its  vice-presidents,  who 
was  a  delegate-at-large  from  Tennessee  to  the  convention  and  a 
member  of  the  Credentials  Committee,  to  present  the  following 
plank  to  the  Resolutions  Committee:  'The  Federal  Suffrage 
Amendment,  whose  passage  in  Congress  was  greatly  furthered 
by  the  efforts  of  a  Democratic  President,  is  one  State  short  of  the 
number  required  to  make  its  ratification  effective.  In  two  Repub- 
lican States,  Vermont  and  Connecticut,  where  ratification  could 
be  at  once  achieved,  Republican  Governors  are  refusing  to  call 
special  sessions.  In  simple  justice  to  women,  we,  Democrats 
in  national  convention  assembled,  urge  the  cooperation  of  Demo- 
cratic Governors  and  legislators  in  North  Carolina,  Tennessee, 
Florida  and  other  Democratic  States  that  have  not  ratified,  in  a 
united  effort  to  complete  ratification  by  the  addition  of  the  36th 
State  in  time  for  the  women  of  America  to  participate  in  the 
approaching  elections." 

The  National  Woman's  Party  through  Mrs.  Abby  Scott  Baker, 
its  publicity  chairman,  presented  a  plank  through  U.  S.  Senator 


WOMAN    SUFFRAGE    IN    PRESIDENTIAL    CONVENTIONS        719 

Carter  Glass  of  the  Resolutions  Committee,  -which  read:  "The 
Democratic  Party  endorses  the  proposed  amendment  to  the  U.  S. 
Constitution  enfranchising  women  and  calls  upon  all  Democratic 
Governors  of  States  which  have  not  yet  ratified  the  amendment 
immediately  to  convene  their  Legislatures  so  that  they  may  act 
upon  it  and  urges  all  Democratic  members  of  such  Legislatures 
immediately  to  vote  for  the  amendment.  .  .  .." 

The  plank  finally  adopted  by  the  convention  read:  "We  en- 
dorse the  proposed  iQth  Amendment  of  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States  granting  equal  suffrage  to  women.  We  congratu- 
late the  Legislatures  of  35  States  which  have  already  ratified  said 
amendment  and  we  urge  the  Democratic  Governors  and  Legisla- 
tures of  Tennessee,  North  Carolina  and  Florida  and  such  States 
as  have  not  yet  ratified  it  to  unite  in  an  effort  to  complete  the 
process  of  ratification  and  secure  the  36th  State  in  time  for  all 
the  women  of  the  United  States  to  participate  in  the  fall  election. 
We  commend  the  effective  advocacy  of  the  measure  by  President 
Wilson." 

The  Democratic  women  achieved  a  victory  also  in  the  important 
decision  -which  was  reached  in  regard  to  the  representation  of 
women  in  future  national  conventions,  this  convention  deciding 
that  full  sex  equality  should  be  observed  in  its  delegations  and  that 
the  National  Committee  hereafter  should  include  one  man  and 
one  woman  from  each  State. 

Thus  the  struggle  begun  in  1868  for  the  approval  of  woman 
suffrage  by  the  National  Presidential  Conventions  of  the  political 
parties  ended  with  its  complete  endorsement  by  all  of  them  in 
1920. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

WAR   SERVICE   OF   ORGANIZED   SUFFRAGISTS.1 

The  response  of  the  women  of  the  United  States  to  the  call 
of  their  country  as  it  entered  the  World  War  was  as  vigorous  and 
eager  as  had  been  that  of  women  of  other  more  deeply  involved 
nations.  Although  American  women  had  little  opportunity  for 
giving  first  line  aid  in  comparison  with  the  women  of  the  Allied 
countries  they  gave  a  second  or  supporting  line  service  in  organ- 
ization and  conservation  to  which  they  applied  their  full  energy. 
These  efforts  brought  them  close  in  spirit  to  the  firing  line  long 
before  the  Stars  and  Stripes  were  carried  to  Chateau  Thierry 
and  beyond. 

It  is  the  province  of  this  chapter  to  review  especially  the  work 
of  the  organized  suffragists  in  their  loyalty  to  their  government— 
a  government  which  from  the  first  had  refused  to  women  all 
voice  and  part  in  its  proceedings.  This  work  may  best  be  ex- 
amined under  two  headings:  i.  War  Service  of  the  National 
American  Woman  Suffrage  Association;  2.  War  Service  of  suf- 
fragists as  a  whole  under  the  direction  of  the  Woman's  Committee 
of  the  Council  of  National  Defense. 

On  Feb.  5,  1917,  the  president  of  the  association,  Mrs.  Carrie 
Chapman  Catt,  issued  the  following  Call  to  its  Executive  Council 
of  One  Hundred  to  meet  in  Washington  on  February  23-24  to 
confer  upon  the  approaching  crisis  in  national  affairs : 

"To  Members  of  the  Executive  Council: 

"Our  nation  may  be  on  the  brink  of  war.  To  those  who  live  in 
the  interior  war  may  seem  a  long  way  off  but  in  the  East,  where 
public  buildings,  water  works,  forts,  etc.,  are  now  under  military 
guard  and  where  some  of  the  regiments  of  the  National  Guard 
have  been  called  to  duty,  it  comes  as  a  sad  realization  that  our 

'The  History  is  indebted  for  this  chapter  to  Mrs.  Katharine  Dexter  McCormick, 
first  vice-president  of  the  National  American  Woman  Suffrage  Association  and  general 
chairman  of  its  War  Service  Department. 

720 


WAR    SERVICE    OF    ORGANIZED    SUFFRAGISTS  721 

country  is  facing  a  far  more  serious  crisis  than  most  of  us  have 
ever  known.  A  few  days  may  determine  whether  our  people 
are  to  be  drawn  into  war  at  once  or  whether  the  break  can  be 
patched  up  and  the  more  tragic  circumstances  postponed  or  even 
averted. 

"If  the  worst  comes,  very  serious  problems  confront  us.  Our 
suffrage  work  would  unquestionably  come  to  a  temporary  stand- 
still. How  shall  we  dispose  of  our  headquarters,  our  workers, 
our  plans?  How  shall  we  hold  our  organization  and  resources 
meanwhile,  so  that  our  movement  will  not  lose  its  prestige  and 
place  among  the  political  issues  of  our  country?  These  are 
questions  we  must  not  leave  to  answer  themselves.  If  we  are 
'not  the  hammer,  our  cause  will  be  the  anvil.'  Women  not  con- 
nected with  any  particular  movement  are  calling  meetings  in 
order  to  pass  pointless  resolutions  of  the  promised  service  of 
women  if  required.  The  big  question  presents  itself,  shall  suf- 
fragists do  the  'war  work'  which  they  will  undoubtedly  want 
to  do  with  other  groups  newly  formed,  thus  running  the  risk 
of  disintegrating  our  organizations,  or  shall  we  use  our  head- 
quarters and  our  machinery  for  really  helpful  constructive  aid 
to  our  nation  ?  The  answer  must  be  given  now. 

"Because  this  unexpected  turn  of  public  affairs  creates  an  un- 
precedented condition,  the  majority  of  the  National  Board  avails 
itself  of  the  provision  of  the  constitution  which  permits  the  call 
of  the  Executive  Council  on  a  two  weeks'  notice.  I  therefore  issue 
this  call  to  all  Elected  Officers,  all  Presidents,  all  Auxiliaries,  all 
State  Members,  (auxiliaries  which  pay  dues  on  a  membership  of 
1500  or  more  are  entitled  to  a  State  member  in  addition  to  the 
president),  and  all  Chairmen  of  Standing  and  Special  Committees 
to  meet  in  Washington  at  the  National  Suffrage  Headquarters, 
1626  Rhode  Island  Avenue,  February  23-25  inclusive,  as  per 
inclosed  program.  Each  State  is  urged  to  send  its  State  C»>n 
>sional  Chairmen  also  to  this  meeting.  .  .  ." 

It  was,  therefore,  for  the  Executive  Council  to  decide  what 
the  association  could  best  do  to  help  the  Government  in  case  of 
war.  The  summons  came  as  no  surprise  to  the  members  of  the 
National  Association,  since  for  many  months  their  eyes  had  been 


722  HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

fixed  on  the  war-clouds  gathering ,  upon  the  horizon.  It  was 
evident  that  the  United  States  was  about  to  enter  the  World  War. 
When  this  council  met  at  the  headquarters  in  Washington  the 
national  officers  submitted  to  it  the  draft  of  a  Note  that  specified 
various  concrete  ways  in  which,  according  to  their  ideas,  the 
members  of  the  association  might  give  aid  to  their  country  in 
an  emergency.  This  draft  -was  discussed  section  by  section  and 
the  motion  then  came  to  adopt  the  Note  as  a  whole.  This  called 
out  the  most  important  debate  of  the  two-days'  meeting,  remark- 
able for  the  kindly  spirit  and  good  temper  with  which  were  set 
forth  opposing  views  on  a  vital  matter  concerning  which  public 
feeling  ran  high.  The  president  gave  an  opportunity  to  all  "con- 
scientious objectors"  to  come  forward  and  record  their  names 
as  dissenting.  Almost  all  -who  did  so  stated  that  they  believed 
women  should  give  their  assistance  in  case  of  war  but  they  feared 
that  an  offer  of  help  to  the  Government  made  in  advance  might 
tt-nd  to  fan  the  war  spirit  and  create  a  psychological  impetus 
towards  war.  Even  this  minority  felt  that  the  proposed  services 
were  judiciously  chosen,  as  they  were  such  as  would  benefit  the 
country  -were  it  at  war  or  at  peace.  The  majority  decision  was 
that  the  National  Association  should  now  abandon  its  unbroken 
custom  of  not  participating  in  any  matters  except  those  relating 
directly  to  woman  suffrage  and  that  in  view  of  the  national 
emergency  it  should  offer  its  assistance  to  the  Government  of  the 
United  States  and  proceed  to  organize  for  war  service.  The 
registered  vote  on  such  action  was  63  to  13.  As  the  attendance 
at  the  conference  represented  36  States  out  of  the  45  in  which 
the  association  had  auxiliaries,  it  might  be  considered  as  express- 
ing an  almost  nation-wide  conviction  among  the  members  of  the 
association.  On  February  24  the  conference  issued  the  follow- 
ing Note: 

"To  the  President  and  Government  of  the  United  States : 
"We  devoutly  hope  and  pray  that  our  country's  crisis  may  be 
passed  -without  recourse  to  war.  We  declare  our  belief  that  the 
settlement  of  international  difficulties  by  bloodshed  is  unworthy 
of  the  2Oth  Century,  and  also  our  confidence  that  our  Govern- 
ment is  using  every  honorable  means  to  avoid  conflict.  If, 


WAR   SERVICE    OF   ORGANIZED   SUFFRAGISTS  723 

however,  our  nation  is  drawn  into  the  maelstrom,  we  stand  ready 
to  serve  our  country  with  the  zeal  and  consecration  which  should 
ever  characterize  those  who  cherish  high  ideals  of  the  duty  and 
obligation  of  citizenship.  With  no  intention  of  laying  aside 
our  constructive  forward  work  to  secure  the  vote  for  the  woman- 
hood of  this  country  as  'the  right  protective  of  all  other  rights,' 
we  offer  our  services  in  the  event  that  they  should  be  needed,  and, 
in  so  far  as  we  are  authorized,  we  pledge  the  loyal  support  of 
our  more  than  two  million  members.  We  make  this  offer  now 
in  order  to  avoid  waste  of  time  and  effort  in  an  emergency ;  also, 
that  the  executive  ability,  industry  and  devotion  of  our  women, 
trained  through  years  of  arduous  endeavor,  may  be  utilized,  with 
all  other  national  resources,  for  the  protection  of  our  country  in 
its  time  of  stress.  We  propose  that  a  National  Committee  be 
formed  at  once,  composed  of  a  representative  from  each  national 
organization  of  -women  willing  to  aid  in  war  work,  if  the  need 
arises.  The  object  shall  be  to  establish  a  clearing  house  between 
the  Government  and  those  organizations  in  order  that  service  may 
be  rendered  in  the  most  expeditious  manner.  With  this  end  in 
view  we  recommend  that  each  component  organization  list  its 
resources  and  report  to  this  central  committee  concerning  the 
definite  work  it  is  prepared  to  do.  To  further  the  practical  ap- 
plication of  this  suggestion  our  association  declares  its  willing- 
ness to  undertake  the  following  departments  of  work : 

"i.  The  Establishing  of  Employment  Bureaus  for  Women.— 
Through  its  local,  State  and  national  headquarters  to  register  the 
names  and  qualifications  of  women  available  for  occupations 
which  men  will  leave  to  enter  the  army;  to  supply  these  women 
to  employers  and  to  protect  the  work  of  such  women. 

"II.  The  increase  of  the  Food  Supply  by  the  Training  of 
Women  for  Agricultural  Work  and  by  the  Elimination  of  Waste. 
The  aid  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture  will  be  sought  in  plan- 
ning 13  -!•  niatic  courses  for  women  to  accomplish  these  purposes. 
The  cultivation  by  women  of  garden  plots  and  vacant  lots  in 
uill  be  encouraged  at  the  same  time  that  the  larger  import- 
ance of  regular  farming  is  urged. 

"III.  The  Red  Cross. — As  the  Red  Cross,  in  which  many  of 
our  members  are  zealous  workers,  is  already  equipped  to  render 


724  HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

hospital,  medical  and  general  supply  service,  -we  offer  our  organ- 
ized service  in  other  fields  and  we  promise  continued  cooperation 
with  the  Red  Cross  as  needed. 

"IV.  Americanization. — A  problem  unknown  to  other  lands 
will  become  accentuated  in  the  event  of  war.  Within  our  borders 
are  eight  millions  of  aliens,  who  by  birth,  tradition  and  training 
will  find  it  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  to  understand  the  causes 
which  have  led  to  this  war.  War  invariably  breeds  intolerance 
and  hatred  and  will  tend  to  arouse  antagonisms  inimical  to  the 
best  interests  of  the  nation.  With  the  desire  to  minimize  this 
danger,  our  association,  extending  as  it  does  into  every  precinct 
of  our  great  cities  and  into  the  various  counties  of  the  States, 
offers  to  conduct  classes  in  school  centers  wherein  national  alle- 
giance shall  be  taught,  emphasizing  tolerance,  to  the  end  that  the 
Stars  and  Stripes  shall  wave  over  a  loyal  and  undivided  people. 

"V.  Conference  Committee. — In  order  to  carry  out  our  ex- 
pressed desire  and  purpose,  a  committee  of  three  is  hereby  ordered 
appointed  to  confer  with  the  proper  authorities  of  the  Govern- 
ment. If  need  arises,  this  committee  shall  be  the  intermediary 
between  the  Government  and  our  association." 

Signed,  Executive  Council,  National  American  Woman  Suffrage 

Association. 

by  Anna  Howard  Shaw,  honorary  president;  Carrie  Chapman 
Catt,  president;  Helen  Guthrie  Miller,  first  vice-president;  Kath- 
arine Dexter  McCormick,  second  vice-president;  Esther  G.  Ogclen, 
third  vice-president;  Emma  Winner  Rogers,  treasurer;  Mrs. 
Thomas  Jefferson  Smith,  recording  secretary;  Nettie  Rogers 
Shuler,  corresponding  secretary;  Pattie  Ruffner  Jacobs,  first 
auditor;  Heloise  Meyer,  second  auditor. 

The  conference  ended  on  Saturday  and  on  Sunday  afternoon 
a  public  mass  meeting  was  held.  Poli's  Theater  was  filled  by  a 
representative  audience  and  on  the  platform  were  four  members 
of  the  Cabinet :  Secretaries  Baker,  McAdoo,  Daniels  and  Hous- 
ton, with  their  wives;  also  United  States  Senators,  Representa- 
tives and  many  other  prominent  people,  including  Miss  Margaret 
Wilson,  the  daughter  of  the  President.  The  meeting  was  opened 
with  an  address  by  Mrs.  Catt  on  The  Impending  Crisis,  express- 


WAR    SERVICE    OF    ORiiA X  I ZKP    SUFFB  7J5 

ing  the  hope  that  after  the  war  there  -would  arise  a  truer 
democracy  than  ever  known  before  and  that  the  world  would 
never  see  another  war.  The  Note  to  President  Wilson  was  read 
by  Mrs.  Ida  Husted  Harper  and  handed  to  Secretary  of  War 
Baker.  In  accepting  it  he  paid  a  tribute  to  the  aspirations  of 
women  and  expressed  the  belief  that  at  the  close  of  the  war  the 
United  States  -would  take  its  place  in  a  concert  of  neutral  nations 
and  having  practiced  justice  at  home  it  would  have  earned  the 
right  to  help  establish  international  justice.  Mrs.  Harriet  Taylor 
Upton  delighted  the  rather  tense  audience  with  her  inimitable 
humor  and  Dr.  Shaw  closed  the  meeting  with  one  of  her  strong- 
est speeches.  The  addresses  of  Mrs.  Catt  and  Dr.  Shaw  em- 
phasized not  only  the  desire  of  women  to  do  effective  patriotic 
service  in  time  of  stress  hut  also  their  wish  that  a  more  civilized 
way  than  by  the  waste  and  destructiveness  of  war  might  be  found 
to  settle  international  disputes. 

President  Wilson  immediately  answered  as  follows: 

"The  Secretary  of  War  has  transmitted  to  me  the  Resolutions 
presented  to  him  at  the  meeting  held  on  Sunday  afternoon,  Febru- 
ary 25,  under  the  auspices  of  the  National  American  Woman 
Suffrage  Association.  I  want  to  express  my  great  and  sincere 
admiration  of  the  action  taken. 

Cordially  and  sincerely  yours,  Woodrow  Wilson." 

On  April  6,  1917,  the  United  States  declared  that  a  state  of 
war  with  Germany  existed.  News  of  the  severance  of  diplomatic 
relations  elicited  a  deep  and  reverberating  response  from  the 
millions  of  suffragists  over  the  country.  At  the  New  York  and 
Washington  headquarters  of  the  National  Association  telephone 
calls  and  telegrams  were  received  all  day,  as  State  by  State  the 
suffrage  organizations  proffered  concerted  action  with  the  na- 
tional on  any  program  of  constructive  service  which  it  might 
decide  to  offer  to  the  Government.  The  National  Suffrage  Asso- 
ciation at  once  commenced  its  war  work  on  the  lines  adopted  at 
the  Washington  con  Comprised  department^  under 

four  sections:  Thrift;  Food  Production;  Industrial  Protection 
of  Women  and  AmrnYani/ation.  I',:  of  these  (<>n; 

had  already  been    formed   by   all    it-    State   auxiliaries   and 


726  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

McCormick,  its  second  vice-president,  had  been  appointed  general 
chairman  of  the  War  Service  Department.  In  many  States  the 
president  of  the  suffrage  association  became  chairman  of  the 
War  Service  Committee.  Thus  the  suffragists  of  the  United 
States  started  their  war  activities  with  as  much  vigor  as  they 
had  been  accustomed  to  put  into  efforts  for  their  own  cause. 

There  had  been  created  in  August,  1916,  by  an  Act  of  Con- 
gress, the  Council  of  National  Defense,  composed  of  the  Secre- 
taries of  War,  Navy,  Interior,  Agriculture,  Commerce  and  Labor. 
This  council  was  formed  in  order  that  an  emergency  might  not 
find  the  country  without  a  central  agency  to  direct  the  mobiliza- 
tion of  troops  back  of  the  regular  army.  It  was  not  an  executive 
body;  its  function  was  to  consider  and  advise.  By  a  wise  pro- 
vision of  the  Congressional  Act  the  formation  of  subordinate 
agencies  was  authorized  and  upon  the  declaration  of  war  ad- 
vantage of  this  -was  quickly  taken.  Large  fields  of  action  were 
mapped  out  and  assigned  to  committees  on  which  were  appointed 
the  foremost  men  and  women  of  the  country.  It  was  at  once 
evident  that  the  women  of  the  United  States  had  a.  definite  and 
powerful  role  to  play  in  the  great  war  and  the  council  decided 
that  "for  the  purpose  of  coordinating  the  -women's  preparedness 
movement  a  central  body  of  woman  should  be  formed  under  the 
Council  of  National  Defense."  On  April  19,  1917,  the  director, 
Secretary  of  War  Baker,  telegraphed  to  Dr.  Anna  Howard  Shaw 
that  Secretary  of  the  Interior  Lane  and  he  would  like  to  consult 
her  in  regard  to  important  matters  concerning  the  relations  of 
women  to  the  council.  She  was  on  a  lecture  tour  in  the  South 
but  arranged  to  meet  with  them  in  Washington  on  April  27.  On 
April  21,  before  the  time  for  this  meeting,  the  Council  of  Na- 
tional Defense  voted  that  a  Woman's  Committee  be  formed  with 
the  following  personnel :  Dr.  Anna  Howard  Shaw,  Mrs.  Carrie 
Chapman  Catt,  Mrs.  Katharine  Dexter  McCormick,  Mrs.  Josiah 
Evans  Cowles,  Mrs.  Philip  North  Moore,  Mrs.  Antoinette  Funk, 
Miss  Ida  Tarbell,  Miss  Maude  Wetmore,  Mrs.  Joseph  R.  Lamar. 
Later  Miss  Agnes  Nestor  and  Miss  Hannah  J.  Patterson  were 
added.  Of  the  eleven  members  of  the  committee  all  were  prom- 
inent suffragists  except  Miss  Tarbell,  Mrs.  Lamar  and  Miss  Wet- 


WAR    SERVICE    OF    ORGANIZED    SUFFRAGISTS  727 

more,  who  -were  well-known  "antis."  It  was  learned  that  the 
names  had  been  carefully  considered  by  the  council.  Dr.  Shaw 
was  designated  as  chairman  of  the  Woman's  Committee  of  the 
Council  of  National  Defense  and  asked  to  hold  a  meeting  in 
Washington  at  the  earliest  possible  date.  Its  headquarters  were 
opened  in  this  city  and  the  members  accepted  their  appointments 
as  a  call  by  the  Government  to  the  service  of  the  country. 

In  December,  1917,  the  49th  annual  convention  of  the  National 
American  Woman  Suffrage  Association  was  held  at  Washington. 
The  chairman  of  its  War  Service  Department,  Mrs.  McCormick, 
described  the  combination  of  efforts  desirable  between  its  branches 
and  those  of  the  Woman's  Committee  of  the  Council  of  National 
Defense,  saying  that  such  a  combination  was  essential  to  efficient 
war-service  by  the  women  of  the  country.  Comprehensive  reports 
were  made  of  the  activities  of  the  four  sections  by  their  chairmen 
which  may  be  read  in  full  in  the  Handbook  of  the  association  for 
1917  and  space  can  be  used  here  only  for  the  briefest  summaries, 
(i)  Thrift  and  Elimination  of  Waste.  The  chairman,  Mrs. 
Walter  McNab  Miller,  first  vice-president  of  the  association,  said 
in  part :  "After  consultation  with  Assistant  Secretary  of  Agri- 
culture Vrooman  and  the  heads  of  Economics  and  Extension  De- 
partments and  the  Children's  Bureau,  a  letter  was  sent  to  each 
State  suffrage  president  outlining  the  plan  of  work  and  asking 
that  a  chairman  be  appointed  to  inaugurate  and  carry  out  the 
Thrift  program.  Food  conservation  was  the  subject  stressed, 
for  the  experience  of  the  European  countries  made  it  of  prime 
importance.  It  is  a  matter  of  interest  that  the  original  food  out- 
line sent  out  in  April  contained  all  the  suggestions  afterwards 

ted  upon  by  Mr.  Hoover,  and  the  outline  on  Clothing  con- 
tained the  same  advice  as  was  later  given  out  by  the  Woman's 
Committee  of  the  Council  of  National  Defense.  The  response 
from  the  southern  States  was  e^urially  gratifying.  I  have 

••11  ion  times  for  Thrift,  travelled  6,000  miles,  sent  out  144 
form  letters  and  written  i<x>  individual  letters.  Reports  from 
States  where  Thrift  Comm  ive  been  at  work  show  eon 

•1y  increasing  interest  and  the  gradual  adoption  of  a  definite 


728  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

(2)  Food  Production.      The   chairman,   Mrs.    Henry   Wade 
Rogers,  treasurer  of  the  association,  after  speaking  of  the  co- 
operation received  from  the  Department  of  Agriculture,  said  in 
part:     "We  appealed  to  all  State  suffrage  presidents  to  appoint 
chairmen  and  encourage  their  local  leagues  to  cooperate  in  every 
way  possible  in  increasing  the  food  supply  and  a  splendid  response 
came.    We  urged  the  importance  of  enlisting  women  to  undertake 
practical  gardening  or  farming  and  to  provide  training  for  women 
to  this  end.     We  urged  the  opening  in  every  State  of  two  or 
three  Farm  Employment  Bureaus   for  women  through  which 
graduates    of  Agricultural  Colleges  and  others  with  less  training 
could  be  placed  on  farms,  and  fanners  who  were  progressive 
enough  to  want  •women's  help  could  be  reasonably  sure  of  secur- 
ing it.     We  arranged  with  the  largest  overalls  company  in  the 
United  States  to  design  and  put  out  a  suitable  farm  uniform  for 
women,  which  was  extensively  sold  and  used.  .  .  .  The  reports 
at  the  end  of  the  season  testified  to  the  millions  of  gardens  worked 
by  suffragists,  to  the  thousands  who  helped  on  farms  or  went 
to  farm  training  schools,  to  canning  kitchens  and  home  canning 
on  a  scale  hitherto  unthought-of." 

(3)  Industrial  Protection  of  Women.     The  chairman,  Miss 
Kthel  M.  Smith,  said  in  part: 

"This  committee  was  created  by  the  National  Suffrage  Board 
to  secure  women  workers  to  fill  the  places  of  men  called  for  mili- 
tary service  and  it  promised  to  'protect  the  work  of  such  women.' 
A  letter  was  sent  to  five  hundred  Chambers  of  Commerce  over 
Mrs.  Catt's  signature,  asking  for  their  cooperation  in  behalf 
of  women  workers  against  the  danger  of  excessive  overtime  and 
underpay.  The  slogan  of  'Equal  Pay  for  Equal  Work'  was  util- 
ized and  vigilance  committees  were  planned  for  each  State  to 
note  the  conditions  in  industrial  localities  and  report  back  to 
Washington.  The  questions  of  equal  pay  for  equal  work  and 
equal  opportunity  for  women  were  then  taken  up  with  the  Govern- 
ment departments,  which  have  been  quite  as  unfair  to  women 
employees  as  have  private  firms.  The  scale  of  pay  is  notoriously 
less  than  for  men,  and  women  have  been  excluded  from  the  civil 
service  examinations  for  many  positions  which  they  are  well 
equipped  to  fill.  We  therefore  sent  a  letter  to  the  Departments 


WAR    SERVICE    OF    ORGANIZED    SUFFRAGISTS 

of  War,  Navy,  State  and  Commerce  where  the  discrimination 
had  been  proved,  asking1  whether  they  would  not  modify  their 
regulations  to  give  women  equal  chances  with  men,  and,  now 
that  men  were  needed  for  the  army,  give  women  the  clerical 
positions  in  preference  to  men.  We  published  these  letters  and 
received  favorable  replies  from  all  but  the  State  Department." 
Mi-s  Smith  told  of  the  discovery  that  women  in  the  Bureau  of 
Engraving1,  under  the  Treasury  Department,  were  working  twelve 
hours  a  day  seven  days  in  the  week;  of  the  protest  of  her  com- 
mittee sent  through  Mrs.  Catt  to  Secretary  McAdoo  and  of  his 
order  restoring  the  eight-hour  day  and  removing  all  cause  of 
complaint." 

(4)  Americanization.  The  chairman,  Mrs.  Frederick  P.  Bag- 
ley,  said  that  her  first  net  was  to  secure  three  wise  and  experi- 
enced suffragists  to  form  with  her  a  central  committee,  Mrs. 
Shuler,  corresponding  secretary  of  the  National  Suffrage  Asso- 
ciation :  Mrs.  Robert  S.  Huse  of  New  Jersey,  and  Mrs.  Winona 
Osborn  Pinkham,  executive  secretary  of  the  Boston  Equal  Suf- 
frage Association.  A  plan  for  Americanization  work  was  printed 
in  the  Woman  Citizen.  Tune  30,  1017,  and  was  sent  to  each 
State  president  with  a  letter  asking  for  the  appointment  of  a 
State  chairman.  Mrs.  Barley's  thorough  resume  of  the  work  of 
her  committee  filled  eleven  pages  of  the  printed  convention  report 
and  among  the  various  branches  described  were  recruiting  in 
the  foreign  tenement  quarters  for  attendance  at  the  public  schools; 
securing  cooperation  with  foreicn  lenders  and  with  existing 
agencies  for  Americanization  work:  enlisting  the  cooperation  of 
employer*  in  providing  school  facilities  for  employees ;  teaching 

1i<:h  in  the  home*  where  the  women  had  not  been  nble  to 
attend  school  and  aiding  in  the  cnrrvintr  on  of  the  dnv  school 
for  immicrant  women  now  established  in  the  North  End  of 

nn.  She  told  of  two  new  depnrtments,  Americanization  for 
rural  districts  nnd  citizenship  clnssos  for  women  voters.  She 

'1.  not  onlv  the  necessity  of  schools  for  ndult  foreigners  but 

Vsirnbilitv  of  ^oorl  ones  thnt  would  hold  their  attention  nnd 
she  rn.-ule  n   sperin!   pi  en    for  the   immirrnnt  women.      S1ie   nlso 
called  nttentinn  to  the  imperntive  need  for  teaching  pntriotism. 
The  plnn  of  work  recommended  bv  the  Fxecutive  Council  and 


VOU   T 


73°  HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

adopted  by  this  convention  provided  that  the  association  dur- 
ing 1918  should  continue  the  four  departments  and  add 
the  Woman's  Hospital  Unit  in  France  and  Child  Welfare;  that 
these  six  departments  be  placed  under  the  direction  of  a  com- 
mittee, the  chairman  of  -which  should  be  a  member  of  the  na- 
tional suffrage  board ;  that  each  State  suffrage  auxiliary  be  asked 
to  establish  a  War  Service  Committee,  composed  of  chairmen 
of  the  above  sections,  with  an  additional  one  on  Liberty  Bonds. 
This  Committee  of  Eight  was  to  direct  the  war  work  for  each 
State  in  cooperation  with  the  State  division  of  the  Woman's  Com- 
mittee, Council  of  National  Defense.  The  Land  Army  Section 
was  added  in  the  spring  of  1918  and  took  the  place  of  the  Food 
Production  section.  The  name  of  the  Thrift  section  was  changed 
to  that  of  Food  Conservation;  Miss  Hilda  Loines  became  its 
chairman  and  its  work  was  combined  as  closely  as  possible  with 
the  similar  section  in  the  Woman's  National  Defense  Committee 
directed  by  Mrs.  McCormick. 

The  National  Suffrage  Association  held  no  convention  in  1918 
but  it  met  in  March,  1919,  at  St.  Louis  for  its  5Oth  Anniversary. 
The  Armistice  had  been  declared  and  the  final  reports  of  the  asso- 
ciation's war  activities  were  rendered.  In  that  of  the  War  Service 
Department  the  chairman,  Mrs.  McCormick,  stated  that  the 
reason  the  reports  did  not  cover  all  six  of  its  sections  but  only 
Land  Army,  Americanization  and  Oversea  Hospitals  was  that 
the  other  sections,  after  the  convention  of  1917,  were  merged 
with  the  similar  sections  of  the  Woman's  Committee,  Council 
of  National  Defense.  Detailed  statements  regarding  Food  Con- 
servation and  Industrial  Protection  for  women  in  which  the 
suffrage  committees  took  so  large  a  part,  may  be  found  in  the 
reports  of  the  Government  Agriculture  and  Labor  Departments. 
The  Child  Welfare  Department  was  combined  with  that  of  the 
Woman's  National  Defense  Committee  and  both  were  put  under 
the  guidance  of  Miss  Julia  Lathrop,  chief  of  the  Children's  Bureau 
of  the  United  States  Department  of  Labor.  Miss  Lathrop  made 
an  address  to  the  convention  in  St.  Louis  on  this  subject  which 
was  published  in  full  in  its  Handbook  for  1919. 

In  the  section  Industrial  Protection  of  Women  Mrs.  Gifford 


WAR    SERVICE    OF    ORGANIZED    SUFFRAGISTS 

Pinchot  had  followed  Miss  Ethel  M.  Smith  as  chairman  and  in  a 
brief  report  told  how  nominal  the  function  of  her  committee  had 
recently  become,  owing  to  the  fact  that  all  agencies  working  in 
this  field  had  been  consolidated  under  the  direction  of  the  U.  S. 
Department  of  Labor.  Before  this  amalgamation  three  interest- 
ing lines  of  effort  had  been  carried  forward  by  this  committee : 
An  attempt  was  made  to  secure  a  representation  of  women  on 
the  War  Labor  Board,  which  did  not  succeed ;  action  was  taken 
against  the  decision  of  this  board  in  dismissing  women  street 
car  conductors  in  Cleveland,  O.,  and  the  committee's  position  was 
upheld;  an  unsuccessful  effort  was  made  through  Mr.  Gompers 
to  have  women  appointed  on  the  committee  of  labor  delegates 
who  went  abroad  to  confer  with  the  labor  representatives  of  other 
countries  during  the  Peace  Conference. 

Land  Army.  Miss  Hilda  Loines,  chairman,  said  in  part: 
"The  training  of  women  for  agricultural  work  as  a  war  necessity 
was  early  foreseen  by  the  National  Suffrage  Association  and  was 
made  a  part  of  its  program  of  war  service.  Early  in  the  spring 
of  1917  a  number  of  organizations  undertook  to  register  and 
place  women  who  could  and  would  do  agricultural  labor.  Bureaus 
were  opened  for  their  registry  and  field  workers  were  sent  out 
to  secure  promises  of  employment  from  the  farmers.  This  was 
difficult  at  first  but  as  the  season  wore  on  and  there  were  no  men 
to  cultivate  the  crops  and  pick  the  fruit  the  farmers  in  despera- 
tion turned  to  the  women.  During  the  spring  and  summer  of 
1918  the  Woman's  Land  Army  was  organized  in  thirty  Stales, 
and  about  15,000  women  were  placed  on  the  land,  10,000  in 
units  and  5,000  in  emergency  groups.  The  majority  of  these 
women  had  had  no  previous  experience  and  most  of  them  could 
receive  little  training  but  they  did  practically  every  kind  of  farm 
labor,  ploughing,  planting,  cultivating  and  harvesting.  They 
cut,  stacked  and  loaded  hay,  corn  and  rye  and  filled  the  silos; 
worked  on  big  western  farms  and  orchards,  dairy  farms,  truck 
farms,  private  estates  and  home  gardens ;  did  poultry  work,  bee- 
keeping and  teaming;  learned  to  handle  tractors,  harvesters  and 
other  farm  machinery.  Their  efficiency  is  best  proved  by  the 
change  of  attitude  from  skepticism  to  enthusiastic  appreciation 
on  the  part  of  the  farmers  for  whom  they  worked." 


732  HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

Americanization.  The  chairman,  Mrs.  Bagley,  continued  her 
report  of  the  preceding  year  of  the  work  in  connection  with  the 
Councils  of  Defense  of  the  several  States  "by  means  of  the  local 
machinery  of  the  various  suffrage  organizations."  She  urged 
the  teaching  of  English  to  aliens  as  the  first  step  in  Americaniza- 
tion, with  emphasis  on  the  point  that  the  immigrant  women  must 
not  be  left  out.  "This  Americanization  is  a  function  peculiarly 
appropriate  to  suffragists,"  she  said,  "as  a  woman  married  to 
an  alien  must  herself  forever  remain  an  alien  unless  her  husband 
becomes  a  citizen,  and  as  the  States  enfranchise  women  hundreds 
of  thousands  will  still  be  left  without  the  vote.  Every  married 
alien  whom  suffragists  help  to  take  out  naturalization  papers 
means  not  only  a  vote  for  him  but  also  for  his  wife. 

During  the  convention  in  December,  1917,  the  plan  for  Oversea 
Hospitals  was  presented  to  the  delegates  by  Mrs.  Charles  L. 
Tiffany  of  New  York,  at  the  request  of  Mrs.  Catt,  the  national 
president,  to  whom  the  matter  had  been  suggested  by  the  action 
of  the  Scottish  Suffrage  Societies  in  sending  to  France  in  1914 
the  Scottish  Women's  Hospitals,  units  managed  and  staffed  en- 
tirely by  women,  and  was  accepted.  Mrs.  Tiffany  was  made 
chairman  of  the  Hospital  Committee  and  Mrs.  Raymond  Brown 
director  of  the  work  in  Erance.  At  the  convention  of  March, 
T9T9,  in  St.  Louis,  Mrs.  Brown  made  a  full  report,  from  which 
the  following  is  an  extract. 

"At  its  convention  in  1917  the  National  Suffrage  Association, 
as  part  of  its  war  work,  agreed  to  support  a  hospital  unit  in 
France  and  undertook  to  raise  $125,000  for  its  maintenance  for 
a  year.  This  unit  was  already  in  process  of  organization  by  a 
group  of  women  physicians  of  the  New  York  Infirmary  for  Wo- 
men and  Children  and  was  to  be  composed  entirely  of  women. 
Since  the  U.  S.  Government  does  not  accept  women  in  its  Medical 
Reserve  Corps,  and  at  that  time  neither  it  nor  the  Red  Cross  was 
sending  women  surgeons  for  service  abroad,  the  unit  was  offered 
to  the  French  Government,  which  accepted  it  by  cable.  The 
first  group  of  the  unit  sailed  on  Feb.  17,  1918,  and  expected 
to  establish  a  hospital  for  refugees  in  the  devastated  area.  Be- 
fore they  could  be  installed  the  villages  to  which  they  had  been 
assigned  were  taken  in  a  new  drive  by  the  Germans  and  about 


WAR   SERVICE    OF    ORGANIZED   SUFFRAGISTS  733 

half  the  group,  headed  by  Dr.  Caroline  Finley,  was  suddenly 
called  upon  for  hospital  service  within  the  war  zone.  The  hospital 
to  which  they  were  assigned  was  evacuated  before  they  could  reach 
it  and  they  were  finally  placed  in  Chateau  Ognon,  a  few  miles 
north  of  Senlis  on  the  road  to  Compiegne. 

"Soon  after  the  first  group  was  sent  into  the  war  zone,  the 
French  Government  asked  the  remainder  of  the  unit  to  go  to  the 
Department  of  Landes  in  the  south  of  France  in  order  to  estab- 
lish there  a  hospital  for  refugees.  The  Germans  were  still  ad- 
vancing and  as  the  refugees  poured  into  the  south  the  government 
was  trying  to  build  villages  of  barracks  for  them.  When  Dr. 
Alice  Gregory  with  a  group  of  fifteen  women,  including  a  carpen- 
ter, plumber,  chemist  and  chauffeur,  reached  Labouheyre,  early 
in  April,  a  site  had  still  to  be  found  for  the  hospital  and  the 
buildings  were  still  to  be  built,  furnished  and  equipped.  The  bar- 
racks were  erected  in  due  time  by  the  government ;  the  equipment 
was  the  gift  of  the  American  Red  Cross;  the  planning,  directing 
purchasing  and  installing  were  done  by  our  women.  Dr.  Marie 
Formad  was  finally  put  in  charge.  Later,  at  the  request  of  the 
French  Service  de  Sante,  a  3OO-bed  hospital  unit  for  gas  cases 
was  organized  by  the  Women's  Oversea  Hospitals  and  was  started 
on  its  way  from  America  to  France.  This  was  the  first  hospital 
unit  exclusively  for  gas  cases  and  had  a  personnel  solely  of  wo- 
men. Its  principal  group  in  Lorraine  cared  for  19,307  cases  in 
three  months." 

The  Oversea  Hospitals  service  was  divided  and  sent  from  point 
to  point  to  answer  the  many  demands  of  war,  having  charge  of 
hospitals  and  treating  tens  of  thousands  of  cases.  "With  the 
signing  of  the  Armistice,"  Mrs.  Brown's  report  said,  "the  great 
problem  in  I'rance  became  the  care  of  refugees  and  repatriates, 
who  were  returning  at  the  rate  of  thousands  a  day,  most  of  them 
utterly  ile-titulc  and  in  need  of  medical  care,  to  homes  in  many 
I  completely  destroyed."  The  hospital  and  dispensary  service 
was  therefore  continued.  Dr.  1-inley  and  her  group  were  sent  to 
Germany  and  lure  met  the  returned  prisoners  of  war,  -who  were 
in  desperate  condition. 

"The  work  of  the  Oversea  Hospitals  has  been  handled  with 
great  economy."  the  rej.  "and  has  cost  less  than  was  ;m 


734  HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

ticipated,  both  because  of  the  large  amount  of  volunteer  work 
and  because  the  units  in  French  military  hospitals  received  French 
rations.  The  State  suffrage  organizations  have  contributed  most 
generously."  A  list  was  furnished  of  the  trucks  and  ambulances 
given  by  the  women's  organizations  in  the  United  States.  "The 
total  number  of  women  sent  to  France  with  the  hospitals  was 
seventy-four,  who  came  from  all  parts  of  the  United  States. 
Several  of  the  doctors  received  the  French  equivalent  of  a  com- 
mission; three  obtained  the  Croix  de  Guerre  and  two  were 
decorated  with  the  Medaille  d'Honneur." 

The  report  of  Mrs.  Henry  Wade  Rogers,  treasurer  of  the 
National  Association,  given  at  the  convention,  stated  that  funds 
for  the  hospitals  service  to  the  amount  of  $133,340  had  passed 
through  her  hands.  Their  disbursement,  carefully  audited,  is 
published  in  the  Handbook  of  the  association  for  1918,  page  i  1 1. 

At  the  annual  convention  of  the  National  Suffrage  Association 
held  in  Chicago,  in  February,  1920,  the  report  of  Mrs.  Rogers 
stated  that  Oversea  Hospitals  funds  to  the  amount  of  $178,000 
had  passed  through  the  treasury  and  a  balance  of  $35,000  re- 
mained. (See  Handbook,  page  116.)  The  question  of  the  dis- 
position of  this  balance  was  put  to  the  convention,  which  voted 
that  it  be  divided  equally  between  the  work  in  France  of  the 
Women's  Oversea  Hospitals  and  the  American  Hospital  for 
French  Wounded  in  Rheims.  Mrs.  Tiffany,  chairman  of  the 
committee,  and  Mrs.  Brown,  director  in  France,  made  a  final  re- 
port to  the  convention,  stating  that  the  work  in  France  was  con- 
tinued until  September  i,  1919,  in  order  to  care  for  the  French 
disabled  soldiers,  and  to  maintain  hospitals,  dental  clinics,  dis- 
pensaries, ambulances,  motor  cars,  etc.  Such  -work  proceeded 
in  connection  with  the  American  Fund  for  French  Wounded. 
The  principal  group  was  transferred  from  Lorraine  to  Rheims  in 
April,  with  Dr.  Marie  Lefort  still  in  charge.  On  September  i, 
with  its  mission  finished,  the  hospital  and  all  its  equipment  were 
presented  to  the  American  Fund  for  French  Wounded.  The 
Mayor  sent  a  letter  to  Dr.  Lefort  which  said  in  part :  "The  Muni- 
cipality of  Rheims  would  like  to  express  to  you  and  the  Women's 
Oversea  Hospitals  its  profound  gratitude  for  the  splendid  assist- 
ance you  have  given  our  population.  France  and  the  city  of 


WAR    SERVICE    OF    ORGANIZED    SUFFRAGISTS  735 

Rheims  are  deeply  moved."  The  full  equipment  of  the  smaller 
hospital  groups  was  given  to  the  French  government  for  its  own 
hospital  service.  Dr.  Caroline  Finley  returned  to  the  U.  S.  in 
August,  still  a  Lieutenant  in  the  French  Army.  The  Prince  of 
Wales,  who  was  in  New  York,  invited  her  on  board  H.  M.  S. 
Renoivn,  where  he  conferred  on  her  the  Order  of  the  British  Em- 
pire in  recognition  of  her  work  at  Metz,  where  British  prisoners 
stricken  with  influenza  were  cared  for  as  they  arrived  from  Ger- 
man prison-camps. 

This  ends  the  story  of  the  Women's  Oversea  Hospitals,  for 
which  the  National  Suffrage  Association  willingly  raised  nearly 
$200,000  at  the  crisis  in  its  own  fifty-year  movement.  Desks 
for  suffrage  work  were  vacant  over  all  the  country  while  their 
occupants  were  cheerfully  giving  their  best  service  to  the  demands 
of  the  war.  For  the  vast  majority  this  took  the  forms  indicated 
by  the  above  committee  reports.  In  addition  there  -were  the  ac- 
tivities of  money-raising;  caring  for  children  and  other  de- 
pendents; safeguarding  public  health;  the  usual  tasks  of  nursing 
and  other  Red  Cross  work;  the  distribution  of  food  administra- 
tion pledge  cards,  the  organizing  of  food  committees  in  all  town- 
ships under  the  direction  of  district  captains,  with  "clean-up" 
days  and  "elimination  of  waste"  days  in  counties;  canning  dem- 
onstrations throughout  communities ;  alloting  and  directing  garden 
plots;  holding  normal  training  schools  to  teach  gardening;  mak- 
ing collections  for  the  Red  Cross  and  other  war  funds,  with 
countless  other  activities.  Liberty  Bonds  in  the  second,  third 
and  fourth  campaigns  to  the  amount  of  one-fourth  of  the  total 
sales  were  disposed  of  through  the  National  Suffrage  Association, 
it-  State  branches  and  women  throughout  the  country. 


While  the  suffragists  were  devoting  themselves  to  war-service 

they  did  not   lay  down   arms    for   their   own   ean-e,   winch    had 

:ig<.'  where  further  delay  was  impossible.     There  uas 

neral  tacit  understanding  that,  while  the  war  needs  <>i"  their 

country  were  and  should  be  up|K-nn«ist.  their  hands  innM   never 

relinquish  the  suffrage  throttle,  and  the-  double  tasks  of  uar  \\<>ik 

and   >uft~ra^e.   work  were  undertaken   in  a    line  spirit   ol    devotion 

to  h«.tli.     Nevertheless.  iii<-  .-mti  MiiYi  upon  the 


736  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

occasion  to  accuse  them  of  disloyalty,  pacifism,  pro-Germanism 
and  of  placing  the  interests  of  -woman  suffrage  above  those  of  the 
nation !  These  attacks  were  repeatedly  made  in  the  press  and  on 
the  platform,  JVJrs.  Catt,  the  president  of  the  National  Association, 
being  especially  the  victim.  At  times  they  grew  so  virulent  that 
it  became  necessary  to  answer  them  through  the  newspapers. 

Her  letters  were  published  with  headlines  and  widely  quoted. 
One  of  these  letters,  under  date  of  Oct.  2,  1917,  addressed  to  Mrs. 
Margaret  C.  Robinson  of  Cambridge,  Mass.,  chairman  of  the 
press  committee  of  the  National  Anti-Suffrage  Association,  be- 
gan: "My  attention  has  been  called  to  the  fact  that  you  are 
circulating  by  public  letter  and  bulletin  various  statements  that 
impugn  my  loyalty  as  an  American  and  thereby  put  in  jeopardy 
my  good  name  and  reputation.  These  assertions  are  made  by 
you  either  with  wilful  intent  to  injure  my  name  and  standing 
in  the  community  or  without  having  made  an  effort  to  establish 
their  proof.  1  hereby  set  forth  the  facts  which  have  been  distorted 
by  you  into  untruths,  either  by  contrary  statements  or  by  implica- 
tions." It  ended:  "in  the  name  of  our  common  womanhood, 
I  ask  you  to  meet  the  suffrage  issue  fairly  and  squarely,  and  I 
warn  you  that  for  personal  attacks  tending  to  injure  my  name  or 
those  of  my  fellow- workers,  you  will  be  held  responsible." 

Another  letter  dated  Nov.  i,  1917,  addressed  by  Mrs.  Catt  to 
Mrs.  James  W.  Wadsworth,  Jr.,  president  of  the  Anti-Suffrage 
Association;  Mrs.  Robinson  and  Miss  Alice  Hill  Chittenden, 
president  of  the  New  York  State  Anti-Suffrage  Association,  took 
up  and  refuted  the  charges  saying:  "To  every  single  and  col- 
lective insinuation,  implication  or  direct  charge,  published  or 
spoken  in  any  place  at  any  time  by  professional  anti-suffrage 
campaigners,  which  has  conveyed  the  impression  that  I  or  any 
other  officially  responsible  leader  of  the  National  Suffrage  Asso- 
ciation has  by  word  or  deed  been  disloyal  to  our  country,  I  make 
complete  and  absolute  denial  here  and  now."  It  said  in  closing : 
"In  this  connection  I  wish  to  call  your  attention  to  the  fact  that 
the  late  John  Hay,  the  father  of  the  president  of  the  National 
Association  of  Anti-suffragists,  had  his  own  experiences  with 
people  who  challenged  his  loyalty  and  'cursed  me,'  he  says,  'for 
being  the  tool  of  England.'  In  May,  1898,  when  our  country 


WAR   SERVICE    OF    ORGANIZED   SUFFRAGISTS  737 

was  at  war  with  Spain,  John  Hay  actually  had  the  temerity  to 
draft  a  peace  project,  although  he  knew,  so  he  said,  that  he  'would 
be  lucky  if  he  escaped  lynching  for  it.'  Are  you  willing  to  apply 
to  Mrs.  Wadsworth's  father  the  chain  of  alleged  reasoning  that 
you  apply  to  me,  and,  because  of  his  great  faith  in  and  hope  for 
peace,  call  him  a  traitor  to  his  country?" 

These  letters  had  no  effect  on  the  abuse  and  misrepresentation 
of  the  suffragists  but  the  charges  were  continued  by  the  leaders 
of  the  "antis"  until  after  the  close  of  the  war.  There  can  be 
no  doubt  that  the  splendid  war  work  of  the  suffragists  was  a 
principal  factor  in  the  submission  and  ratification  of  the  Federal 
Amendment.  Their  instant  and  universal  response  in  New  York 
to  the  call  of  the  Government,  and  later  the  actual  conscription 
of  all  -women  over  sixteen  years  of  age  by  the  Governor,  proved 
that  not  only  were  women  capable  of  war  service  but  actually 
liable  for  it.  These  facts  were  largely  responsible  for  the  big 
majority  vote  cast  by  the  men  for  woman  suffrage  in  November, 
1917,  and  the  action  of  this  great  State  paved  the  way  for  the 
success  of  the  Federal  Amendment  in  Congress. 

It  is  impossible  in  this  brief  space  to  set  forth  the  achievements 
of  the  Woman's  Committee,  Council  of  National  Defense,  whose 
chairman,  Dr.  Anna  Howard  Shaw,  was  honorary  president  of, 
the  National  American  Woman  Suffrage  Association  and  had 
been  for  eleven  years  its  president;  two  of  whose  members,  Mrs. 
Catt  and  Mrs.  McCormick,  were  now  its  president  and  vice- 
president,  while  five  of  the  remaining  eight  were  prominent  suf- 
fragists. Its  accomplishments  were  on  so  large  a  scale  and  em- 
bodied so  much  important  detail  that  only  a  full  review  could  do 
them  justice.  The  facts  attested  to  the  work  of  an  organization 
which  built  up  branches  in  forty-eight  States  comprising  18,000 
component  units  and  capable  in  at  least  one  instance  of  reaching 
82,000  women  in  a  single  State.  The  reader  is  re- 
ferred to  the  excellent  account  by  Mrs.  Emily  Newell  Blair — 
The  Woman's  Committee,  United  States  Council  of  National  De- 
fense, an  interpretative  report.  (Government  Printing  Office.) 

From  the  time  Dr.  Shaw  called  the  first  meeting,  May  2,  1917, 
to  the  middle  of  March.  [919,  the  committee  labored  unceasingly 
to  perform  its  gi  .  On  N<  'gram 


HISTORY   OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

to  Dr.  Shaw  from  Queen  Mary  expressed  the  "thanks  of  the 
women  of  the  British  Empire  for  the  inspiring  -words  of  en- 
couragement and  assurance  from  the  Woman's  Committee  of 
the  Council  of  National  Defense  of  America." 

On  Nov.  n,  1918,  the  Armistice  was  signed  and  on  the 
1 8th  representatives  of  New  York  organizations  of  women  met 
in  the  ball-room  of  the  Hotel  McAlpin  at  the  call  of  Mrs.  Catt. 
The  second  vice-president,  Miss  Mary  Garrett  Hay,  presided  and 
Mrs.  Catt  offered  the  following  resolution : 

"Whereas,  the  great  war  just  ended  has  been  a  partnership  of 
all  the  people  of  all  belligerent  countries  composing  two  vast 
armies,  one  of  soldiers  in  the  trenches  and  one  of  civilians  who 
formed  a  second  line  of  defense  to  supply  the  needs  of  the  fighters, 
thus  making  it  possible  to  fight ;  and  whereas,  the  war  could  not 
have  been  carried  to  a  victorious  conclusion  without  the  aid  of 
women  in  civilian  activities,  as  is  shown  by  the  testimony  of  men 
in  high  authority  in  every  belligerent  land;  and  whereas,  all 
truly  civilized,  intelligent  people  now  wish  to  make  a  final  end 
of  war  and  to  organize  the  forces  of  civilization  so  as  to  make 
future  war  impossible;  and  whereas,  women  compose  half  of 
society  with  very  special  and  peculiar  interests  to  be  conserved 
and  protected — all  too  frequently  overlooked  by  men — therefore 

Resolved,  that  we  urge  the  President  of  the  United  States  to 
give  women  adequate  representation  on  the  United  States  delega- 
tion to  the  Peace  Conference  to  meet  in  Paris.  We  urge  him 
to  select  women  whose  broad  experience  and  sympathies  render 
them  competent  to  support  and  defend  every  point  which  bears 
upon  the  establishment  of  liberty  for  all  the  peoples  of  the  world 
and  especially  upon  the  proper  protection  of  -women  and  children 
in  peace  and  war.  We  urge  him  to  select  women  who  may  be 
relied  upon  to  uphold  free  representative  institutions,  based  upon 
the  will  of  the  people  in  every  land  in  which  independence  is 
established,  in  order  that  democratic  institutions  may  make  an 
end  of  war." 

No  attention  was  paid  to  this  resolution  by  the  President  or 
the  Government  and  no  women  -were  appointed  on  the  Peace  dele- 
gation as  a  recognition  of  their  work  and  sacrifice. 

The  Woman's  Committee  gradually  closed  up  its  affairs  and 


WAR    SERVICE    OF    ORGANIZED    SUFFRAGISTS  739 

at  a  meeting  on  Feb.  12,  1919,  Dr%  Shaw  was  instructed  to  write 
to  the  Secretary  of  War  that  it  believed  its  work  to  be  at  an  end 
and  tendered  its  resignation  to  take  effect  when,  in  the  judgment 
of  his  Council,  its  services  should  no  longer  be  required.  This 
resignation  -was  accepted  by  President  Wilson  on  February  27 
with  a  splendid  tribute  to  the  work  of  the  committee.  The  an- 
nouncement was  formally  made  on  March  15,  and  the  committee 
passed  out  of  existence.1  Two  of  its  members,  the  chairman 
and  the  resident  director,  Miss  Hannah  J.  Patterson,  received 
from  the  Government  in  May  the  distinguished  service  medal. 

Secretary  of  War  Newton  D.  Baker  in  a  Foreword  to  Mrs. 
Blair's  report  said :  "The  chairman  of  the  Woman's  Committee 
of  the  Council  of  National  Defense  from  the  beginning  was  Dr. 
Anna  Howard  Shaw — ripened  by  a  long  life  devoted  intensely  to 
the  advocacy  of  great  causes ;  cheered  and  heartened  by  recent  vic- 
tories for  the  greatest  cause  for  which  she  had  fought  in  her  long 
and  unusual  life;  loved  and  honored  by  her  sex  as  their  leader 
and  by  men  as  a  citizen  combining  in  a  rare  degree  high  qualities 
of  intellect,  force  of  character  and  persuasive  eloquence  in  speech. 
She  and  her  committee  wrought  a  work  the  like  of  which  had 
never  been  seen  before,  and  her  reward  was  to  see  its  success  ami 
then  to  be  caught  up  as  she  was  engaged  in  another  high  and 
fierce  conflict  into  which  she  threw  herself  when  hostilities  ceased 
in  order  that  this  great  work  might  be  but  a  helpful  part  of  a 
greater  thing  in  the  hope  and  history  of  mankind.  .  .  .  The 
Woman's  Committee  was  the  leader  of  the  women  of  America. 
It  informed  and  broadened  the  minds  of  women  everywhere,  ami 
with  no  thought  of  propaganda  it  made  an  argument  by  producing 
results.  The  Council  of  National  Defense  fades  out  of  this  work 
and  the  Woman's  Committee  looms  large — and  yet  larger  still 
is  the  American  woman.  .  .  ." 

It  was  the  earnest  desire  of  Dr.  Shaw  and  the  suffragists  that 
she  might  now  give  her  important  services  to  the  Kedcral  Suf- 
frage Amendment,  which  was  at  a  critical  stage,  but  this  hope 
could  not  he  reali/cd.  l-'onm-r  President  Tat~t  and  1 'resident 

1  It  was  a  question  long  and  seriously  discussed  whether  this  vast  organization  should 
be  wholly   dissolved   or   whether   it    should   be  contimx  <l    in    the    various   States   for 
and   humanitarian    purposes.      Dr.    Shaw   was  strongly   in    favor  of  preserving  it  and    her 
earnest  appeal  will  be    found   m   Mm.   Blair's   Report,  page   137. 


74O  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

Lowell  of  Harvard  University,  both  of  whom  had  done  valuable 
work  for  the  Peace  Treaty  and  the  League  of  Nations,  were 
starting  in  May,  1919,  on  a  speaking  tour  to  advocate  the  League 
in  fifteen  States  and  they  urged  Dr.  Shaw  to  cancel  all  other 
engagements  and  join  them  on  this  tour.  For  two  years  she  had 
been  giving  her  time  and  labor  without  price  and  now  she  had 
commenced  again  to  fill  her  own  lecture  dates.  She  was  going 
later  to  Spain  as  the  guest  of  Dr.  M.  Carey  Thomas,  president 
of  Bryn  Mawr  College,  for  a  well-earned  and  much-needed  rest, 
but  at  this  call  everything  was  given  up  willingly  and  cheerfully 
to  continue  her  service  to  her  country.  As  the  tour  was  arranged, 
every  night  was  to  be  spent  on  a  sleeping  car  and  Dr.  Shaw  was 
to  speak  only  once  in  twenty- four  hours.  She  could  not,  however, 
resist  the  pleading  of  people  in  different  cities  and  at  Indianapolis 
she  filled  eight  engagements  of  various  kinds  in  one  day.  The 
following  day  at  Springfield,  Ills.,  she  succumbed  to  her  old  foe, 
pneumonia.  She  received  every  possible  care  in  the  hospital  and 
after  two  -weeks  recovered  sufficiently  to  make  the  journey  to  her 
home  at  Moylan,  Pennsylvania.  She  had,  however,  put  too 
great  a  strain  on  her  vital  forces  and  died  July  2,  at  the  age  of 
seventy-two. 

Whatever  may  have  been  the  unthinking  verdict  passed  upon 
suffragists  and  their  activities  prior  to  the  World  War,  it  was 
thereafter  widely  acknowledged  that  in  the  national  crisis  they 
played  a  leading  role  in  the  support  and  defense  of  the  nation. 
While  it  is  a  matter  for  regret  that  their  war  record  cannot  be 
chronicled  as  fully  and  definitely  as  can  their  work  for  suffrage, 
nevertheless,  even  a  casual  examination  will  show  that  it  was  a 
heroic  one  and  none  the  less  so  because  it  was  frequently  merged, 
through  far-sighted  efficiency,  in  the  war-service  of  all  American 
women,  of  which  it  formed  a  distinguished  part. 


APPENDIX   TO   CHAPTER   III. 

THE    DEATH    OF    MRS.    STANTON. 

From  the  address  of  an  old  and  valued  friend,  the  Rev.  Moncure  D.  Con- 
way  of  Virginia,  who  was  many  years  at  the  head  of  the  Ethical  Culture 
Society  of  London,  at  the  funeral  of  Elizabeth  Cady  Stanton  in  her  home  in 
Xcw  York  City,  Oct.  28,  1902. 

A  liphthou.se  on  the  human  coast  is  fallen.  To  vast  multitudes  the  name 
Klixaheth  Cady  Stanton  does  not  mean  so  much  a  person  as  a  standard  in- 
scribed with  great  principles.  Roses  will  prow  out  of  her  ashes:  individual 
characters  will  give  a  resurrection  to  her  soul  and  penius,  hut  the  immortality 
she  has  achieved  is  that  of  her  lonp  and  magnificent  services  to  every  cause 
of  justice  and  reason.  Beginning  her  career  amid  ridicule  and  obloquy,  all 
flie  worth  she  put  into  her  life  has  not  only  been  returned  to  her  personally 
in  the  love  and  friendship  which  have  surrounded  her  and  made  life  hnppy 
even  to  her  last  day,  but  has  been  returned  to  her  tenfold  in  the  successes  of 
her  cause. 

Could  I  utter  to  her  my  farewell  T  would  say :  Revered  and  beloved  friend, 
you  pass  to  your  rest  after  a  brave  and  beautiful  life:  you  have  journeyed  by 
a  path  of  unsullied  light.  Tf  ever  there  shall  be  established  in  America  a 
republic — a  Constitution  and  Government  free  from  all  caste  and  privilege, 
whether  of  color,  creed  or  sex — its  founders  will  be  discovered  not  in  those 
wbo  purchased  by  their  valor  and  blood  mere  indenendence  of  territory  in 
which  a  government  allied  with  slavery  was  founded,  but  among  those  wbo. 
while  faithful  to  heart  and  home,  toiled  unweariedly  for  an  ideal  civilization. 

A  few  touching  words  were  spoken  by  the  Rev.  Antoinette  "Brown  Black- 
well,  a  contemporary  in  the  early  days  of  the  movement  for  woman  suffrage. 
At  Woodlawn  Cemetery  the  committal  to  earth  was  pronounced  by  the  Rev. 
Phoebe  A.  Hanaford,  another  companion  in  the  long  contest. 


MISS  ANTHONY'S  LAST  BIRTHDAY  LETTER  TO  MRS.  STANTON,  WRITTEN  A 

DAYS  REPORE  HER   SUDDEN  DEATH. 

My  Dear  Mrs    Stanton: — 

T  shall  indeed  be  happy  to  spend  with  yon  November  12.  the  dav 
hich  yon  round  out  your  four-score  and  seven,  over  four  years  abend 
of  me.  but  in  age  as  in  all  else  T  follow  you  closely.  Tt  is  fifty-.»ne  vrars 
liner  first  we  met  and  we  have  been  busy  through  everv  one  of  them,  stirring 
up  the  world  to  recogni/e  the  rights  of  women  The  older  we  grow  ^thr 
more  keenly  we  feel  the  humilintion  of  diVranehisonient  mid  the  more  vividlv 
wo  reali/r  its  disadvantages  in  every  department  of  life  and  most  of  all 
in  the  labor  market. 

little   dreamed    when    ••  'bis   contest.   Optimistic   with    the   hope 

and  buoyancy  of  youth,  that  half  a  century  later  we  would  be  compelled  to 

the    finish    of   the   battle   to    another  n    of    women.      V-iv 

heart?    nrr   fillrd    with    i'ov   to   know   that    th<  v   niter   nn«n   ihi     f:u1 
with  with    !"•  with    the    fnllv   admitted 

ripht  to  i;prak  in  nubh'r     all  of  which  women 

have    prartimllv    '  -.oinf    to    ».iin     the    cufT-  1    nil 

These    strong,    courageoi  nlace   and 

741 


742  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

complete  our  work.  There  is  an  army  of  them  where  we  were  but  a  handful. 
Ancient  prejudice  has  hecome  so  softened,  public  sentiment  so  liberalized  and 
women  have  so  thoroughly  demonstrated  their  ability  as  to  leave  not  a 
shadow  of  doubt  that  they  will  carry  our  cause  to  victory. 

And  we,  dear,  old  friend,  shall  move  on  to  the  next  sphere  of  existence — 
higher  and  larger,  we  cannot  fail  to  believe,  and  one  where  women  will  not 
be  placed  in  an  inferior  position  but  will  be  welcomed  on  a  plane  of  perfect 
intellectual  and  spiritual  equality. 

Ever  lovingly  yours, 

Susan  B.  Anthony. 

Practically  every  magazine  in  the  United  States  contained  an  article  about 
Mrs.  Stanton  and  her  great  work  and  there  was  scarcely  a  newspaper  that 
did  not  have  an  editorial.  An  extended  account,  with  tributes  from  Miss 
Anthony,  will  be  found  in  her  Life  and  Work,  Chapter  LXT. 

In  the  Review  of  Reviews  for  December,  1902,  appeared  an  appreciation 
from  the  writer  of  these  volumes. 


APPENDIX   TO   CHAPTER   IV. 

DECLARATION  OF  PRINCIPLES. 

The  following  Declaration  of  Principles,  prepared  by  Mrs.  Catt,  Dr. 
Shaw,  Miss  Blackwcll  and  Mrs.  Harper,  was  adopted  by  the  convention 
of  the  National  American  Woman  Suffrage  Association  in  1904. 

When  our  forefathers  gained  the  victory  in  a  seven  years'  war  to  establish 
the  principle  that  representation  should  go  hand  in  hand  with  taxation,  they 
marked  a  new  epoch  in  the  history  of  man;  but  though  our  foremothers 
bore  an  equal  part  in  that  long  conflict  its  triumph  brought  to  them  no  added 
rights  and  through  all  the  following  century  and  a  quarter,  taxation  without 
representation  has  been  continuously  imposed  on  women  by  as  great  tyranny 
as  King  George  exercised  over  the  American  colonists. 

So  long  as  no  married  woman  was  permitted  to  own  property  and  all  women 
were  barred  from  the  money-making  occupations  this  discrimination  did  not 
seem  so  invidious ;  but  to-day  the  situation  is  without  a  parallel.  The  women 
of  the  United  States  now  pay  taxes  on  real  and  personal  estate  valued  at 
billions  of  dollars.  In  a  number  of  individual  States  their  holdings  amount 
to  many  millions.  Everywhere  they  are  accumulating  property.  In  hundreds 
of  places  they  form  one-third  of  the  taxpayers,  with  the  number  constantly 
increasing,  and  yet  they  are  absolutely  without  representation  in  the  affairs 
of  the  nation,  of  the  State,  even  of  the  community  in  which  they  live  and 
pay  taxes.  We  enter  our  protest  against  this  injustice  and  we  demand  that 
the  immortal  principles  established  by  the  War  of  the  Revolution  shall  be 
applied  equally  to  women  and  men  citizens. 

As  our  new  republic  passed  into  a  higher  stage  of  development  the  gross 
inequality  became  apparent  of  giving  representation  to  capital  and  denying  it 
to  labor;  therefore  the  right  of  suffrage  was  extended  to  the  workingman 
Now  we  demand  for  the  4,000,000  wage-earning  women  of  our  country  the 
same  protection  of  the  ballot  as  is  possessed  by  the  wage-earning  men. 

The  founders  took  an  even  broader  view  of  human  rights  when  they  de- 
clared that  government  could  justly  derive  its  powers^only  from  the  consent 
of  the  governed,  and  for  125  years  this  grand  assertion  was  regarded  as  a 
corner-stone  of  the  republic,  with  scarcely  a  recognition  of  the  fact  that  one- 
half  of  the  citizens  were  as  completely  governed  without  their  consent  as 
were  the  people  of  any  absolute  monarchy  in  existence.  Tt  wns  only  when 
our  government  was  extended  over  alien  races  in  foreign  countries  that  our 


APPENDIX  743 

people  awoke  to  the  meaning  of  the  principles  of  the  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence. In  response  to  its  provisions,  the  Congress  of  the  United  States 
hastened  to  invest  with  the  power  of  consent  the  men  of  this  new  territory, 
hut  committed  the  flagrant  injustice  of  withholding  it  from  the  women.  \Ye 
demand  that  the  ballot  shall  be  extended  to  the  women  of  our  foreign  posses- 
sions on  the  same  terms  as  to  the  men.  Furthermore,  we  demand  that  the 
women  of  the  United  States  shall  no  longer  suffer  the  degradation  of  being 
held  not  so  competent  to  exercise  the  suffrage  as  a  Filipino,  a  Hawaiian  or 
a  Porto  Rican  man. 

The  remaining  Territories  within  the  United  States  are  insisting  upon 
admission  into  the  Union  on  the  ground  that  their  citizens  desire  "the  right  to 
select  their  own  governing  officials,  choose  their  own  judges,  name  those  who 
are  to  make  their  laws  and  levy,  collect,  and  disburse  their  taxes/'  These 
are  just  and  commendable  desires  but  we  demand  that  their  women  shall 
have  full  recognition  as  citizens  when  these  Territories  are  admitted  and 
that  their  constitutions  shall  secure  to  women  precisely  the  same  rights  as 
to  men. 

When  our  government  was  founded  the  rudiments  of  education  were 
thought  sufficient  for  women,  since  their  entire  time  was  absorbed  in  the 
multitude  of  household  duties.  Now  the  number  of  girls  graduated  by  the 
high  schools  greatly  exceeds  the  number  of  boys  in  every  State  and  the 
percentage  of  women  students  in  the  colleges  is  vastly  larger  than  that  of 
men.  Meantime  most  of  the  domestic  industries  have  been  taken  from 
the  home  to  the  factory  and  hundreds  of  thousands  of  women  have  followed 
them  there,  while  the  more  highly  trained  have  entered  the  professions  and 
other  avenues  of  skilled  labor.  We  demand  that  under  this  new  regime, 
and  in  view  of  these  changed  conditions  in  which  she  is  so  important  a  factor 
woman  shall  have  a  voice  and  a  vote  in  the  solution  of  their  innumerable 
problems. 

The  laws  of  practically  every  State  provide  that  the  husband  shall  select 
the  place  of  residence  for  the  family,  and  if  the  wife  refuse  to  abide  by  his 
choice  she  forfeits  her  right  to  support  and  her  refusal  shall  he  regarded 
a*  desertion.  We  protest  against  the  recent  decision  of  the  courts  which  has 
added  to  this  injustice  by  requiring  the  wife  also  to  accept  for  herself  the 
citizenship  preferred  by  her  husband,  thus  compelling  a  woman  horn  in  the 
United  States  to  lose  her  nationality  if  her  husband  choose  to  declare  his 
allegiance  to  a  foreign  country. 

women  form  two-thirds  of  the  church  membership  of  the  entire  nation; 

as  they  constitute  but  one-eleventh  of  the  convicted  criminals;  as  they  are 

rapidly  becoming  the  educated  class  and  as  the  salvation  of  our  government 

depends  upon  a  moral,  law-abiding,  educated  electorate,   we  demand   for  the 

•-f  its  integrity  and  permanence  that  women  be  made  a  part  of  its  voting 

In  brief,  we  demand  that  all  constitutional  and  legal  harriers  shall  be   re- 

•1  which  deny  to  women  any  individual  right  or  personal   freedom  which 

ntcd  to  man.     This  we  ask  in  the  name  of  a  democratic  and  a  repnb- 

nimc-nt.  which,  its  constitution  declares,  was  formed  "to  establish 

ire  the  blessings  of  liberty." 


APPENDIX  TO   CHAPTER   VII. 

THE  ANTHONY    MEMORIAL  BUILDING  IN    ROCHESTER,    N.   Y. 

after  the  death  of   Susan   R   Anthony  a   izronp  of  her  co-woricers 
anH  ,,,!«;  in    R  M,I<|    f,,r  the  purpose  of 

rial  to  li- 
ter.    Th:  '.'illy  tilting,  a- 
Anthony  had  been  intensely  interested  and  very  active  in  the  raising  of  the 


744  HISTORY   OF   WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

Co-education  Fund  which  admitted  women  students  to  the  University  in  looo.1 
Endorsement  of  this  plan  and  the  use  of  their  names  were  given  hy  her  sister, 
Mary  S.  Anthony,  Dr.  Anna  Howard  Shaw  and  many  well  known  women 
throughout  this  country  and  several  from  over-seas. 

A  Memorial  Association  was  formed  with  an  executive  committee  of  Roch- 
ester women  *  hut  very  little  organized  committee  work  was  done.  Suffragists 
were  by  this  time  too  busy  with  the  growing  intensity  of  their  own  campaigns 
and  said,  truly  enough,  that  Miss  Anthony  would  much  rather  they  would 
spend  their  time  and  money  for  the  cause.  However,  an  appeal  was  issued, 
coupon  hooks  were  scattered  among  many  women's  organizations  and  indi- 
viduals and  the  chairman  of  the  committee  addressed  her  personal  appeal  to 
every  cluh  and  conference  that  would  give  her  a  hearing. 

The  largest  single  gift  was  from  Miss  Anthony's  old  friend  Mrs.  Sarah  L. 
Willis  of  Rochester,  $5.250.  Mrs.  Susan  Look  Avery  of  Louisville,  Ky.,  gave 
$T,TOO.  Of  nine  gifts  of  $T.OOO  each,  five  were  from  Rochester  women — Miss 
Mary  S.  Anthony.  Mrs.  Hannah  M.  Byarn.  Mrs.  Mary  H.  Hallowell,  Miss  Ada 
Howe  Kent  and  Miss  Frances  Raker.  The  other  $1.000  gifts  were  from  Mrs. 
Emma  J.  Bartol,  George  and  Mary  A.  Burnham  of  Philadelphia;  John  C. 
TTaynes  of  Boston ;  Mrs.  Lydia  Coonley  Ward  of  Chicago.  Among  many  in- 
teresting eifts  may  he  noted  one  from  the  women  of  The  Netherlands  and  one 
from  the  Portia  Suffrage  Cluh  of  New  Orleans.  Women  students  at  the  col- 
lege made  class  gifts  from  time  to  time  hut  the  fund  grew  slowly.  After 
eight  years  it  had  reached  $27,475.  At  this  point  the  college  authorities  offered 
to  complete  the  amount  necessary  for  the  huilding  as  planned,  if  the  com- 
mittee would  turn  over  its  money,  which  it  gladly  did.  The  cost  was  $58,763. 
the  halance,  which  came  to  $31,2,^8.  being  paid  from  the  Co-education  Fund 
raised  hy  and  for  the  women  in  TOOO. 

Tn  the  fall  of  1014  the  college  girls  took  possession  of  the  handsome  gray 
stone  huilding,  hearing  on  its  face,  cut  in  stone,  "Anthony  Memorial."  Tt  con- 
tains a  well-equipped  gymnasium,  a  lunch  room  and  four  parlors  for  the 
social  life  of  the  students  and  the  use  of  the  Alumnrr  Association.  The  pos- 
session of  this  huilding  and  Catherine  Strong  Hall,  the  two  connected  hy  a 
cloistered  walk,  has  added  greatly  to  the  enjoyment  and  convenience  of  the 
women  students.  Miss  Fddy's  half-length  portrait  of  Miss  Anthony  hangs 
over  the  chimney-piece  in  the  largest  parlor  and  these  rooms  furnish  a  home- 
like place  for  their  smaller  social  gatherings:  larger  affairs,  such  as  the 
alumna*  dinner,  are  held  in  the  .gymnasium.  "Miss  Anthonv  would  certainly 
rejoice  if  she  could  look  in  on  some  February  T5th  and  see  the  girls  com- 
memorating her  birthday,  as  they  do  in  some  way  every  year,"  Mrs.  Gannett 
writes  in  sending  information  for  this  account. 

Dr.  Rush  Rhees.  president  of  the  university,  who  has  sent  for  this  volume  a 
picture  of  the  Memorial  Building  and  some  additional  information,  says : 

1  See  Life  and  Work  of  Susan  B.  Anthony,  page   1221   and   following. 

•Executive  Committee:  Mrs.  Mary  T.  L.  Gannett,  chairman;  Mrs.  Georgia  F. 
Raynsford,  first  vice-chairman;  Mrs.  Helen  B.  Montgomery,  second;  Mrs.  William  S 
Little,  third;  Mrs.  W.  L.  Howard,  fourth;  Mrs.  Henry  G.  Danforth,  treasurer;  Miss 
Jeannette  W.  Huntingdon,  assistant;  Miss  Charlotte  P.  Acer,  corresponding  secretary; 
Mrs.  Emma  B.  Sweet,  assistant;  Mrs.  Adele  R.  Ingersoll,  recording  secretary.  Security 
Trust  Co.,  Rochester,  N.  Y.,  Financial  Agent 

A  national  committee  of  prominent  women  was  formed. 


APPENDIX  745 

"The  building  is  in  constant  use  and  is  a  great  contribution  to  the  comfort, 
health  and  pleasure  of  our  women  students." 

Friends  of  Miss  Anthony  gave  a  scholarship  for  women  in  her  name  and 
Miss  Mary  S.  Anthony  gave  the  money  for  one  in  her  own  name.  The 
university  has  seven  other  scholarships  for  women. 


APPENDIX   TO    CHAPTER   X. 

STATEMENT    BY    MRS.    CARRIE    CHAPMAN    CATT    AT    SENATE    HEARING    IN    IQIO 

Although  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  in  section  2  of  Article  I 
seems  to  have  relegated  authority  over  the  extension  of  the  suffrage  to  the 
various  States,  yet.  curiously,  few  men  in  the  United  States  possess  the  suf- 
frage because  they  or  the  class  to  which  they  belong  have  secured  their  right 
to  it  by  State  action.  The  first  voters  were  those  who  possessed  the  right 
under  the  original  charters  Granted  by  the  mother  country  and  as  the  restric- 
tions were  many,  including  religious  tests  in  most  of  the  colonies  and  property 
qualifications  in  all,  the  number  of  actual  voters  was  exceedingly  small. 
When  it  became  necessary  at  the  close  of  the  "Revolution  to  form  a  federation 
for  the  "common  defense"  and  the  promotion  of  the  "general  welfare,"  it  was 
obvious  that  citizenship  must  be  made  national.  To  do  this  it  became  clearly 
necessary  that  religious  tests  must  be  abandoned,  since  Catholic  Maryland, 
Quaker  Pennsylvania  and  Congregational  Massachusetts  could  be  united  under 
a  common  citizenship  by  no  other  method.  The  elimination  of  the  religious 
test  enfranchised  a  large  number  of  men  and  this  without  a  struggle  or  any 
movement  in  their  behalf. 

700  the  first  naturalization  law  was  passed  by  Con«rres«;.  Under  the 
Article*  r,f  Confederation  citizenship  bad  belonged  to  the  States  but  since  it 
was  anparent  that  it  must  now  be  national,  a  compromise  was  made  between 
the  old  idea  of  State's  rights  and  the  new  idea  of  Federal  union.  Each  of  the 
original  States  had  its  representatives  in  the  convention  which  drafted  the 

il  Constitution  and  by  common  consent  it  was  there  planned  that  citizen- 
ship should  carry  with  it  the  nVht  to  vote,  although  this  was  to  be  put  into  the 
State  constitutions  and  not  into  the  National.  These  delet-ates,  influencing 
their  own  States  in  the  forming  of  their  constitutions,  easily  brought  this 
about  pnd  without  any  movement  on  the  part  of  those  who  were  to  be  nat- 
uralized. This  common  understanding  in  the  National  Constitutional  Con 
vention  and  the  Naturalization  Act  of  Congress  in  1700  certainly  enfranchised 
somewhere  between  tin  and  f< .iir-fifths  of  all  men  in  the  United 

at  this  time. 

The  population  of  the  colonies  at  the  time  of  the  Revolution  was  two  and  a 
half  millions  and  even  thonph  all  men  had  been  voters  the  number  could  not 
been  more  than  seven  or  eifibt  lurn'rrd  th"ii<;and.     F.y  the  census  of  TOXX) 
there  were  2i.ooo.ooo  men  of  votine  nee  in  t'  States.    The  Act.  there- 

fore, of  the  U  S  Government  virtuallv  enfranchised  millions  upon  millions  of 
men.  Generations  then  unborn  have  come  into  the  ritrht  of  the  suffrage  in  this 
country  under  that  Act  and  men  of  every  n  iled  themselves 

of    its   privileges  to  become   •  clinically    SJK 

TOL.   V 


HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

enfranchisement  of  the  foreign-born  was  extended  by  the  States,  yet  in  reality 
it  is  obvious  that  the  real  granting  of  this  privilege  came  from  Congress  itself. 
The  thirteen  original  States  retained  their  property  qualifications  after  the  for- 
mation of  the  Union  and  these  were  removed  by  State  amendments.  This 
extension  of  the  suffrage  was  made  in  most  cases  many  years  ago,  when  the 
electorate  was  very  small  in  numbers. 

The  history  of  the  enfranchisement  of  the  negro  is  well  known.  States 
attempted  it  by  amending  their  constitutions  but  in  no  case  was  this  accom- 
plished. Congress  undertook  to  secure  it  by  national  amendment  and  although 
this  was  ratified  by  the  necessary  three-fourths  of  the  State  Legislatures  yet  it 
must  be  remembered  that  all  the  southern  States  were  virtually  coerced  into 
giving  their  consent.  .  .  .  The  Indians  were  enfranchised  by  Acts  of  Congress. 

The  evolution  of  man  suffrage  in  the  United  States  shows  that  but  one 
class  received  their  votes  by  direct  State  action — the  nonproperty  holders. 
They  found  political  parties  and  statesmen  to  advocate  their  cause  and  their 
enfranchisement  was  made  easy  by  State  constitutional  action. 

In  the  120  years  of  our  national  life  no  class  of  men  have  been  forced  to 
organize  a  movement  in  behalf  of  their  enfranchisement;  they  have  offered 
no  petition  or  plea  or  even  given  sign  that  the  extension  of  suffrage  to  them 
would  be  acceptable.  Yet  American  women,  who  have  conducted  a  persistent, 
intelligent  movement  for  a  half-century,  which  has  grown  stronger  and 
stronger  with  the  years,  appealing  for  their  own  enfranchisement  and  sup- 
ported now  by  a  petition  of  400,000  citi/ens  of  the  United  States  arc  told  that 
it  is  unnecessary  to  consider  their  plea  since  all  women  do  not  want  to  vote ! 

Gentlemen,  is  it  not  manifestly  unfair  to  demand  of  women  a  test  which 
has  never  been  made  in  the  case  of  men  in  this  or  any  other  country?  Is  it 
not  true  that  the  attitude  of  the  Government  toward  an  unenfranchised  class 
of  men  has  ever  been  that  the  vote  is  a  privilege  to  be  extended  and  it  is  op- 
tional with  the  citizen  whether  or  not  he  shall  use  it?  If  any  proof  is  needed 
it  can  lie  found  in  the  fact  that  the  U.  S.  Government  has  no  record  whatever 
of  the  number  who  have  been  naturalized  in  this  country.  It  has  no  record 
of  the  number  of  Indians  who  ha\e  accepted  its  offer  of  the  vote  as  a  reward 
for  taking  up  land  in  severally.  Manifestly  the  Government,  as  represented  by 
Congress  and  the  State  Legislatures,  considers  it  entirely  unnecessary  to  know 
whether  nun  who  have  had  the  suffrage  "thrust  upon  them"  use  it  or  not,  but 
imperative  that  women  must  not  only  demand  it  in  very  large  numbers  but 
give  guaranty  that  they  will  use  it,  before  its  extension  shall  be  made  to  them. 

Is  it  not  likewise  unfair  to  compel  women  to  seek  their  enfranchisement  by 
methods  infinitely  more  difficult  than  those  by  means  of  which  any  man  in 
this  country  lias  secured  his  right  to  a  vote?  Ordinary  fair  play  should  com- 
pel every  believer  in  democracy  and  individual  liberty,  no  matter  what  are  his 
views  on  woman  suffrage,  to  grant  to  women  the  easiest  process  of  enfran- 
chisement and  that  is  the  submission  of  a  Federal  Amendment. 


APPENDIX  747 

APPENDIX  TO  CHAPTER  XIV. 

THE    SHAFROTH-PALMER    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE   AMENDMENT. 

Iii  1014  the  Congressional  Committee  of  the  National  American  Woman 
Suffrage  Association,  of  which  Mrs.  Medill  McCormick  was  chairman  and 
Mrs.  Antoinette  Funk  vice-chairman,  caused  to  be  introduced  in  Congress, 
with  the  sanction  of  the  National  Board,  a  Federal  Amendment  for  woman 
suffrage  radically  different  from  the  one  for  which  the  association  had  been 
working  since  1869.  It  was  named  for  its  introducers  in  Senate  and  House. 
The  merits  of  the  proposed  amendment,  as  stated  by  Mrs.  Funk,  which  are 
given  in  condensed  form  in  Chapter  XIV,  will  be  found  in  full  in  the 
published  Handbook  or  Minutes  of  the  national  suffrage  convention  of  this 
year.  Specimens  of  the  objections  made  as  published  in  the  Woman's  Journal 
are  given  herewith: 

Mrs.  Catharine  Waugh  McCulloch  (Ills.),  a  lawyer:  Senator  Shaf  roth's 
suffrage  amendment  may  do  good  by  keeping  law-makers  discussing 
woman  suffrage  but  as  a  practical  method  of  securing  it  has  serious  defects. 
It  is  open  to  all  the  States'  rights  objections  raised  against  our  Susan  B. 
Anthony  amendment,1  for  it  goes  further  and  proposes  a  universal  method  of 
amending  48  State  constitutions.  State  law-makers  and  Judges  and  even  State 
\"ters  from  the  North  as  well  as  the  South  will  resent  such  dictation  as  an 
unwarrantable  interference.  The  Initiative  and  Referendum  scheme  will  have 
its  own  enemies,  who  will  fear  that  this  way  may  be  an  entering  wedge  for 
more  Initiative  and  Referendum  amendments  to  be  pushed  into  State  consti- 
tutions. 

The  amendment  is,  however,  top  indefinitely  framed  to  be  workable.  No 
officer  is  named  to  whom  the  petitions  should  go;  no  officer  is  obligated  to 
submit  the  question ;  no  method  of  authenticating  the  petitions  is  prescribed 
and  no  time  for  voting  is  fixed.  The  United  States  has  no  facilities  of  its  own 
for  conducting  any  such  elections  or  punishing  State  or  county  officers  who 
may  not  volunteer  to  do  the  work.  The  Congressional  Committee  would 
better  keep  this  amendment  in  committee  rather  than  let  the  country  know  the 
great  objection  there  is  to  it  on  the  part  of  our  constituency.  .'  .  . 

Mrs.  M.  Tascan  Bennett  (Conn.)  :  The  three  principal  objections  to  the  new 
amendment  appear  to  be  as  follows:  It  divides  suffragists  all  over  the  country. 
The  Anthony  Amendment  has  had  the  support  since  1869  of  the  annual  con- 
ns, where  the  members  of  the  National  Association  have  their  one 
opportunity  to  direct  its  work.  The  Shafroth  Amendment  furnishes  an  excel- 
lent excuse  to  Congress  for  taking  no  action  on  the  Anthony  Amendment.  It 
might  well  appear  as  a  happy  way  to  dispose  of  the  whole  question  of  woman 
suffrage  by  foisting  responsibility  for  it  back  on  the  States  where  it  already  is. 
.  .  .  '  t  1  consider  t<>  lie  the  unanswerable  advantage  of  the 

Anthony  Amendment,  whose  ratification  by  the  required  three- fourths  of  the 
c.  the  remaining  one-fourth  into  line.    The  southern  States,  for 
•~:t   the   Shaf  roth    Amendment   appears  to  have  been   eon 
I,  will  undoubtedly  he  many  years  in  accepting  woman  suffrage.     With 
this  new  amendment  ratified,  they  ran  Mill  ImM  it  back  within  their  borders  as 
long  as  they  cling  to  their  prejudices. 

Gcorpe  H.  WnVht.  M  P.   (  Onm.)  :  The  jjreatf  isscd. 

nld  throw  the  whole  suffrage  campaign   into  chaos.     At 

1  For  the  purpose  of  miking  a  clear  distinction  between  the  two  amendment*  the 
n»me  of  Sn*an  B.  Anthony  is  permitted  In  thi*  onr  instance  for  the  orijrfn.il  Federal 
Amendment.  It  ia  not  just  to  the  othera  who  worked  for  it  to  give  it  thia  designation. 


HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

present  when  we  have  carried  one  State  we  stop  worrying  about  that  State. 
The  women  cannot  again  be  disfranchised  except  by  an  amendment  to  the 
State  constitution,  which  would  first  have  to  pass  a  Legislature  elected  by  the 
whole  people.  No  such  Legislature  would  dare  to  pass  such  a  bill ;  the  mem- 
bers who  voted  for  it  would  accomplish  nothing  and  would  at  once  be  ousted 
by  their  outraged  women  constituents.  But  under  the  Shafroth  Amendment 
8  per  cent,  of  the  voters  could  force  a  referendum  on  the  question  at  any  time. 
.  .  ;  Also  a  large  part  of  the  effort  and  money  now  used  to  gain  new  vic- 
tories would  be  spent  in  defending  what  we  had  already  won. 

The  Rev.  Olytnpia  Brown  (Wis.),  a  pioneer  suffragist:  The  passage  of  the 
Shafroth  Amendment  is  spoken  of  several  times  in  the  explanations  and  argu- 
ments for  it  as  being  an  "endorsement  of  woman  suffrage  by  Congress." 
"Federal  sanction,^  it  is  said,  "would  ditinifv  the  movement."  This  is  another 
misnomer.  There  is  no  "indorsement"  by  Congress  and  no  "federal  sanction" 
about  it.  There  is  not  even  a  hint  that  Congress  favors  woman  suffrage.  The 
amendment  merely  provides  for  the  Initiative  and  Referendum  in  the  States. 

The  Woman's  Journal  lately  called  attention  to  the  statement  twice  made 
that  "the  effect  of  the  amendment,  if  ratified,  would  be  the  same  as  if  every 
State  in  the  Union  had  passed  a  suffrage  amendment."  This  is  a  most  singu- 
lar assertion.  _Tf  every  State  adopted  a  suffrage  amendment  our  work  would 
be  done.  Again :  "The  passage  of  this  resolution  would  have  the  same  effect 
over  the  United  States  as  if  any  other  suffrage  amendment  had  passed." 
Surely  anyone  can  see  that  if  the  Anthonv  Amendment  hnd  been  passed  bv 
Congress  the  effect  would  be  entirely  different  from  that  produced  by  the 
passage  of  one  merely  giving  the  Initiative  and  Referendum  to  the  States. 
And  again  :  "If  ratified,  this  amendment  would  have  the  same  effect  in  every 
State  as  if  a  suffrage  amendment  hnd  alrendv  passed  its  Legislature."  F.vrn 
tin's  is  untrue.  If  any  Legislature  hnd  submitted  n  suffrncn  runmdment,  the 
subject  would  at  once  go  to  the  men  to  be  voted  on  but  by  this  method  there 
must  be  a  petition  signed  by  8  per  cent,  of  the  voters.  .  .  . 

One  thing,  however,  seems  to  be  ignored  bv  nil.  When  once  an  amendment 
to  the  Federal  Constitution  is  pnssed  and  ratified  bv  three-fourths  of  the  Lecr- 
M;>t ures  it  becomes  a  part  of  the  Constitution  and  is  fixed  for  nil  time.  No 
amendment  has  ever  yet  been  repealed  but  it  would  bo  difficult,  if  not  impos- 
sible, to  secure  another  amendment  on  the  same  subject,  especially  one  provid- 
inpr  for  a  course  of  action  entirely  different  from  the  former. 

Therefore,  this  Shafroth  Amendment,  if  passed,  will  place  an  impassable 
barrier  to  future  Congressional  action  in  behalf  of  woman  suffrnge.  It  simply 
refers  the  matter  to  the  States.  As  n  reason  for  oassincr  it.  it  is  claimed  that 
we  cnnnot  secure  the  submission  of  the  originn!  amendment.  Perhaps  not 
today  or  durine  this  session  of  Congress;  possiblv  not  durintr  this  administra- 
tion, but  with  the  wonderful  progress  of  our  enuse.  the  snrend  of  the  recogni- 
tion ^of  the  rights  of  women  and  the  "new  doctrine  of  freedom."  the  demand 
for  it  will  be  overwhelming  and  it  will  be  gained  at  no  distant  day. 

Mrs.  Ida  Husted  Harper,  historian  of  the  suffrage  movement:  In  behalf  of 
many  loyal  and  experienced  suffracrists  I  wish  to  enter  two  strong  protests — 
one  against  the  resolution  which  hns  been  presented  in  the  U.  S.  Sennte  by 
Senator  Shafroth  of  Colorado,  by  request  of  Mrs.  Medill  McCormick  nnd 
Mrs.  Antoinette  Funk;  the  other  against  their  statement  mnde  to  Congress  that 
they  speak  for  the  642,000  members  of  the  National  American  Suffrage  Asso- 
ciation in  offering  this  resolution. 

The  Congressional  Committee,  of  which  they  are  chairman  and  vice-chair- 
man, was  appointed,  according  to  the  understanding  of  the  convention  which 
met  in  Washineton  last  fall,  to  work  for  the  submission  by  Congress  of  the 
Federal  Amendment  for  which  the  association  has  stood  sponsor  forty-five 
years.  It  was  organized  in  1860  for  the  express  purpose  of  securing  this 
amendment:  "The  rieht  of  citizens  of  the  United  States  to  vote  shall  not  be 
denied  or  abridged  by  the  United  States  or  bv  any  State  on  account  of 
No  other  ever  has  been  considered  bv  the  association. 

\Yhen  this  committee  opened  its  hcnrlquarters  in  \Ynshington  the  National 


APPENDIX  749 

Board  asked  contributions  for  its  support  through  the  Woman's  Journal,  say- 
ing :  "The  speedy  submission  of  this  Federal  Amendment  is  of  vital  concern 
to  every  suffragist."  Later  it  announced :  "The  Washington  office  will  be 
occupied  largely  with  the  political  end  of  the  Federal  Amendment  campaign, 
while  a  Chicago  office  will  specialize  in  the  work  of  organizing  the  con- 
gressional districts  of  the  United  States  in  cooperation  with  the  various  State 
associations. '  All  this,  of  course,  was  for  the  old,  original  amendment.  No 
experienced  suffragist  expected  it  to  receive  the  necessary  two-thirds  vote  this 
session,  but,  as  it  had  been  reported  favorably  to  the  Senate,  the  desire  was  to 
have  it  brought  to  a  discussion;  to  secure  as  large  a  vote  as  possible  and  to 
ascertain  which  members  were  friends  and  which  were  enemies.  In  spite  of 
must  unfavorable  conditions  this  was  accomplished  and  the  amendment  re- 
cci\ed  a  majority.  There  were  no  more  negative  votes  than  when  it  was 
acted  upon  in  1887  by  the  Senate  and  over  twice  as  many  favorable  votes. 
The  opposition  was  based  almost  entirely  on  the  doctrine  of  State's  rights, 
as  was  to  be  expected;  but  three  Southern  Senators  voted  in  die  affirmative. 
Before  another  session  of  Congress  several  more  States  are  certain  to  be  car- 
ried lor  woman  suffrage,  thus  insuring  more  votes  for  this  Federal  Amend- 
ment. The  defeat  of  suffrage  bills  in  a  number  of  Legislatures  in  the  South 
is  converting  the  women  of  that  section  to  the  necessity  of  action  by  Congress. 
Just  at  the  most  favorable  moment  in  the  entire  history  of  this  amendment, 
the  committee  having  it  in  charge  suddenly  throws  it  on  the  dust  heap ;  has 
another  introduced  of  a  radically  different  character,  and  announces  to  the 
public  that  this  is  done  with  the  sanction  of  the  National  Board  and  that  it 
represents  the  sentiment  of  the  042,000  members  of  the  National  American 
Association !  ...  In  behalf  of  countless  members  of  this  association,  1  protest 
against  this  high-handed  action.  1  insist  that  the  National  Board  exceeded  its 
prerogatives  when  it  sanctioned  so  radical  and  complete  a  change  in  the  time- 
honored  policy  of  the  association  without  first  bringing  it  before  a  national 
convention  and  giving  the  delegates  a  chance  to  pass  upon  it.  The  proposed 
amendment  seems  undesirable  from  every  point  of  view.  .  .  . 

These  and  all  protests  were  answered  by  Miss  Alice  Stone  Blackwell,  editor 
of  the  Woman's  Journal,  generally  recognized  as  high  authority  by  the  suf- 
fragists of  the  country.  Throughout  the  months  of  controversy  she  kept  up 
a  vigorous  defense  and  advocacy  of  the  Shafroth  Amendment,  saying:  'The 
old  amendment  has  not  been  dropped  and  many  of  us  believe  that  the  new 
amendment  will  pave  the  way  for  the  passage  of  the  old  one.  Most  of  the 
.suffragists  are  much  attached  to  the  old  nation-wide  amendment.  If  any 
proposal  should  be  made  at  the  next  national  convention  to  drop  it  the  pro- 
.  could  hardly  carry,  or,  if  it  did,  the  resulting  dissatisfaction  would 
greatly  weaken  the  National  Association,  but  at  present  nothing  of  the  sort  is 
proposed."  She  did,  however,  say  in  mild  criticism: 

The  National  Board  has  authority  to  decide  questions  that  come  up  in  the 

interim    between   the   national   conventions.     On   the  other   hand   it   has   never 

;e  had  to  pass  upon  anything  so  important  as  committing  the  association 

to  the  advocacy  of   a  wholly  new  amendment  to  the   U.  S.  Constitution.     It 

i  probably  ha\e  been  tlie  part  of   wisdom  to  get  a  vote  of  the  National 

This  would  not  have  taken  long  and  would  have 

.  ierable  hard  ieehng  and  perplexity.     The  approval  of  the  majority  of  the 

Council   could   probably   have   been   had,    for   there   is   no   earthly  ground    lor 

objecting  to  the  Shafroth  Amendment  when  it  is  thoroughly  understood.     It 

merely   in.  short  cut   to  amendment*   in  the   States — a   method   which 

any  State  cou.  '-'e  Shafroth  Amendment 

to  h.i  ;  ^»y  Stale  pre- 

1  the  old  way  of  amending  their  State  constitution,  it  would  still  be  open. 

The  Shairoth  •  :it  wnuhl  lay  IK.  o.uii-ulsi.  .n  upon  any  Mate  ;  it  would 

only  take  snags  out  oi  u  A  line  the  snags 

thick 


75°  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

Feeling  on  this  subject  is  more  acute  than  it  needs  to  be  because  the  suffrage 
atmosphere  just  now  is  highly  charged  with  electricity.  The  Shafroth  Amend- 
ment is  a  first-rate  little  amendment  and  the  sooner  it  passes  the  better. 

The  National  Convention  at  Nashville  in  November,  1914,  after  many  hours 
of  heated  discussion,  finally  adopted  a  resolution  that  it  should  be  the  policy 
of  the  association  to  "support  by  every  means  within  its  power  the  Anthony 
Amendment  and  to  support  such  other  legislation  as  the  National  Board  might 
authorize  to  the  end  that  the  Anthony  resolution  should  become  law."  (Min- 
utes, p.  26.)  At  the  convention  of  December,  1915,  in  Washington  it  was 
voted  that  the  last  year's  action  in  regard  to  the  Shafroth  Amendment  be 
rescinded;  that  the  association  re-indorse  the  Anthony  Amendment  and  that 
no  other  be  introduced  by  it  during  the  coming  year.  (Minutes,  page  43.) 
This  ended  the  matter  for  all  time. 


APPENDIX   TO    CHAPTER   XV. 

FROM   ADDRESS   OF   DR.    ANNA    HOWARD   SHAW    WHEN    RESIGNING    THE   PRESIDENCY 
OF  THE   NATIONAL  AMERICAN    WOMAN   SUFFRAGE   ASSOCIATION,   DEC.    15,    1915. 

After  a  brief  sketch  of  the  condition  of  the  world  after  a  year  and  a  half 
of  the  war  in  Europe,  the  address  continued: 

As  an  association  we  are  confronted  through  the  eternal  law  of  progress  by 
changes  in  our  methods  such  as  we  have  not  met  since  the  union  of  the  two 
national  societies  in  1890.  Our  enlarged  and  expanding  status  as  an  associa- 
tion, the  new  and  varied  duties  which  devolve  upon  us  and  the  innumerable 
demands  increasing  with  the  accumulation  of  means  and  workers  call  for  a 
new  kind  of  service  in  leadership.  Political  necessity  has  supplanted  the  re- 
form epoch  ;  the  reapers  of  the  harvest  have  replaced  the  ploughman  and  seed 
V..WIT,  each  equally  needed  in  the  process  of  the  cultivation  and  the  develop- 
ment of  an  ideal  as  in  the  harvest  of  the  land.  When  this  movement  began 
its  pioneers  were  reformers,  people  who  saw  a  vision  and  dreamed  dreams  of 
the  time  when  all  mankind  should  be  free  and  all  human  beings  have  an  equal 
opportunity  under  the  law.  Other  reformers  became  possessed  by  it,  and, 
following  it  in  the  spirit  of  Him  who  cried,  "I  was  not  disobedient  to  the 
Heavenly  vision,"  they  went  forth  proclaiming  it  to  the  world,  knowing  that 
misunderstanding,  misrepresentation  and  persecution  would  combine  to  make 
the  task  difficult.  It  was  not  that  they  sought  persecution  but  that  they  loved 
justice  and  freedom  more  than  escape  from  it — these  pioneers  of  the  greatest 
political  reform  which  history  recounts.  Year  after  year  the  task  has  been 
carried  forward  until  the  time  has  come  when  "new  occasions  teach  new 
duties,  time  makes  ancient  good  uncouth,"  and  the  idealist  and  the  reformer 
are  supplanted  in  our  movement  by  the  politician.  Our  cause  has  passed 
beyond  the  stage  of  academic  discussion  and  has  entered  the  realm  of  practical 
politics.  The  time  has  come  when  our  organized  machinery  must  be  political 
in  its  character  and  work  along  political  lines  directed  by  political  leaders.  .  .  . 

The  United  States  is  looked  upon  as  being  the  most  powerful  neutral  nation, 
which  with  its  high  human  ideal  is  the  best  equipped  to  present  its  good  offices 
in  mediation  between  the  warring  nations  of  the  East,  but  is  this  true?  What 
better  preparation  could  it  make  than  by  removing  from  within  its  own  borders 
the  very  cause  which  led  to  the  present  barbarous  conditions  across  the  sea? 
.  .  .  How  can  the  United  States,  in  any  spirit  of  a  truly  great  nation,  offer  its 
services  as  mediator  when  it  is  following  the  same  line  of  action  towards  its 
own  people?  How  can  it  plead  for  justice  in  the  East  when  it  denies  this  to 
its  own  women?  How  can  it  claim  that  written  agreements  between  nations 
are  binding  when  it  violates  the  fundamental  principles  of  its  own  National 


APPENDIX  75 1 

Constitution  which  declare  that  "the  right  of  the  citizen  to  vote  shall  not  be 
denied  or  abridged  by  the  United  States  or  any  State,"  and  for  forty-rive  years 
Congress  has  turned  a  deaf  ear  to  the  appeal  of  our  own  citizens  for  protec- 
tion under  this  law?  Is  it  true  that  the  United  States  Constitution  too  is  but 
a  "scrap  of  paper"  to  be  repudiated  at  will?  If,  as  a  mediator  of  justice,  we 
hold  out  our  hands  to  lift  other  nations  from  the  abyss  into  which  injustice 
has  plunged  them,  they  must  be  clean  hands.  Our  words  must  ring  true.  .  .  . 

Many  appeals  will  be  made  to  our  association  to  abandon  its  one  purpose 
of  securing  votes  for  women  and  turn  its  attention  and  organized  machinery 
to  the  real  or  imaginary  dangers  which  beset  us  as  a  nation,  but  let  us  never 
for  a  moment  forget  the  specious  promises  and  assurances  that  were  given" 
to  the  pioneers,  who,  when  the  Civil  War  took  place,  gave  up  their  associated 
work  and  turned  their  efforts  to  its  demand  in  the  belief  that  when  the  war 
was  over  the  country  would  recognize  their  patriotic  services  and  the  de- 
pendence of  the  nation  upon  women  in  war  as  in  peace  and  reward  them  with 
the  ballot,  the  crowning  symbol  of  citizenship.  But  instead  of  recognizing 
their  service  and  rewarding  the  loyal  women,  the  cry  went  forth :  "This  is  the 
negroes'  hour.  Let  the  women  wait" — and  they  are  still  waiting.  As  they  wait 
they  are  not  blind  to  the  fact  that  this  nation  did  what  no  other  nation  has 
ever  done,  when  it  voluntarily  made  its  former  slaves  the  sovereign  rulers  of 
its  loyal  and  patriotic  women. 

The  greatest  service  suffragists  can  render  their  country  and  through  it  the 
whole  world  at  this  time,  is  to  teach  it  that  there  is  no  sex  in  love  of  individual 
liberty  and  to  stand  without  faltering  by  their  demand  for  justice  and  equality 
of  political  rights  for  men  and  women. 

Dr.  Shaw  impressed  upon  the  workers,  especially  the  younger  ones,  not  to 
be  discouraged  at  what  seemed  slow  progress  and  said: 

It  has  been  the  privilege  of  your  president  to  participate  actively  in  twenty- 
four  out  of  twenty-seven  State  campaigns;  in  the  New  Hampshire  constitu- 
tional convention  campaign,  the  Wheeling  municipal  campaign  and  directly 
though  not  actively  in  all  the  others  except  that  of  Illinois.  The  vote  cast 
upon  the  amendments  but  inadequately  expresses  the  expanding  sentiment  in 
behalf  of  woman  suffrage  and  it  needs  only  consecrated,  persistent,  systematic 
service  to  reach  the  goal  and  complete  the  task  begun  by  the  pioneers  of  1848 
and  led  by  Susan  B.  Anthony  until  her  death  in  1906.  While  we  accept  as  our 
motto  her  last  public  utterance,  "Failure  is  impossible,"  we  must  also  remember 
her  prophetic  words,  uttered  just  before  she  laid  down  her  life  work:  "There 
is  nothing  which  can  ultimately  prevent  the  triumph  of  our  cause  but  the  time 
of  its  coming  depends  largely  upon  the  loyalty  and  devotion  of  those  who 
believe  in  it."  .  .  . 

While  recognizing  that  our  primary  object  is  to  secure  the  ballot  for  women 

citizens  and  that  as  an  organization  we  are  not  wedded  to  one  method  of 

obtaining  it  but  are  willing  to  adopt  any  just  plan  which  promises  success, 

nevertheless  until  a  better  way  is  found  we  will  seek  to  secure  an  amendment 

to  the  National  Constitution  prohibiting  disfranchisement  on  account  of  sex, 

and  at  the  same  time  will  appeal  to  the  States  that  by  their  action  a  sufficiently 

strong  support  may  be  given  to  the  Federal  Amendment  to  secure  its  adoption, 

unless  it  become  unnecessary  by  action  of  the  States  themselves.  .  .  .  We  must 

face  the  fact  that  large  bodies  of  our  new  recruits  know  practically  little  of 

the  history  of  the  suffrage  movement,  of  the  long  years  of  faithful  devotion 

and  the  wise  and  statesmanlike  service  which  have  brought  it  to  its  present 

successful   position.     These   recruits   are  attracted   by  new   and   spectacular 

methods,  are  impatient  of  delay  and  eagerly  follow  any  scheme  which  prom- 

to  "get  it  quick."  ...  If  we  analyze  the  nrinmimts  set  forth  by  these  most 

ardent  advocates  of  the  Federal  Constitutional  Amendment  as  the  only  means 

i  urintf  immediate  results  and  U-arn  upon  what  they  base  their  hopes  of 

has  been  shown  again  and  ai'ain.  that  every  one  of 

urce  in  the  enfranchised  States;  that  instead  of  State  hv  State 

.vastrful,  expensive  and  slow,"  it  is  the  foundation  ot  hope. 

ummt  in  In-half  of  th«-  wi-dorn  ..f  the  founders  of  our 


752  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

movement,  that  they  recognized  the  necessity  that  State  and  Federal  action 
must  go  together. 


ADDRESS    OF    MRS.    CARRIE   CHAPMAN    CATT    AT    SENATE    HEARING,    DEC.    1$, 

Mr.  Chairman  and  Gentlemen  of  the  Committee: 

Since  our  last  appeal  was  made  to  your  committee  a  vote  has  been  taken  in 
four  Eastern  States  upon  the  question  of  amending  their  constitutions  for 
woman  suffrage.  The  inaction  of  Congress  in  not  submitting  a  Federal 
amendment  naturally  leads  us  to  infer  that  members  believe  the  proper  method 
by  which  women  may  secure  the  vote  is  through  the  referendum.  We  found 
in  those  four  States  what  has  always  been  true  whenever  any  class  of  people 
have  asked  for  any  form  of  liberty  and  was  best  described  by  Macaulay  when 
he  said:  "ii  a  people  are  turbulent  they  are  uiiht  for  liberty;  if  they  are  quiet, 
they  do  not  want  it."  We  met  a  curious  dilemma.  On  the  one  hand  a  great 
many  men  voted  m  the  negative  because  women  in  Great  Britain  had  made  too 
emphatic  a  demand  for  the  vote.  Since  they  made  that  demand  it  is  reported 
that  10,000,000  men  have  been  killed,  wounded  or  are  missing  through  militant 
action,  but  all  of  that  is  held  as  naught  compared  with  the  burning  of  a  few 
vacant  buildings.  Evidently  the  logic  that  thc^e  American  men  followed  was: 
Since  some  turbulent  women  in  another  land  are  unlit  to  vote,  no  American 
woman  shall  vote.  There  was  no  reasoning  that  could  change  the  attitude  of 
those  men.  On  the  other  hand  the  great  majority  of  the  men  who  voted 
against  us,  as  well  as  the  great  majority  of  the  members  of  Legislatures  and 
Congress  who  oppose  this  movement,  hold  that  women  have  given  no  signal 
that  they  want  the  vote.  Between  the  horns  of  this  amazing  dilemma  the 
1'ederal  amendment  and  State  sulfrage  seem  to  be  caught  fast. 

So  those  oi  us  who  want  to  learn  how  to  obtain  the  vote  have  naturally 
asked  ourselves  over  and  over  again  what  kind  of  a  demand  can  be  made. 
U  e  get  nothing  by  "watchful  waiting"  and  if  we  are  turbulent  we  are  pro- 
nounced unlit  to  vote.  U  e  turned  to  history  to  learn  \vhat  kind  ol  a  demand 
the  men  of  our  own  country  made  and  determined  to  do  what  they  had  done. 
The  census  of  lyio  reported  27,000,000  males  over  21.  uf  these  9,500,000  are 
direct  descendants  of  the  population  of  1800;  2,458,873  are  negroes;  15,040,278 
are  aliens,  naturalized  or  descendants  of  naturalized  citizens  since  1800.  The 
last  two  classes  compose  two-thirds  ol  the  male  population  over  21.  The 
enfranchisement  of  negro  men  is  such  recent  history  that  it  is  unnecessary  to 
repeat  here  that  they  made  no  demand  for  the  vote.  1  he  naturalization  laws 
give  citizenship  to  any  man  who  chooses  to  make  a  residence  of  this  country 
for  rive  years  and  automatically  every  man  who  is  a  citizen  becomes  a  voter 
in  the  State  of  his  residence.  In  the  115  years  since  1800  not  one  single 
foreigner  has  ever  been  asked  whether  he  wanted  the  vote  or  whether  he  was 
fit  for  it  —  it  has  literally  been  thrust  upon  him.  Two-thirds  of  our  men  of 
voting  age  today  have  not  only  made  no  demand  for  the  vote  but  they  have 
never  been  asked  to  give  any  evidence  of  capacity  to  use  it  intelligently. 

\\  e  turned  again  to  history  to  see  how  the  men  who  lived  in  this  country 
in  1800  got  their  votes.  At  that  time  8  per  cent,  of  the  total  population  were 
voters  in  New  York  as  compared  with  25  per  cent.  now.  There  was  a  struggle 
in  all  the  colonial  States  to  broaden  the  suffrage.  New  York  seemed  always 
to  have  lagged  behind  the  others  and  therefore  it  forms  a  good  example,  it 
was  next  to  the  last  State  to  remove  the  land  qualification  and  it  was  not  a 
leader  in  the  extension  of  the  suffrage  to  any  class. 

In  1740  the  British  Parliament  disqualified  the  Catholics  for  naturalization 
in  this  country.  That  enactment  had  been  preceded  in  several  of  the  States 
by  their  definite  disfranchisement.  In  1699  they  were  disfranchised  by  an 
Act  of  the  Assembly  of  New  York.  Although  the  writers  on  the  early  fran- 
chise say  that  Jews  were  not  permitted  to  vote  anywhere  in  this  country  in 
1701,  as  they  certainly  were  not  in  England,  yet  occasionally  they  apparently 
did  so.  In  New  York  that  year  there  was  a  definite  enactment  disfranchising 
them.  In  1737  the  Assembly  passed  another  disfranchising  Act.  Catholics  and 
Jews  were  disfranchised  in  most  States.  It  is  interesting  to  learn  how  they 
became  enfranchised.  One  would  naturally  suppose  that  together  or  sepa- 


APPENDIX  753 

rately  they  would  make  some  great  demand  for  political  equality  with 
Protestants  but  there  is  no  record  that  they  did.  1  rind  that  the  reason  wiiy 
our  country  became  so  liberal  to  them  was  not  because  there  was  any  demand 
on  their  part  and  not  because  there  was  any  special  advocacy  of  their  en- 
franchisement by  statesmen,  it  was  due  to  the  fact  that  in  the  Revolution, 
Great  Britain,  having  difficulty  with  the  American  colonies  on  the  south  side 
of  the  St.  Lawrence  River,  did  as  every  belligerent  country  does  and  tried  to 
hold  Canada  by  granting  her  favors.  In  order  to  make  the  Canadian  colonies 
secure  against  revolution  the  British  Parliament,  which  had  previously  dis- 
franchised the  Catholics  and  the  Jews,  now  extended  a  vote  to  them.  The 
American  Constitution  makers  could  not  do  less  than  Great  Britain  had  done, 
and  so  in  every  one  of  the  thirteen  States  they  were  guaranteed  political 
equality  with  Protestants. 

The  next  great*  movement  was  the  elimination  of  the  land  qualification  and 
on  this  we  lind  that  history  is  practically  silent.  In  Connecticut  and  Rhode 
Island  a  small  petition  was  presented  to  the  Assembly  asking  for  its  removal. 
In  .New  York  in  the  constitutional  convention  of  1821  when  some  members 
advocated  its  removal  others  asked,  "Where  is  the  demand?  Who  wants  to 
vote  that  has  no  land?"  The  answer  was  that  there  had  been  some  meetings 
in  New  York  in  behalf  of  removing  this  qualification.  No  one  of  them  had 
seen  such  a  meeting  but  some  members  had  heard  that  a  few  had  been  held 
in  the  central  districts  of  the  State.  This  constitutes  the  entire  demand  that 
has  been  made  by  the  men  of  our  country  for  the  vote. 

In  contrast  we  may  ask  what  have  women  done?  Again  I  may  say  that  New 
York  is  a  fair  example  because  it  is  the  largest  of  the  States  in  population 
and  has  the  second  city  in  size  in  the  world  and  occupies  perhaps  the  most 
important  position  in  any  land  in  which  a  suffrage  referendum  has  been  taken. 
\\  omen  held  during  the  six  months  prior  to  the  election  in  1915,  10,300  meet- 
ings. They  printed  and  circulated  7,500,000  leaflets  or  three-and-a-half  for 
every  voter.  These  leaflets  weighed  more  than  twenty  tons.  They  had  770 
treasuries  in  the  State  among  the  different  groups  doing  suffrage  work  and 
every  bookkeeper  except  two  was  a  volunteer.  Women  by  the  thousands  con- 
tributed to  the  funds  of  that  campaign,  in  one  group  12,000  public  school 
teachers.  On  election  day  6,330  women  watched  at  the  polls  from  5  145  in  the 
morning  until  after  the  vote  was  counted.  I  was  on  duty  myself  from  5  130 
until  midnight.  There  were  2,500  campaign  officers  in  the  State  who  gave 
their  time  without  pay.  The  publicity  features  were  more  numerous  and 
unique  than  any  campaign  of  men  or  women  had  ever  had.  They  culminated 
in  a  parade  in  New  York  City  which  was  organized  without  any  effort  to 
secure  women  outside  the  city  to  participate  in  it,  yet  20,000  marched  through 
Pifth  Avenue  to  give  some  idea  of  the  size  of  their  demand  for  the  vote. 

U  hat  was  the  result?  If  we  take  the  last  announcement  from  the  board  of 
elections  the  suffrage  amendment  received  535,ooo  votes — 2,000  more  than  the 
total  vote  of  the  nine  States  where  women  now  have  suffrage  through  a 
referendum.  It  was  not  submitted  in  Wyoming,  Utah  or  Illinois.  Yet  New 
York  suffragists  did  not  win  because  the  opponents  outvoted  them.  How  did 
this  happen?  Why  did  not  such  evidence  of  a  demand  win  the  vote?  Because 
the  unscrupulous  men  of  the  State  worked  and  voted  against  woman  suf- 
frage, aided  and  abetted  by  the  weakminded  and  illiterate,  who  are  permitted 
a  vote  in  New  York.  In  Rochester  the  male  inmates  of  the  almshouse  and 
home  were  taken  out  to  vote  against  the  amendment.  Men  too  drunk 
•AH  names  voted  all  over  the  State,  for  drunkards  may  vote  in 
In  many  of  the  polling  places  the  women  watchers  reported  that 
throughout  the  entire  day  not  one  came  to  vote  who  did  not  have  to  be 
•  1;  they  did  not  know  enough  to  cast  their  own  vote. 

Those  are  some  of  the  conditions  women  must  overcome  in  a  referendum, 
ually  be  carried  e.  \v  York  but  we  believe  we  have 

made  all  the  sacrifices  which  a  just  Government  ought  to  expect  of  us.  Even 
the  1-ederal  Amendment  is  difficult  enough,  with  ili«  >n  of  36  Legis- 

latures rt quired,  hut  we  r,ay  at  lea  t  appeal  in  a  liii-lu-r  class  of  men.  We 
were  obliged  t"  ir  campaign  in  twenty-four  different  languages.  .  .  . 

It  is  too  unfair  and  humiliating  treatment  of  American  women  to  compel 


754  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

us  to  appeal  to  the  men  of  all  nations  of  the  earth  for  the  vote  which  has 
been  so  freely  and  cheaply  given  to  them.  We  believe  we  ought  to  have  the 
benefit  of  the  method  provided  by  the  Federal  Constitution. 


APPENDIX    TO    CHAPTER   XVII. 

HEADQUARTERS    OF    THE    NATIONAL    AMERICAN    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE    ASSOCIATION. 

During  the  early  years  of  the  movement  for  woman  suffrage  the  headquar- 
ters were  in  the  home  of  Miss  Susan  B.  Anthony,  in  Rochester,  N.  Y.  In 
1890  her  strong  desire  to  have  a  center  for  work  and  social  features  in  Wash- 
ington was  fulfilled  by  the  National  Association's  renting  two  large  rooms 
in  the  club  house  of  Wimodaughsis,  a  newly  formed  stock  company  of  women 
for  having  classes  and  lectures  on  art,  science,  literature  and  domestic  and 
political  economy,  with  Dr.  Anna  Howard  Shaw  president.  It  did  not  prove 
to  be  permanent,  however,  and  in  two  years  the  association  had  to  give  up  the 
rooms  and  the  work  went  back  to  Rochester,  where  much  of  it  had  continued 
to  be  done. 

In  October,  1895,  when  Mrs.  Carrie  Chapman  Catt  became  chairman  of  the 
Organization  Committee,  she  opened  headquarters  in  one  room  of  her  hus- 
band's offices  in  the  World  Building,  New  York  City.  At  the  same  time  Miss 
Anthony,  with  a  gift  of  $1,000  from  Mrs.  Louisa  Southworth  of  Cleveland, 
had  Mrs.  Rachel  Foster  A  very,  national  corresponding  secretary,  open  head- 
quarters in  Philadelphia,  with  Miss  Nicolas  Shaw  as  secretary.  Both  acts 
were  endorsed  by  the  Business  Committee  of  the  association.  At  the  next 
convention  Mrs.  Avery  recommended  that  the  Philadelphia  headquarters  be 
removed  to  those  of  New  York.  This  was  done  April  i,  1897;  two  large 
rooms  were  rented  in  the  World  Building  and  all  the  work  of  the  association 
except  the  treasurer's  and  the  convention  business  was  transacted  here.  For 
six  years  the  national  headquarters,  in  charge  of  Mrs.  Catt,  remained  in  New 
York.  In  May,  1903,  they  were  removed  to  Warren,  Ohio,  near  Cleveland, 
and  Mrs.  Harriet  Taylor  Upton,  national  treasurer,  took  charge  of  them,  with 
Miss  Elizabeth  J.  Hauser,  executive  secretary.  Here  they  were  beautifully 
housed,  first  in  the  parlors  of  an  old  mansion  and  later  on  the  ground  floor 
of  the  county  court  house  where  formerly  was  the  public  library.  In  1909, 
partly  through  the  contribution  of  Mrs.  Oliver  H.  P.  Belmont,  they  were 
returned  to  New  York  City  and  with  the  New  York  State  Association  occupied 
the  entire  seventeenth  floor  of  a  large,  new  office  building,  505  Fifth  Avenue, 
corner  of  42nd  Street.  When  Mrs.  Catt  again  became  president  the  work  of 
the  association  had  outgrown  even  these  commodious  headquarters  and  in 
January,  1916,  the  fourteenth  floor,  with  much  more  space,  was  taken  in  an 
office  building  at  171  Madison  Avenue,  corner  of  33rd  Street.  In  March,  1917, 
the  Leslie  Commission  opened  its  Bureau  of  Suffrage  Education  in  this  build- 
ing and  the  two  organizations  occupied  two  floors  with  a  staff  of  fifty  persons. 
On  May  I,  1920,  their  work  was  concentrated  on  one  floor,  as  the  great  task 
of  securing  complete,  universal  suffrage  for  the  women  of  the  United  States 
was  almost  finished. 

Branch  Headquarters :  In  January,  1914,  branch  headquarters  were  opened 
in  the  Munsey  Building  on  Pennsylvania  Avenue  in  Washington  for  the  work 


APPENDIX  755 

of  the  association's  Congressional  Committee.  They  continued  there  until 
the  effort  to  obtain  a  Federal  Amendment  became  of  such  magnitude  as  to 
require  a  great  deal  more  room  and  in  December,  1916,  a  large  house  was 
taken  at  1626  Rhode  Island  Avenue,  just  off  of  Scott  Circle  [see  page  632]. 
This  was  occupied  by  the  committee,  national  officers,  the  lobbyists  and  other 
workers  until  July,  1919,  when  the  amendment  had  been  submitted  by  Congress. 
The  first  headquarters  in  a  business  building  in  1895  had  been  rented  for  $15 
a  month ;  the  last  year's  rent  for  the  headquarters  in  New  York  and  Wash- 
ington was  $17,500. 

BEQUEST  OF   MRS.   FRANK   LESLIE. 

Mrs.  Frank  Leslie,  long  at  the  head  of  the  Leslie  publications  in  New  York 
City,  died  Sept.  18,  1914,  leaving  a  will  which  made  the  following  provisions : 

All  the  rest,  residue  and  remainder  of  my  estate,  whatsoever  and  whereso- 
ever situate,  whereof  I  may  be  seized  or  possessed,  or  to  which  I  may  be  in 
any  manner  entitled  at  the  time  of  my  death,  including  the  amount  of  any 
legacies  hereinbefore  given  which  may  for  any  reason  lapse  or  fail,  I  do  give, 
devise  and  bequeath  unto  my  friend,  Mrs.  Carrie  Chapman  Catt  of  the  city 
of  New  York.  It  is  my  expectation  and  wish  that  she  turn  all  of  my  said 
residuary  estate  into  cash,  and  apply  the  whole  thereof  as  she  shall  think  most 
advisable  to  the  furtherance  of  the  cause  of  Women's  Suffrage,  to  which  she 
has  so  worthily  devoted  so  many  years  of  her  life,  and  that  she  shall  make 
suitable  provision,  so  that  in  case  of  her  death  any  balance  thereof  remaining 
unexpended  may  be  applied  and  expended  in  the  same  way ;  but  this  expression 
of  my  wish  and  expectation  is  not  to  be  taken  as  creating  any  trust  or  as  limit- 
ing or  affecting  the  character  of  the  gift  to  her,  which  I  intend  to  be  absolute 
and  unrestricted. 

Mrs.  Leslie  had  previously  made  two  wills  of  a  similar  character.  The 
estate  was  appraised  at  $1,800,000  in  stocks,  bonds  and  real  estate.  There  was 
an  immense  inheritance  tax  to  be  paid  and  harassing  litigation  was  at  once  be- 
gun and  continued.  It  was  not  until  the  winter  of  1917  that  the  executors 

:enced  a  distribution  of  the  funds.  Mrs.  Catt  incorporated  the  Leslie 
Woman  Suffrage  Commission,  which  has  received  and  expended  all  monies 
realized  from  the  estate.  They  were  a  large  factor  in  the  legitimate  expendi- 
tures for  obtaining  the  submission  of  the  Federal  Suffrage  Amendment  from 
Congress  and  its  ratification  by  36  State  Legislatures.  They  were  also  of 
great  assistance  in  the  campaigns  of  the  last  years  to  secure  the  amendments 

;tte  constitutions,  which  required  organizers,  speakers,  printing,  postage, 
;ibutions  have  been  made  to  w -MUM'S  struggle  for  the  f  ram  hi  «  in 
other  countries. 


APPENDIX   TO   CHAPTER   XIX. 

I    NATIONAL  AMERICAN   WOMAN   SUFFRAGE  ASSOCIATION, 
ORGANIZED  IN    1869. 

Acting  on  the  plan  adopted  at  the  last  convention  of  the  National  Ann 

Asso«  -'"  in   I  rl>iu:iry,  1920,  Mrs.  Carrie  Chaprr  presi- 

dent, issued  a  call  for  a  meeting  of  tli<  I  ("oiinril  in  !  :ler  at 

.::„.  ,,f  tli-  i "ii  <-f  tlic  National  LcaRuc  of  \\ 


HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

Voters  iii  Cleveland,  Ohio.  The  meeting  took  place  at  10  a.  m.,  April  13,  1921, 
Mrs.  Catt  in  the  chair.  She  made  a  report  of  the  receipts  and  disbursements 
of  the  Leslie  l-und,  saying  that  as  soon  as  tiie  estate  was  hnally  settled  siie 
would  render  a  detailed  statement.  She  said  there  were  reasons  why  the 
association  should  not  at  this  time  be  dissolved  and  gave  them  as  follows : 

(i>  Legal  attacks  on  the  federal  Amendment  are  still  pending  and  there  are 
attempts  to  secure  submission  of  a  repeal  to  the  voters.  The  association  must 
remain  till  no  iurther  efforts  are  made  to  invalidate  the  amendment. 

(2)  The  necessity  of  some  authority  to  give  advice  and  to  help  our  de- 
pendencies wnere  suffrage  campaigns  are  pending. 

(3;  Several  bequests,  delayed  because  estates  are  not  settled,  also  require 
the  continuation  of  the  association. 

Ihe  Chair  stated  that  the  incorporation  does  not  expire  till  1940.  Conven- 
tions of  elected  delegates  are  no  longer  feasible  and,  therefore,  continuation 
without  conventions  should  be  provided  for  in  an  amended  constitution,  such 
amendments  to  be  continued  by  the  Executive  Council. 

It  was  unanimously  agreed  that  the  association  be  continued  and  on  motion 
01  Airs.  Catharine  U  augh  McCulioch,  attorney,  of  Chicago,  it  was  voted  that 
the  Chair  appoint  two  other  members  ol  the  Council  to  co-operate  with  her  in 
revising  the  constitution  in  acordance  with  the  new  arrangement.  She  ap- 
pointed Alii.  AlcLulioch  and  Airs.  Aettie  Rogers  Shuler,  the  corresponding 
secretary  oi  the  association. 

The  report  of  the  national  treasurer  from  Jan.  I,  1920,  to  March  31,  luji, 
showed  that  ^1^,451  had  been  used  lor  Uie  expenses  connected  with  the  ratihca- 
tion  in  eleven  diihcult  States;  the  headquarters  had  been  maintained,  legal 
ices  paid;  the  expenses  of  the  Chicago  convention  met;  dehcit  of  the  .Na- 
tional Vv  oman  bull  rage  i'ublishing  Co.  paid;  printing  and  other  bills  settled, 
and  a  balance  of  ^J,534  remained  in  the  treasury. 

The  General  Ollicers  had  been  re-elected  in  Chicago  to  serve  until  the  end. 
At  the  present  meeting  the  Directors,  whose  term  of  oflice  had  expired,  were 
re-elected  to  serve  continuously,  except  Mrs.  Arthur  L.  Livermore,  whose 
resignation  was  accepted  and  Airs.  Harriet  Taylor  Upton  was  chosen  to  lill  the 
vacancy.  It  was  voted  that  tiie  League  of  Women  Voters  be  asked  to  take  the 
place  of  tiie  .National  Suffrage  Association  as  auxiliary  to  the  international 
Woman  Suffrage  Alliance;  also  that  the  association  no  longer  continue  as 
auxiliary  of  the  National  Council  of  Women  of  the  United  States. 

Brief  remarks  were  made  by  delegates  present  and  enthusiastic  appreciation 
was  expressed  ol  the  action  of  the  Tennessee  Legislature  in  giving  the  joth 
ratihcation  of  the  federal  Suffrage  Amendment.  Mrs.  Catt  closed  the  meeting 
with  advice  to  the  delegates  to  put  their  State  records,  literature,  etc.,  into 
libraries  for  preservation  and  she  urged  the  necessity  of  the  best  training  for 
their  new  responsibilities,  reminding  them  that  the  duty  would  always  rest  on 
women  to  conserve  civilization. 


The  committee,  consisting  of  Mrs.  Catt,  Mrs.  Shuler  and  Mrs.  McCulioch, 
recommended  the  adoption  of  an  abridged  constitution  with  the  elimination  of 
all  the  by-laws  and  articles  of  the  old  one  which  were  now  unnecessary.  The 
Board  could  incur  no  financial  obligations  beyond  the  assets  in  their  hands; 
they  could  lill  vacancies  caused  by  death  or  resignation  as  heretofore;  adopt 


APPENDIX  757 

such  rules  for  their  meetings  as  they  deemed  proper  and  amend  the  constitu- 
tion hy  a  two-thirds  vote.  The  Board  should  continue  to  consist  of  nine 
officers  and  eicrht  directors,  with  the  nower  to  summon  the  Executive  Council. 
This  Council  should  comprise  the  Board  and  the  presidents  and  executive 
members  of  State  auxiliaries  as  they  existed  in  1020.  The  name  of  the  asso- 
ciation would  he  retained. 

The  abridged  constitution  was  sent  to  every  memher  of  the  Council  to  he 
voted  on. 


The  Executive  Council  was  called  to  meet  at  the  headquarters  of  the  Na- 
tional American  Woman  Suffrage  Association  in  New  York  at  10:30  a.m., 
Tune  22,  TO?T.  for  final  action  on  the  new  constitution.  Mrs.  Catt  presided  and 
Mrs.  T.ewis  J.  Cox,  State  executive  memher  from  Indiana,  acted  as  secretary. 
Tt  was  voted  that  the  following  sentence  he  added  to  the  objects  of  the  asso- 
ciation: "To  remove  as  far  as  it  is  possible  all  discriminations  against  women 
on  account  of  sex."  Sixty-six  of  the  eighty-two  members  of  the  Council 
having  voted  in  the  affirmative  and  none  in  the  negative  the  constitution  was 
declared  to  be  legally  adopted. 


APPENDIX  TO  CHAPTER  XTX. 

DEATH  OF  DR.   ANNA  HOWARD  SHAW. 

Tt  is  literally  true  tint  a  nation  mourned  the  death  of  Anna  TToward  Shaw. 
Having  lectured  from  ocean  to  ocean  for  several  decades  she  was  universally 
known  and  there  were  few  newspapers  which  did  not  contain  a  sympathetic 
editorial  on  her  public  and  personal  life.  Telegrams  were  received  at  her 
home  from  all  parts  of  the  world  and  the  letters  were  almost  beyond  counting. 
Eriend  and  foe  alike  yielded  to  the  unsurpassed  charm  of  her  personality  and 
the  rare  qualities  of  her  mind  and  heart. 

Tn   Eehruary.    TQIO,  the   Woman's   Council   of  National   Defense,  of  which 

Dr.  Shaw  had  been  chairman  since  its  brcrinning  in  April,  1017,  dissolved  with 

•firs   ended.     Eor  the  pa  t    tw«>   years   she  h.?d    practically   given    up  her 

platform  work  for  woman   sufTrace.  then  at  its  most  critical  stair  with  the 

Federal  Amendment  pending.     Now  she  had  made  a  large  number  of  sneaking 

cneairemrnts  for  the  spring  in  its  behalf  and  had  accepted  the  invitation  of 

Thomas,  president  of  Bryn  Mawr  College,  to  be  her  guest  on  a 

trip  to  Spain  afterwards.     T  was  put  aside  when  in   May  came  an 

from  former  President  Taft  :dent  T.owell.  of  TT.'- 

.   to  join  them  in  a  speaking  tour  of    fourteen    States   from   New 
Hampshire  to  Kansas  to  arouse  sentiment  in  favor  of  th<  f  Nations 

as  a  means  of  assuring  peace  forevermore.     She  was  to  speak  but  oner  a  day 
but  she  could  n«--t  T'  'he  different  ntirs  and  it  became  four 

or  five  tin  At  Tndianapolis  <;he  made  ive  interview 

•imei.     The  iv  «trirkm  with  pneir 

and  W.T*  in  tin-  hr.epital  '  r  her 

home  in  Movl 
and  companion,  Lucy  Anthony,  who  ^a-'  -id  wl)->  v 


75$  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

friends:  "She  made  the  journey  without  even  a  rise  of  temperature,  found 
the  house  all  bright  with  sunshine  and  flowers  and  was  the  happiest  person  in 
the  world  to  be  at  home  again."  She  seemed  to  recover  entirely  but  on  June 
30  had  a  sudden  relapse  and  died  at  7  o'clock  on  the  evening  of  July  2. 

DR.   SHAW'S  TRIBUTE  TO  THE  AMERICAN  FLAG,  GIVEN    MANY  TIMES. 

"This  is  the  American  flag.  It  is  a  piece  of  bunting  and  why  is  it  that,  when 
it  is  surrounded  by  the  flags  of  all  other  nations,  your  eyes  and  mine  turn  first 
toward  it  and  there  is  a  warmth  at  our  hearts  such  as  we  do  not  feel  when  we 
gaze  on  any  other  flag?  It  is  not  because  of  the  beauty  of  its  colors,  for  the 
flags  of  England  and  France  which  hang  beside  it  have  the  same  colors.  It  is 
not  because  of  its  artistic  beauty,  for  other  flags  are  as  artistic.  It  is  because 
you  and  I  see  in  that  piece  of  bunting  what  we  see  in  no  other.  It  is  not  visible 
to  the  human  eye  but  it  is  to  the  human  soul. 

"We  see  in  every  stripe  of  red  the  blood  which  has  been  shed  through  the 
centuries  by  men  and  women  who  have  sacrificed  their  lives  for  the  idea  of 
democracy;  we  see  in  every  stripe  of  white  the  purity  of  the  democratic  ideal 
toward  which  all  the  world  is  tending,  and  in  every  star  in  its  field  of  blue 
we  see  the  hope  of  mankind  that  some  day  the  democracy  which  that  bit  of 
bunting  symbolizes  shall  permeate  the  lives  of  men  and  nations,  and  we  love 
it  because  it  enfolds  our  ideals  of  human  freedom  and  justice." 


In  1917.  "It  is  because  we  love  our  country  so  much  and  because  we  are  so 
anxious  to  give  ourselves  entirely  to  the  great  service  of  winning  the  war,  that 
we  want  the  freedom  of  American  women  now.  We  suffragists  would  be 
thrice  traitors  if  at  this  time  of  the  great  struggle  of  the  world  for  democracy 
we  should  fail  to  ask  for  the  fundamental  principles  here  which  America  is 
trying  to  help  bring  to  other  countries." 


When  Dr.  Shaw  received  the  Distinguished  Service  Medal  from  Secretary 
of  War  Baker  she  said:  "I  realize  that  in  conferring  upon  me  the  Distin- 
guished Service  Medal,  the  President  and  the  Secretary  of  War  are  not  ex- 
pressing their  appreciation  of  what  I  as  an  individual  have  done  but  of  the 
collective  service  of  the  women  of  the  county.  As  it  is  impossible  to  decorate 
all  women  who  have  served  equally  with  the  Chairman  of  the  Woman's  Com- 
mittee, I  have  been  chosen,  and  while  I  appreciate  the  honor  and  am  prouder 
to  wear  this  decoration  than  to  receive  any  other  recognition  save  my  political 
freedom,  which  is  the  first  desire  of  a  loyal  American,  I  nevertheless  look 
upon  this  as  the  beginning  of  the  recognition  by  the  country  of  the  service  and 
loyalty  of  women,  and  above  all  that  the  part  women  are  called  upon  to  take 
in  times  of  war  is  recognized  as  equally  necessary  in  times  of  peace.  This 
departure  on  the  part  of  the  national  government  through  the  President  and 
Secretary  of  War  gives  the  greater  promise  of  the  time  near  at  hand  when 
every  citizen  of  the  United  States  will  be  esteemed  a  government  asset  because 
of  his  or  her  loyalty  and  service  rather  than  because  of  sex." 


Dr.  Shaw  was  a  valued  member  of  the  executive  committee  of  the 
League  to  Enforce  Peace,  under  whose  auspices  she  was  making  the  tour  with 
former  President  Taft  and  President  Lowell  of  Harvard  University,  and  it 
sent  her  a  transcript  of  her  speech  to  revise  for  publication.  This  she  did 
on  the  last  Sunday  of  her  life  and  the  committee  prepared  tens  of  thousands 
of  copies  of  it  for  circulation.  It  was  entitled  What  the  War  Meant  to 


APPENDIX  759 

Women  and  mere  extracts  can  give  little  idea  of  its  strength  and  beauty. 
After  speaking  of  the  Woman's  Committee  of  the  Council  of  National 
Defense,  the  Peace  Treaty  and  President  Wilson's  declaration  that  the  United 
States  did  not  want  any  material  advantage  out  of  the  war,  she  ended: 

\\hile  Mr.  Wilson  declared  we  want  nothing  out  of  the  war,  I  said  in  my 
own  heart:  "It  may  be  that  we  want  nothing  material  out  of  the  war,  but,  oh, 
we  want  the  biggest  thing  that  has  ever  come  to  the  world — we  want  Peace 
now  and  Peace  forever."  If  we  cannot  get  that  peace  out  of  this  war  what 
hope  is  there  that  it  will  ever  come  to  humanity?  Was  there  ever  such  a 
chance  offered  to  the  world  before?  Was  there  ever  a  time  when  the  peoples 
of  all  nations  looked  towards  America  as  they  are  looking  to-day  because  of 
our  unselfishness  in  our  dealings  with  them  during  the  war?  We  have  not 
always  been  unselfish  but  we  have  been  in  this  war. 

The  war  is  over  as  far  as  the  fighting  is  concerned  but  it  is  only  begun  as 
far  as  the  life  of  the  people  is  concerned.  What  would  there  be  of  inspiration 
to  them  to  come  back  to  their  ruined  homes  and  build  up  again  their  cities  if 
within  a  few  years  the  same  thing  could  be  repeated  and  homes  destroyed  and 
cities  devastated,  the  people  outraged  and  made  slaves  as  they  have  been  ? 

Men  and  women,  they  are  looking  to  us  as  the  hope  of  the  world  and  when- 
ever I  gaze  on  our  flag,  whenever  I  look  on  those  stars  on  their  field  of  blue 
and  those  stripes  of  red  and  white,  I  say  to  myself:  "I  do  not  wonder  that 
when  that  flag  went  over  the  trenches  and  surmounted  the  barriers,  the  people 
of  the  world  took  heart  of  hope.  It  was  then  that  they  began  to  feel  they 
could  unite  with  us  in  some  sort  of  security  for  the  future.  And  that  flag 
means  so  much  to  me.  I  never  look  on  its  stars  but  that  I  see  in  every  star 
the  hope  that  must  stir  the  peoples  of  the  old  world  when  they  think  of  us 
and  the  power  we  have  of  helping  to  lead  them  up  to  a  place  where  they  may 
hope  for  their  children  and  for  their  children's  children  the  things  that  have 
not  come  to  them."  .  .  . 

\Ve  women,  the  mothers  of  the  race,  have  given  everything,  have  suffered 

•hing,  have  sacrificed  everything  and  we  say  to  you  now:  "The  time  is 

come  when  we  will  no  longer  sit  quietly  by  and  bear  and  rear  sons  to  die  at 

ill  «f  a  few  nion.     We  will  not  endure  it.     We  demand  either  that  you 

shall  do  something  to  prevent  war  or  that  we  shall  be  permitted  to  try  to  do 

•hing  ourselves."     Could  there  be  any  cowardice,  could  there  be  any  in- 

nld  there  be  any  wrong,  greater  than  for  men  to  refuse  to  hear  the 

woman  expressing  the  will  of  women  at  the  peace  tahle  of  the  world 

and  then  not  provide  a  way  by  which  the  women  of  the  future  shall  not  be 

1  of  their  sons  as  the  women  of  the  past  have  been? 

<>k  for  support.     We  look  for  your  support  hack  of 
:>.nd    from   this   day   until   the   day   wlicn   the  League  of   Nations   is 
nd  ratified  by  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  it  should  be  the  duty 
man  and  every  woman  to  sec  that   the  Senators   from  their  State 
.vill  i.f  the  people:  know  tint  the  people  will  that  something  shall  be 
tluai'jh  not  perfect;  that  there  shall  he  a  heginningjrom  which  we 
rc  perfect  by  and  by:  that  the  will  of  the  people 
-hnll  1-r  accepted  ami  that  if.  in  the  Senate  of  the  ! 
•i   so  blinded  hy  pr>  ire   for  present   ;»dv;uit.< 

blinded  by  personal  pique  and  narrowness  of  vision,  that  they  cannot  see  the 
whirh  involve  the  nations  of  the  world,  then  the  people  of  the 
C  to  it  that  other  men  sit  in  the  seats  of  the  highest. 


In  ihr  heautiful  Memorial  i^m-d  hv  the  P,«.:ml  of  Director*  of  the  National 

Tinfr  trilnifrs   from  • 

who  were  officially  associated  with  her   for  m.>.  AmonR  the  many 

from  eminent  men  and  women  which  were  reproduced  in  the  Memorial  were 
the  following: 


760  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

It  was  not  my  privilege  to  know  Dr.  Sliaw  until  the  later  years  of  her  life 
but  I  had  the  advantage  then  of  seeing  her  in  many  lights.  I  saw  her  acting 
with  such  vigor  and  intelligence  in  the  service  of  the  Government,  and, 
through  the  Government,  of  mankind,  as  to  win  my  warmest  admiration.  T 
had  already  had  occasion  to  see  the  extraordinary  quality  of  her  clear  and 
effective  mind  and  to  know  how  powerful  and  persuasive  an  advocate  she  was. 
When  the  war  came  I  saw  her  in  action  and  she  won  my  sincere  admiration 
and  homage. 

WOODROW  WILSON, 
President  of  the  United  States. 

(President  and  Mrs.  Wilson,  who  were  on  the  way  home  from  France,  sent 
a  wireless  message  of  sympathy  and  a  handsome  floral  tribute  from  the  White 
House,) 

The  world  is  infinitely  poorer  by  the  death  of  so  great  and  good  a  woman. 

THOMAS  R.  MARSHALL, 
Vice-President  of  the  United  States. 

Dr.  Anna  Howard  Shaw  was  a  member  of  the  Fxecutive  Committee  of  the 
League  to  Fnforce  Peace.  She  was  constant  in  her  attendance,  full  of  sugges- 
tion and  earnest  in  support  of  the  cause.  Tt  was  my  great  pleasure  to  speak 
with  her  from  many  a  platform  in  favor  of  the  League  and  to  enjoy  the  very 
great  privilege  of  listening  to  her  persuasive  eloquence  and  her  genial  wit  and 
humor,  which  she  always  used  to  enforce  her  arguments.  She  thought 
nothing  of  the  sacrifice  she  had  to  make  and  was  only  intent  upon  the  con- 
summation of  our  purpose.  She  was  a  remarkable  woman.  I  deeply  regret 
her  death.  There  were  many  avenues  of  great  usefulness  which  a  continuance 
of  her  life  would  have  enabled  her  to  pursue.  Her  going  is  a  great  loss  to 
the  community. 

WILLIAM  HOWARD  TAFT, 
President  of  the  League  to  Fnforce  Peace. 

I  desire  officially  to  pay  tribute  to  the  passing  of  Dr.  Shaw.  Aside  from  her 
epic  contribution  to  the  cause  of  progressive  American  womanhood  it  is  in  no 
sense  perfunctory  to  say  that  whether  in  war  time  Washington,  organizing 
and  directing  the  eighteen  thousand  units  of  the  Woman'*  Committee  of 
National  Defense,  or  with  indomitable  courage  and  power  going  up  and  down 
the  country  pleading  great  public  causes  relating  to  the  war.  this  woman  of 
seventy  years  was  an  inspiration  to  all  of  us  There  was  no  one  in  American 
life  who  epitomized  more  finely  Roosevelt's  philosophy  that  in  the  public  arena 
otie  must  to  the  uttermost  spend  and  be  spent.  Tt  was  a  magnificent  and  en- 
during trail  that  Dr.  Shaw  blazed.  Everywhere  her  endeavors  had  the  im- 
personal and  unselfish  touch  that  marks  the  great  protagonist  of  new  ideals 
She  was  a  gallant  and  stirrine  figure  in  the  history  of  this  country  and  leaves 
the  government  of  the  United  States  distinctly  in  hrr  debt. 

GROSVF.NOR  B.  CLARK  SON, 
Director  United  States  Council  National  Defense. 

As  a  member  of  the  Council  of  National  Defense  T  wish  to  express  my 
very  sincere  appreciation  of  the  patriotic  service  that  Dr.  Shaw  rendered  dur- 
ing the  past  two  years,  the  magnitude  of  which  cannot  be  appreciated  except 
by  those  intimately  familiar  with  it.  Her  distinguished  service  medal  was 
well  earned. 

FRANKLIN  K.  LANE, 
Secretary  of  the  Interior. 

I  hardly  know  how  to  write  you  about  the  death  of  our  dear  Anna  Howard 
Shaw.  She  has  been  such  a  tower  of  strength  to  our  cause  everywhere  _and 
now  her  place  knows  her  no  more!  There  is  one  comfort  in  that  she  lived 
Jong  enough  to  know  of  the  triumph  of  your  cause  in  the  passage  of  the 


APPENDIX  761 

Federal  Amendment.  She  will  be  sorely  missed  and  deeply  mourned,  first 
and  foremost  in  America  and  Great  Britain,  but  really  all  over  the  world,  in 
every  country  where  woman's  cause  is  a  living  issue. 

MILLICENT  GARRETT  FAWCETT, 

Honorary  President. 
National  Union  of  Societies  for 
Equal  Citizenship  of  Great  Britain. 

My  deepest  sorrow  and  sympathy  go  out  to  the  fnmilv  of  Dr.  Shaw,  to  the 
National  Council  of  Women  of  the  United  States  and  to  the  International 
Council  and  the  Woman  Suffrage  Alliance.  Her  passing  is  indeed  a  great 
loss  to  the  women  of  the  whole  world. 

ISHBEL  ABERPTT.X  AXD  TEMATR, 
President  International  Council  of  Women. 

Truly  all  womanhood  has  lost  a  faithful  friend. 

ELIZABETH  C.  CARTER. 

President  Northeastern  FederMion 

of  Women's  Clubs  (colored). 

T. ovine  and  appreciative  tributes  were  sent  from  the  officers  of  National  and 
International  Associations  in  all  parts  of  the  world. 


APPENDIX   FOR   CHAPTER   XX. 

APPEAL  OF  PRESIDENT  WILSON  TO  THE  SENATE  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  TO  SUBMIT 

THE  FEDERAL  AMENDMENT  FOR   WOMAN   SUFFRAGE 

DELIVERED  IN  PERSON  SEPT.  30,   IQlS. 

Gentlemen  of  the  Senate:  The  unusual  circumstances  of  a  World  War  in 
which  we  stand  and  are  judged  in  the  view  not  only  of  our  own  people  and 
our  own  consciences  but  also  in  the  view  of  all  nations  and  peoples,  will,  I 
hope,  justify  in  your  thought,  as  it  does  in  mine,  the  message  I  have  come 
to  bring  you. 

I  regard   the  concurrence  of  the  Senate  in   the  constitutional   amendment 

proposing  the  extension  of  the  suffrage  to  women  as  vitally  essential  to  the 

<=fu1  prosecution  of  the  great  war  of  humanity  in  which  we  are  engaged. 

I  have  come  to  urge  upon  you  the  considerations  which  have  led  me  to  that 

conclusion.     It  is  not  only  my  privilege,  it  is  also  my  duty  to  apprise  you  of 

cverv  circumstance  and  element  involved  in  this  momentous   struggle  which 

to  me  to  affect  its  very  processes  and  its  outcome.    It  is  my  duty  to  win 

the  war  and  to  a^k  you  to  remove  every  obstacle  that  stands  in  the  way  of 

winning  it. 

1  assumed  that  the  Senate  would  concur  in  the  amendment,  because  no 

disputable  principle  is  involved  but  onl  -ion  of  the  method  bv  which 

to  be  now  extended  to  women.    There  is  and  can  be  no  partv 

'vcd  in  it.     P.oth  of  our  great  national  parties  are  pledged,  explicitly 

fTrage  for  the  women  of  the  country. 

•her  partv.  therefr*-  MS   to  me.  can  '  --sitation   as   to  the 

method  of  obtaining  it.  ran  nVhtfulIv  hesitate  to  substitute  Federal  initiative 

;f  the  early  adoption  of  this  measure  is  necessary  to  the 

>ful  prosecution  of  the  war,  and  if  the  method  of  State  action  pro/- 


762  HISTORY    OF    WOMAN    SUFFRAGE 

posed  in  the  party  platforms  of  1916  is  impracticable  within  any  reasonable 
length  of  time,  if  practical  at  all.  And  its  adoption  is,  in  my  judgment, 
clearly  necessary  to  the  successful  prosecution  of  the  war  and  the  successful 
realization  of  the  objects  for  which  the  war  is  being  fought. 

That  judgment  I  take  the  liberty  of  urging  upon  you  with  solemn  earnest- 
ness for  reasons  which  I  shall  state  very  frankly  and  which  I  shall  hope  will 
seem  as  conclusive  to  you  as  they  seem  to  me. 

This  is  a  people's  war  and  the  people's  thinking  constitutes  its  atmosphere 
and  morale,  not  the  predilections  of  the  drawing  room  or  the  political  con- 
siderations of  the  caucus.  If  we  be  indeed  democrats  and  wish  to  lead  the 
world  to  democracy,  we  can  ask  other  peoples  to  accept  in  proof  of  our  sin- 
cerity and  our  ability  to  lead  them  whither  they  wish  to  be  led,  nothing  less 
persuasive  and  convincing  than  our  actions. 

Our  professions  will  not  suffce.  Verification  must  be  forthcoming  when 
verification  is  asked  for.  And  in  this  case  verification  is  asked  for — asked  for 
in  this  particular  matter.  You  ask  by  whom?  Not  through  diplomatic  chan- 
nels; not  by  foreign  ministers:  not  by  the  intimations  of  parliaments.  It  is 
asked  for  by  the  anxious,  expectant,  suffering  peoples  with  whom  we  are 
dealing  and  who  are  willing  to  put  their  destinies  in  some  measure  in  our 
hands,  if  they  are  sure  that  we  wish  the  same  things  that  they  do. 

I  do  not  speak  by  conjecture.  It  is  not  alone  that  the  voices  of  statesmen 
and  of  newspapers  reach  me.  and  that  the  voices  of  foolish  and  intemperate 
agitators  do  not  reach  me  at  all.  Through  many,  many  channels  I  have  been 
made  aware  what  the  plain,  struggling,  workaday  folk  are  thinking,  upon 
whom  the  chief  terror  and  suffering  of  this  tragic  war  fall.  They  are  looking 
to  the  great,  powerful,  famous  democracy  of  the  West  to  lead  them  to  the 
new  day  for  which  they  have  so  long  waited ;  and  they  think,  in  their  logical 
simplicity,  that  democracy  means  that  women  shall  play  their  part  in  affairs 
alongside  men  and  upon  an  equal  footing  with  them. 

If  we  reject  measures  like  this,  in  ignorant  defiance  of  what  a  new  age  has 
brought  forth,  of  what  they  have  seen  but  we  have  not,  they  will  cease  to 
believe  in  us ;  they  will  cease  to  follow  or  to  trust  us.  They  have  seen  their 
own  governments  accept  this  interpretation  of  democracy — seen  old  govern- 
ments like  that  of  Great  Britain,  which  did  not  profess  to  be  democratic, 
promise  readily  and  as  of  course  this  justice  to  women,  though  they  had 
before  refused  it ;  the  strange  revelations  of  this  war  having  made  many  things 
new  and  plain  to  governments  as  well  as  to  peoples. 

Are  we  alone  to  refuse  to  learn  the  lesson?  Are  we  alone  to  ask  and  take 
the  utmost  that  our  women  can  give — service  and  sacrifice  of  every  kind — 
and  still  say  we  do  not  see  what  title  that  gives  them  to  stand  by  our  side 
in  the  guidance  of  the  affairs  of  their  nation  and  ours?  We  have  made  part- 
ners of  the  women  in  this  war.  Shall  we  admit  them  only  to  a  partnership 
of  suffering  and  sacrifice  and  toil  and  not  to  a  partnership  of  privilege  and 
right?  This  war  could  not  have  been  fought,  either  by  the  other  nations 
engaged  or  by  America,  if  it  had  not  been  for  the  services  of  the  women — 
services  rendered  in  every  sphere — not  merely  in  the  fields  of  efforts  in  which 
we  have  been  accustomed  to  see  them  work  but  wherever  men  have  worked 
and  upon  the  very  skirts  and  edges  of  the  battle  itself. 

We  shall  not  only  be  distrusted,  but  shall  deserve  to  be  distrusted  if  we  do 


APPENDIX  763 

not  enfranchise  women  with  the  fullest  possible  enfranchisement,  as  it  is  now 
certain  that  the  other  great  free  nations  will  enfranchise  them.  We  cannot 
isolate  our  thought  or  action  in  such  a  matter  from  the  thought  of  the  rest 
of  the  world.  We  must  either  conform  or  deliberately  reject  what  they 
approve  and  resign  the  leadership  of  liberal  minds  to  others. 

The  women  of  America  are  too  intelligent  and  too  devoted  to  be  slackers 
whether  you  give  or  withhold  this  thing  that  is  mere  justice;  but  I  know 
the  magic  it  will  work  in  their  thoughts  and  spirits  if  you  give  it  to  them. 
I  propose  it  as  I  would  propose  to  admit  soldiers  to  the  suffrage — the  men 
fighting  in  the  field  of  our  liberties  of  the  world — were  they  excluded. 

The  tasks  of  the  women  lie  at  the  very  heart  of  the  war  and  I  know  how 
much  stronger  that  heart  will  beat  if  you  do  this  just  thing  and  show  our 
women  that  you  trust  them  as  much  as  you  in  fact  and  of  necessity  depend 
upon  them. 

I  have  said  that  the  passage  of  this  amendment  is  a  vitally  necessary  war 
measure  and  do  you  need  further  proof?  Do  you  stand  in  need  of  the  trust 
of  other  peoples  and  of  the  trust  of  our  own  women?  Is  that  trust  an  asset 
or  is  it  not?  I  tell  you  plainly,  as  the  commander-in-chief  of  our  armies 
and  of  the  gallant  men  in  our  fleets ;  as  the  present  spokesman  of  this 
people  in  our  dealings  with  the  men  and  women  throughout  the  world  who 
are  now  our  partners;  as  the  responsible  head  of  a  great  government  which 
stands  and  is  questioned  day  by  day  as  to  its  purpose,  its  principles,  its 
hope.  ...  I  tell  you  plainly  that  this  measure  which  I  urge  upon  you  is 
vital  to  the  winning  of  the  war  and  to  the  energies  alike  of  preparation  and 
of  battle. 

And  not  to  the  winning  of  the  war  only.  It  is  vital  to  the  right  solution 
of  the  great  problems  which  we  must  settle,  and  settle  immediately,  when 
the  war  is  over.  We  shall  need  in  our  vision  of  affairs,  as  we  have  never 
needed  them  before,  the  sympathy  and  insight  and  clear  moral  instinct  of  the 
women  of  the  world.  The  problems  of  that  time  will  strike  to  the  roots  of 
many  things  that  we  have  hitherto  questioned,  and  I  for  one  believe  that  our 
safety  in  those  questioning  days,  as  well  as  our  comprehension  of  matters 
that  touch  society  to  the  quick,  will  depend  upon  the  direct  and  authoritative 
participation  of  women  in  our  counsels.  We  shall  need  their  moral  sense  to 
preserve  what  is  right  and  fine  and  worthy  in  our  system  of  life  as  well  as 
to  discover  just  what  it  is  that  ought  to  he  purified  and  reformed.  Without 
their  counselling*  we  shall  be  only  linlf  wise. 

That  is  my  case.     This  is  my  appeal.     Many  may  deny  its  validity,  if  they 
e.  but  no  one  can  1  1c  or  answer  the  m-gummi*  upon  which   it 

ed.     The   exrcutiv  •    rest    upon    me.      T    a^-k    tin' 

lighten  them  and  plnee  in  my  hands  instruments.  spiritu:il  instruments,  which 
I  have  daily  to  apologize  for  not  being  able  to  employ. 


INDEX 


Readers  of  this  volume  of  the  History  of  Woman  Suffrage  will  be  spared 
some  trouble  in  searching  the  index  by  noticing  the  arrangement  of  the  chap- 
ters as  shown  in  the  Table  of  Contents.  The  Introduction  gives  a  very  brief 
outline  of  the  movement  for  woman  suffrage.  The  first  19  chapters  contain 
accounts  of  the  annual  conventions  of  the  National  American  Association 
during  the  last  twenty  years  chronologically  arranged,  including  the  hearings 
before  the  committees  of  each  Congress.  Enough  extracts  from  speeches  are 
included  to  show  the  line  of  argument.  The  plans  of  work  and  the  reports 
of  committees  indicate  the  development  from  year  to  year.  These  chapters 
record  the  work  for  a  Federal  Woman  Suffrage  Amendment,  for  which  the 
association  was  especially  organized. 

Chapter  XX  contains  in  condensed  form  the  full  story  of  the  contest  for 
the  Federal  Suffrage  Amendment.  It  is  followed  by  chapters  on  various 
suffrage  associations ;  the  League  of  Women  Voters ;  Woman  Suffrage  in 
National  Presidential  Conventions  of  the  political  parties  and  the  War  Service 
of  the  Organized  Suffragists.  Each  has  practically  complete  information  on 
its  particular  subject,  to  which  reference  is  made  in  other  chapters  and 
indexed. 

The  activities  in  the  States  auxiliary  to  the  National  Association  are  re- 
corded in  Volume  VI,  also  accounts  of  the  work  in  Great  Britain  and  other 
countries  and  the  chapter  on  the  International  Woman  Suffrage  Alliance. 


Abbot,  Grace,  692-3. 

Abbott,  Dr.  Lyman,  Dr.  Shaw  criti- 
cizes, 158;  256;  682. 

Aberdeen  and  Temair,  Marchioness 
of,  pres.  Intl.  Council  of  Women, 
tribute  to  Dr.  Shaw,  761. 

Adams,  Abigail,  makes  first  decl.  for 
worn,  suff,  121. 

Adams,  Gov.  Alva,  tribute  to  worn, 
suff.  in  Colorado,  answers  criti- 
cisms; State  will  never  repeal,  103- 
105. 

Addams,    Jane,   on    child    labor,   20; 
•  •rthy    address    on    Municipal 
Franchise  for  Women,   178;  guest 
of    Miss  Garrett,   182;   202;  enter- 
ns     natl.     suff.     conv.     at     Hull 
House,    206;    207;    258;    guest   of 
honor    Coll.    Worn.    Suff.    League, 
rkhiK  woman's  need  of  vote, 
woman's    need,    do- 
mestic woman's  need,  320;  elected 
first  vice-pres.  of  Natl.  Assn 
helps    sub-station    for    suff.    lit.    in 
licago,  335;  necessity  for  women 
to  deal  with  social  evil,  343;  pre- 
sides   at    suff.    hearing    1912;    says 
America     falling    behind     rest     of 


world;  if  women  are  to  continue 
humanitarian  efforts  they  must  ha\e 
the  franchise,  354 — 356;  urges  a 
commssn.  to  investigate  the  equal 
suff.  States  and  report,  363;  men 
and  women  must  solve  social  prob- 
lems together  with  ballots  in  the 
hands  of  both,  364-5;  at  hearing 
bef.  House  Com.  on  Rules,  gives 
nine  instances  where  Cong,  con- 
trolled suff,  387;  unfair  process  for 
worn,  suff,  390;  western  campaign- 
ing, 404;  at  Nashville  conv.  refers 
to  Andrew  Jackson  and  Chief 
Justice  Marshall,  asks  why  south- 
ern men  so  progressive  in  their  day 
and  so  reactionary  now,  4»j 
resigns  office,  424;  450;  at  mem. 
service  for  Dr.  Shaw,  611;  613; 
org.  Miss.  Valley  Conf,  667-8;  at 
KrjMib.  Natl.  Conv,  1908,  703;  bef. 
Kepub.  Res.  Com.  in  mu;  seconds 
Roosevelt's  nomination,  705;  for 
worn.  suff.  plank  in  Progressive 
platform,  706. 

Lucia  Faxon,  120. 

Advisory  Committee  on 
frage    in 

troth  Amend,  415. 

Alabama,  pcculi.u    ihualry,  36;  hoi- 


766 


INDEX 


tility  of  members  of  Cong,  to  Fed. 
Stiff.  Amend,  516. 

Alaska,  worn.  suff.  granted,  366,  370, 
625. 

Alaska  -  Yukon  -  Pacific  Exposition, 
243;  great  beauty,  suff.  day,  264-5. 

Alden,  Cynthia  Westover,  258. 

Allen,  Florence  E,  in  Independence 
Square,  333;  advises  amending  city 
charters  for  worn,  suff,  494;  617; 
662. 

Allen,  Gov.  Henry  J.  (Kans.),  ad- 
dresses suff.  conv,  576;  calls  spec, 
session  to  ratify  Fed.  Amend,  650. 

Allen,  Mrs.  Henry  Ware,  at  suff. 
hearing;  world  calls  for  mother 
voice,  578,  581. 

Allender,  Nina,  366. 

Amalgamated  Copper  Co,  works 
against  worn,  suff,  421. 

Amendments,  State,  failure  of  cam- 
paigns for,  xvii ;  Natl.  Assn.  assists, 
xvii,  i,  2;  difficulty  of,  xviii ;  re- 
quirements in  different  States; 
record  of,  403;  in  New  York,  417; 
defeated  in  1915  in  Mass,  N.  Y, 
Penn.  and  N.  J,  but  reed,  million 
and  a  quarter  votes,  439;  campaigns 
for  must  have  consent  of  Natl.  1M, 
510;  carried  in  Mich,  S.  Dak.  and 
Okla,  550;  the  campaigns,  557; 
620 ;  630 ;  foundation  of  Fed.  Worn. 
Suff.  Amend,  751. 

American  Constitutional  League,  at 
last  suff.  hearing,  583;  tries  to  pre- 
vent proclaiming  of  Fed.  Suff. 
Amend,  653;  work  against  Amend, 
680-682. 

American  Equal  Rights  Association, 
formed,  619;  women  desert,  621-2. 

American  Federation  of  Labor,  en- 
dorses worn,  suff,  205,  249;  record 
of  worn.  suff.  res,  301 ;  638. 

American  Woman  Suffrage  Associa- 
tion, 38;  311;  formed,  622. 

Americanization,  Natl.  Suff.  Assn. 
works  for,  724,  729,  732. 

Ames,  Mayor  Albert  A,  (Minneapo- 
lis), 7- 

Ammons,  Prof.  Theodosia,  52. 

Anderson,  Martha  Scott,  21. 

Anthony,  U.  S.  Rep.  Daniel  R. 
(Kans.),  146;  288. 

Anthony,  Lucy  E,  118;  gives  $i,oooto 
League  of  Women  Voters  in  mem- 
ory of  her  aunt,  Susan  B,  609; 
757. 

Anthony,  Mary  S,  45;  107;  reads 
Decl.  of  Sentiments  to  conv,  144; 
death,  201 ;  last  message  to  suff. 
conv,  207;  276;  assists  memorial 


bldg.  at  Rochester  University; 
scholarship,  744-5. 

Anthony  Memorial  Building  at 
Rochester  University,  201 ;  names 
of  exec,  com;  list  of  donors;  Miss 
Anthony's  work  for  admission  of 
girls ;  they  commemorate  her  birth- 
day; Pres.  Rhees  calls  bldg.  great 
contribution,  743 — 745. 

Anthony,  Susan  B,  work  for  Hist, 
of  Worn.  Suff,  iii,  iv,  resigns  as 
pres.  of  Natl.  Amer.  Suff.  Assn,  i ; 
at  natl.  conv.  in  Minneapolis,  reads 
Mrs.  Stanton's  letter  on  church  and 
worn.  suff.  and  comments,  3 — 5;  9; 
appeal  against  "regulated"  vice,  n; 
work  on  Congressl.  Com,  n;  vase 
presented,  13;  interest  in  N.  Y.  Sun 
suff.  dept,  14;  presides  and  intro- 
duces pioneers,  16;  extract  from 
biography,  22;  Clara  Barton's  trib- 
ute, 25;  welcomes  intl.  suff.  conf, 
had  early  idea  of  it,  26;  presides  at 
pioneer's  meeting,  31 ;  on  eductl. 
qtialif.  for  suff,  32;  introd.  Mr. 
Blackwell,  33;  at  teacher's  conv, 
3.} ;  8_'d  birthday  cclcbr.  in  Washtn, 
39;  lack  of  self-consciousness,  41; 
on  com.  to  interview  Pres.  Roose- 
velt, 44;  pen  picture  of  on  suff. 
platform,  45;  at  natl.  suff.  conv.  in 
New  Orleans,  57;  tribute  to  Mrs. 
Merrick,  58 ;  flowers  presented 
from  Phyllis  Wheatly  Club,  60; 
presides  at  conv,  64;  67;  tribute  to 
Mrs.  Stanton,  73-4;  writes  to  Govs. 
of  equal  suff.  States,  87;  dele,  to 
intl.  suff.  conv.  in  Berlin,  87;  at- 
tends White  House  reception,  tells 
Pres.  Roosevelt  to  expect  the  stiffs ; 
Alice  Roosevelt  greets,  88;  84th 
birthday  celebr.  in  Washtn,  98;  in- 
cident, 99;  Mrs.  Catt's  tribute,  100; 
presides  on  Colo,  evening,  TOO; 
women  pledge  loyalty,  102 ;  107 ; 
tribute  to  Miss  Barton,  who  re- 
sponds, 109 ;  presides  at  Senate 
hearing,  says  she  has  appealed  to 
seventeen  Congresses,  urges  a  re- 
port for  the  last  time,  no-n  ;  recep. 
by  Chicago  Woman's  Club  and 
others  en  route  to  Portland,  117-18; 
entertained  by  U.  S.  Sen.  and  Mrs. 
Carey  in  Cheyenne,  118;  responds 
to  greetings  to  natl.  suff.  conv,  re- 
ceives ovation,  tells  of  Mrs.  Stan- 
ton's  and  her  visit  to  Ore.  in  '71 
and  early  opposition,  120,  121 ;  pre- 
sides at  first  session,  pen  picture  of, 
not  always  roses  that  were  thrown, 
122;  introduces  Mrs.  Duniway,  123; 


INDEX 


767 


tells  of  her  paper,  The  Revolution, 
132;  speaks  at  unveiling  of  Saca- 
jawea  statue.  133;  recep.  on  Expos, 
grounds,  central  figure,  tribute  of 
Miss  Blackwell,  134;  appeal  to  Pres. 
Roosevelt,  137;  fills  pulpit  in  Port- 
land, 140;  would  not  compel  natl. 
suflf.  convs.  to  be  held  in  Washtn, 
147 ;  for  helping  Ore.  campaign, 
147;  fervent  appeal,  149;  dedicates 
park  in  Chico,  cordial  recep.  in  Cal- 
if, 150;  attends  her  last  suff.  conv, 
151;  tribute  of  Clara  Barton,  154; 
Pres.  M.  Carey  Thomas  and  Miss 
Mary  E.  Garrett  assure  her  of  their 
interest  in  the  natl.  cony,  in  Balti- 
more, 167;  guest  of  Miss  Garrett, 
very  ill  but  goes  to  conv.  on  college 
evening;  warmly  greeted;  account 
of  Baltimore  American,  great  tri- 
umph, 167-8;  tribute  of  women  col- 
lege presidents  and  professors,  168 
— 173;  supreme  moment,  her  re- 
sponse, 173;  Miss  Garrett's  social 
functions  in  TTer  honor,  182;  Dr. 
Thomas  and  Miss  Garrett  promise 
her  to  raise  large  fund  for  suff. 
work;  her  great  happiness,  183; 

birthday  money  to  Ore.  cam- 
paign, 184 ;  last  words  to  a  suff. 
conv,  185;  not  able  to  attend  Con- 
gressl.  hearing,  188;  last  birthday 
celebr.  in  Washtn,  letters  of  con- 
gratulation, places  work  in  Dr. 
Shaw's  charge,  pays  tribute  to  the 
suff.  workers,  speaks  last  words  in 
public,  191-2;  Lorado  Taft's  bust 
of,  193;  Dr.  Shaw's  farewell  trib- 
ute, Miss  Anthony  never  missed 
natl.  suff.  convs,  201 ;  plans  for 
memorials,  201-2;  Mrs.  Johnson's 
bust  of ;  mem.  bldg.  in  Rochester ; 
im-m.  fund,  200-1  ;  celebr.  of  birtli- 

\<H)7,    mem.    services,   202 — 4; 
<     poem,    203;    champion   of 
colored  race,  20.} :  wide  <•< ,mm«  nt  <>f 
n   her  <le;ith.  arti- 

cles,    accounts     "I      i"m 
leaves  Hist.  ..f  Worn.  Suit",  to  Xatl. 

i    $IO,ooo  in  her  iii« 

fund.    . 

Jjo  ;   at    lust    wmi 

writes     Women's 
,    333;    at    Senate    hearings, 
347;  v<  :'is.  of 

Am«Tid.  |,rf.    hidir.  ( 


Dr.  Shaw  to  accept  presidency; 
places  duty  in  her  hands  but  would 
be  satisfied  with  Mrs.  Catt,  455-6; 
Dr.  Shaw  wishes  she  could  know 
present  Senate  com,  466 ;  address  to 
Cong,  in  1866,  521 ;  Susan  B.  An- 
thony room  at  natl.  suff.  headquar- 
ters, 527;  collections  for  assn.  in 
early  days,  541 ;  546 ;  561 ;  U.  S. 
Sen.  Shafroth  helped,  566;  mem. 
meeting  at  natl.  suff.  conv,  Dr. 
Shaw's  and  Mrs.  Avery's  reminis, 
569 ;  centennial  to  be  celebr.  by 
assn,  574;  at  suff.  hearings,  581; 
609;  611;  first  meets  Dr.  Shaw, 
612;  celebr.  of  looth  birthday  by 
natl.  suff.  conv;  tribute  of  Dr. 
Shaw ;  program  of  exercises,  615- 
16;  enters  worn.  suff.  movement, 
calls  first  conv.  after  Civil  War. 
618;  her  first  demand  and  work  for 
Fed.  Suff.  Amend;  opposes  i4th 
and  I5th  Amends,  619;  in  her  paper, 
Tin-  Revolution,  620-1;  arranges 
first  conv.  in  Washtn,  621  ;  scores 
Amer.  Rights  Assn,  deserts  it  and 
forms  Natl.  Worn.  Suff.  Assn,  621- 
2;  in  eight  campaigns,  624;  66  r ; 
664;  last  birthday  letter  to  Mrs. 
Stanton,  741 ;  work  for  admis.  of 
girls  to  Rochester  University; 
memorial  bldg.  for  her,  743;  her 
portrait  over  fireplace,  birthday 
celebr.  each  year,  744;  scholarship, 
745 ;  has  natl.  suff.  headqrs.  in 
Rochester,  N.  Y,  till  1890;  later  in 
Washtn;  still  later  in  Phila,  then 
back  to  Rochester,  754;  last  words. 
751 ;  see  Susan  B.  Anthony  Atneml. 
Anti-Suffrage  Associations,  weakness 
of,  xix;  in  Australia,  92;  unde- 
veloped women,  223;  235;  Natl. 
Assn.  asks  Pres.  Taft  not  to  wel- 
come suff.  conv,  269;  urges  Cong. 
not  to  grant  petition  of  siitl's.  299; 
at  ('..nurexsl.  hearing  in  HHJ. 

.it   lu-aring  on  appointnit 
Worn.  Suff.  Com,  3X3;  Mrs.  Arthur 
M.  Dndue  presides,  list  of  speakers, 

•i  .    N.itl.     \ssn.   membership   C 
pared  with  that  of  Natl  SulT.  A 

with  i«rtiti«mv  ,  ;  U.  S. 

,     in 

Moii!  'udic.  Com. 

r»l.    Suit'.    Am«nd. 
436;  hip      ana!. 

:.   House 
speakers, 

• 


768 


INDEX 


amends,  in  N.  Y,  Penn.  and  Mass, 
478-9;  alliance  with  liquor  interests, 
486;  Natl.  Assn.  holds  one  day 
conv.  in  Washtn.  hotel,  re-elects 
Mrs.  Wadsworth  pres,  makes  Mrs. 
Lansing  secy,  536;  at  Senate  com. 
hearing,  1916,  548;  at  last  surf, 
hearing,  1918,  577;  misrepresents 
Pres.  Wilson  on  Fed.  Amend,  580; 
two  members  of  men's  assn.  occupy 
whole  day,  583;  hearing  continued, 
584—589;  592;  last  efforts,  597; 
635;  hrst  heard  in  Washtn,  com.  in 
Mass,  assn.  org.  there,  officers,  Re- 
monstrance published,  678;  corns, 
and  assns.  in  N.  Y.  and  other 
States,  Natl.  Assn.  formed,  officers, 
work,  headqrs,  papers  published, 
678;  Men's  assns.  organized,  offi- 
cers, various  branches,  work,  name 
changed,  G8o;  oppose  Fed.  Sutf. 
Amend,  in  Cong,  and  ratif.  by 
States;  take  cases  to  the  courts, 
681-2;  at  Rep.  Natl.  Conv.  in  1912, 
710;  1916,  711;  at  Dem,  712;  attack 
Mrs.  Catt  and  other  suits,  during 
the  war,  Mrs.  Catt  makes  defense, 
735—737- 

Arizona,  Gov.  Brodie  vetoes  \\  om. 
Suff.  Bill,  67;  admission  to  State- 
hood, 129-30;  Natl.  Assn.  helps 
suff.  work,  253;  gives  majority  \ote 
for  worn,  sutf,  332 ;  337 ;  625. 

Arkansas,  gives  Primary  sutf.  to 
women,  xxiii,  516;  dele,  to  suff. 
conv.  reed,  by  Pres.  Wilson,  516. 

Armistice,  effect  on  worn,  sutf,  551. 

Armstrong,  Eliza,  391. 

Arthur,  Clara  B,  70;  219;  337. 

Ashley,  Jessie,  Natl.  treas.  report, 
315;  re-elected,  324;  reports  $55,200 
receipts  for  1912,  341;  342;  372. 

Ashurst,  U.  S.  Sen.  Henry  F,  urges 
worn,  suff,  380 ;  Senate  speech,  405 ; 
626-7;  speaks  for  Fed.  Amend.  645. 

Asquith,  Prime  Minister  Herbert  H. 
(Gt.  Brit.),  281;  331. 

Atlantic  City,  entertains  natl.  suff. 
conv.  in  1916,  480. 

Australia,  grants  natl.  suff.  to  women, 
55;  Mrs.  Watson-Lister  describes, 
91. 

A  very,  Rachel  Foster,  n;  12;  testi- 
monial to,  17;  44;  on  Phila.  women 
in  civic  work,  65 ;  chmn.  Anthony 
mem.  fund  com,  202;  tribute  to 
Miss  Anthony,  203;  re-elected  to 
Natl.  Bd,  204;  216;  report  on  natl. 
petit,  for  Fed.  Suff.  Amend,  258; 
vast  work  of  petit,  274;  resigns  of- 
fice, 282;  urges  fav.  rept.  on  petit, 


297;  540;  reminis.  of  suff.  pioneers, 

569-70;    21    years    cor.    secy.    Natl. 

Assn,  607;  704;  has  charge  of  natl. 

suff.  headqrs.  in  Phila,  754. 
Avery,  Susan  Look,  328. 
Axtel,  Frances  C,  540. 


B. 


Babcock,  Elnora  M,  10;  work  with 
press,  10 ;  14;  natl.  chmn.  Press 
Cum,  gives  rept,  44;  61-2;  95;  wide 
work  of  natl.  press  dept,  131; 
makes  last  rept,  efficient  work,  163. 

Bacharach,  Mayor  Harry,  presents 
key  to  Atlantic  City  to  Mrs.  Catt, 
481. 

Bacon,  Anna  Anthony,  333. 

Bacon,  Elizabeth  D,  188. 

Bagley,  Mrs.  Frederick  P,  reports  for 
natl.  assn's,  war  com.  on  American- 
ization, 520;  560;  690;  chmn.  Amer. 
citizenship,  697;  work  for  Amer- 
icanization, 729,  732. 

Bailey,  ex-U.  S.  Sen.  Joseph  W,  star 
speaker  for  "antis"  at  last  suff. 
hearing;  women  cannot  perform 
sheriffs  duties  or  jury  or  military 
service ;  have  no  time  to  vote ;  men 
can  make  laws  for  them;  single 
standard  of  morals  "iridescent 
dream";  flouts  petitions  from  his 
constituents,  586 — 589;  Mrs.  Catt 
answers,  590;  he  leaves  the  room, 
592;  Texas  women  defeat  for  Gov- 
ernor, 589. 

Baker,  Abby  Scott,  718. 

Baker,  La  Reine,  246 ;  286. 

Baker,  Secretary  of  War  Newton  D, 
addresses  natl.  suff.  conv;  the  war 
will  bring  broadening  of  liberty  to 
women,  532;  favors  Fed.  Suff. 
Amend,  580;  speaks  at  suff.  meet- 
ing and  carries  message  to  Pres. 
Wilson,  724-5;  tribute  to  Dr.  Shaw 
and  Woman's  Com.  Natl.  Defense, 
739;  presents  disting.  service  medal 
to  Dr.  Shaw,  758. 

Baker,  Mrs.  Newton  D,  515-16;  sings 
for  natl.  conv,  526. 

Baldwin,  Mrs.  Felix,  395. 

Balentine,  Katharine  Reed,  217-18; 
danger  in  women's  disfranchise- 
ment,  237;  319. 

Ball,  U.  S.  Sen.  J.  Ileisler,  641. 

Ballantyne,  Grace  H,  219;  239. 

Baltimore,  entertains  natl.  suff.  conv, 
a  noteworthy  meeting,  151. 

Banker,  Henrietta  L,  bequest  to  Natl. 
Assn,  130. 


INDEX 


769 


Barber,  Mrs.  A.  L,  13;  receives  conv, 

Barker,  Pres.  H.  S.  (Ky.  University), 
408. 

Barkley,  Edna  M,  570;  669. 

Barnard  College,  Chair  of  Amer.  Cit- 
izenship, mem.  to  Dr.  Shaw,  613. 

Barnhart,  U.  S.  Rep.  Henry  A. 
(Ind.),  637. 

Barnum,  Gertrude,  says  suff.  move- 
ment needs  working  women,  165. 

Barrett,  Kate  Waller,  speaks  for  Intl. 
Council;  safety  of  the  country  de- 
pends on  women's  having  a  vote, 
410. 

Barrett,  Mrs.  Seymour,  519. 

Barrows,  Isabel  C,  176. 

Barrows,  Rev.  Samuel  J,  96. 

Bartol,  Emma  J,  208. 

Barton,  Clara,  at  intl.  suff.  conv,  ad- 
dress, 24,  25 ;  67 ;  receives  natl.  suff. 
conv,  99;  gives  adherence  to  Miss 
Anthony,  who  responds,  109;  at 
natl.  suff.  conv.  in  Baltimore,  151 ; 
pen  picture  of,  tribute  to  Mrs. 
Stanton  and  Miss  Anthony,  worn, 
suff.  near,  154;  208;  258;  288;  Natl. 
Suff.  Assn.  endorses  bill  for  mem. 
to  her  in  Red  Cross  bldg.  in 
\Yashtn,  502;  Dr.  Shaw  speaks  of 
unworthy  treatment  of  her  work, 
540;  at  first  suff.  conv.  in  VVashtn, 
621. 

Bass,  Mrs.  George,  bef.  Senate  com. 
shows  women's  work  in  the  home, 
schools,  factories,  offices,  philan- 
thropies handicapped  without  the 
ballot,  464-5;  bef.  House  com,  472; 
on  limited  suff,  495;  urges  women 
to  help  finance  war,  533-4;  on  Con- 
ssl.  Com,  567;  protests  against 
"antis"'  use  of  Pres.  Wilson's 
name,  580. 

Bates,  Eleanor,  609. 

Baur,  Mrs.  Jacob,  687. 

1,  in  New  York,  12,  13. 

Kilter,  366;  bef.  Com. 

Kules,     shows     small     c»n>tit- 

uencies  back  of  southern  members  ; 

i  not  to  abuse  their  power, 

388;  bef.  House  Judic.  Com,  demol- 

State's      rights      argument 

;ist  worn,  suff;  gives  record  of 

•ty,  430— w;  547;  675. 

r   (irnl.  Janus    M.  655- 

tudc,  490. 

Beebcr,  Judge  Dimner,  340;  674. 
Bec<  :y   Ward,    i  ;  622. 

Bcld<  i   II,  109. 

j'.rlfnnl.  Helen,  102. 

nun,   243. 


Bellamy.  Mary  G,  member  Wyo.  Leg- 
islature, 516;  568. 

Belmont,  Mrs.  Oliver  H.  P,  offers  to 
assist  taking  natl.  suff.  headqrs.  to 
New  York,  conv.  accepts  and 
thanks,  253;  maintains  natl.  suff. 
press  dept,  276-7;  286;  recog.  of 
her  support  of  press  bureau,  288; 
341 ;  moves  to  take  natl.  suff.  head- 
qrs. from  New  York  to  Washtn, 
natl.  officers  oppose,  381 ;  gives 
$10,000  to  South.  Worn.  Conf,  672; 
675;  chmn.  exec.  com.  Natl.  Worn. 
Party,  677 ;  gives  it  natl.  headqrs, 
678;  contributes  to  Natl.  Assn. 
headqrs,  754. 

Benedict,  Crystal  Eastman,  346;  366; 
bef.  House  Judic.  Com,  tells  Dem. 
members  their  party  will  be  held 
responsible  for  Fed.  Suff.  Amend; 
they  object,  429-30;  675. 

Bennett,  Belle,  288. 

Bennett,  Mrs.  M.  Toscan,  objections 
to  Shafroth  Palmer  Amend,  747. 

Bennett,  Sarah  Clay,  on  Fed.  Suff, 
12;  45;  urges  a  Fed.  Elections  Bill, 
62,  65,  424 ;  501 ;  659. 

Berger,  U.  S.  Rep.  Victor  L.  ( \\ 
worn.  suff.  necessary  from  polit. 
and  economic  standpoint ;  women 
who  do  the  same  work  as  men 
could  enforce  an  equal  wage  rate, 
361. 

Beveridge,  U.  S.  Sen.  Albert  J,  129; 
291 ;  for  worn:  suff.  plank  in  Pro- 
< \ssive  platform,  706-7. 

Bible,  edicts  on  women  arc  perverted 
by  men,  222. 

Bid  well,  Annie  K,  150. 

Bigelow,  Rev.  Herbert  S,  184;  207. 

Biggars,  ill. 

Bissell,  Emily  P,  391 ;  478. 

Bitting,  Rev.  W.  C,  561. 

Bjnrkman.  Frances  Manle,  335;  re- 
port <>t"  I. it.  < 

Black.    Hannah.  564. 

l',larkwcl<K-r.    Gertrude,     i<>8;    pres. 
<  bicago    Woman's     (Mub.     i< 
Natl    Sn  -06;  703. 

Blackwcll.   Alice   Stow,    n;    I}J   21 ; 

editors.  <>j;  tribute  1<>  V 

s  of  Wyo.   iiS;   of   Port- 
land   conv,    ii'; 

.  r     and     aunt  th     and 

M:    tribute    !•• 

thonj 

corns,  of  Cong.  190;  199;  *»;  210; 


770 


INDEX 


244;  makes  "exhibit"  of  liquor 
dealers  anti  worn.  suff.  circular, 
247;  249;  257;  retires  as  rec.  secy, 
after  20  yrs;  work  on  Woman's 
Journal,  conv.  thanks,  260;  account 
of  expos,  and  suff.  day  in  Seattle, 
264-5  5  comment  on  Pres.  Taf t's 
speech  to  natl.  suff.  conv,  273 ; 
misses  conv.  of  1910,  280 ;  282 ;  288 ; 
offers  to  make  Woman's  Journal 
offic.  organ  of  Natl.  Assn;  ac- 
cepted, 289 ;  edits  Woman's  Journal, 
311;  answer  to  Barry's  article  on 
Colo,  315;  has  to  resume  charge  of 
Woman's  Journal,  337 ;  tribute  to 
men,  340;  refutes  statements  of 
"antis"  at  hearing  bef.  House  Com. 
on  Rules  in  35  pages  of  fine  print, 
complete  answer,  391 — 393;  409; 
supports  Shafroth  Amend,  422; 
444;  presents  resolutions,  460;  ad- 
dresses House  com,  471 ;  gives 
reminis.  of  pioneers,  conv.  pays 
tribute  to  her,  569;  presents  14 
resolutions,  574;  at  Anthony  celebr, 
615;  660;  704;  defends  Shafroth 
Palmer  Amend,  but  criticises,  749. 

Blackwell,  Antoinette  Brown,  on  chiv- 
alry, 33;  118;  at  Portland  conv, 
133,  138;  Mrs.  Catt's  tribute,  139; 
140;  goes  to  Alaska,  149;  179;  188; 
214;  tells  of  early  days  at  Oberlin 
Coll,  220;  278;  288;  natl.  conv. 
sends  greetings,  501,  559,  610;  fare- 
well words  for  Mrs.  Stanton,  741. 

Blackwell,  Dr.  Elizabeth,  278. 

Blackwell,  Dr.  Emily,  328. 

Blackwell,  Henry  B,  Mrs.  Catt  in- 
trod.  to  conv,  refers  to  marriage ; 
he  urges  effort  for  Pres.  suff.  for 
women,  12;  presents  resolutions, 
15;  tells  of  marriage,  33;  35;  42; 
reports  on  Pres.  suff,  argument  for, 
43;  "the  open  door",  62;  67;  68; 
tribute  to  Deborah  and  the  Jewish 
race,  69;  work  in  Colo,  105;  118; 
130 ;  speaks  against  class  govt ; 
Portland  Journal  pays  tribute,  142 ; 
physical  vigor,  143 ;  presents  resolu- 
tions, 145-6;  natl.  conv.  expresses 
appreciation,  146;  147;  148;  149; 
chmn.  Res.  Com,  179;  187;  pays 
tribute  to  Miss  Anthony,  203;  210; 
212;  219;  presents  resolutions 
showing  women's  great  progress, 
240;  at  Spokane,  246;  report  on 
Pres.  Suff.  and  resolutions,  his  last 
suff.  conv,  257;  260;  audience  rises 
to  greet,  261 ;  mem.  service  at  natl. 
suff.  conv.  of  1910;  tributes  of  Mrs. 
Villard,  Mrs.  McCulloch,  Miss 


Campbell,  Miss  Miller  and  Dr. 
Shaw,  277 — 280;  natl.  suff.  conv. 
passes  resolution  of  indebtedness, 

569. 

Blair,  Emily  Newell,  writes  history 
of  Woman's  Com.  Council  of  Natl. 
Defense,  737,  739. 

Blair,  U.  S.  Sen.  Henry  W,  45;  se- 
cures first  Senate  vote  on  worn, 
suff,  624. 

Blake,  Katharine  Devereux,  campaign 
work  in  West,  404;  in  N.  Y,  519. 

Blankenburg,  Lucretia  L,  addresses 
Senate  Com,  47;  shows  need  of 
women's  votes  in  Phila,  72-3 ;  dele. 
to  Berlin  suff.  conf,  87;  92;  report 
on  laws  for  women,  137;  on  wom- 
en's Phila.  civic  campaign  and  the 
way  they  were  ignored,  177;  188; 
210;  brings  to  suff.  conv.  greetings 
Genl.  Fed.  of  Clubs,  215;  report  on 
legis.  for  women,  236;  same,  259; 
greets  natl.  suff.  conv.  in  Phila, 

333-4- 

Blankenburg,  Mayor  Rudolph,  on 
cduoatl.  quulif.  for  suff,  77;  177; 
welcome's  natl.  suff.  conv.  to  Phila, 

333- 

Blanton,  U.  S.  Rep.  Thomas  L. 
(Tex.),  584;  presents  petition  for 
worn,  suff,  588. 

Blatch,  Harriot  Stanton,  81 ;  92;  in; 
jjo;  speaks  of  Mrs.  Stanton's  clear 
vision,  saw  need  of  suff.  for  wom- 
en, 222-3  5  workingwomen's  need  of 
vote,  232 ;  demonstrates  out-door 
imvtin.us,  286;  objects  to  Shafroth 
Amend,  423;  675;  at  Reptib.  natl. 
convention  of  1908.  703;  of  1916, 
7H. 

Blount,  Dr.  Anna  E,  shows  women 
doctors'  need  of  suff,  294;  317. 

Blount,  Lucia  E,  656. 

Bock,  Annie,  391. 

Booth,  Elizabeth  K,  work  for  Pres. 
suff.  in  Ills,  370;  381. 

Booth,  Maud  Ballington,  addressee 
natl.  suff.  conv,  179. 

Booth,  Mrs.  Sherman  M,  on  Con- 
gressl.  Com,  411-12;  414-15;  card 
catalogues  membs.  of  Cong,  418;  at 
hearing,  427. 

Borah,  U.  S.  Sen.  William  E,  opp. 
Fed.  Suff.  Amend,  413;  effort  for 
worn.  suff.  plank  in  Natl.  Repub. 
platform,  510;  refuses  to  represent 
his  State  on  Fed.  Amend,  598 ;  645 ; 
for  worn.  suff.  plank  in  1916,  709, 
711. 

Boutwell,  Gov.  George  S.  (Mass.), 
146, 


INDEX 


771 


Bowen,  Mrs.  Joseph  T,  341-2;  shows 
need  for  women  police,  Judges  and 
jurors,  705. 

Bowne,  Prof.  Borden  P,  280. 

Boyd,  Mary  Sumner,  report  of  natl. 
Research  Bureau,  443;  same,  494; 
531;  invaluable  service,  571;  690. 

Boyer,  Ida  Porter,  62 ;  77 ;  tells  of  lax 
system  in  libraries,  94;  no;  makes 
bibliog.  of  worn,  suff,  130;  sent  to 
help  Ore.  campaign,  163;  208;  210; 
rept.  on  libraries,  236;  261;  395;  at 
Anthony  celebr,  615;  ed.  New 
Southern  Citizen,  672. 

Brackenridge,  Eleanor,  328. 

Bradford,  Mary  C.  C,  presents  gavel 
to  Mrs.  Catt,  6;  20;  effect  of  worn, 
suff.  in  Colo,  102,  1 12 ;  208 ;  on  Con- 
gressl.  Com,  411;  pres.  Natl.  Educ. 
Assn,  dele.  natl.  suff.  conv,  515; 
same,  St.  Supt.  of  Educ,  517. 

Braly,  J.  If,  288;  tells  of  Calif,  vic- 
tory and  work  of  Polit.  Equal. 
League;  presents  State  flag  to  Natl. 
Assn,  317—319. 

P.randegee,  U.  S.  Sen.  Frank  B,  638; 

645. 

I'.rannan,  Mrs.  John  Winters,  675. 
B  reck  in  ridge,  Desha,  329. 
Breckinridge,  Mrs.  Desha,  on  Pros- 
pect of  Woman  Suffrage  in  the 
South ;  Dem.  party  may  secure  it ; 
would  insure  preponderance  of 
Anglo-Saxon  over  the  African, 
330;  on.  com.  to  ask  Pres.  Wilson 
for  interview  on  worn,  suff,  374; 
381 ;  at  hearing  bef.  Com.  on  Rules, 
shows  right  of  southern  women  to 
ask  for  Fed.  Amend,  387;  women's 
part  in  war  justifies  their  demand, 
410;  on  Congressl.  Com,  411;  sug- 
gests special  campn.  com,  its  mem- 
bers, 418-19-20;  425;  speaks  at  An- 
thony celebr,  615. 

kin  ridge,  Prof.  Sophonisba,  need 

•  •f  Mimic,  suff.  for  women,  195;  all 

classes  need   ballot,  226;   229;   ad- 

ttl.  suff.  conv,  3_'j;  elected 

helps  sub-station  f..r 

it    in  Chicago,  335;  342;  346; 

66 1  ;  705. 

la    C,    opp.    worn,     surf, 
363. 

o-l. 

s  Margaret,  156. 
I  notice  U.  S.  Sup.  Ct.  D 
-•So. 
Brewer,  Mary  Grey,  556. 

•  -bur  II.  120;  134. 
1m  and  Jaroh.    \\. 
:,    \\illiam    II,  34. 


Bristow,    U.    S.    Sen.    Joseph    L,    on 

Shafroth  Amend,  415. 
British  Colonies,  women  vote  in,  in. 
Brock,  Mrs.  Horace,  479;  679. 
Bronson,    Minnie,    secy.    Natl.    Anti- 


Suff.  Assn,  391;  437;  548;  at  last 
.;  at  Natl.  Repub. 
Conv,  711. 


suff.  hearing,  584 


Brooks,  Mrs.  Charles  H,  541  ;  di- 
rector, Natl.  Suff.  Assn,  559;  climn. 
League  of  Women  Voters,  570; 
685;  687;  689. 

Brooks,  John  Graham,  674. 

Brougher,  Rev.  J.  Whitcomb,  140. 

Brown,  Jennie  A,  addresses  Senate 
com,  48. 

Brown,  Rev.  Olympia,  at  natl.  conv. 
in  Minneapolis.  3;  17;  18;  conv.  ser- 
mon, 20;  in  Washtn,  33;  in  Balti- 
more, 35  ;  addresses  Sen.  Com,  47  ; 
179;  219;  341;  prepares  mem.  to 
Mrs.  Colby,  540;  guest  of  honor  at 
Jubilee  conv,  610;  speaks  at  Pioneer 
suff.  luncheon,  615;  on  last  evening, 
617;  heads  Fed.  Suff.  Assn,  656— 
659;  at  Repub.  Natl.  Conv,  703; 
objections  to  Shafroth  Palmer 
Amend,  748. 

Brown,  Mrs.  Raymond,  314;  339; 
372;  rept.  on  N.  Y.  campn,  409; 
423  ;  444  ;  450  ;  presents  res.  to  make 
Dr.  Shaw  lion,  pres,  457;  519; 
elected  natl.  vice-pres,  541;  555; 
rept.  on  Oversea  Hospitals,  560, 
568;  raises  fund  for  League  of 
Women  Voters,  609;  Oversea  Hos- 
pitals, 614;  at  Anthony  celebr,  (115; 
685;  689;  716;  full  rept.  of  work  of 
women's  Oversea  Hospitals  durim; 
the  war,  73-—  734- 

Brownlow,  Mrs.  Louis,  567. 

Bruce,  Laura,  bequest  to  Natl.  Assn. 
127. 

Bruns,  Dr.  Henry  Dixon,  addresses 
natl.  suff.  conv,  66. 

Bryan,    U.    S.    Rep.   J.    \V.    (Wash), 

377- 

Bryan,  Mrs.  J.  \V,  382. 
Bryan.   \\  illi.un  Jc  nnin.us.  h.  Ips  worn. 

suff,  \  40-'; 

4351    .support-.     l'««l     Suit,     Amend. 

634;  1  )nn.  Natl 

1912,  708;   endorses  worn.  suff.  in 

Bryn    Mawr    College    Foundation    in 

613. 
to  Natl. 


Buckley,  I.ila  Sabin, 

Assn,  442. 
Buffalo,    entertains    natl.    suff.    « 

1901,  35;  same.   njo8,  213. 
i'.ulklry,  Mary,  559. 


772 


INDEX 


Burke,  Alice,  6,000  mile  motor  suff. 

trip,  481. 
Burleson,    Mrs.   Albert   Sidney,   382; 

SIS- 
Burnett,  Frances  Hodgson,  for  worn. 

suff,  297. 

Burns,  Frances  E,  426. 
Burns,  Lucy,  364;  370;  377;  in  Eng. 

"militant"  movement ;  on  Natl.  Con- 

gressl.    Com,    377-8;    resigns,    381; 

454;  675. 
Bush,  Ada,  717. 

Butler,  U.  S.  Sen.  Marion,  711. 
Butler,  Pres.  Nicholas  Murray,  613. 
Butt,   Hala  Hammond,  on   restricted 

suff,  75. 

Bynner,   Witter,  611. 
Byrns,    Elinor,   rept.   of    Natl.   Press 

Com,  368 ;  same,  405-6. 


Cabot,  Mrs.  J.  Elliott,  678. 

Calhoun,  Judge  William  J,  on  Shaf- 
roth  Suff.  Amend,  414. 

California,  worn.  suff.  amend,  carried, 
xx ;  same,  310;  Dr.  Shaw's  com- 
ment; reports  from  State  officials, 
317;  natl.  conv.  sends  greetings, 
328;  anti-suff.  petition  fails,  398; 
contrib.  to  natl.  suff.  assn,  559;  625. 

Calkins,  Prof.  Mary  W,  at  natl.  suff. 
conv.  in  Balto;  what  leaders  of 
movement  have  a  right  to  ask  of 
college  women,  168,  170. 

Calls  to  convs.  of  Natl.  Suff.  Assn,  at 
beginning  of  first  19  chapters. 

Campaigns  and  Surveys,  Mrs.  Shul- 
er's  rept;  great  progress  in  polit. 
parties;  Mrs.  Catt's  plans  for  na- 
tion-wide Fed.  Amend,  campn.  car- 
ried out ;  res.  of  protest  against  de- 
lay sent  to  Pres.  Wilson  from  large 
orgztns.  in  this  country  and  in 
Europe,  555;  nearly  every  State 
visited  by  members  of  the  Natl.  Bd ; 
the  work  of  the  Press  and  Re- 
search bureaus,  the  bulletins  and 
travelling  libraries  have  extended 
over  the  country;  resolutions  have 
been  put  through  Legislatures ;  po- 
lit. work  has  been  done,  556-7. 

Campaigns,  State,  fund  for,  given  by 
Mrs.  Quincy  A.  Shaw,  337 ;  in  1912, 
366,  368;  Mrs.  Catt  shows  usual 
weaknesses,  485 ;  record  of,  624 ;  in 
New  York  Mrs.  Catt  describes,  753. 

Campbell,  Ida  E,  invites  ass'n.  to 
Canada,  400. 

Campbell,  Isabel,  52. 


Campbell,  Jane,  satire  on  The  Un- 
biased Editor,  takes  Mr.  Bok  for 
example,  174;  181 ;  199;  mem.  trib- 
ute to  Mr.  Blackwell  and  Lucy 
Stone,  279;  333;  346. 

Campbell,  Margaret  W,  137;  208. 

Campbell,  U.  S.  Rep.  Philip  P. 
(Kans.),  628. 

Campbell,  Mrs.  Philip  P,  515. 

Canada,  sends  message  to  natl.  suff. 
conv;  its  natl.  assn.  hopes  to  greet 
members  in  Canada,  400;  Natl.  Eq. 
Franchise  Union  sends  greetings  to 
natl.  suff.  conv,  501 ;  enfranchises 
women,  551;  Natl.  Suff.  Assn.  sends 
return  greetings,  597. 

Cannon,  Speaker  Joseph  G,  711. 

Cantrill,  U.  S.  Rep.  James  C.  (Ky.), 
offers  res.  for  Worn.  Suff.  Com, 
525;  548;  628;  633;  635. 

Cantrill,  Mrs.  James  C,  559. 

Capen,  Pres.  Elmer  H.  (Tufts  Coll.), 
146. 

Carey,  U.  S.  Sen.  Joseph  M,  ad- 
dresses Council  of  Women  Voters, 
484. 

Carey,  U.  S.  Sen.  and  Mrs.  Joseph 
M,  118. 

Carey,  Mrs.  Joseph  M,  obtains  suff. 
petit,  ii. 

Carpenter,  Alice,  548. 

Carter,  Elizabeth  C,  pres.  N.  E.  Fed. 
of  Women's  Clubs  (colored),  trib- 
ute to  Dr.  Shaw,  761. 

Carter,  Franklin,  secy,  of  N.  Y.  Anti- 
Stiff.  Assn,  478. 

Castle,  M.  B,  656. 

Catholics,  how  enfranchised,  752. 

Catron,  U.  S.  Sen.  Thomas  B,  383; 
626. 

Catt,  Carrie  Chapman,  elected  natl. 
pres,  xxii,  I ;  secures  special  legis. 
sessions,  xxiii ;  at  natl.  suff.  conv. 
in  Minneapolis,  1901,  address  on 
obstacles  to  worn,  suff,  gavel  pre- 
sented; plan  of  work  for  Fed. 
Amend,  orgztn,  3 — 22;  appeal 
against  "regulated"  vice,  IT;  introd. 
Mr.  Blackwell,  12;  20;  arr.  trip  to 
Yellowstone,  21 ;  at  natl.  conv.  in 
Washtn,  1902,  first  steps  toward 
Intl.  Alliance,  24;  introd.  Clara 
Barton,  25;  president's  address,  29; 
presides  over  Congressl.  hearing, 
50;  estab.  natl.  suff.  headqrs.  in 
New  York,  34;  35;  tour  of  States, 
36;  scores  Seth  Low,  38;  card  case 
presented,  40;  on  Miss  Anthony's 
birthday,  41 ;  obtains  foreign  re- 
ports, 41 ;  44;  presides  at  Congressl. 
hearing,  urges  appoint,  of  a  com. 


INDEX 


773 


to  investigate  effects  in  equal  suff. 
States,  46,  54;  presides  at  natl.  suff. 
conv.  in  New  Orleans,  1903,  56-7 ; 
annual  address,  receives  ovation, 
59;  work  of  natl.  headqrs,  61;  re- 
ports Cong,  ignores  appeals,  62; 
65;  67;  tributes  to  the  dead,  73; 
says  each  State  must  decide  race 
problem  for  itself,  83;  lectures  in 
New  Orleans,  85;  presides  at  natl. 
suff.  conv.  in  Washtn.  in  1904,  86; 
prepares  Decl.  of  Principles,  87; 
dele,  to  Berlin  intl.  suff.  conf ,  87 ; 
tells  of  Miss  Anthony's  visit  to 
White  House,  88;  pres.  address,  less 
illiteracy  among  women  than  men, 
would  disfranchise  for  failure  to 
vote,  90;  presides  over  work  conf, 
94;  speaks  for  peace  and  arbitra- 
tion, 98;  tribute  on  Miss  Anthony's 
birthday,  100;  work  in  Colo,  102, 
105;  compliments  Ladies  of  the 
Maccabees,  107;  resigns  presidency 
of  Natl.  Assn,  107;  its  tribute;  in- 
trod.  Dr.  Shaw;  remains  as  vice- 
pres.  at  large,  108;  presents  Miss 
Anthony  and  Miss  Barton,  closes 
conv,  109-10;  on  success  of  worn, 
suff.  in  Colo,  115;  urges  House 
Tudic.  Com.  to  report  on  Fed.  Suff. 
Amend,  116;  recep.  en  route  to 
Portland  conv,  117,  118;  responds 
to  greetings  to  conv,  123;  estab. 
"work  conferences",  127;  raises 
fund  for  Ore.  campn,  130;  presides 
at  conv,  tributes  to  speakers,  139; 
Fourth  of  July  address,  144;  tribute 
of  Oregonian,  145;  resigns  vice- 
presidency,  145;  for  helping  Ore. 
campn,  147;  rept.  on  Intl.  Suff.  Alli- 
ance, 149,  150;  would  abolish  proxy 
votes  at  conv.  161 ;  rept.  on  Intl. 
Snff.  Alliance:  opens  Evening  with 
Women  in  History,  says  women 
are  not  the  inferior  sex,  180;  brings 
Intl.  Stiff.  Alliance  grc 
report  as  chmn.  Cor  m,  its 

work    for    Fed.    Amend, 
point,  frat.  dele,  to  Peace  conf,  210; 
powerful  speech,  The  Battle  t 

'.„',   woman's  hour  hns   struck, 
241 ;   Dr.   Shaw  pays  tribute,   natl 

in    Seattle    sends    gre< 
247;  work  as  chmn.  of 
for  Fed.  Suff.  Amend,  258;  added 

261 ;  wor 
Amend.  p<  •  r  contriK 

>ses   appreciation,   274-5;   ad- 
dress ordered  print' 
lit.  Di<t.  (  -Idrcss  bef. 

Senate    Com.    1010.    most    men   ill 


U.  S.  received  suff.  from  Govt.  not 
States,  297,  745 ;  leaflet  on  What  to 
Do,  314;  sends  letter  from  South 
Africa  to  natl.  suff.  conv,  1911; 
"suffs.  of  two  countries  are  actu- 
ated by  the  same  motives,  inspired 
by  the  same  hopes,  working  to  the 
same  end;"  letter  of  good  wishes 
sent  her  with  regrets  for  absence, 
328;  home  from  trip  around  world, 
address  at  natl.  suff.  conv,  1912; 
need  for  polit.  power  in  hands  of 
women  to  combat  social  evil,  345-6 ; 
speaks  in  Carnegie  Hall,  New  York, 
367;  372;  inquires  about  Congressl. 
Union  at  natl.  suff.  conv.  in  1913; 
has  its  report  separated  from  that 
of  Congressl.  Com,  380-1 ;  reviews 
advanced  position  of  women  and 
great  responsibilities,  382;  bef. 
House  Com.  on  Rules  asking  for 
Worn.  Suff.  Com,  says  while  Judic. 
Com.  has  been  refusing  to  report  a 
res.  on  worn,  suff,  12  European 
countries  have  considered  it;  has 
spirited  discussion  with  Rep.  Hard- 
wick  ;  says  men  have  not  had  to 
ask  other  men  for  the  vote,  389; 
tells  of  N.  Y.  amend,  campn,  444; 
explains  to  Alice  Paul  why  Natl. 
Suff.  Assn,  cannot  cooperate  with 
Congressl.  Union,  454;  had  per- 
suaded Dr.  Shaw  to  accept  natl. 
presidency  in  1904,  455;  Dr.  Shaw 
wants  her  to  take  it  in  1915;  her 
duties  as  pres.  of  Intl.  Alliance  and 
chmn.  of  N.  Y.  campn.  com.  pre- 
vent; pressure  from  deK 
forces  her  to  yield;  unanimously 
elected,  456;  Dr.  Shaw  casts  first 
vote  with  tribute.  456-7;  Mrs.  Catt 
asks  loyalty  of  men  sh«»\v 

joy    over    her    election,    45$;    ad- 
dresses Washtn.  mass   meeting,  re- 
Mr.    Mai 'lie'-  •     thai 
n    would    vote    for 
iiid  dulares  they  would  settle 
disputes  without  war.  .jno;  bef.  Sen 
ate     (  n     got 
the  vote,  465.  (Api» 

Linptif, 

tribute  to   Sen.   Thomas   .jo_- 

sides  at  P 

a   man   believes   in   woni    sufT    it    is 

when  he  d 
it  is  one  for  the  States  .•/ 

taring 

rk  of 
»  public  school 

ask  f  i  languages,  there  is 


774 


INDEX 


no  argument  against  it,  470 ;  argues 
with  Rep.  Chandler  whether  a 
member  should  obey  mandate  of 
his  district  or  broad  principle  of 
justice,  470-1;  calls  natl.  suff.  conv. 
to  meet  in  Atlantic  City,  1916,  480; 
mayor  presents  key  to  city,  481 : 
report  as  chmn.  of  Campaign  and 
Survey  Com,  had  visited  23  States, 
members  of  the  Natl.  Bd.  nearly 
all  the  others  and  questionnaires 
sent  to  all  St.  presidents ;  convinced 
crisis  has  been  reached  which  if 
recognized  will  lead  to  speedy  vic- 
tory, 485;  discusses  recent  Iowa 
campn ;  shows  its  weaknesses,  same 
as  in  all ;  lessons  learned  for  fu- 
ture; methods  of  liquor  interests 
and  other  "antis",  alliance  between 
them,  486;  opens  conv,  486;  presi- 
dent's address  on  The  Crisis,  key- 
note of  great  campn,  488 :  declares 
Fed.  Amend,  only  method ;  women 
must  sit  on  steps  of  Cong;  a  "call 
to  arms,"  489;  introd.  Pres.  Wilson 
to  natl.  suff.  conv,  496;  asks  Dr. 
Shaw  to  respond,  408 ;  says  no  sug- 
gestion has  been  made  to  lessen 
work  for  Fed.  Amend,  501 ;  work 
with  Cong,  503-4;  for  planks  in 
party  platforms,  505 ;  calls  on  pres- 
idential candidates,  1916,  507;  trib- 
ute from  chmn.  Natl.  Congressl. 
Com,  509;  presides  over  mass  meet- 
ing Sunday  afternoon,  511:  clones 
the  conv,  512;  reception,  with  wives 
of  Cabinet  at  suff.  conv,  1917,  515; 
arr.  for  dele,  to  meet  their  Senators 
and  Reps.  516;  opens  conv,  thinks 
Cong,  will  not  allow  this  country 
to  be  outstripped  by  Europe  in  giv- 
ing suff.  to  women ;  urges  necessitv 
for  war  work.  517;  presides  at  N. 
Y.  victory  meeting,  518;  says  Legis. 
can  legally  grant  Pres.  suff.  to 
women,  520;  president's  address  to 
Cong;  plea  for  Fed.  Amend;  pen 
picture  in  Woman  Citizen;  in  pam- 
phlet form  standard  literature  of 
Natl.  Assn.  521-2;  Dr.  Shaw  nomi- 
nates her  for  office,  523;  calls  for 
nation-wide  appeal  for  Fed.  Amend, 
523 :  escorts  Hon.  Jeannette  Rankin 
to  Capitol.  523 ;  Mrs.  Catt's  tribute, 
526;  condemns  "picketing",  530; 
presides  at  Amer.  Women's  War 
Serv.  meeting  in  Washtn,  532; 
writes  book  on  Fed.  Amend,  532; 
originates  suff.  schools,  538;  in- 
structs organizers,  539;  tribute  to 
Rev.  Olympia  Brown,  540;  re-elect- 


ed pres,  541 ;  first  suggests  League 
of  Women  Voters,  541 ;  plan  for 
million  dollar  fund,  541 ;  contrib.  to 
Natl.  Assn,  542;  closes  conv.  with 
"ringing  words  of  inspiration,"  545 ; 
presides  at  Senate  hearing,  April, 
1917,  believes  it  will  be  last,  545; 
says  action  of  Govt.  in  denying 
suff.  has  "saddened  women's  lives" ; 
thousands  of  copies  circulated, 
547;  opens  natl.  suff.  conv.  1019, 
gives  president's  address,  The  Na- 
tion Calls ;  outlines  plan  for  Natl. 
League  of  Women  Voters;  names 
vital  needs  of  Govt,  553;  presented 
with  illuminated  testimonial  by 
southern  dele,  554;  Govt.  puts  her 
on  Woman's  Com.  of  Natl.  Defense 
and  Liberty  Loan  Com,  555;  car- 
ries for'd.  great  campn.  for  Fed. 
Amend;  women  of  entire  world 
owe  thanks,  555-6;  presides  at  "in- 
quiry" dinner  at  St.  Louis  Conv, 
561 ;  announces  suff.  soc.  in  Cuba, 
Porto  Rico,  Hawaii  and  Philip- 
pines, 561 ;  presides  at  meeting  of 
suff.  war  workers,  564;  work  with 
Cong,  566 ;  help  to  Congressl.  Com, 
567;  urges  dele,  to  conv.  to  "finish 
the  fight,"  569;  outlines  aims  of 
League  of  Women  Voters.  570; 
conv.  adopts  res.  of  apprec.  and 
loyalty,  575;  closing  speech  on 
Looking  Forward.  576;  at  last  stiff, 
hearing,  577;  reads  testimony  from 
South,  580;  581;  address  to  com; 
analyzes  "negro  problem" ;  scores 
attitude  of  southern  members  on 
Fed.  Amend,  582;  tells  members  of 
com.  to  have  conf.  with  Pres.  Wil- 
son. 583:  answers  speech  of  ex-Sen. 
Bailey;  he  reminds  her  of  pres.  of 
Harvard  who  said  there  were 
witches  and  Daniel  Webster  who 
objected  to  admitting  western 
States  to  the  Union;  tells  of  Pre- 
mier Asquith's  change  of  views ; 
heard  such  speeches  40  years  ago; 
Mr.  Bailey  leaves  room.  590 — 592; 
presides  at  last  natl.  suff.  conv, 
596 :  responds  to  greetings,  gives 
president's  address,  says  Fed. 
Amend,  close  at  hand.  597:  de- 
scribes spec,  sessions  of  Legis.  to 
obtain :  both  Repubs.  and  Dems,  re- 
sponsible for  delay;  unsullied  rec- 
ord of  Natl.  Suff.  Assn ;  its  vast 
work,  508-0;  pities  those  not  in  it; 
tribute  to  pioneers,  509;  Pres.  Wil- 
son sends  greetings,  509;  602:  asks 
southern  women  to  state  help  de- 


INDEX 


775 


sired  from  Natl.  Assn;  granted, 
60,1 ;  her  immense  work  for  Fed. 
Amend,  604;  for  ratification,  hay- 
ing special  sessions  called,  Legis. 
polled,  commissns.  of  women  sent, 
etc,  604 — 606;  Mrs.  Shuler's  tribute, 
605;  western  trip  for  Amend,  606; 
presides  at  ratif.  banquet,  610; 
eulogy  at  Dr.  Shaw's  mem.  service, 
612;  founds  Leslie  Bureau  of  Edu- 
catn.  ui.} ;  gives  honor  rolls  to  early 
workers ;  suffs.  present  with  dia- 
mond pin;  asks  Mrs.  Upton  to  re- 
spond, 616;  closes  Victory  conv. 
and  opens  School  for  Polit.  Educa- 
tion, 617;  escorts  Rep.  Jeannette 
Rankin  to  Capitol,  632;  addresses 
Senate  Com,  633;  Pres.  Wilson 
congratulates,  634;  635;  Mrs.  Catt 
sends  to  Repub.  and  Dem.  Natl. 
chairmen  a  summary  of  votes  on 
Fed.  Worn.  Suff.  Amend,  thanking 
their  parties  and  dividing  the 
credit ;  tribute  to  Pres.  Wilson,  648 ; 
says  women  are  not  bound  to  either 
party,  649;  plans  and  works  for 
ratification,  649  et  seq.  (See  Rati- 
fication.) Mass  meeting  in  Washtn. 
to  greet  Mrs.  Catt  and  workers  for 
ratif.  in  Tenn ;  Pres.  Wilson  sends 
message ;  Gov.  Smith  welcomes  at 
railroad  station  in  New  York,  652; 
addresses  Friends'  Eq.  Rights  Assn, 
665;  Miss.  Valley  Conf.  in  Minne- 
sota, 669;  in  Ohio,  670;  calls  Exec. 
Council  meeting  in  Indpls,  670; 
launches  League  of  Women  Voters, 
68.V4-5:  689;  690;  offers  assistance 
of  Leslie  Commissn,  698;  conducts 
school  for  polit.  educatn,  698-9; 
^cmls  letter  to  delegates  of  natl. 
pres.  convs.  in  1916;  addresses  mass 
meeting  in  Chicago,  709;  marches 
in  parade,  710;  secures  plank,  711; 
asks  Pres.  Wilson  meaning  of  Dem. 
suff.  plank,  714;  716;  calls  Exec. 

il  of  Natl.  Suff.  Assn.  to  con- 

<;ifler   helping   Govt.    in   war   work, 

^praks   on    Impending   Crisis, 

war,  724;  on   Woman's 

Natl.     Defense,     726;     asks 

pay    for  equal    work.   728^9; 

•  irks  of  anti-sufTs.  during 

the  war  and  answers  them,  736-7; 

after  war  calls  meeting  ami  urges 

men    to     ' 
•t    ami    (', 
them.    73^ 

,10,   Kcdrral    f-'nfr.-i- 

ment  nf  Y  -i  1015.  pt 

of  men's  enfranchisement,  di: 


treatment  of  women,  small  effort 
by  men;  how  Jews  and  Catholics 
obtained  suff;  land  qualif.  re- 
moved ;  immense  effort  of  women ; 
plea  for  Fed.  Amend,  752 — 754; 
natl.  suff.  hcadqrs,  under  her  presi- 
dency, 754-5 ;  opens  natl.  suff.  head- 
qrs.  in  N.  Y.  City  in  1905  and  again 
in  1916;  branch  headqrs.  in  Washtn. 
in  i«)i6.  75.};  calls  Kxec.  Council  to 
meet  in  Cleveland  in  1921 ;  later  in 
New  York,  to  arr.  end  of  Natl. 
Amer.  Worn.  Suff.  Assn,  756-7. 

Catt,  George  W,  180. 

Chamberlain,  Gov.  George  E.  (Ore.), 
welcomes  suff.  conv,  122 ;  as  U.  S. 
Senator,  547. 

Chandler,  U.  S.  Rep.  Walter  M.  (N. 
Y.),  470. 

Chapin,   Rev.   Augusta,   146. 

Chapman,  Mariana  W,  20;  42;  47; 
67;  665. 

Charleston,  S.  C,  worn.  suff.  conf,  35. 

Chase,  Mary  N,  81 ;  141 ;  261. 

Cheney,  Ednah  D,  146. 

Chicago,  entertains  natl.  suff.  conv. 
1907,  193;  women  petit,  for  Munic. 
suff,  392 ;  their  power  doubled  when 
gained,  394;  entertains  natl.  conv. 
1920,  594. 

Child  Labor,  20;  Mrs.  Kelley  speaks 
on,  141,  143;  Natl.  Suff.  Assn.  calls 
for  legislation,  145;  Mrs.  Kelley 
shows  backwardness  of  U.  S,  164; 
natl.  suff.  conv.  protests  against, 
212;  its  end  waits  on  worn,  suff, 
302;  Dr.  Lovejoy  shows  help  of  wo- 
men in  securing  natl.  law ;  need  of 
women  in  politics.  500. 

Chittenden,  Alice  Hill,  391 ;  437;  711 ; 
Mrs.  Catt  refutes  her  attacks  dur- 
ing the  war,  736. 

Church  and  Woman  Suffrage;  Mrs. 
Stanton's    views.    Miss    Anthony's, 
Dr.  Shaw's,  Olympia  Brown' 
Ministers  at  natl.  snfT.  com-;,  listed 
in  each  chapter:  church  work  for 
worn,   suff,  63:    162;   in    looR,  224: 
women    comprising    two    tlr- 
membership  demand  ballot,  267;  ef- 
fort  to  secure  admission  of 
to   Itf.    F..    Genl.    Tonf.   South,   288; 

gathering!  addrr«. 

\\oni.     suff      ministers     asked     to 

to  prrarh  ,,n   R 

apathv    of    women    for    Miff. 

worn,   stiff;    at 

"onf.   in   Des   M«»inrs 

18  pulpits  filled  by  delegates;  let- 


776 


INDEX 


ters  sent  to  4,000  clergymen  ask- 
ing for  worn.  suff.  in  sermons  on 
Mother's  Day,  407;  work  in  N.  J. 
and  W.  Va,  448;  see  Clergy. 

Churchill,  Isabella,   102. 

Churchill,  Mrs.  Winston,  442. 

Citizenship  Schools,  607;  690. 

Gapp,  U.  S.  Sen.  Moses  E,  invites 
natl.  suff.  conv.  to  St.  Paul,  382; 
383;  on  suff.  platform,  459;  626. 

Clark,  Speaker  Champ,  helps  worn, 
suff,  xxi;  name  applauded  at  suff. 
conv,  402;  invites  Dr.  Shaw  to 
Speaker's  bench,  440;  assists  Cpn- 
gressl.  Com,  451;  515;  promises 
vote  for  Fed.  Amend,  516;  sup- 
ports creation  of  Com.  on  Worn. 
Suff,  524-5 ;  assists  in  vote  for  Fed. 
Amend,  562;  advises  new  res.  for, 
Amend,  577 ;  assists  Amend,  629, 
633-4-5;  promises  vote  for,  637;  en- 
dorses worn,  suff,  708. 

Clark,  Mrs.  Champ,  greetings  to  natl. 
suff.  conv,  341 ;  sends  flowers  to, 
446. 

Clark,  U.  S.  Rep.  Clarence  D. 
CWyo.).  657. 

Clark,  U.  S.  Rep.  Frank  (Fla.),  384. 

Clark,  Gov.  George  W.  (Iowa),  668. 

Clark,  Mrs.  Orton  H,  425. 

Clark,  Chief  Justice  Walter,  632. 

Clarke.  Grace  Julian,  670. 

Clarkson,  Director  U.  S.  Council  of 
Natl.  Defense  Grosvenor  B,  tribute 
to  Dr.  Shaw,  760. 

Clay,  U.   S.  Sen.  Alexander  S,  291 ; 

200. 

Clay.  Laura,  address  to  conv.  TQOT, 
13;  20:  35;  42;  89;  98;  118;  127; 
140:  180:  202:  2Ti;  220-1;  244; 
260;  265:  responds  to  welcome  of 
natl.  suff.  conv,  267;  282;  280: 
every  protection  which  manhood 
can  offer  to  womanhood  should  be 
extended,  305:  social  order  depends 
on  women.  308:  founder  and  prcs. 
Ky.  Fq.  Rights  Assn,  welcomes 
natl.  stiff,  conv.  to  Louisville:  re- 
calls visits  of  the  pioneers,  Lucy 
Stone  and  Susan  B  Anthony;  pays 
tribute  to  Men's  Leagues  for  Worn. 
Suff,  311:  makes  suff.  address  bef. 
House  of  Governors,  314:  has  Natl. 
Suff.  Bd.  ask  members  of  Cong,  to 
empower  woman  to  vote  for  U.  S. 
Senators.  314;  334;  for  Fed.  Elect. 
Bill,  424;  explains  it,  452;  debate 
on  future  work  of  Natl.  Assn,  486 : 
speaks  on  U.  S.  Elections  Bill,  495 : 
conv.  endorses,  501 ;  504 ;  wants 
form  of  Fed.  Amend,  changed,  561 ; 


work  for  Fed.  Elections  Bill,  659, 
660,  669;  vice-pres.  South  Worn. 
Conf,  671. 

Clay,  Mary  B,  208. 

Clayton,  Judge  Henry  D,  presides  at 
House  hearing  on  worn,  suff,  pho- 
tographed, 354 ;  asks  questions,  360- 
i ;  promises  consideration  and  of- 
fers to  "frank"  the  hearing  reports, 
363;  389- 

Clement,  Gov.  Percival  W.  (Vt.),  653. 

Clergy,  in  New  Orleans  endorse  worn, 
suff,  56,  64,  68,  70;  in  Washtn,  98; 
objections  reviewed,  138;  changed 
attitude,  141 ;  in  Canada,  259 ;  tes- 
timony in  equal  suff.  States,  398. 
See  names  in  footnotes  of  first  19 
chapters  of  those  officiating  at  natl. 
suff.  convs. 

Cleveland,  President  Grover,  Dr. 
Shaw  answers,  125 ;  131 ;  she  criti- 
cizes article  against  women's  clubs, 
158;  second  against  worn,  suff,  163; 
166;  175. 

Cockran,  Mrs.  Bourke,  258. 

Codman,  Mrs.  J.  M,  679. 

Coe,   Mrs.   Henry  Waldo,   120;    134. 

Coggeshall.  Mary  J,  43;  89;  tributes 
to,  139;  212;  bequest  to  Natl.  Suff. 
Assn,  442;  used  for  Iowa  campn, 
485- 

Colby,  Secretary  of  State  Bainbridge, 
proclaims  Fed.  Worn.  Suff.  Amend, 
vi ;  xxiii;  652;  effort  to  enjoin,  653- 
4;  brings  message  from  Pres.  Wil- 
son to  suff.  mass  meeting,  652; 
Men's  Anti-Suff.  Assn.  tries  to  pre- 
vent proclaiming  Amend,  681-2. 

Colby,  Clara  Bewick,  Industrial  Prob- 
lems of  Women,  TO;  31;  35;  shows 
Govt.  and  civil  service  unfair  to 
women.  44;  same,  63;  ed.  of  Wo- 
man's Tribune,  132;  254;  addresses 
House  Judic.  Com,  describes  past 
hearings.  Mrs.  Stanton's  and  Miss 
Anthony's  speeches,  428:  life  work 
for  Fed.  Elections  Bill,  452,  658; 
memorial  to,  540. 

College  Women's  Equal  Suffrage 
League,  formed.  159;  object  of, 
171 ;  fully  org.  in  1908,  evening  at 
natl.  suff.  conv,  226,  229-30;  at 
natl.  suff.  conv.  of  1909,  255;  of 
join.  283;  of  1911.  310;  has  an  even- 
ing at  conv,  noted  speakers,  320-1 ; 
debate  at  natl.  suff.  conv.  in  1012 
bet.  stiffs,  and  pretended  "antis", 
342:  1^1014,  425:  in  1015.  450;  483; 
deputation  calls  on  President.  626; 
sketch  of ;  organization,  officers, 
661-2-3;  great  force  for  worn,  suff, 


INDEX 


777 


662;  results  among  college  women, 
663 ;  Pres.  M.  Carey  Thomas's  con- 
tribution, league  dissolves,  664. 

College  Women's  Evening  at  natl. 
Mit'f.  cunv.  in  Balto,  167;  program 
of  eminent  speakers,  168;  all  tell  of 
indebtedness  to  suff.  leaders,  168 — 
173;  Miss  Anthony's  response,  173. 

Collins,  Emily  P,  208. 

Collins,  Franklin  \V,  anti-suff,  354. 

Colorado,  effect  of  worn,  suff,  52; 
eminent  speakers  testify  as  to  worn, 
suff,  100 — 105;  Gov.  Adams,  Mrs. 
(imifell  and  others  refute  charges, 
112—115;  U.  S.  Sen.  Shafroth  on 
election  frauds,  114;  highest  testi- 
mony exonerates  women,  114;  worn, 
suff.  re-affirmed  by  large  majority, 
115:  Sen.  Shafroth  testifies  as  to 
.  suff.  298;  Rep.  Rucker,  same, 
Men's  Defense  League,  312; 
Mrs.  Dorr's  article.  314;  Richard 
Barry's  slanders  in  Ladies  Home 
Journal:  thousands  of  copies  of 
Blackwell's  answer  sent  to 
editor  by  women  with  protest,  314; 
report  on  worn.  suff.  by  Rep.  Tay- 
lor- 355'  3575  women  satisfied  with 
suff,  393;  Sen.  Shafroth  answers 
charges  against  it,  444;  State  gives 
worn,  suff,  624. 

Committee  on  Rules,  natl.  suff.  conv. 
asks  for  an  especial  Com.  on  Worn. 
Suff,  373 ;  grants  a  hearing  in  Dec, 
1013.  Dr.  Shaw  presides,  "antis"  out 
in  force,  383 ;  names  of  com,  tie 
vote  on  reporting  res,  397;  grants 
a  hearing  1917  and  creates  WOOL 
Suff.  Com,  525,  548-9;  names  of 
Rules  Com,  548;  sets  time  for  suff. 
debate  in  House,  593;  628;  action 
of  House  Judic.  Com,  631;  Mr*. 
1 'ark's  report  of  Com.  on  Rules, 
63; 

Committee  on  Woman  Suffrage,  the 
natl.  conv.  of  1913  mak- 

in  Lower  House;  appeals 
mrnend,   he 
approves.  373 — 376;   three   r« 

'(•p.    Edward    T. 
Rules, 
h  erants  1 

ice,  383 ;  names  of  com,  384 ; 
••ortinir.  .7 

;>cakcr 

Ji.  524 ; 
r*i  537-8;  hearing  for  bcf. 


Com.  on  Rules,  May,  1917,  548; 
com.  appointed,  549 ;  it  gives  4  days' 
hearing  on  Fed.  Amend ;  names  of 
com,  577;  reports  favorably  to 
House,  593;  effort  for  com.  in 
Lower  House.  626,  defeated,  628; 
full  report,  Pres.  Wilson  favors, 
House  votes  for,  633;  names  of 
com,  634;  Judic.  Com.  hostile,  634; 
friendly  "steering"  com.  names, 

635. 

Committees,  of  National  American 
Woman  Suffrage  Association  (spe- 
cial) for  war  work,  723,  725,  727, 
73O.  734 ;  on  State  Councils  of  Natl. 
Defense,  726. 

Committees,  Senate,  on  Worn.  Suff, 
626;  632;  642;  645. 

Conger-Kanecko,  Josephine,  419. 

Congress,  United  States,  deaf  to  ap- 
peals for  worn,  suff,  xvii,  xviii ; 
converted,  xxi ;  votes  on  Fed. 
Amend,  xxiii ;  no  power  to  give 
worn.  suff.  xxiii:  committees  urged 
by  suff.  leaders  to  appt.  com.  to  in- 
vestigate results  of  equal  suff,  49, 
they  refuse,  54.  62.  363: 
many  members  kind  and  helpful, 
508;  first  petitioned  for  worn,  suff, 
618-19;  submits  I4th  and  i.'th 
Amends.  619-20;  receives  first  peti- 
tion for  roth,  622-3;  insurgency  in. 
625:  no.  of  members  elected 
men,  643;  James  Madison  says  it 
has  right  to  con fer^ stiff,  657. 

Congressional  Committee  of  National 
•  lan  Suffrage  Associ- 
ation, Mr?,  Catt  report*  for.  62; 
Emma  M.  dillrtt's  report: 
entered  upon  p<>lit.  work;  letters 
sent  to  candi  ' 

ing  opinion  on  worn,  suff:  dif.  bet. 
Dems,  and  Repubs.  310:  com.  for 
1013.  tribute  to  by  natl.  cor 

366 — 368;  in  1910- 
IT-I2.  Mr*.  William  Kent  chinn. 
377;  PI  \1>IV 

for  ioi.v 

inps  bef.  roms: 

leputm- 

iv.   report 
te  com  ;    i 

new  Conpressl.  Com.  appt.  names 
of.  bendqrs.  380-1;  W 

'1    Mo 
work.  .1 
for  i 
pr.  -'or  Drm.  • 

rtnintj   Worn.    SufT 
j;  members  of  Cong,  canvassed, 


778 


INDEX 


413;  Shafroth  Amend,  decided  on, 
414-15;  attends  hearing  on  the  orig- 
inal amend,  415 ;  its  lobby,  publicity 
and  campn.  work,  418 — 422;  self- 
denial  day,  the  "melting  pot,"  419; 
assists  Neb,  421 ;  natl.  conv.  appre- 
ciates its  work,  422;  on  "blacklist- 
ing" candidates,  424;  Ethel  M. 
Smith's  report ;  members  of  Cong, 
catalogued,  pressure  from  women 
of  home  district  to  vote  on  Fed. 
Suff.  Amend,  checking  up  records, 
votes  compared  with  those  on  Pro- 
hib.  Amend;  work  in  Congressl. 
districts  necessary  to  success, 
448—450;  Mrs.  Funk's  report,  im- 
portant work  for  vote  on  Fed. 
Amend;  for  Shafroth  Amend,  451; 
Mrs.  McCormick's  report,  452, 
465 ;  shows  6,500,000  votes  cast  for 
worn.  suff.  in  1915,  473;  instructed 
by  natl.  conv.  to  concentrate  forces 
on  Fed.  Amend,  501 ;  report  of 
work  in  1916  by  Mrs.  Roessing, 
chmn,  503 — 511;  effort  for  Fed. 
Amend,  in  Cong,  fav.  report  from 
Senate  Com ;  Senators  urged  action, 
no  vote  taken,  503-4;  unfair  treat- 
ment by  House  Judic.  Com,  504. 
(See  pages  to  511.)  Names  of  Con- 
gressl. Com,  headqrs,  506;  its  work 
divided  into  depts,  lobby  work,  506- 
7;  report  of  Maud  Wood  Park, 
chmn,  for  1917,  523 — 527;  headqrs. 
in  Washtn,  Mrs.  "Miller's  report, 
526-7;  report  of  Mrs.  Park.  562  - 
567;  see  ref.  under  Fed.  Amend, 
562;  Mrs.  Park  praises  members  of 
com.  and  tells  of  their  work ;  gives 
names,  566 ;  at  time  of  victory,  604 ; 
its  work  under  Alice  Paul,  625 ;  un- 
der Ruth  Hanna  McCormick,  627- 
8;  under  ?tfrs.  Frank  M.  Roessing, 
630;  under  Maud  Wood  Park,  632; 
her  report  on  effort  for  a  Worn. 
Suff.  Com.  in  House,  633 ;  671 ;  673 ; 
com.  made  up  of  many  orgztns. 
under  League  of  Women  Voters, 
701. 

Congressional  Record,  report  of  de- 
bate on  Fed.  Suff.  Amend,  563. 

Congressional  Union,  (National  Wo- 
man's Party),  organized  to  assist 
Natl.  Congressl.  Com;  headqrs; 
laree  work;  first  appears  at  natl. 
suff.  conv.  of  1913;  Mrs.  Catt  will 
not  recognize ;  proves  to  be  orgztn. 
to  duplicate  work  of  Natl.  Amer. 
Assn ;  Natl.  Bd.  demands  complete 
separation;  it  continues  as  inde- 
pendt.  society,  380-1 ;  urges  Dems. 


in  Cong,  to  caucus  on  forming 
Worn.  Suff.  Com;  disastrous  re- 
sult, decides  on  policy  of  fighting 
party  in  power,  412;  415;  names 
Fed.  Amend.  Susan  B.  Anthony, 
423;  arr.  suff.  hearing,  427;  speak- 
ers urge  Fed.  Amend,  429 — 434;  dif- 
ference in  policy  from  Natl.  Amer. 
Assn,  434,  471 ;  House  Judic.  Com. 
asks  its  size,  434 ;  fights  the  party 
in  power,  opp.  re-election  of  best 
friends  of  worn,  suff;  res.  offered 
in  natl.  suff.  conv.  of  1915  for  com. 
to  secure  cooperation  with  Natl. 
Assn,  453;  each  orgztn.  appoints 
five;  Union  declines  to  change  pol- 
icy; will  duplicate  the  work  of 
Assn.  in  States;  no  affiliation  pos- 
sible, 454;  hope  for  dividing  on  lob- 
by work  given  up,  Union  opens  fight 
<>n  Dem.  party,  455;  hearing  bef. 
Senate  com,  1915;  list  of  speakers, 
466-7;  bef.  House  com,  473 — 476; 
com.  "heckles"  speakers,  474 — 476 ; 
result  of  its  policy  summed  up,  475  ; 
hearings  bef.  Senate  and  House 
Coins,  547—549;  account  of  orgzln. 
put  in  Congressl.  Record,  571;  at 
1,-i^t  stiff,  hearing,  577,  585;  (Natl. 
Woman's  Party)  work  with  Con- 
gress, 629,  635 ;  656 :  organized  by 
Mire  Paul,  officers,  headqrs,  object, 
675  ;  opp.  party  in  power,  convs.  in 
San  Francisco  and  Chicago.  676; 
"picketing"  and  "militancy,"  jail 
sentences,  reorganizes.  presents 
busts  of  pioneers  to  Cong,  677; 
seeks  Fed.  Amend,  for  civil  rights 
of  women.  Mrs.  Belmont  presents 
headqrs.  in  Washtn,  678 ;  at  natl. 
Repub.  conv.  1916,  710;  at  Dem. 
Natl.  Conv,  719. 

Connecticut.  98,000  women  ask  for 
Pres.  suff.  in  vain,  602;  ratif.  of 
Fed.  Amend,  653. 

Conventions,  annual,  of  National 
American  Woman  Suffrage  Asso- 
ciation, in  Minneapolis,  1901,  3; 
Washington,  23;  New  Orleans,  55; 
Washington,  86;  Portland,  Ore, 
117;  Baltimore,  151;  Chicago,  193; 
Buffalo,  213;  Seattle,  243;  Wash- 
ington, 266;  Louisville,  310;  Phila- 
delphia. 332;  Washington,  364; 
Nashville,  398;  Washington.  439; 
Atlantic  City,  480}  Washington, 
513;  ST..  Louis,  550;  Chicago  (last), 
594.  Names  of  speakers  given  in 
each;  chronologically  arranged  in 
first  19  chapters;  tribute  to  in  An- 
thony Biography,  22. 


INDEX 


779 


Conventions,    Woman's    Rights,    first 

ever    held,    618;    first    in    Washtn, 

621. 
Conway,    Rev.    Moncure    D,    funeral 

service  for  Mrs.  Stanton,  741. 
Cooke,  Katharine.    TOO;    iij. 
Cooke,  Marjorie  Benton,  326. 
Coover,  Bertha,  328. 
Costello.  Ray    (England),  tribute  of 

Buffalo  Express.  227;  286. 
•ioran.  Mrs.  Edward  P,  on  tour  for 

ratif,   606;   650;   687;    600;   assn's. 

clunn.   Food   Supply  and  Demand, 

694. 
Cotnam,  Mrs.  T.  T,  shows  injustice 

of    Cong,    to    women,    failure    of 

America    to    stand    by    its    ideals, 

400-1;   instructs  stiff,  schools,  539; 

5H  :   561;  610;  at  service  for  Dr. 

Shaw.  6ir. 

Condon,  Chaplain  Henry  N,  540. 
Council     of     Women    Voters,     484; 

Court  decisions,  on  length  of  women's 
work  dav.  306-7:  in  Ills.  St.  Su- 
preme Court  upholds  Pres.  stiff, 
407;  in  Texas,  Primary  suff.  for 
women  constitutl.  602;  in  Tenn.  and 
Neb.  Prcs.  and  Munic.  constitl. 
602 ;  on  Miss  Anthony's  voting  un- 
der T4th  Amend.  622;  on  Mrs.  Min- 
or's attempt.  623 ;  on  referendum  of 
Fed.  Amends.  Ohio  St.  Sup.  ft. 
I'  S.  Sup.  Ct.  652;  to  prevent  ratif. 
mid  proclaiming  of  Amend  in  D. 
C.  and  Md.  654-5;  U.  S.  Sup.  Ct. 
decision.  655 ;  in  D.  C.  on  Fed. 
Worn.  Suff.  Amend.  68r ;  in  Md,  on 
its  ratif.  682:  in  U.  S.  Sup.  Ct.  on 
its  validity.  682. 

vies.  Commssr.  Grace  Espey  Pat- 
ton.  146. 

fr<=     Jnsiah    Fvans.   726. 

'  imes    M.     COhioX    arl- 
•   im.    Miff.    ronf.    670:    as 
presidential        candidate        receives 
T  eaeue  of  Women  Voters,  701. 

Cox.  Mr*.  Lewis  T.  757. 

bmn.  church  work. 
points  out  real  opp.  to  worn,  stiff. 
TrVS:  church  work  for  worn.  suff. 
in  Canada.  250;  2rV)-T  ;  says  church 
women  an*  seeing  need  of  suff, 
267:  church  not  appreciating  the  re- 
source*; lying  dormant  with  two- 
thiV 

on    church 

work    in  urrh    work 

most    important    to    be    dot 
worn     suff.    must    be    non  sectarian 
mni-scctarian,  448. 


Crane.  Rev.  Caroline  Bartlett,  women 
must  vote  as  well  as  pray,  223 ;  ad- 
dresses natl.  suff.  conv.  in  1911, 
"politics  a  noble  profession  in 
which  women  long  to  engage,"  322 ; 
333 ;  at  mem.  service  for  Dr.  Shaw, 
611;  703. 

Crane,  U.  S.  Sen.  W.  Murray,  711. 

Crosby.  John  S,  39. 

Crossett,  Ella  Hawley,  67;  responds 
for  New  York,  215;  216;  262;  on 
N.  Y.  campn,  518. 

Crowley,  Teresa  A,  333;  on  Mass, 
campn,  409;  444. 

Cuba.  suff.  soc.  formed,  561. 

Cummings,  ITomer  S,  climn.  Dem. 
Natl.  Com,  natl.  stiff,  conv.  thanks 
for  help  with  Fed.  Amend,  610; 
638;  helps  ratif.  in  Tenn,  651. 

Cummins,  U.   S.   Sen.   Albert' B.  324. 

Cummins,  Mrs.  Albert  B,  382. 

Cunningham,  Minnie  Fisher,  490;  556; 
566;  570;  on  suff.  commssn.  to 
West,  605;  650. 


Dana,  Paul,  gives  space  in  N.  Y.  Sun 

for  worn,  suff,  14. 
Daniels.    Secretary   of   the   Navy  Jo- 

scphtis,  382;  724. 

Daniels,  Mrs.  Josephus,  382;  515;  564. 
Dargan,  Olive  Tilford.  243. 
Darlington.    Rt.    Rev.    James    Henry. 

congratulates  stiffs,  and  scon 

tis."  345:  674- 
Darrow,  Clara  T,,  tells  of  defeat  in  N. 

Dak.  402;  421. 
Data  Department  (Research  Bureau), 

org.  1915,  443. 

Davenport.  Mrs.  John  D,  444. 
Davis,  Dr.  Katharine  Bement.  elected 

natl.  vice-pres.  425:  456;  450;  asks 

worn.  suff.  in  the  interest  of  good 

morals,  406;  400. 

Dav.  T.ucv  TTobart.  48;  04;  08;  224. 
De  Baun.  Anna,  with  Natl.  Suff.  Pul>. 

Co.   .182. 

Deborah.  64;  60. 
Decker.  Sarah  Platt.  258. 
Declaration    of    Principles,    presented 

to  natl.  conv.  1004.  87;  106;  in  full. 
MS   for  demanding  worn,   suff, 

742- 

Deering.  Mabel  Craft,  T 
Delano.  Jane,  Red  Cross  and  the  War, 

"tic.    oru.'umt    at    mem. 
•>e   for  Dr    Shaw.  612. 
DC  Merritte.  I^ura,  63. 


78o 


INDEX 


Democratic  National  Committee, 
gives  natl.  suff.  com.  list  of  its  can- 
didates for  Cong,  319;  receives  suff. 
speakers,  440;  natl.  suff.  conv. 
thanks  chmn.  for  help  with  Fed. 
Amend,  610;  638;  648;  651-2;  urges 
Gov.  Roberts  to  call  spec,  session 
of  Tenn.  Legis.  to  ratify  Fed.  Suff. 
Amend.  718. 

Democratic  National  Conventions,  Dr. 
Shaw  describes  one  in  Balto,  371 ; 
in  1916  refuses  plank  for  Fed. 
Amend,  but  endorses  worn,  suff, 
480;  505;  action  on  worn.  suff. 
planks  in  1904,  703;  in  1908,  704; 
in  1912,  707;  great  struggle  in 
1916,  710-12;  in  1920  League  of 
Women  Voters'  planks  accepted, 
701 ;  women  welcomed,  strong  Fed. 
Amend,  plank  adopted,  full  polit. 
recog.  granted,  717 — 719. 

Democratic  Party,  hostile  to  worn, 
suff,  adopts  plank,  xxi ;  vote  in 
Cong,  xxiii ;  members  in  Cong,  cau- 
cus against  Worn.  Suff.  Com,  397, 
412;  Senators  for  State's  rights, 
413-14;  reasons  for  holding  it  re- 
sponsible for  Fed.  Worn.  Suff. 
Amend,  429;  early  leaders  ignored 
State's  rights,  430;  this  argument 
against  worn.  suff.  demolished  by 
its  own  record,  430 — 432;  not 
strong  enough  in  Cong,  to  submit 
Fed.  Suff.  Amend,  455;  candidates 
for  Cong,  fought  by  Congressl. 
Union,  474;  vote  of  members  of 
Cong,  on  Worn.  Suff.  Com,  525; 
on  Fed.  Suff.  Amend,  562-3,  565; 
folly  in  leaving  victory  to  Repubs, 
564;  unfair  caucus  on  Fed.  Amend, 
565,  642 ;  members  in  Cong,  respon- 
sible for  delay  of  Fed.  Suff.  Amend, 
598. 

Democratic  Vote  in  Congress  on  Fed. 
Amend,  624,  627,  629,  636,  640,  642, 
644,  646;  see  647-8-9. 

Denison,  Flora  MacDonald,  540. 

Denmark,  greeting  to  suff.  conv.  in 
U.  S.,  135;  213;  243. 

Dennett,  Mary  Ware,  elected  natl. 
cor.  secy,  282;  289;  in  report  of 
1911,  tells  of  vast  work  of  natl.  suff. 
headqrs.  in  New  York ;  pushed  plan 
of  polit.  dist.  orgztn;  sent  out  tens 
of  thousands  of  suff.  stamps  and 
seals  and  scores  of  thousands  of 
leaflets;  letters  to  members  of 
Cong,  to  give  women  a  vote  in 
direct  election  of  U.  S.  Senators, 
etc,  313;  re-elected,  324;  report  for 
1912;  3,000,000  pieces  of  literature 


published,  250  kinds  of  printed 
matter,  reference  library  estab- 
lished, 335;  report  1913,  suff.  bills 
passed  by  ten  Legislatures ;  campns, 
parades,  tours,  petitions,  mass  meet- 
ings, work  with  Cong,  delegations 
to  Europe,  366 — 368;  report  for 
1914;  record  of  State  amends,  trib- 
ute to  Mrs.  Medill  McCormick,  na- 
tion-wide work  of  speakers  and  or- 
ganizers, women's  Independence 
Day,  403 — 5;  resigns  office,  405; 
supports  Shafroth  Amend,  423. 
De  Rivera,  Belle,  181. 
Devine,  Edward  T,  258. 
Devlin,  T.  C,  122. 

De  Voe,  Emma  Smith,  welcomes  del- 
egates to   St.  of  Wash,  244;  247; 
254;  257;  263-4;  495;  56i;  568. 
Dewey,  Dr.  Nina  Wilson,  407. 
Dexter,  Mrs.  Wirt,  542. 
Dickinson,  Mary  Lowe,  258. 
"Dix,  Dorothy."  Elizabeth  M.  Gilmer, 
speaks  to  colored  women's  club,  60 ; 
addresses    conv.    on    The    Woman 
with  a  Broom,  78;  gives  "Mirandy's 
Reason    Why   Women   Can't  Vote, 
No  Backbone,"  284. 
Dodge,  Mrs.  Arthur  M,  presides  at 
hearing   bef.    Rules    Com,    opposes 
Worn.  Suff.  Com.  in  Lower  House, 
391 ;  speaks  bef.  House  Judic.  Com. 
against   Fed.    Suff.   Amend,  436-7; 
urges    Senate   com.    not   to    report 
Amend,    467;     tells     House    com. 
women  are  willing  to  be  represented 
by  men,  476;  says  her  assn.  believes 
women    should    have    School    suff. 
but   not  take  part  in   politics   and 
povt ;  question  should  be  submitted 
to  women ;  tax  paying  men  can  look 
after  rights  of  tax  paying  women; 
mep    of    Kans.    didn't   know    what 
they  were  doing  and  women  wish 
they  hadn't  suff,  477;  is  told  these 
statements   contrary  to   facts,  477; 
at  Senate  com.  hearing,  548;  679; 
at  Natl.  Repub.  Conv,  711. 
Dorman,  Marjorie,  437. 
Dorr,   Rheta  Childe,  article  on   Col- 
orado   Women    Voters,    314;    367; 
edits  worn.  suff.  paper,  379;  547. 
Dos  Passos,  John  R,  says  suff.  would 
convert  women   into  beasts,  437-8. 
Doty.  Madeline  Z,  548. 
Douglas,    Judith    Hyams,    restriction 
put  upon  women  came   from  man 
not  God,  220—2. 
Douglass,  Frederick,  621. 
Downey.  Elvira,  668. 
Dreier,  Mrs.  H.  Edward,  381;  411. 


INDEX 


78i 


Drewsen,  Mrs.  Gudrun,  27;  40;  ad- 
dresses Senate  com.  on  worn.  suff. 
in  Norway,  48. 

Du  Bois,  Dr.  W.  E.  Burghardt,  343. 

Dudley,  Mrs.  Guilford,  welcomes 
natl.  suff.  conv.  to  Nashville,  398; 
on  changed  attitude  of  southern 
women  toward  suff;  now  demand 
it,  491-2;  elected  natl.  vice-pres, 
54i;  554-5;  559;  56i;  566;  at  last 
suff.  hearing,  578;  repudiates 
State's  rights  doctrine  as  applied  to 
worn,  suff;  discusses  negro  vote, 
580. 

Duniway,  Abigail  Scott,  13 ;  45 ;  meets 
delegates  to  Portland  suff.  conv, 
119;  writes  ode,  presents  gavel  to 
Dr.  Shaw,  120;  tour  with  Miss  An- 
thony in  '71,  tribute  to  both,  121 ; 
makes  fine  address,  123 ;  tells  of  her 
paper  the  New  Northivest,  tribute 
to  Wonvaris  Journal,  132;  speaks  at 
unveiling  of  Sacajawea  statue,  133; 
son  wants  her  to  vote,  she  receives 
full  recog,  141;  144;  reminis.  of 
pioneer  suff.  days  in  northwest, 
245;  254;  341. 

Duniway,   Willis,   141. 

Dunlap,  Flora,  485;  668-9. 

Dunn,  Arthur,  418. 

Dunne,  Mayor  and  Gov.  Edward  F. 
(Ills.),  197-8. 

Dye,  Eva  Emery,  133;  255;  260. 

Dyer,  U.  S.  Rep.  Leonfdas  C  (Mo.), 
631. 


Eager,  Harriet  A,  188. 
r,  Helen  N,  337. 

man,  Max,  on  need  of  politics  to 
develop  women ;  will  improve  fam- 
ily life,  285. 

Eaton,    Dr.    Cora    Smith,   tribute   to, 
.?5;    37;   42-3;   68;   tribute   to 
M5;   150;  264;  see 
King. 

-hard,  Gov.  Adolph  O.  (Minn.), 
382. 

.    Sarah    J,    portrait    of    Miss 
Antli 
Edson,  K  Philips,  559. 

ation,  opportunities  for  women, 

ational    Qualifications    for 

.  66,  76;  plea  of  Mrs. 
argument  of  Mayor  Ru- 
dolph Bl.i  rs.  Gil- 
man  objects,  78;  i 
votes  in  t  policy  of 
assn,  78;  Miss  Kearney's  demand 


for  it,  82 ;  Mrs.  Catt  approves,  89 ; 
Miss  Mills  for,  no. 

Edwards,  Mrs.  Richard  E,  559;  570; 
610;  689;  717. 

Eichelberger,  J.  S,  at  last  suff.  hear- 
ing; grilled  by  members  of  com, 
584. 

Election  of  Officers  of  National 
American  Suffrage  Association,  in 
1901,  17;  in  1902,  43;  in  1903,  67; 
in  1904,  107;  in  1905,  145;  in  1906, 
161 ;  in  1907,  204;  in  1908,  238;  in 
1909,  260;  in  1910,  282;  in  1911,  324; 
in  1912,  342;  in  1913,  373;  in  1914, 
424;  in  1915,  456;  in  1916,  501;  in 
JQI7,  54O-I ;  in  1919,  directors  elect- 
ed, 559,  old  board  continued,  574; 
in  1920,  595,  600-1;  list  of  officers 
at  beginning  of  first  19  chapters; 
newspapers  compliment  election 
methods,  238. 

Eliot,  Rev.  Thomas  L.  and  Mrs, 
121. 

Ellicott,  Mrs.  William  M,  183;  319. 

Ely,  Richard  T,  for  worn,  suff,  196. 

Engle,  Mrs.  L.  H,  540. 

Equal  Guardianship,  327. 

Etz,  Anna  Cadogan,  219. 

Eustis,  William  Henry,  7. 

Evald,  Emmy,  40-1 ;  addresses  House 
com.  on  status  of  women  in 
Sweden,  51;  urges  worn.  suff.  in 
U.  S,  52. 

Evans,  Ernestine!  548;  585. 

Kvans,  Mrs.  Glendower,  bef.  House 
Judic.  Com,  429;  closes  hearing 
with  eulogy  of  Pres.  Wilson,  stirs 
coin,  434;  bef.  Senate  com,  466; 
debate  on  future  work  of  Natl. 
Assn,  487. 

Evans,  Sarah  A,  120. 


Fairbanks,  Vice-President  Charles  \V. 
70S- 

rail,  U.  S.  Sen.  Albert  B.  711. 
Fallows,     Bishop     Samuel,     csp 

cause  of  worn,  suff,   194;  of: 

at  Dr.  Shaw's   mrm.  srrviiv 

Labor  Party  and  Comm 

of  48  on  League  of  \Vmm-n  Voters' 

I>1. inks,    700. 

>n.  pres.  of  British  Natl. 
chapter  for  History, 
tribute  to  Dr.  Shaw,  761. 


782 


INDEX 


Federal  Amendments,  I4th,  defines 
citizenship,  puts  "male"  in  Natl. 
Constitution,  619;  I5th  guarantees 
male  suff,  women  protest,  620; 
women  demand  i6th,  622;  try  to 
vote  under  I4th,  Miss  Anthony  ar- 
rested, 622 ;  Mrs.  Minor  brings  suit, 
623;  res.  for  i6th  presented  in 
Cong,  first  hearings  granted,  623; 
reports  of  committees,,  first  Senate 
vote,  624;  for  income  tax  and  elec- 
tion of  U.  S.  Senators,  625. 

Federal  Elections  Bill,  natl.  conv.  ap- 
proves, 424;  introd.  in  Cong,  Miss 
Clay  explains,  452;  natl.  conv.  en- 
dorses, 501;  504;  see  U.  S.  Elec- 
tions Bill. 

Federal  Enfranchisement  of  Men, 
natl.  constl.  conv.  and  naturaliza- 
tion act  enfranchised  most  men  in 
U.  S,  religious  and  property  tests 
abolished,  745-6;  congress!,  action 
gave  suff.  to  negro  and  Indian  men ; 
only  women  sent  to  States,  746. 

Federal  Woman  Suffrage  Amend- 
ment, effect  on  laws  for  women  and 
office  holding,  iv ;  natl.  assn's.  work 
for,  vi,  xvii,  I,  2;  vote  taken,  xxii; 
submitted  and  6,000  legislators  vote 
for,  xxiii ;  proclaimed,  text  of, 
xxiv ;  work  described  in  full  in  first 
20  chapters;  plan  of  work  for,  8; 
petitions  for  in  1913,  368;  Natl. 
Assn's.  work  for,  369;  Pres.  Wilson 
urged  to  recommend,  373 — 376; 
great  effort  for  in  1913,  378—380; 
Senate  Com.  reports  favorably,  380 ; 
Dem.  members  of  Cong,  caucus 
against,  397 ;  in  danger  of  being  re- 
placed, 41 1 ;  status  in  1914  in  Senate 
and  House,  412-13;  receives  ma- 
jority vote  in  Senate  but  not  two- 
thirds;  votes  in  the  past,  413;  re- 
introduced  by  Sen.  Bristow,  415* 
hearing  bef.  House  Com,  415,  426; 
Amend,  reported,  417;  sometimes 
called  Susan  B.  Anthony  Amend, 
423.  For  arguments  on  see  Con- 
gressl.  Hearings  and  conv.  speeches. 
Voted  on  first  time  in  House  of 
Representatives,  439;  first  measure 
introd.  in  Cong,  in  1915,  440;  Dr. 
Shaw  asks  Pres.  Wilson  to  use  his 
influence  for,  440;  conv.  speeches 
show  work  for  it  paramount,  444; 
Com.  on  Rules  reports  it;  pressure 
by  women  on  members  of  Cong, 
from  their  districts,  449;  natl.  suff. 
conv.  1915,  resolves  to  work  only 
for  original  Fed.  Amend,  452; 
strong  demand  for  it,  460-1 ;  lost  in 


Senate  and  House,  1914-15,  new 
hearings  granted  by  committees, 
461 ;  southern  women  appeal  for, 
472;  record  of  Dem.  and  Repub. 
members  of  Cong,  474-5;  Prog. 
Prohib.  and  Soc.  natl.  convs.  de- 
clare for,  480;  debate  at  Atlantic 
City  suff.  conv.  on  continuing  work 
for,  486 ;  vote  largely  in  favor,  487 ; 
object  lesson  in  its  necessity,  488; 
Mrs.  Catt  says  only  way  to  worn, 
suff,  489;  natl.  conv.  resolves  to 
concentrate  all  its  resources  on  get- 
ting it  through  Cong,  501 ;  Con- 
gressl.  Com.  report  of  great  "drive" 
for,  503 ;  members  of  Lower  House 
from  equal  suff.  States  have  hear- 
ing for  bef.  House  Judic.  Com, 
504;  nation-wide  plan  of  work  for, 
510;  conditions  at  end  of  1917  fa- 
vorable to,  514;  delegates  to  natl. 
suff.  conv.  discuss  it  with  their  Sen- 
ators and  Representatives,  many 
pledged,  516;  Mrs.  Catt  says  Cong, 
must  deal  with,  517;  Pres.  Wilson 
reaches  a  belief  in,  520;  Mrs.  Catt's 
strong  plea  for,  520-1 ;  issues  na- 
tion-wide appeal,  523;  her  book  on, 
53 j ;  Mrs.  Shuler  reports  work  for 
all  over  the  country,  538-9;  Natl. 
Assn.  will  campaign  against  ene 
mies  in  Cong,  542;  Cong,  urged  to 
submit  as  a  War  measure,  543; 
hearings  bef.  corns,  of  Cong,  545 — 
549;  Lower  House  votes  in  f;uur. 
Senate  defeats,  1918,  550-1;  nation- 
wide campaign  by  Natl.  Amer. 
Assn,  554 — 557;  Pres.  Wilson  sends 
best  wishes  for,  558;  change  of 
form  proposed,  conv.  refuses,  561 ; 
no  merging  of  assn.  till  Fed. 
Amend,  secured,  561 ;  Mrs.  Park's 
report,  complete  summary;  Jloiise 
Judic.  Com.  tries  to  defeat;  Pres. 
Wilson  advises  the  Amend,  562; 
Worn.  Suff.  Com.  appt,  gives  five 
days'  hearing ;  Speaker  Clark  as- 
sists;  five  hours'  debate,  562;  vote 
in  House;  five  days'  discussion  in 
Senate;  Pres.  Wilson's  appeal  in 
person;  vote,  Oct.  1918,  563,  761; 
second  appeal  from  the  President; 
vote  in  Feby,  1919,  565 ;  twenty-five 
State  Legislatures  call  for  submis- 
sion, 564;  Dem.  caucus  opposes, 
565;  Natl.  Assn.  continues  its  ef- 
forts, 574;  last  hearing  bef.  com. 
of  Cong,  577;  Roosevelt  and  Pres. 
Wilson  support;  not  to  ask  for  it 
would  be  treason,  579;  Pres.  Wil- 
son urges,  583;  sentiment  in  South, 


INDEX 


783 


580,  582-3,  588-9,  590;  four  days' 
hearing  ends ;  favorable  report,  de- 
bate in  Lower  House  and  vote  to 
submit,  593;  record  of  ratifications, 
598;  Governors  called  on  by  natl. 
suff.  conv.  for  spec,  sessions,  600; 
strenuous  work  for  from  natl.  suff. 
headqrs.  in  New  York  and  Washtn, 
under  Mrs.  Catt's  supervision,  604; 
great  "drive"  for  ratification,  604 — 
606.  Entire  chapter  on  Amend,  618; 
first  petitions  for,  619;  first  reso- 
lutions for  in  Cong,  621 ;  first  vote 
in  Senate,  1887,  624;  discussed, 
6j6;  second  vote,  1914,  627;  first 
vote  in  Lower  House,  629;  strug- 
gle for  second,  635;  vote,  636-7; 
action  of  House  Judic.  Com,  627- 
8-9,  631;  Senate  com.  gives  hearing 
and  makes  favorable  report,  633; 
difficulty  in  Senate,  637-8;  1,000 
prominent  men  petition  for,  638; 
five  days'  debate,  639;  vote,  Oct.  I, 
1918,  640;  vote,  Feb.  10,  1919;  an- 
alyzed by  States,  642;  final  vote  in 
House,  analyzed  by.  States,  644;  de- 
bate in  Senate,  final  vote,  signed  by 
Vice-pres.  and  Speaker,  645-6; 
friends  and  foes,  641 — 646;  table  of 
votes,  647.  See  Ratification.  Pro- 
claimed by  Secy,  of  State,  652; 
many  law  suits;  U.  S.  Sup.  Ct, 
decides  in  favor,  653 — 655;  opp.  by 
women's  Anti-Suff.  Assns,  679;  by 
men's,  681-2;  record  of  polit.  natl. 
con vs,  702 — 719;  appeals  for  amend, 
in  1912,  709;  at  Repub.  natl. 
conv,  1916,  711 ;  at  Dem,  712;  great 
change,  715;  endorsed  by  all  parties 
at  natl.  convs,  1920,  714,  717,  718; 
indebtedness  to  bequest  of  Mrs. 
i  rank  Leslie,  755;  Pres.  Wilson's 
address  to  Senate  in  its  favor, 
761. 

ral    Woman    Suffrage    Associa- 
;i,  at  hearings,  383,  427,  428;  or- 
ganized,  officers,  object,  656;   me- 
morializes Cong,  and  polit.  convs; 
at    Columbian    Expos,    657;    Con- 
gressl.  hearings  on   bills,  conv.   in 
.mcisco.  678;  Miss  Clay's  U. 
S.  Kl.-c.  bill,  659. 

Federation  of  Women's  Clubs,  Genl. 
and  State,  endorse  worn,  suff,  xix; 
Genl.  Fedn.  invites  suff.  speaker, 
206;  cooperates  with  Natl.  Suff. 
Assn,  210;  sends  first  greeting  to 
natl.  suff  conv,  215;  causes  epi- 
;nic  of  suffrage  meetings,"  313; 
in  States,  bills  show  civic  con- 
science, 350;  Genl  Fedn,  638. 


Feickert,  Lillian  J,  on  N.  J.  campn, 

r;  444;  at  Anthony  celebr,  615. 
,  Joseph,  340-1. 

Fels,  Mrs.  Joseph,  542. 

Fensham,  Florence  (Turkey),  42. 

Ferguson,  Gov.  James  E.  (Texas), 
713. 

Fernald,  Fannie  J,  194. 

Fessenden,  Susan,  176;  185;  188. 

Field,  Mrs.  Cyrus  \V,  372;  405. 

Field,  Sara  Bard,  motors  from  San 
Francisco  to  Washtn.  with  suff. 
petition,  466-7;  bef.  House  Judic. 
Com,  476;  at  natl.  Repub.  conv,  711. 

Finley,  Dr.  Caroline,  work  in  wom- 
en's Oversea  Hospitals  during  the 
war,  733;  decorated  by  Prince  of 
Wales,  735. 

Finnegan,  Annette,  669. 

Fitch,  Dean  Florence  M,  664. 

FitzGerald,  Susan  Walker,  286;  asks 
suff.  for  home  makers,  300;  elected 
natl.  rec.  secy,  324;  326;  at  Senate 
hearing,  347;  425;  456;  556. 

Flags,  Miss  Barton's  at  Intl.  Suff. 
Conf . ;  the  suff.  flag,  24 ;  Penn.  suff. 
assn.  presents  one  to  Natl,  501 ;  Dr. 
Shaw's  tribute  to  flag  of  U.  S,  511 ; 
"service"  flag  of  assn,  517;  Dr. 
Shaw's  tribute  to  American,  758. 

Fleischer,  Rabbi  Charles,  258. 

Fleming,  Stephen  B,  713. 

Fletcher,  U.  S.  Sen.  Duncan  U, 
640. 

Formad,  Dr.  Marie  (France),  733. 

Foss,  Samuel  Walter,  328. 

Foster,  J.  Ellen,  42;  109. 

Foster,  Genl.  John  W,  467. 

Foster,  Mabel,  266. 

Foster,  U.  S.  Rep.  Martin  D.  (Ills.), 
548. 

Fouke,  Mrs.  Philip  B,  560. 

Foulke,  Commissr.  William  Dudley, 
38;  64;  178;  258. 

Foxcroft,  Frank,  678. 

Fray,  Ellen  Sully,  17;  106. 

Frazer,  Helen,  tells  of  British  wom- 
en's war  work,  which  brought  suff, 
544;  576. 

Freeman,  Elizabeth,  333. 

Freeman,  Mary  Wilkins,  for  worn, 
suff,  297. 

Frelinghuysen,  U.  S.  Sen.  Joseph  S, 
as  St.  Senator  approves  School 
stiff,  for  women,  320;  565;  640. 

French,  U.  S.  Rep.  Burton  L  (Ida.), 
658. 

I  n  nch,   Mrs   L.   Crozier,   395;    v 
comes  natl.  suff.  conv.  to  Nashville, 
398;  425. 

!i,  Rose,  317. 


INDEX 


Friedland,    Sofja   Levovna,   28;   40; 

45 ;  addresses  House  com.  on  status 

of  woman  in  Russia,  50;  73« 
Friends'    Equal    Rights    Association, 

42;    orgztn.    and    work    for    worn. 

suff,  664—^67. 
Frierson,   Solicitor   General   William 

Fry,  Susannah  M.  D,  194. 

Fuller,  Mrs.  B.  Morrison,  553. 

Fuller,  Chief  Justice  Melville  Wes- 
ton,  decision  on  appointment  of 
presidential  electors,  130. 

Funck,  Emma  Maddox,  arranges  for 
and  welcomes  natl.  suff.  conv.  in 
Balto,  151 ;  it  passes  vote  of  thanks, 
180. 

Funck,  Dr.  William,  180. 

Funk,  Antoinette,  work  for  Pres. 
suff.  in  Ills,  370;  381;  409;  on  Con- 
gressl. Com,  411;  bef.  House  Judic. 
Com,  refers  to  new  Fed.  Suff. 
Amend,  415-16;  explains  and  de- 
fends Shafroth  Amend,  to  natl. 
suff.  conv,  416—418;  report  of 
campn.  work  in  western  States; 
found  liquor  interests  active;  trav- 
els 8,000  miles,  419—422;  re-ap- 
pointed vice  chmn,  424;  foresha- 
dows new  Fed.  Amend,  at  Con- 
gressl. hearing,  427;  chmn.  Campn. 
and  Survey  Com,  work  in  N.  J. 
campn,  447;  report  for  Congressl. 
Com,  451;  454J  503;  resigns  from 
com,  506;  726;  sponsor  for  Shaf- 
roth Palmer  Amend,  747-8. 


Gage,  Matilda  Joslyn,  writes  Wom- 
en's Declaration  of  Rights,  333. 

Gains,  for  worn.  suff.  in  1907,  213 ;  in 
1908,  243. 

Gale,  Zona,  425;  offers  res.  to  unite 
work  of  Natl.  Suff.  Assn.  and  Con- 
gressl. Union,  453-4. 

Gannett,  Mrs.  William  C,  chmn.  com. 
for  Anthony  mem.  bldg,  201-2; 
women's  duty  to  want  to  vote,  234 ; 
work  for  bldg,  744. 

Gano,  Eveline,  shows  disadvantage  to 
teachers  in  having  no  vote,  quotes 
New  York,  293. 

Gardener,  Helen  H,  arr.  parade  to 
carry  Fed.  Amend,  petition  to 
Cong,  275;  "unstinted  personal 
service,"  336 ;  tells  how  to  get  Con- 
gressl. docs,  373;  381;  urges  appt. 
of  Com.  on  Worn.  Suff,  384;  on 
Congressl.  Com,  411;  bef.  House 


Judic.  Com,  quotes  Bryan's  declara- 
tion that  Pres.  Wilson  insists  the 
Govt.  must  derive  just  powers  from 
consent  of  governed  and  applies  it 
to  women's  demand  for  suff,  435-6; 
arr.  for  natl.  suff.  conv,  1917,  515; 
asks  Pres.  Wilson  for  letter  on 
forming  Com.  on  Worn.  Suff,  524; 
called  "diplomatic  corps,"  525; 
elected  natl.  vice-pres,  541 ;  bef. 
Rules  Com,  549;  natl.  suff.  conv. 
sends  greeting,  559;  vice-chmn. 
Congressl.  Com,  567;  604;  secures 
space  in  Smithsonian  Inst.  for  suff. 
exhibit;  offers  res.  of  thanks  to 
Inst,  609;  at  Anthony  celebr,  615; 

635. 

Gardner,  Gov.  Frederick  D.  (Mo.), 
for  worn,  suff,  526. 

Gardner,  Mrs.  Gilson,  454;  675. 

Garrett,  U.  S.  Rep.  Finis  J.  (Tenn.), 
548. 

Garrett,  Mary  E,  entertainments  for 
natl.  suff.  conv.  in  Balto,  152 — 167; 
conv.  sends  letter  of  thanks,  180; 
invitations  "to  meet  Miss  An- 
thony," account  of  functions,  dis- 
tinguished women  house  guests, 
182;  with  Dr.  Thomas  raises  large 
fund  for  suff.  work,  183,  258;  289; 
661. 

Garrett,  Mrs.  Robert,  391 ;  679. 

Garrett-Thomas  Suffrage  Fund,  235, 

253. 

Garrison,  Eleanor,  571. 
Garrison,  Francis  J,  674. 
Garrison,  William  Lloyd,  244. 
Garrison,    William    Lloyd,    Jr,    258; 

mem.    service    at    natl.    suff.    conv, 

1910;    tributes    of    Dr.    Shaw    and 

Mrs.  McCulloch,  277—280. 
Garvin,  Florence,  661. 
Garwood,  Omar  E,  312;   secy.  Natl. 

Men's  League,  674. 
Gay,  U.  S.  Sen.  Edward  J,  opp.  Fed. 

Suff.  Amend,  565 ;  642-3 ;  646. 
Gellhorn,     Mrs.     George,     welcomes 

natl.  suff.  conv,  554 ;  559 ;  668 ;  689 ; 

690;  609;  717. 
George,  Mrs.  A.  J,  391 ;  in  anti-suff. 

speech  attacks  Mormons,  says  suffs. 

place   their   cause   above   needs   of 

country,  467-8 ;  makes  State's  rights 

argument    bef.    House    com,    478; 

548;   710-11. 
German  American  Alliance,  anti-suff. 

work  in  Ky,  388. 

Germany,  venerates  suff.  pioneers,  28. 
Geyer,  Rose  Lawless,  press  work  in 

Iowa  campn,   485 ;    report   to  natl. 

conv,    494;    528;    report    on    natl. 


INDEX 


785 


press    work,    531 ;    instructs    suff. 
schools,  539;  tribute  to  her  work, 

571- 

Gibbons,     Cardinal,    Dr.     Shaw    an- 
swers,  125;   Mrs.   Harper  answers, 
131 ;    opp.    women's    societies,    Dr. 
Shaw  criticizes,  158. 
Gilbert,   Judge   Hiram,   on   Shafroth 

Suff.  Amend,  414. 
Gilder,  Richard  Watson,  296. 
Gildersleeve,   Dean  Virginia  C,  613; 

.663- 
Gillett,    Emma    M,    218;    report    as 

chmn.  of  Congressl.  Com,  319. 
Gillett,    Speaker    Frederick    H,    584; 

646. 

("lillmore,  Inez  Haynes,  661. 
Gilman,  Charlotte  Perkins,  71;  mem. 
poem,  74 ;  on  educated  suff,  78 ;  de- 
scribes   Lester    F.    Ward's   biolog. 
theory  of  the  sexes,  92;  no;  133; 
140;     on     "hand     that     rocks     the 
cradle,"  149 ;  woman's  right  to  citi- 
zenship, 220;  economic  dependence 
cause    of     immorality,    224;     244; 
260 ;  262 ;  265 ;  289. 
Giltner,  Prof.  William  S,   133. 
Glasgow,  Ellen,  for  worn,  suff,  297. 
Glass,  U.  S.  Sen.  Carter,  719. 

on,  Kate,  341. 

Goddard,  Mary  Catherine,  Congress 
ignored  her  paper  in  days  of  Revo- 
lution, 156. 

Goldenberg,  Rosa  H,  152. 
Goldstein,  Vida,  40-1;  43;  addresses 
Senate  com.  on  worn,  suff,  in  Aus- 
tralia and  New  Zealand,  49;  candi- 
date for  Senate,  91. 
Gompers,    Samuel,    86;    greeting    to 
suff.  conv,  135;  208;  258;  703;  731. 
Goodlett,  Caroline  Meriwether,  328. 
Goodrich,  Gov.  James  P.  (Ind.),  551. 
Goodrich,  Sarah  Knox,  106. 
Ion,  Anna  A,  28. 
'on,  Rev.  Eleanor,  140. 
Gordon,    Jean,    56;    welcomes    Miss 
Anthony  to  New  Orleans,  57;   re- 
ves  testimonial    from   natl.   snfT. 
conv,  84 ;  address  on  duty  of  wom- 

leisure    to    workingwor 
231 ;  286;  425. 

Kntc   M,   elected 
se<  M  TQ02.  chivali 

Ala.    34— 3^> 

iw.  to  New  OH  ran*.  57 
-t  of  year's   work,  60;   61;    rc- 
"  cup,  84;  tdls  of   Dr. 
Shav.  rn    tour    altitude   of 

'>crs'    attitude   on    worn,    suff, 


188;  shows  need  of  personal  ac- 
quaintance of  suff.  leaders  with 
editors,  politicians,  teachers,  wom- 
en's clubs;  appeals  for  funds  for 
Ore.  campn,  161 ;  tells  of  women's 
Munic.  suff.  in  New  Orleans,  195-6; 
202;  208;  21 1 ;  214;  describes  inter- 
view with  Pres.  Roosevelt,  217; 
arr.  hearings,  217;  244;  tells  of 
liquor  dealers'  fight  on  worn.  suff. 
in  Ore,  247 ;  urges  suff.  assn.  to  use 
polit.  methods,  248;  resigns  as  cor. 
secy,  convention  thanks,  260;  263- 
4;  elected  vice-pres,  283;  287;  324; 
400;  debate  on  future  work  of 
Natl.  Assn,  486;  668;  org.  Southern 
Worn.  Suff.  Conf,  671;  673;  at 
Dem.  natl.  conv,  1912,  703-4. 
Gordon,  Laura  de  Force,  137. 
Gordon,  Dr.  Margaret  (Canada),  597. 
Graddick,  Laura  J,  working  women 
polit.  nonentities  forced  to  compete 
with  those  having  full  polit.  rii-hts. 
304. 

Graham,  Frances  W,  215. 
Gram,  Elizabeth,  585. 
Grand  Army  of  Republic,  for  worn. 

suff,  435- 

Grange,  National  and  State,  endorses 
worn,  suff,  206;  always  for  it,  Dr. 
Shaw  a  member,  247;  Natl, 
Grant,  M.  Louise,  662. 
Gray,  James,  7. 

Great  Britain,  worn.  suff.  work  not 
finished,  iii ;  xxii;  official  and  polit. 
status  of  women,  52;  women  m;ulr 
eligible  to  office,  213;  women's  de- 
monstratn,  "militancy."  situation  in 
Parliament,  237-8 ;  "militant"  move- 
ment, 281;  enfranchises  womrn, 
551 ;  chapter  on  in  Vol.  VI. 
Greeley,  Helen  Hoy,  314;  372. 

.  Judge  Roger  S,  144. 
Greenleaf,  Halbert  S,  . 
Grci 

:  71  :  no;  indifferent  womrn 
enemy    to    equal    suff,    235 

Gregory,  Dr.  Alice,  work  in  women's 
tals  during  the  war, 

733- 

W,  515. 

vfrii.    HI  ' 

Mill,   in   • 

to, 

\,  Mary,  334. 

<  A,  65. 
r.ri-  104;  668; 

703- 
Gruening,  Martha,  662. 


786 


INDEX 


Guernsey,  Mrs.  George  Thatcher,  pres. 

genl.  D.  A.  R,  515. 
Guild,  Mrs.  Charles  E,  678. 
Gulick,  Alice  Gordon,  106. 

H 

Ilackstaff,   Priscilla   D,    10;    13;   62; 

work  on  natl.  petit,  258;  703. 
Uaggart,  Dr.  Mary  E,  146. 
1 1  ale,  Rev.  Edward  Everett,  98. 

I  lale,  U.  S.  Sen.  Frederick,  648. 
Haley,  Margaret  A,  37. 

Hall,  Florence  Howe  (N.  J.),  speaks 
for  her  mother  at  conv.  of  1906, 
185. 

Hall,  Florence  II.  (Penn.),  in  anti- 
suff.  speech  attacks  Mormonisni ; 
Sen.  Sutherland  objects,  467-8. 

Hall,  Louise,  556. 

Hall,  Dr.   Stanley,  256. 

llallinan,  Charles  T,  408;  418;  report 
of  Natl.  Publicity  Dept ;  tribute  to 
Dr.  Shaw;  orgztn.  of  Data  Dept, 

4-1  -'-3. 

Hamilton,  Mrs.  L.  A.  (Canada),  400; 
pies,  natl.  assn,  584. 

I 1  ana  ford,  Rev.  Phoebe  A,  last  words 
for  Mrs.  Stantoii,  741. 

Hanna,  Mayor  James  R.  ( 1  >es 
Moines),  669. 

llarbert,  Klizabeth  Boynton,  18;  20; 
288;  559. 

Harding,  U.  S.  Sen.  Warren  G,  votes 
for  Fed.  Suff.  Amend,  516;  as  Pres. 
candidate  receives  League  of  Wom- 
en Voters,  701. 

llardwick,  U.  S.  Rep.  Thomas  W. 
(Ga.),  384;  discussion  with  Mrs. 
Catt  at  com.  hearing,  390. 

Hardy,  Jennie  Law,  473. 

Harmon,  Mrs.  Anna,  658. 

Harper,  Ida  Rusted,  tells  of  suff. 
dept.  in  N.  Y.  Sun,  14;  67;  presents 
Decl.  of  Principles  to  natl.  conv, 
87;  answers  Cardinal  Gibbons.  131; 
presides  at  press  conf,  1905,  131 ; 
address,  worn.  suff.  will  come  from 
the  West,  135;  has  interview  with 
Pres.  Roosevelt,  137;  articles  on 
death  of  Miss  Anthony,  204;  report 
as  chmn.  of  Natl.  Press  Com,  im- 
mense increase  of  notice  of  worn, 
suff;  appreciation  of  support  of 
natl.  press  bureau  by  Mrs.  Belmont, 
287-8;  315;  presents  and  supports 
res.  that  officers  of  Natl.  Assn. 
must  be  non-partisan,  342;  354;  bef. 
House  Judic.  Com,  1912,  makes 
constitl.  argument;  quotes  from 
Presidents  Taft  and  Roosevelt; 


says  women  have  been  asking 
Cong,  for  Fed.  Amend.  43  years ; 
shows  St.  amends,  practically  im- 
possible; no  other  country  subjects 
women  to  this  struggle ;  answers 
questions,  359 — 361-2;  bef.  House 
Com.  on  Rules;  asks  appoint,  of 
Com.  on  Worn.  Suff;  shows  treat- 
ment of  res.  for  a  Fed.  Suff. 
Amend,  by  Judic.  Corns,  for  over 
forty  years ;  the  defeats  in  St.  cam- 
pus ;  the  need  of  a  Fed.  Amend, 
385 — 387 ;  no  class  of  men  in  U.  S. 
have  lifted  a  finger  to  get  suff.  but 
women  have  struggled  65  yrs,  395; 
debate  at  Atlantic  City  conv.  on 
future  work  of  Natl.  Assn,  487; 
527;  editorial  dept.  Leslie  Bureau 
of  Education,  describes  work  with 
editors,  espec.  for  Fed.  Amend; 
concrete  results;  many  letters  to 
editors  on  "picketing"  and  results ; 
change  in  southern  papers,  528 — 
530;  natl.  suff.  conv.  sends  greet- 
ing. 559;  second  report  of  dept.  in 
Leslie  Bureau]  letters  to  2,000  edi- 
tors; letters  to  and  from  ex-Pres- 
ident Roosevelt;  work  for  Fed. 
Amend;  8,000  letters  sent;  articles 
to  Intl.  Suff.  News;  change  in  char- 
acter of  editorials,  571-2;  prepares 
to  finish  History  of  Worn.  SulT, 
573;  conv.  sends  telegram  of  recog. 
for  work  on  History,  610;  writes 
chapter  on  Fed.  Suff.  Amend,  for 
History,  618;  658;  objections  to 
Shafroth  Palmer  Amend,  748. 

Ilarriman,  Mrs.  J.  Borden,  in  war 
service,  517;  526;  on  Congressl. 
Com,  567. 

Harrison,  U.  S.  Rep.  Pat  (Miss.), 
548;  U.  S.  Sen,  645- 

Hart,  Gov.  Louis  F.  (Wash.),  urged 
to  call  spec,  session,  600. 

Hartshorne,  Myra  Strawn,  286; 
289. 

Harvey,  Col.  George,  205;  258. 

Haslup,  Mary  R,  152. 

Haskell,  Oreola  Williams,  181 ;  211. 

Hatch,  Lavina,  106. 

Hathaway,  Margaret,  member  Mont. 
Legis,  516;  540. 

Hauser,  Elizabeth  J,  shares  work  of 
natl.  suff.  headqrs.  in  1903,  61 ;  tells 
of  work  at  conv.  of  1904,  93;  in 
1905,  vast  amount  of  literature  dis- 
trib.  res.  secured  from  convs,  etc, 
128;  describes  the  Statehood  Pro- 
test of  400  orgztns.  of  women  to 
Senate  com.  against  proposed  bill 
for  admitting  new  territories,  129; 


INDEX 


787 


!3o;  135;  in  1906,  endorsement  of 
orgztns,  162;  163-4;  in  1907,  de- 
scribes vast  work,  204-6;  headqrs. 
secy's,  report  for  1908;  thousands 
of  articles  furnished,  hundreds  of 
orgztns.  endorse,  218;  presides  at 
press  conf,  219;  report  for  1909, 
polit.  work;  many  endorsements, 
widely  extended  press  work;  conv. 
thanks;  goes  to  N.  Y.  headqrs, 
-MS— 250;  287;  315;  485;  670;  690; 
at  Repub.  Natl.  Conv,  703;  754. 

Haver,  Jessie  R,  on  tour  for  ratif, 
606;  687. 

Hawaii,  Natl.  Assn.  asks  worn.  suff. 
for,  ii ;  suff.  soc.  formed,  381,  561 ; 
action  of  Cong,  on  worn,  suff, 

Hawk,  George,  takes  referendum  on 

Fed.  Amend,  to  U.  S.  Sup.  Ct,652. 

Hay,  Secy,  of  State  John,  736. 

Hay,    Mary    Garrett,    at    natl.    conv, 

1901,    10;    conv.    thanks,    12;    21; 

champion  money  raiser,  41 ;  report 

on  organization,  61 ;  work  on  Fed. 

Amend,   petition,   258;   arr.   parade 

.rry  it  to  Cong,  275;  tells  how 

ganize,  444;  natl.  conv.  thanks 

fur  arr.   Pres.   Wilson's  visit,  501 ; 

50.} ;     on     Congressl.     Com,     506 ; 

.  s  why  New  York  campn.  was 

519;   scores  circular  of  Mrs. 

Wadsworth  on  New  York  victory; 

gives  figures  to  show   not  due  to 

Socialist   vote,  536-7;   elected  natl. 

vice-prcs,  541  ;   Repuh.   party  gives 

important    positions,    554-5;     does 

congressl.     and     war     work,     555; 

wants  name  of  Natl.  Assn.  retained, 

i  ;    on    Congressl.    steering    < 
566;  568;  raises  "budget"  for  1919, 
s  res.  to  thank  Go\ 
called  spec,  sessioi 
urge  >  do   so, 

i  vice   in   securing   ratif.   of    I 
Amend,    606;     raises     money     for 
ue    of    Women    Voters,    609, 
6ff  A'omen  in    1'.  .1. 

Repub.  natl  o 

nt    plank- 
Res.    Com,    716-17;    presides    at 

In.    U.    S.    Rep.    Carl    (At 

549- 

Natl.   Repub. 
thanks   for 
ed.  Amend,  610;  \\ 
for   r  iks   in 

name  of  Natl.  Amcr.  Suff.  Assn. 
fur  his  own  and  party's  »upp 


Fed.   Suff.   Amend,   648;   helps   in 
Tenn,  657. 

Headquarters,  National  Suffrage,  in 
New  York,  xx;  34;  removed  to 
\\  arren,  O,  61 ;  important  work  de- 
scribed, 93;  see  Hauser;  removed 
to  New  York,  Mrs.  Belmont  assists 
financially,  thanked  by  natl.  conv, 
253;  Ills.  dele,  want  them  removed 
to  Chicago,  319;  Natl.  conv.  votes 
to  retain  in  New  York,  341;  Mrs. 
Belmont  offers  res.  to  move  to 
Washtn,  381 ;  Mrs.  Roessing  urges 
it,  506,  508;  Natl.  Bd.  decides  not 
wise  to  move  from  New  York  but 
estab.  branch  in  Washtn,  acti\ities, 
525—527;  closed,  604;  627;  632; 
summary,  in  Rochester,  New  York, 
Washington,  Philadelphia,  Warren, 
O,  and  New  York  City,  754. 

Hearings,  before  Committees  of  Con- 
gress for  quarter  of  a  century,  46 ; 
in  1902,  names  of  Senate  com,  Miss 
Anthony  hon.  pres.  Natl.  Suff. 
Assn.  presides  and  pleads  for  a 
Fed.  SulT.  Amend;  noted  speakers, 
47;  bef.  House  Judic.  Com,  Mrs. 
(  att  intruil.  foreign  speakers,  50; 
she  and  Dr.  Shaw  urge  Cong,  to 
appoint  a  com.  to  investigate  re- 
sults of  worn,  suff,  49;  5.^ 
HI"  I  Miss  Anthom  .a  St-n- 

ate  hearing,  her  laM  ;  had  appealed 
t"  17  Congresses;  Mrs.  \\ 
l.i-ter  tells  of  worn.  suff.  in  Aus- 
tralia; a  report  promised,  none 
made,  iio-n  ;  House  Judic.  Com, 
Mrs.  Catt  presides;  urges  a  a>m- 
msn.  to  investigate  conditions  in 
equal  suff.  States;  Sen.  Shafrotli, 

Adams     and     eminent 
\\omen    speak,     in    -nO;    in    1906, 
Anthony,    unable    t<>    attend; 
had   missed   but   two  healings   in  .C 
.    I  >r.    Shaw    presided    at    S  n 
:  lorence      Ki-11- 

1 1. .11-  imi  n. i  re- 

187 — 191 ;    in  1908,    h 

;i  but  convention  n.  ; 
in    10,10,    :  ieiidid    tu  w 

Is  of  great 
\imnd.  just 
presented  ;  intt«>d. 
representing    different    professions, 
291-8;  closes  with  strong  app 
a   report;    the   char  unises 

-•99;  none  ever  made,  300;  bef. 

•e  Judic.  Com.  in  1910; 

m;  Mrs.  Kelley  preside 
of    great 


788 


INDEX 


speeches  along  industrial  lines,  300 
—309;  in  1912,  arr.  by  Mrs.  Will- 
iam Kentj  339;  346 — 363;  names  of 
Senate  com,  346;  of  House  com, 
354;  in  1913,  382 — 397;  bef.  Com. 
on  Rules  in  1913,  Dr.  Shaw  pre- 
sides, asks  for  a  spec.  com.  because 
Judiciary  never  reports  sufF.  res, 
384;  bef.  House  Judic.  Com,  in 
1914,  427;  in  1915,  bef.  Senate, 
names  of  com,  462;  House,  469; 
Representatives  from  equal  sulT. 
States  bef.  Judic.  Com,  list  of,  504; 
bef.  Senate  com,  1917,  entire  fore- 
noon given,  545;  Apr.  26  to  Natl. 
Worn.  Party,  547;  May  3  to  Anti- 
Suff.  Assn,  548;  May  18  bef.  Com. 
on  Rules,  548;  bef.  Worn.  Suff. 
Com.  last  ever  held,  577;  resume, 
624;  Mrs.  Park's  report,  633;  635. 

Heaslip,  Charles  T,  494. 

Hebard,  Dr.  Grace  Raymond,  484; 
610;  at  Anthony  celebr,  615. 

Hcflin,  U.  S.  Rep.  J.  Thomas  (Ala.), 
at  suff.  hearing,  391 ;  southern 
women  incensed,  395 ;  Rep.  Mondell 
ridicules,  396;  offers  res.  against 
1-Vtl.  Suff.  Amend,  412;  sends  his 
anti-Buff,  speeches  to  western 
States,  422;  quotes  poetry  against 
worn,  suff,  437;  628. 

Helm,  Mrs.  Ben  Hardin,  313. 

Hemphill,  Robert  R,  35. 

I  lenderson,  Rev.  Charles  R,  198. 

Henderson,  Mrs.  John  B,  receives 
conv,  45;  99. 

Heney,  Mrs.  Francis  J,  585. 

Henrotin,  Ellen  M,  195;  asks  ballot 
for  working  women,  209;  703. 

Henry,  Alice,  185;  209;  327. 

Henry,  U.  S.  Rep.  Robert  L. 
(Texas),  307;  opposes  sending 
Fed.  Amend,  to  the  House,  629. 

Henshaw,  Virgil,  at  suff.  hearing,  548. 

Hepburn,  Mrs.  Thomas  N.  (Kath- 
arine Houghton),  382;  675. 

Hidden,  Mrs.  M.  L.  T,  337. 

Hifton,  Harriette  J,  266. 

Higgins,  U.  S.  Rep.  Edwin  W. 
(Conn.),  at  Congressl.  hearing,  361. 

Higginson,  Col.  Thomas  Went  worth, 
137;  208;  328. 

"Hikes,"  headed  by  members  of  Sen- 
ate Com.  on  Worn.  Suff,  378. 

Hill,  Elsie,  675;  677. 

Hill,  Mrs.  Homer  M,  246. 

Hilles,  Florence  Bayard,  bef.  House 
com,  473-4:  675. 

Hi  tries,  Dr.  George  H,  120. 

Hinchey,  Margaret,  364-5. 

Hindman,  Matilda,  146. 


liirsch,  Rabbi  Emil,  appeal  for  worn. 
suff,  143;  address  in  Chicago,  207. 

Histories,  give  no  place  to  women, 
263. 

History  of  Woman  Suffrage,  early 
vols;  work  of  Mrs.  Stanton,  Miss 
Anthony,  Mrs.  Harper;  Mrs.  Catt 
arranges  for  last  two,  labor  in  pre- 
paring, wide  scope,  their  value,  see 
Preface  ;  67 ;  74 ;  94 ;  Miss  Anthony 
bequeaths  to  Natl.  Assn,  its  wide 
distribution,  205,  218;  249;  335; 
359;  Mrs.  Harper  begins  last  vols, 
573;  610;  contain  great  speeches, 
623. 

Hitchcock,  U.  S.  Sen.  Gilbert  II,  re- 
fuses to  represent  his  State  on  Fed. 
Suff.  Amend,  598. 

Hoar,  U.  S.  Sen.  George  F,  146;  first 
to  suggest  Pres.  suff.  for  women, 
369- 

Hobby,  Gov.  W.  P.  (Texas),  invites 
natl.  suff.  conv,  540. 

llolcomb,  Gov.  Marcus  H.  (Conn.), 
$53J  717. 

Hollis,  U.  S.  Sen.  Henry  P,  323; 
383 ;  at  Senate  hearing,  462 ;  467 ; 
626. 

11. .llister,  Lillian  M,  258;  328. 

II., lines,  Lydia  Wickliffe,  568. 

Hooker,  Mrs.  Donald,  contrib.  to 
Natl.  Assn,  315;  at  Senate  hearing, 
351;  bef.  House  Judic.  Com,  433; 
075- 

Hooker,  Isabella  Beecher,  45;  191; 
204;  656. 

Hooper,  Gov.  Ben  W.  (Tenn.),  ad- 
dresses natl.  suff.  conv,  400. 

Hooper,  Mrs.  Ben  (Wis.),  559;  568; 
on  commissn.  to  West,  605 ;  650. 

Hoover,  Mrs.  Herbert  C,  515. 

Hopkins,  J.  A.  H,  at  suff.  hearing, 
S4& 

Hopkins,  Mrs.  J.  A.  H,  675. 

Horton,  Albert  H,  74. 

Horton,  Mrs.  John  Miller,  presents 
greetings  and  flowers,  214;  recep. 
to  natl.  suff.  conv,  216. 

House  of  Governors  in  Ky.  and  N.  J. 
hears  suff.  speeches  by  Miss  Clay 
and  Dr.  Shaw,  314;  Natl.  Suff. 
Assn.  represented  in  1913,  367; 
suffs.  received  in  1919,  605. 

Houston,  Secretary  of  Agriculture 
David  Franklin  and  Mrs,  382;  724. 

Houston,   Mrs.   David   Franklin,   515. 

Howard,  Emma  Shafter,  150. 

Howe,  Frederick  C,  on  The  City  for 
the  People,  177;  340. 

Howe,  Julia  Ward,  31;  137;  148;  at 
natl.  suff.  conv.  in  Balto,  151 ;  in- 


INDEX 


780 


trod,  by  Dr.  Shaw,  154;  escorted 
by  Governor,  responds  to  greetings, 
speaks  of  Lucy  Stone  and  Mrs. 
Livermore,  155 ;  guest  of  Miss  Gar- 
rett,  182;  too  ill  to  give  address, 
read  by  her  daughter,  tells  of  con- 
version to  worn,  suff ;  speaks  of  the 
great  leaders,  plea  for  the  ballot, 
184-5;  208;  230;  suff.  dele,  to  Genl. 
Fed.  of  Women's  Clubs,  249;  258; 
j88 ;  297 ;  gets  testimony  on  worn, 
suff.  from  ministers  and  editors, 
393- 
Howe,  Dr.  Lucian,  at  suff.  hearing, 

583. 
Howe,  Marie   Jcnney,   98;    176;    179. 

See  Jenney. 
Howells,    William    Dean,    for    worn. 

suff,  296. 

Howes,  Elizabeth  Puffer,  450. 
Howes,  Ethel  Puffer,  662;  664. 
Howland,    Emily,    16;    40;    tells    of 

pioneers,     107;     no;    at    Anthony 

mem.    meeting,   203;    tells   of   first 

Worn.  Rights  Conv,  215;  341;  natl. 

conv.    sends    greetings,    501;    559; 

conv.  sends  letter,  1920,  610. 
Howse,    Mayor    Hilary    (Nashville), 

398. 

Ilnphes,    Gov.    Charles    Evans     (N. 
j->3 ;  on  teachers'  salaries,  294 ; 

as    Presidential    candidate,    489;    in 

favor  of   Fed.   Suff.   Amend,  495; 

personal  but  not  party  endorsement, 

505;    natl.    suff.    leaders    interview, 

telU    them    he    will    endorse    Fed. 

Amend,  507;   declares  for  it,  630; 

counsel   for  Natl.   Suff.  Assn,  653. 
Hughes,  James  L.  (Canada),  41. 

Rev.  Kate,  20;  69;  71;  207. 
Huidohro.  Carolina  Hoi  man   (Chili), 

40-1 ;  186;  188. 
Hull.  U.  S.   Rep.  Harry  E.    (Iowa), 

644. 

Hultin.  Rev.  Ida  C,  37;  84. 
Humphrey,  Mrs.  Alexander  P<  -IK-,  313. 
Hundley,  Mrs.  Oscar,  395. 
Hun1  <  orge  P.  (Ariz.),  greets 

natl.   stiff,  rnnv.  341. 
HuntinRton,  Bishop  Daniel  T,  146. 
Hmr.   Mrs.  Robert  S,  495;  539;  729. 
Ilii^cv.    Cornelia    ( ".    13;    <  ontrib.   to 
Suff.    Assn,    73;    bequest    to 

ry  D,  61  ;  73;  287. 
Htttchmsoo,  John.  31 
Htitton. 

dote  of  McKi:  writes  ode 

I   suff. 

dele,  to  Spokane,  244;  3'7 
Huxley,  Thomas  H,  256. 


Idaho,  effect  of  worn,  suff,  52. 

Indianapolis,  entertains  Natl.  Exec. 
Council,  551. 

Indians,  men  enfranchised  by  Con- 
gress, 746. 

Industrial  Problems,  Govt.  discrim- 
inates against  women.  63;  unpaid 
housework,  79. 

Industrial  Program,  286;  Congressl. 
hearings  on,  300. 

Initiative  and  Referendum,  endorsed 
by  natl.  suff.  conv.  adverse  effect 
on  suff.  and  prohib,  136-7;  natl. 
conv.  re-endorses,  212;  again,  257; 
petit,  to  repeal  worn.  suff.  in  Calif, 
failed,  393;  suff.  campn.  in  Mo.  and 
other  States,  402-3;  Shafroth 
Palmer  Suff.  Amend,  called  Natl. 
I.  and  R,  415,  451 ;  Dem.  party  and 
Pres.  Wilson  in  favor  of,  417 ;  on 
ratif.  Fed.  Suff.  Amend,  in  Me;  in 
Ohio,  St.  Sup.  Ct.  sustains;  U.  S. 
Sup.  Ct.  decides  against,  (• 

International  Council  of  Nurses  of  9 
nations  endorses  worn  suff,  461. 

International  Council  of  Women, 
forms  worn.  suff.  com,  xix ;  25;  es- 
tab.  Standing  Com.  on  Equal 
Rights,  127;  612. 

International  Suffrage  News,  530. 

International  Woman  Suffrage  Alli- 
ance, vi ;  formed,  xix ;  first  conf. 
held  in  Washtn.  24;  its  duty,  30; 
intl.  com.  formed,  43;  sends  greet- 
ing to  Natl.  Assn,  203;  Mrs. 
presiding,  247.  See  complete  chap- 
ter on  in  Vol.  VI. 

Iowa,  Mrs.  Catt  discusses  suff.  campn, 
485. 

Ivins,  Mrs.  William  M,  40;  furnishes 
Dr.  Shaw's  office,  276. 


Jacobi,  Dr.  Mary  Putnam,  addresses 
sufT.  conv.  18;  296;  613. 

Jacobs,  Pattic  Ruffner.  366;  answers 

Ri-p.   Heflin.  395;  elected  to  Natl. 

ving,  shows 

attitude  of  southern  wo- 
of n  >  not  live  in  it 
Snft.     Amend,    does    not    ii;f 
with  -163;  bef.  House 
com.  shows  unjust  laws  for 
in  the  South:  members 
prove,   472-3 : 

/>;   560-1;  610; 
66H 

'a  L,  341. 


790 


INDEX 


James,  Prof.  William,  for  worn,  suff, 
296. 

Janney,  Dr.  O.  Edward,  35 ;  180. 

Janney,  Mrs.  O.  Edward,  106;  664; 
666. 

Jeffreys,  Dr.  Annice,  109. 

Jenks,  Agnes  M,  326;  bef.  Senate 
com,  466. 

Jenney,  Julie  R,  220. 

Jenney,  Rev.  Marie  (Howe), 68-9;  73. 

Jewett,  Cornelia  Telford,  263. 

Jews,  how  enfranchised,  752. 

Johns,  Laura  M,  10;  on  Civil  Rights, 
19. 

Johnson,  Addie  M,  74. 

Johnson,  Adelaide,  makes  bust  of 
Miss  Anthony,  201 ;  658. 

Johnson,  U.  S.  Sen.  Hiram  W,  547. 

Johnson,  Philena  Everett,  254. 

Johnson,  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Rossiter,  391. 

Johnston,  Dean  Eva,  664. 

Johnston,  Mary,  288;  297;  addresses 
natl.  suff.  conv.  in  1911,  321;  367. 

Johnston,  Mrs.  William  A,  328;  re- 
port of  Kans.  campn,  337;  on  Cin- 
gressl.  Com,  339;  at  Anthony  celebr, 
615. 

Jolliffe,  Frances,  466;  controversy 
with  House  com,  475. 

Jones,  U.  S.  Sen.  Andrieus  A,  speaks 
for  worn,  suff,  380;  chmn.  Senate 
Worn.  Suff.  Com,  523;  makes  fa- 
vorable report,  524;  565;  627;  632- 
3;  638-9;  640;  642-3;  645. 

Tones,  F.ffie  McCollum.  511. 

Tones,  Dr.  Harriet  B,  135. 

Jones,  Jcnkin  Lloyd,  tribute  to  Miss 
Anthony,  203. 

Jones,  U.  S.  Sen.  Wesley  L,  323;  383; 
643. 

Jordan,  Prof.  Mary  A,  address  at 
natl.  suff.  conv.  in  Balto,  college 
wotnen's  tribute  to  suff.  leaders,  168, 
170. 

Jubilee  Convention  of  National 
American  Woman  Suffrage  Asso- 
ciation in  St.  Louis,  551. 

Julian,  U.  S.  Rep.  George  W.  (Ind.), 
offers  first  res.  for  Fed.  Worn.  Suff, 
621. 

Juries,  women  on,  Dr.  Shaw's  idea, 
75 ;  ex-Senator  Bailey's  idea,  587. 

Jury  service  for  women,  iv. 

Jus  Suffracjii,  offic.  organ,  Intl.  Worn. 
Suff.  Alliance,  205;  288. 

K 

Kauffman,  Reginald  Wright,  340. 
Kearney,  Belle,  on  the  South's  Need 
of  Woman  Suffrage,  82;  319. 


Keating,  U.  S.  Rep.  Edward  (Colo.), 
introd.  Fed.  Amend,  and  res.  for 
Worn.  Suff.  Com,  1917,  524; 
548. 

Keble,  Dean  John  Bell,  408. 

Keil,  Mayor  Henry  W.  (St.  Louis), 
553- 

Keith,  William,  picture  for  suff.  ba- 
zaar, 13;  memorial,  328. 

Keller,  Dr.  Amelia,  669. 

Kelley,  Florence,  on  labor  laws  for 
women  and  children,  95;  comment 
on  editors,  132;  speaks  on  child  la- 
bor, 141 ;  elected  natl.  vice-pres, 
J45  i  gives  facts  on  child  labor,  164 ; 
presides  at  hearing,  speaks  of  work 
for  worn.  suff.  by  her  father,  Wil- 
liam D.  Kelley;  asks  for  Fed.  Suff. 
Amend,  188,  190-1;  shows  need  of 
Munic.  suff.  for  women,  195,  197 ; 
204;  on  the  social  evil,  225;  de- 
scribes struggle  of  Consumer's 
League  for  working  women  in  New 
York,  230;  233-4;  244;  Ore.  de- 
cision on  woman's  work-day,  254; 
260;  262;  265;  declines  re-election, 
282;  286;  presides  at  Judic.  Com. 
hearing,  discusses  conflicting  court 
decisions  on  labor  laws  for  women, 
gives  tragic  instances,  need  of  vote; 
women's  war  service,  300 — 308. 

Kelley,  William  D,  190;  work  in 
Cong,  for  worn,  suff,  306. 

Kellv.  IT.  S.  Rep.  M.  Clyde  (Penn.), 
548. 

Kendall.  Dr.  Sarah  A,  133,  264. 

Kendrick,  Gov.  John  B,  addresses 
Council  of  Women  Voters,  484;  as 
U.  S.  Senator  bef.  Senate 
tribute  to  worn.  suff.  in  Wyo;  en- 
dorsement of  Fed.  Amend,  546; 
633. 

Kennedy,  Julian,  340. 

Kent,  Carrie  E,  71 ;  welcomes  natl. 
suff.  conv,  86. 

Kent,  Mrs.  William,  report  for  Con- 
gressl.  Com,  1912,  339;  speaks  of 
worn.  suff.  in  Calif,  358;  Congrcssl. 
Com.  work,  377;  382;  394;  urges 
House  Judic.  Com.  to  spare  women 
drudgery  of  St.  campns,  433;  585; 

675. 
Kern,  Chairman  Democratic  National 

Convention  John  W,  707. 
Ketcham,  Emily  B,  204. 
Kilbreth,  Mary,  679. 
Kimber,  Helen,  93. 
King,    Dr.    Cora   Smith,   bef.    House 

Judic.  Com,  432;  see  Eaton. 
King,  U.  S.  Sen.  William  H,  645. 
Kingsley,  Charles,  137. 


INDEX 


791 


Kirby,  U.  S.  Sen.  William  F,  speaks 

for  Fed.  Amend,  645. 
Kitchin,  U.  S.  Rep.  Claude  (N.  C), 

584- 
Knowland,    U.    S.    Rep.    Joseph    R, 

praises  worn.  suff.  in  Calif,  433. 
Knowles,  Antoinette,  162. 
Knox,  U.   S.   Sen.   Philander   Chase, 

5i6. 

Kramers,  Martina  G.  (Holland),  341. 
Krebs,  Abbie  A,  710. 
Krog.  Gina  (Norway),  letter  to  intl. 

conf,  27. 


Labor,  93  unions  endorse  woni.  suff. 
in  1007,  218;  St.  Fedn.  for  it  in 
Wash,  257;  organizations  demand 
it,  281.  See  American  Federation 
of  Labor. 

Ladies'  Home  Journal,  prints  attacks 
on  women's  clubs  and  worn,  suff, 
131 ;  refuses  to  allow  answers,  163; 
Barry's  article  on  Colo,  314; 
tries  to  find  "antis"  in  Colo,  393. 
Lafferty,  U.  S.  Rep.  A.  W.   (Ore.), 
urges  Fed.  Suff.  Amend,  357. 

ollette,  Fola,  326. 

La  Follette,  U.  S.  Sen.  Robert  M, 
presents  Fed.  Amend,  petition,  natl. 
suff.  conv.  thanks,  275;  Mrs.  La 
Follrttc.  324;  Son.  and  Mrs.  receive 
delegates  to  natl.  suff.  conv,  many 
in  official  life  present,  382;  Senator 
asks  worn.  suff.  plank  in  natl.  plat- 
form, 705. 

I-Aullaw,     James     Lees,     presides     at 

Men's  Night,  natl.  suff.  conv,  1912, 

1   Senate  hearing,  expediency 

worn,  suff,  340;   presides   Men's 

"><\    1013.    377:    says   anti-stiffs. 

trust    democracy.    303'.    presides, 

1014.  407;  holds  Or.  Shaw's  annuity 

fund,  458;  prcs.  Natl.  Men's  Suff. 

674, 

I  ;iidla\v.  Mr^.  James  Lees,  at  nail. 
siifT.  ronv,  IQIO,  200;  elected  natl. 
auditor,  32.4;  responds  to  conv. 
greetings,  334;  spcal  iatc 

•s  in  ovation   to 
Dr.  Shaw,  457 

;    women's    war 

work  in   N.   Y,  533:   54 1  :  at  mem. 
service  for  Dr.  S 

.seph  R.  726. 
Lambson.  Ne11i« 
Lam 

Franklin    K    with    Mr«v    Lar- 

on  suff.  platform,  brines  goo«l  will 

of  Pres.  Wilson  to  natl.  < 


expresses  his  own  belief  in  worn, 
suff,  520;  tribute  to  Dr.  Shaw,  760. 

Lane,  Mrs.  Franklin  K,  515. 

Langhorne,  Orra,  146. 

Langston,  J.  Luther,  288. 

Lansing,  Secretary  of  State  Robert, 
opp.  to  worn,  suff,  515;  708. 

Lansing,  Mrs.  Robert,  opp.  to  worn, 
suff,  515. 

Larch-Miller,  Aloysius,  607. 

Lathrop,  Julia,  great  speech  at  natl. 
suff.  conv;  woman  suff.  inevitable 
step  in  march  of  society ;  not  a 
mad  revolution;  working  women's 
is  not  the  ignorant  vote;  women 
must  vote  to  protect  the  family, 
343 — 345;  asks  worn.  suff.  for  wel- 
fare of  mother  and  child,  406,  409; 
on  recep.  com.  for  natl.  conv,  515; 
speaks  for  ratif.  of  Fed.  Amend, 
606;  works  for  it,  650;  on  child 
labor,  686;  report  of  Child  Welfare 
Dept.  during  the  war.  730. 

Laughlin,  Gail,  on  The  Industrial 
Laggard,  19;  37;  42;  addresses 
Senate  Com,  47;  praised,  asks 
square  deal  for  women,  at  natl. 
conv.  of  1905,  139. 

Lawther,  Anna  B,  559;  568. 

Lea,  U.  S.  Sen.  Luke,  addresses  natl. 
sufT.  conv,  1^14,  gives  reasons  for 
voting  for  Fed.  Suff.  Amend ;  re- 
sults in  equal  suff.  States  irrefut 
able  argument ;  scores  "anti"  wom- 
en, 408;  627. 

tie  of  Nations.  Natl.  Suff.  Assn. 
sends  dele,  to  congresses,  55: 
favors,  575 ;  Or.  Shaw  makes 
speaking  tour  for  it  with  former 
Pres.  Taft  and  Pres.  Lowell,  739- 
40. 

ne  lo  Kn  force  Peace,  memorial 
In  Or.  Shaw,  607;  Dr.  Shaw.  mem. 
exec.  com.  speaks  for.  758. 

League  of  Women  Voters.  National. 
vi ;   originated    by 
("all    for.  552;   Mrs.  Out   nr. 

ity;    dominating 

ire  of  nail.   suff.  e.mv.  in    IQIO. 

i  .  Natl.  A  mcrRc 

till    1  ure.l.    561  ; 

nine 

Mrs.  Catt  outlines  aims,  570;  Natl. 

Exec.  Council  recommends;  $20,000 

formal    org/tn. 

objects  aj^reed  upon,  576;  Call  to 
i's  share  of 

natl.   snff.  conv,  595;   Mrs.   Slmlrr 
writes  chapter  Pktt,   Wil- 

cicty,   au- 


792 


INDEX 


Natl.  Assn.  to  join,  601 ;  chairmen 
make  western  tour  for  ratif.  of 
Fed.  Amend,  606;  large  fund 
raised,  609;  org.  in  States,  614;  or- 
gztn. perfected,  617;  points  of  Mrs. 
Catt's  address  at  orgztn.  in  1919,  its 
object  and  plan  of  work,  683-4;  Dr. 
Shaw  favors,  685;  officers,  duties, 
eight  depts,  685;  each  discussed, 
686;  plans  adopted  by  board  of 
Natl.  Suff.  Assn,  chairmen  elected, 
687 ;  permanent  orgztn.  at  natl.  suff. 
conv.  in  Chicago  in  1920,  668;  its 
cong.  opens,  officers  elected,  689; 
schools  for  citizenship  arranged, 
690 ;  purposes  of  league,  691 ;  cen- 
sures U.  S.  Sen.  Wadsworth,  692; 
confs.  and  dinners,  program  of 
work,  resolutions  adopted,  im- 
proved legislation  for  women  de- 
manded ;  Cong,  notified  of  action, 
692 — 695 ;  program  presented  to 
natl.  polit.  convs.  and  Pres.  candi- 
dates, 699 — 701 ;  it  forms  large 
Congressl.  Com,  701;  takes  place  of 
Natl.  Suff.  Assn.  in  the  Intl.  Alli- 
ance, 756.  See  Chapter  XXTI  for 
full  account. 

Leckenby,  Ellen  S,  264. 

Legislatures,  special  sessions  for  rat- 
ifying Fed.  Suff.  Alnend,  xxiii. 

Leighty,  Mrs.  John  R,  670. 

Lenroot,  U.  S.  Sen.  Irvine  L,  moves 
to  report  res.  for  Worn.  Suff.  Com, 
397;  548:  628;  645- 

Leonard,  Gertrude  Halliday.  444. 

Leser,  Judge  Oscar,  opp.  Fed.  Suff. 
Amend,  bef .  Senate  Com ;  548, 
brings  suit  to  test,  654;  same, 
6*2. 

Leslie  Bureau  of  Suffrage  Education, 
reports  of  depts,  527 — 531 ;  founded 
bv  Mrs.  Catt  with  bequest  of  Mrs. 
Frank  Leslie,  614. 

Leslie,  Mrs.  Frank,  legacy  for  worn. 
suff,  iv,  xxii ;  527;  614;  great  be- 
quest to  Mrs.  Catt  for  worn,  suff, 
terms  of  will,  755. 

Leslie  Woman  Suffrage  Commission, 
organizes  bureau  of  research,  iv; 
its  work,  527;  contrib.  to  Natl. 
Assn,  542 — 558;  sends  out  travel- 
ling suff.  libraries,  557;  assists 
League  of  Women  Voters,  698;  in- 
corporated, headqrs.  in  New  York, 
754-5;  Mrs.  Catt's  report,  756. 

Leupp,  Constance,  395. 

Lewis  and  Clark  Exposition,  enter- 
tains natl.  suff.  conv,  117;  woman's 
day,  recep.  to  Miss  Anthony  and 
the  conv,  132-3. 


Lewis,  Mrs.  George  Howard,  enter- 
tains officers  of  Natl.  and  State 
Suff.  Assns.  and  Coll.  League,  1908, 
230;  presents  $10,000  to  Natl.  Assn. 
in  memory  of  Miss  Anthony,  236; 
conv.  sends  greetings,  1910,  288; 
contrib.  to  assn,  315;  presents  res. 
that  natl.  officers  must  be  non-par- 
tisan, 342 ;  at  Dr.  Shaw's  right  hand 
when  she  resigns,  contrib.  salary  of 
her  secy,  457-8;  tribute  to  Dr. 
Shaw  and  contrib.  to  memorial 
fund,  613. 

Lewis,  Mrs.  Lawrence,  366 ;  454 ;  675 ; 
707. 

Lexow,  Caroline,  208;  212;  speaks  on 
coll.  worn,  eve,  227;  229;  233;  255; 
283;  661. 

Life  and  Work  of  Susan  B.  Anthony, 
167;  Miss  Anthony  on  "college 
women's  evening"  at  Balto.  conv, 
173;  Miss  Garrett's  recep,  182; 
large  fund  for  suff.  work,  183 ; 
gives  birthday  money  to  Ore. 
campn.  184:  account  of  last  birth- 
day. 10 1  ;  accounts  of  death  and 
funeral  services,  204;  205;  218; 
249;  335;  359;  account  of  Mrs. 
Stanton's  death,  742;  of  Miss  An- 
thony's effort  for  co-education  in 
Roch.  Univ,  744. 

Liiulscy.  Judge  Ben,  visits  Roosevelt 
to  tirgo  worn.  suff.  in  Prog.  Party 
platform,  706. 

Liiiflscy,  Louise,  gavel  to  Dr.  Shaw, 

398.  " 

Lindsey,  Mrs.  W.  E,  517. 

Liquor  interests,  hostility  to  worn, 
suff,  xviii;  power  ends,  xxiii;  166; 
206:  21 1 ;  power  in  politics,  at  bot- 
tom of  opp.  to  worn,  suff,  234;  fight 
on  worn.  suff.  in  Ore,  247;  work 
against  in  Ky,  388;  in  Neb,  S.  Dak. 
and  Mont,  420-1;  in  Mich,  474; 
work  in  Iowa,  486;  alliance  with 
women  "antis",  486;  opp.  even 
Pres.  suff.  for  women,  539. 

Littlefield,  Paul,  of  Men's  Anti-Stiff. 
Com.  (Penn.),  479. 

Littleford,  Hon.  William,  pres.  Ohio 
Men's  League,  670. 

Littleton,  U.  S.  Rep.  Martin  W.  (X. 
Y.),  at  Congressl.  hearing,  361; 
allies  worn.  suff.  with  Socialism, 
362. 

Livermore,  Mrs.  Arthur  L,  report 
for  Literature  Com,  1916,  493 ; 
same,  1917,  over  1,000,000  copies  of 
pamphlets,  speeches,  etc,  distrib- 
uted, 532;  directs  suff.  school,  539; 
54i;  556;  559;  56i;  573J  756. 


INDEX 


793 


Livermore,  Mary  A,  letter  to  natl. 
suff.  conv,  13;  memorial  res.  of 
Natl.  Assn,  146;  Mrs.  Howe's  trib- 
ute to,  155. 

Livingston,  Deborah  Knox,  speaks  at 
natl.  suff.  conv,  511;  report  on 
Maine  campn,  520. 

Lobby,  for  Fed.  Worn.  Suff.  Amend, 
635. 

Locke,  Leon,  408. 

Lockwood,  Belva  A,  657. 

Lodge,  U.  S.  Sen.  Henry  Cabot,  anti- 
Fed.  Suff.  Amend,  res,  639;  703; 
opp.  worn.  suff.  plank  in  Repub. 
platform,  1916,  711. 

Loines,  Hilda,  report  as  chmn.  of 
assn's  Food  Production  Com,  560; 
730;  report  on  Women's  Land 
Army  during  the  war,  731. 

Long.  ex-Secy,  of  Navy  John  D,  on 
Stiff.  Advisory  Com,  258;  vice-pres. 
Men's  Suff.  League,  674. 

Long,  Dr.  Margaret,  treas.  Natl.  Coll. 
Women's  League,  229;  661. 

Longshore,  Dr.  Hannah.  73;  334. 

Loomis,  Rev.  Alice  Ball,  18;  20. 

Lord.  Mrs.  M.  B,  247. 

Lord,  Rev.  William  R,  340. 

Lorimer,  Rev.  George  C,  146. 

Louisville,  Ky,  entertains  natl.  suff. 
conv.  in  1911,  310. 

Lovejoy,  Dr.  Owen  R,  shows  need  of 
worn.  suff.  in  the  cause  of  child 
labor.  496,  500. 

Scth,  ignores  women.  38. 

Lowe,  Caroline  A,  327;  speaks  at 
hearing  for  7,000.000  working  wom- 
en, denial  of  ballot  greatest  in- 
justice. 350. 

Lowell,  Pres.  A.  Lawrence,  Dr.  Shaw 
joins  on  speaking  tour  for  League' 
of  Nations.  740;  757. 

Lowell,  Josephine  Shaw,  180;  for 
worn,  stiff,  206. 

Ix>we1l,  Judge  Stephen  R.  138. 

MCton.    Katharine,    at    natl.    stiff. 
:  work  in  Conn.  602;  689. 
•mb.  Florence,  326. 


Judge  Julian,  372. 

Mackav.  Mrs.  Garence,  on  Advisory 
m,  258. 

'he  TreriMirv  Wil- 
liam G.  for  Fed.  Stiff.  Amen 
on  suff.  platform.  724:  rest 
hour  rlav  to  women.  720. 
McAdoo.  Mrs.  William  G.  on   n 
com.  for  ««f.  conv  ,iks  at 

conv  'xjan,  533. 


McAfee,  Effie  L.  D,  666. 

McAneny,  Mrs.  George,  613. 

McArthur,  U.  S.  Rep.  C.  N.  (Ore.), 
549- 

McCall,  Sarah  J,  bequest  to  Natl. 
Suff.  Assn,  407. 

McClintock,  Mary  Ann,  calls  first 
Worn.  Rights  Conv,  219. 

McClung,  Nellie,  tells  of  Canadian 
women's  war  work  and  how  it 
brought  suffrage,  544;  in  Minn, 
669. 

McClure,  S.  S.  and  T.  C,  for  worn, 
suff,  296. 

McCormack,  Mrs.  James  M,  494. 

McCormick,  Mrs.  Cyrus  H,  542. 

McCormick,  Katharine  Dexter,  286; 
appt.  to  natl.  board,  address  on 
broadening  effects  of  suff.  work, 
324;  sends  gift  of  suff.  literature  to 
many  States,  336;  pays  Natl.  Assn's 
deficit  of  $6,000  on  U' Oman's  Jour- 
n<il.  337;  treas.  report  for  1913,372; 
410;  elected  vice-pres,  425;  organ- 
izes Volunteer  Suff.  League,  442; 
454;  re-elected,  456;  484;  unique 
evening  program,  488;  527;  re- 
elected,  541 ;  contrib.  to  Natl.  Assn, 
on  Worn.  Com.  of  Natl.  De- 
fense, 555 ;  chmn.  assn's  War  Serv- 
ice Dept,  presides  at  meeting,  560; 
refutes  slanders  of  "antis",  560; 
assists  Congressl.  Com,  567;  ad- 
dress at  natl.  conv,  597 ;  moves  res. 
of  gratitude  to  Fres.  Wilson,  600; 
608:  615;  writes  chapter  on  war 
work  of  stiffs,  for  History,  720; 
724;  726-7;  730;  737- 

'ormick.  Mrs.  Medill.  work  for 
Pres.  stiff,  in  Tils.  370;  offers  res. 
to  ask  Pres.  Wilson  for  interview 
on  worn,  stiff,  and  is  on  cor 
chmn.  Natl.  Congressl.  Com.  381  ; 
valuable  service,  cstah.  Woman's 
Independence  Day,  404;  .JIT:  report 
of  Congressl.  Coin's,  work  for  Fed. 
Stiff.  Amend;  reasons  for  introd. 
Sha froth  Amend,  and  defense  of  it. 
411 — 416,  418;  report  for  Campn. 
Com,  418;  her  com.  a«ists  Neb. 
420;  re-anptd.  chmn.  421:  elected 
natl.  auditor;  produces 
Girl  and  Mine.  42$:  contrih.  to  pub- 
work,  426;  brf.  Hnu«;e  Itulic. 
Com,  .\27\  shows  difference  be- 
•1.  Suff.  1  Con- 

gressl.  Union.  .:  !es  at  mnf. 

444;    450:    report    as    chmn.    Con- 

• 

Sen.!'  •'•' ;  stiff,  work  in  Ills. 

482;    resigns  as   chmn.   Congressl. 


794 


INDEX 


Com,  506;  moves  for  com.  to  con- 
fer with  Red  Cross  War  Council, 
is  herself  appt,  540;  567;  627;  629; 
sponsor  for  Shafroth  Palmer 
Amend,  747-8. 

McCormick,  Vance,  for  Fed.  SufL 
Amend,  638. 

McCracken,  Elizabeth,  114-15;  3QL 

McCulloch,  Catharine  Waugh,  17;  on 
legal  privileges  of  women,  70;  legal 
adviser  to  Natl.  Assn,  107;  con- 
ducts protest  against  bill  admitting 
new  Territories  with  women 
classed  with  insane,  idiots  and 
felons,  129;  legislative  work,  262; 
mem.  tributes  to  Mr.  Blackwell  and 
Mr.  Garrison,  278;  elected  natl. 
vice-pres,  282-3 ;  report  as  legal  ad- 
viser, rising  vote  of  thanks,  286; 
289;  at  Senate  hearing  as  justice 
of  the  peace,  shows  professional 
women's  demand  for  the  vote.  292; 
pays  tribute  to  "family  of  Clay," 
tells  of  new  chivalry,  312;  314; 
324 ;  report  on  mother's  equal 
guardianship,  327;  early  work  for 
Pres.  surf,  in  Tils,  370;  presides  at 
hearing  bef.  Com.  on  Rules,  302; 
394;  offers  res.  of  non-partisan- 
ship, 490 ;  on  limited  suff,  495 ',  on 
tour  for  ratif,  606;  works  for  Fed. 
Suff.  Amend,  650;  org.  Miss.  Val- 
ley Conf,  667;  on  Legal  Status  of 
Women,  686,  600,  697;  at  Repub. 
Natl.  Conv,  703;  objects  to  Shaf- 
roth Palmer  Amend.  747;  helps  re- 
vise constn.  of  Natl.  Suff.  Assn, 
756. 

McDowell,  Mary  E.  on  The  Work- 
ingwomen  as  a  Natl.  Asset,  tribute 
to  Miss  Anthony  and  suffs,  209-10; 
ballot  will  give  wage-earning  wom- 
en new  status  in  industry,  356-7 ; 
690. 

McDowell,  R.  A,  408. 

McFarland,  Henry  R.  F,  24;  515. 

McGehee,  Mrs.  Edward.  490. 

Mclvor,  Mrs.  Campbell  (Canada), 
334;  SOL 

McKeller,  U.  S.  Sen.  Kenneth,  invites 
natl.  suff.  conv.  to  Chattanooga, 
382;  643. 

McKinley,  Pres.  William,  for  worn, 
suff.  when  a  youth,  133. 

McKinley.  Mrs.  William,  gives  doll 
for  suff.  bazaar,  13. 

McLaren,  Priscilla  Bright,  31. 

McLean.  Frances  W.  229. 

McNaughton,  Dr.  Clara  W,  435; 
658. 

Macy,   Mrs.  V.  Event,  542. 


Maddox,  Etta,  obtains  admis.  of 
women  to  the  bar  in  Md,  42;  98; 

179- 

Mahoney,  Nonie,  541. 

Malone,  Collector  of  the  Port  Dudley 
Field,  on  natl.  suff.  platform,  plea 
for  worn,  suff,  says  women  would 
vote  for  "preparedness,"  Mrs.  Catt 
and  Dr.  Shaw  object,  459-60;  bef. 
Senate  com,  548. 

Manila,  natl.  suff.  assn.  protests 
against  "regulated"  vice  in,  10. 

Mann,  U.  S.  Rep.  James  R.  (Ills.), 
votes  for  Fed.  Amend,  637;  chmn. 
Com.  on  Worn.  Suff,  644. 

Mann.  Mrs.  James  R,  515. 

Manning,  Rev.  William  P,  682. 

Mansfeldt,  Lieut.  Col.  W.  A.  E. 
(Holland),  674. 

Maps,  difficulty  with  suff.  maps,  532. 

Marbury,  William  L,  brings  suit  to 
test  Fed.  Suff.  Amend,  654;  same, 
682. 

Marshall,  Vice-pres.  Thomas  R,  646; 
tribute  to  Dr.  Shaw,  760. 

Martha  Washington  Hotel,  258. 

Martin,  Anne,  tells  natl.  conv.  of  suc- 
cessful suff.  campn.  in  Nev,  401 ; 
work  in  Nev,  421;  425;  454;  pre- 
sides at  Senate  hearing  of  Con- 
gressl.  Union,  466;  same,  547;  549; 
at  last  suff.  hearing,  585;  675; 
chmn.  Natl.  Worn.  Party,  676;  at 
natl.  Repub.  conv,  710. 

Martin,  U.  S.  Sen.  Thomas  S,  unfair- 
ness in  Dem.  caucus  on  Fed.  Suff. 
Amend,  565 ;  same,  642. 

Marvel,  Lulu  H,  natl.  suff.  conv. 
thanks,  501. 

Mathews,  Dean  Lois  K.  (Wis. 
Univ.),  664. 

Matthews,  J.  N,  opp.  worn,  suff, 
437- 

Matthews,  Prof.  Shailer,  for  worn, 
suff,  296. 

Maud,  Queen  of  Norway,  247. 

Mead,  Edwin  D,  674. 

Mead,  Lucia  Ames,  pleads  for  world 
orgztn.  for  peace,  97;  105;  133; 
work  for  peace,  138;  same,  176; 
responsibility  of  U.  S.  for  Peace 
and  Arbitration,  187;  all  classes  of 
women  need  the  suffrage,  189;  210; 
report  on  Peace  conferences ;  Amer. 
School  Peace  League,  240;  urges 
Natl.  Suff.  Assn.  to  work  for  peace, 
253 ;  289 ;  tells  of  great  peace  funds 
and  endowments  and  "Pres.  Taft's 
noble  efforts  to  secure  treaties," 
326;  338. 

Meehan,  Mrs.  S.  D,  395. 


INDEX 


795 


Meeker,  U.  S.  Rep.  Jacob  E.  (Mo.), 
516. 

Memorials,  to  pioneer  suffs.  at  natl. 
conv,  1901,  16;  to  Miss  Anthony, 
201-2;  569;  615. 

Men's  Leagues  for  Woman  Suffrage, 
International  and  National,  Mr. 
Blackwell's  interest  in,  278;  in 
Calif,  288;  from  Calif,  to  Va,  311; 
in  U.  S,  has  an  evening  at  natl. 
suff.  conv.  in  1912,  340;  in  1913, 
377;  in  1914,  407;  league  formed  in 
Tenn,  408;  chapter  on,  673. 

Meredith,  Kllis,  address  on  Menace 
of  Podunk.  15;  edits  Progress,  35; 
on  effect  of  worn.  suff.  in  Colo,  101  ; 
iu:  585;  improved  election  laws, 
686;  at  Repub.  Natl.  Conv,  710. 

Mcrrick.  Caroline  E,  17;  pioneer  suff. 
of  La.  shares  honors  with  Miss 
Anthony,  58;  80;  106;  137;  191; 
208. 

Mcrrick.  Edwin,  need  of  worn,  suff,  80. 

Meyer,  Heloise,  elected  to  Natl.  Bd, 
501;  in  war  service,  517;  526-7; 
retires  from  office,  541 ;  724. 

Michigan,  gives  women  taxpayers  a 
vote,  243;  worn.  suff.  amend,  de- 
feated by  fraud,  339;  other  reasons, 
474;  gives  suff.  to  women,  550; 
Natl.  Assn.  assists  campn,  557. 

Milholland,  Inez.  326. 

"Militancy,"  in  Gt.  Brit,  xv ;  Mrs. 
Snowden  justifies,  237-8;  Dr.  Shaw 
and  natl.  suff.  conv.  sympathize, 
238;  Alice  Paul's  account,  280; 
Mr?.  Pankhurst  says  women  stood 
8  hrs.  at  entrance  of  House  of 
Commons;  assault  of  police.  330-1. 

Miller,  Alice  Duer,  Sisterhood  of 
Women.  283;  502. 

Millrr.  Anne  Fitzhugh,  188;  tribute 
to  Mr.  Blackwcll.  279. 

Millrr,  Caroline  Hallowell,  33;  45; 
1 80. 

Miller,  F.li/ahrth  Smith,  34;  60;  208; 
288;  memorial,  328. 

Millrr.  Florence  Fcnwirk.  at  intl. 
conf.  in  Washtn,  31;  40-1;  ad- 
dresses House  com.  on  official  and 
polit.  status  of  women  in  Gt.  Brit, 
«/. 

Millrr.  Mavor  John  F.  (Seattle), 
worn.  suff.  record  of  Wash,  250. 

Miller,  Mrs.  John  O,  presents  sufT. 
flag  from  Penn.  assn.  to  Natl.  501  ; 
chmn.  com.  on  Dr.  Shaw's  mem. 
fund.  6n. 

Mil'  \VaItrr  McNab.  tells  of 

;>etition  in  Mo.  402;  rlrctcd  to 

Natl.  Bd,  425;  456;  report  of  ex- 


tensive field  work,  483;  485;  516; 
reports  for  assn's  war  com.  on 
Thrift,  520;  work  as  chmn.  of 
Congressl.  Com ;  spoke  200  times 
in  15  States,  wrote  3,000  letters, 
travelled  13,000  miles;  work  at 
Washtn.  headqrs,  526-7;  welcomes 
natl.  suff.  conv.  to  St.  Louis,  553; 
report  on  Food  Conservation,  1918, 
560;  at  Anthony  celebr,  615;  724; 
work  on  Thrift  Com,  727. 

Mills,  Mrs.  C.  D.  B,  559. 

Mills,  Harriet  May,  addresses  Senate 
com,  47;  same,  no;  speaks  at  natl. 
suff.  conv,  187;  same,  289;  same, 
382;  on  N.  Y.  campn,  518. 

Miner,  Maude  E,  no  danger  in  im- 
moral women's  vote,  233;  372. 

Minor,  Judge  Francis,  urges  women 
to  vote  under  I4th  Amend,  622; 
carries  case  to  U.  S.  Sup.  Ct,  623; 
wants  Cong,  to  enable  women  to 
vote  for  its  members,  657. 

Minor,  Mrs.  Francis,  tries  to  vote 
under  I4th  Amend,  623. 

Mississippi  Valley  Conference,  mem- 
bers opp.  Shafroth  Amend,  422; 
orgztn,  great  need  of,  valuable 
work,  667 — 671. 

Mitchell,  John,  288. 

Mitchell,  U.  S.  Sen.  John  A,  in. 

Mitchell,  Mrs.  Willis  G,  519. 

Mondell,     U.     S.     Rep.     Frank     W. 
(Wyo.),  introd.  Fed.  Suff.  Amend. 
1910,  300;  testimony  for  equal  suff. 
in  Wyo,  criticises  Pres.  Wilson  for 
not  referring  to  worn.  suff.  in  mes- 
sage,   calls    for    special    .sufT 
306;  speaks  for  Amend,  bef.  House 
Judic.    Com,   428;    449;    natl.    stiff. 
conv.  thanks   for  assistance, 
introd.     Fed.     Amend, 
speaks  for  Worn.   Suff.   Cor 
speaks    for    Fed.    Amend,    ^29;    on 
Worn.    SufT.    Com.    r>.u  ;     n 
leader,  644. 

Mondell.   Mrv  Frank  W,  396. 

Monroe.    I, ilia    Day.    !</> 

M'inlni'a.  :1    Miff.   CftlBpfl 

400;     liquor     interests     and 
company  opp.   Worn.  Suff.   Amend. 
Miss    Raiikiu's    work,    421;    Repub. 
and  Dem.  women's  vote,  584 
worn,  suff,  625. 

Moor< 

Mor ;  ilip     North      i 

tribute    !• 
thony  and  other  suff.  pi 

awetz,    Mrs.    Victor,    in    N.    Y. 
campn,  519. 


796 


INDEX 


Morgan,  Laura  Puffer,  442;  430. 

Morgan,  Mrs.  Raymond  B,  664. 

Morgan,  Mrs.  W.  Y,  495;  517. 

Mormonism,  attack  on  in  anti-suff. 
speech,  Sen.  Sutherland  protests; 
its  part  in  worn,  suff,  467-8. 

Morris,  Esther,  34;  73. 

Morrisson,  Mrs.  James  W,  elected 
natl.  rec.  secy,  456;  work  for  suff. 
parade  in  Chicago  during  Repub. 
Natl.  Conv,  tribute  to  Mrs.  Medill 
McCormick,  482;  485;  501. 

Morton,  Dr.  Rosalie  Slaughter,  urges 
higher  moral  standard  for  men,  224. 

Moses,  U.  S.  Sen.  George  H,  Roose- 
velt urges  to  vote  for  Fed.  Amend, 

Moss!  U.  S.  Rep.  Hunter  H.  (W. 
Va.),  votes  for  Fed.  Suff.  Amend, 
631. 

Mosshart,  Gertrude  C,  528. 

Mott,  Anna  C,  74. 

Mott,  Lucretia,  185;  219;  "the  in- 
spired preacher,"  333-4 ;  reminis.  of, 
569;  calls  first  Woman's  Rights 
Conv,  618;  at  first  one  in  Washtn, 
621 ;  664. 

Mountford,  Lydia  von  Finkelstein,  41. 

Moylan,  Penn,  home  of  Dr.  Anna 
Howard  Shaw,  740. 

Munds,  Frances  W,  341. 

Municipal  Suffrage,  plan  of  work  for, 
10 ;  Jane  Addams  shows  women's 
need  of,  178;  campn.  for,  194; 
Prof.  Sophonisba  Breckinridgc 
urges;  its  value  in  New  Orleans. 
195;  Anna  E.  Nicholas  shows  need 
of,  196;  defeated  in  Chicago  by 
charter  conv,  195 ;  Miss  Addams 
tells  of,  207;  in  Kans,  196;  in  New 
Orleans,  195-6;  women's  petitions 
for  in  Chicago,  392;  granted  in 
Tenn,  551 ;  in  Fla.  and  Atlanta, 
602;  in  Vt,  632. 

Municipal  Work,  women's,  in  New 
York,  38;  in  Phila,  177. 

Murdock,  U.  S.  Rep.  Victor  (Kans.), 

377- 

Mussey,  Ellen  Spencer,  295. 
Myers,  Dr.     Annice     Jeffreys,     134; 

145;  147;  152;  204;  memorial,  328. 
Myers,  Jefferson,  109;  pays  tribute  to 

Miss  Anthony,  her  co-workers  and 

their  cause,  122. 
Mythen,  Rev.  James  Grattan,  340. 

N 

Names,  distinguished  list  on  receiving 
com.  for  natl.  suff.  conv.  of  1915, 
515;  those  in  war  service,  517. 


Nashville,  entertains  natl.  suff.  conv. 
of  1914  in  Representatives'  Hall, 
welcomed  by  Mayor  Hilary  Howse, 
398. 

Nathan,  Maud,  95;  on  the  Wage 
Earner  and  the  Ballot,  96;  no;  on 
Women  Warriors,  181 ;  559. 

National  American  Woman  Suffrage 
Association,  efforts  for  planks  in 
natl.  polit.  convs,  see  Planks;  work 
for  Fed.  Amend,  xvii ;  orgztn.  of 
two  branches  and  their  union,  ob- 
jects and  work,  I,  2;  its  convs, 
Congress!,  hearings,  money  raised, 
nation-wide  efforts  and  their  result, 
chapters  I  to  XIX  inclusive;  list  of 
officers,  first  page  of  each ;  business 
women's  tribute,  21 ;  calls  intl. 
suff.  conf,  24;  conv.  protests  against 
"regulated"  vice  in  Philippines, 
appts.  com.  to  see  Pres.  Roosevelt, 
who  declares  against  it  and  War 
Dept.  stops  it,  44;  attacked  on 
"race  question"  states  its  neutral 
position,  59;  plan  of  work  for  1903, 
61  ;  assists  campns.  in  Ore,  147;  S. 
Dak,  240;  Okla,  252;  Ariz,  S.  Dak, 
253;  passes  res.  of  non-partisan- 
ship, 343 ;  membership  and  petitions 
compared  with  anti-suff's,  392;  per- 
meated with  new  life  in  1915,  great 
accession  of  young  women,  441 ;  re- 
pudiates Shafroth  Palmer  Amend ; 
resolves  to  work  only  for  original 
Fed.  Amend,  452;  cooperation  with 
Congressl.  Union  found  impossible, 
454;  elects  Mrs.  Catt  pres,  455-6; 
ovation  to  Dr.  Shaw,  457;  demand 
for  Fed.  Amend,  460;  work  of  63 
St.  auxiliaries ;  attacks  no  party, 
464;  Dr.  Shaw  shows  diff.  bet.  it 
and  Congressl.  Union,  471 ;  debate 
at  Atlantic  City  conv.  on  its  future 
policy,  486;  Dr.  Shaw  urges  no 
change,  487;  Mrs.  Catt  takes  same 
view,  501;  nation-wide  plan  of 
work,  510;  Call  for  conv.  of  1917 
demands  Fed.  Amend,  from  Cong, 
513;  officers  in  war  service,  517; 
Exec.  Council  pledges  loyalty  and 
service  to  Govt,  518,  527;  decides 
to  enter  polit.  campns,  542;  cele- 
brates 50th  anniv,  551;  no  cony,  in 
1918;  conf.  of  Exec.  Council  at 
Indpls;  Call  for  natl.  conv.  in  1919; 
changed  character  of  convs,  552; 
nation-wide  work  for  Fed.  Amend, 
554 — 557;  campns.  against  anti-suff. 
candidates  for  Cong,  557;  gives 
$30,720  to  suff.  campns.  in  Mich, 
S.  Dak.  and  Okla,  558;  natl.  conv. 


INDEX 


797 


vetoes  proposal  to  merge  assn.  in 
League  of  Women  Voters  till  Fed. 
Amend,  is  secured,  561 ;  Pioneers' 
evening,  569;  recommendations  of 
Natl.  Exec.  Council  for  1919,  574; 
first  organized  body  of  women  to 
offer  services  to  Govt.  for  war;  at- 
titude toward  peace,  578;  Chicago 
entertains  last  natl.  suff.  conv.  and 
first  cong.  of  League  of  Women 
Voters,  594 ;  Jubilee  conv.  to  celebr. 
end  of  its  work,  594;  Exec.  Council 
program  for  future  action,  596 ; 
thanks  Governors  who  called  spec, 
sessions  to  ratify  amend,  600;  pro- 
gram adopted  by  conv,  assn.  shall 
"move  toward  dissolution,"  600; 
auxiliaries  will  join  League  of 
Women  Voters,  601 ;  large  assist- 
ance to  southern  States,  603;  Mrs. 
Shuler's  tribute  to,  607;  presents 
honor  rolls  to  early  workers,  616; 
meets  with  League  of  Women  Vot- 
ers, 617;  assn.  was  formed  for 
amending  Fed.  Constitn,  622; 
united  with  American  Assn,  622; 
works  against  election  of  anti-suff. 
Senators,  641 ;  assists  League  of 
Women  Voters,  698;  effort  for 
worn.  suff.  planks  in  natl.  polit. 
platforms,  702;  calls  on  Res.  Com. 
of  Natl.  Repub.  Conv.  in  1920  to 
secure  final  ratif.  of  Fed.  Suff. 
Amend,  718;  war  service  to  Govt. 
during  the  war,  720  et  seq;  Pres. 
Wilson  approves,  725;  its  officers 
and  members  on  Woman's  Com.  of 
Council  of  Natl.  Defense,  726;  ac- 
tion on  Shafroth  Palmer  Amend, 
in  1914  and  1915,  750;  reasons  for 
nuing  after  suff.  was  gained, 
new  constitn.  made,  officers  elected, 
principal  object  to  remove  legal  and 
civil  discriminations  against  wom- 
.  present  status,  755—757 ;  Official 
l'.(l.  issues  Mem.  for  Dr.  Shaw,  759. 

•nal  Council  of  Women  Vo* 
42;  res.  for  worn.  suff.  in  1909,  249; 
greetings  to  natl.   suff.  conv,  341 ; 

Washtn,  379,  626. 
onality  of  wives,  Miss  Rani 
hill   for,  521. 

Junior  Suffrage  Corps, 

inal  Press  Bureau,  reports,  Mrs. 
• :  1905,  131 ; 

1906,    163.      Miss    Hauser,    chmn, 
204;    1908,    218;    1909,    250. 
Harper,  c-linin,  1910,  387. 

"911,  315;   1912,  336. 

1913,  36H 
405.      Mr.     I!  mm.     1915, 


482.  Mr.  Heaslip,  chmn,  1916,  494. 
Mrs.  McCormick,  chmn,  1917,  527. 
.Mrs.  Harper,  528.  Miss  Young, 
chmn,  1918,  1919,  570;  Mrs.  Harper, 
571.  At  Washtn.  headqrs,  Miss 
Shuler,  chmn,  1918,  1919,  573. 

National  Woman  Suffrage  Conven- 
tions, described  in  first  19  chapters ; 
tribute  to,  46;  descrip.  by  Woman's 
Journal,  290.  Changed  character 
of,  552;  see  Conventions. 

National  Woman  Suffrage  Publishing 
Co,  organized,  372;  405;  481;  re- 
port, 1917,  over  10,000,000  pieces  of 
suff.  literature  printed,  532;  1918, 
6.000,000  pieces,  573;  total,  50,- 
000,000;  see  Ogden,  Esther  G. 

National  Woman's  Party,  see  Con- 
gressional Union. 

Nebraska,  liquor  interests  in  suff. 
campn,  420;  Pres.  and  Munic.  suff. 
declared  legal  and  "male"  left  out 
of  new  constitn,  602. 

Negroes,  "race  question"  injected  at 
natl.  suff.  conv.  in  New  Orleans, 
Official  Board  responds,  59;  dele- 
gates address  Phyllis  Wheatley 
Club ;  its  president  gives  flowers  to 
Miss  Anthony  with  touching  words, 
6p;  Dr.  Shaw  settles  color  ques- 
tions, 75;  77;  80;  Mrs.  Catt  says 
each  State  must  decide,  83;  Mrs. 
Ten-ill  pleads  for  negroes,  105 ; 
Miss  Anthony  champions 
jt>3 ;  .hinder  of  vote  in  South  ili> 
rusM-d,  580;  nun  t-nj  ranrhisi-,1  \>\ 
l-Vd.  Amend.  746;  after  Civil  \\.n. 

751. 
Nelson,    I'res.    Frank    (Minn.    C6IL), 

669. 
Nelson,  U.  S.  Kep.  John  M.   ( \\ 

709. 

Nelson,  Julia  B,  132. 
Nelson,  U.  S.  Sen.  Knute,  323. 
Nestor,  Agnes,  726. 
Nevada,   story  of   successful   campn. 

401. 
New  Jersey,  sends  worn.  suff.  deputn. 

to    Pres.    Wilson,   379;    fraudulent 

vote  on  worn,  suff,  630. 
New    Orleans,    entertains    n.itl 

conv,     55-6;     delightful     enter  t.nn 

nicnt,  84. 
Neu  published  by  Natl.  Assn, 

442. 
New    York,    gives    suff.    to    woi 

xx;  inmates  .i^'-tinst    \\.'; 

teachers,    294;    a 

decides  suff.  question, 
devotes  evening  to 

tory,   story   of   great   campn;   cost 


798 


INDEX 


$682,500,  518-19;  women's  war 
service,  533;  statistics  of  vote  on 
worn.  suff.  amend,  537;  great  value 
of,  634;  Mrs.  Catt  describes  campn, 

753- 

Nicholes,  Anna  E,  women's  need  of 
Munic.  suff,  196. 

Nicholes,  S.  Grace,  408. 

Nicholson,  Eliza  J,  ed.  of  Picayune, 
58. 

Nightingale,  Florence,  for  worn,  suff, 
461. 

Nixon,  Frederick  S,  180. 

Non  Partisanship,  natl.  suff.  conv. 
1912,  defeats  res.  for  and  then 
passes  one,  342-3;  Natl.  Amer. 
Assn.  opposed  to  holding  party  in 
power  responsible  for  worn,  suff, 
412,  426;  members  of  Congressl. 
Union  give  reasons  for,  Dems,  ob- 
ject, 429-30;  Natl.  Suff.  Assn. 
stands  for  non  partisanship,  434; 
461;  464;  471;  reaffirmed  at  natl. 
conv,  1916,  490;  at  conv.  1919,  574- 

Northrop,  Dr.  Cyrus,  669. 

Norway,  worn.  suff.  and  women  in 
office,  48. 

Nugent,  James  R,  713. 


Obenchain,  Lida  Calvert,  328. 

Oberlin  College,  220;  226;  255. 

O'Connor,  Mrs.  T.  P,  326. 

Odenheimer,  Cordelia  R.  P,  Pres. 
Genl.  Daughters  of  Confederacy, 
SIS- 

Officers,  women,  effect  of  Fed.  Suff. 
Amend,  iv ;  in  Norway,  48 ;  in  Aus- 
tralia, 91,  292. 

Ogden,  Esther  G,  elected  natl.  vice- 
pres,  456;  tells  of  Natl.  Suff.  Pub. 
Co.  and  little  "golden  flier,"  481-2; 
reports  for  Natl.  Suff.  Pub.  Co, 
532;  54i;  559;  573;  final  report  of 
Natl.  Suff.  Pub.  Co,  614;  716;  724. 

Ohio,  effort  to  ratify  Fed.  Suff. 
Amend,  649;  652. 

Oklahoma,  Natl.  Assn.  assists  effort 
for  worn,  suff,  211;  first  suff. 
campn,  252,  277;  second,  557;  suc- 
cessful, 641. 

Olds,  Emma  S,  67;  107;  208. 

Oleson,  Mrs.  Peter,  610. 

Oliphant,  Mrs.  O.  D,  391 ;  437 ;  477. 

Olmstead,  Rev.  Margaret  T,  18 ;  20. 

Olsen,  Justice  Harry,  372. 

O'Neil,  Mrs.  David  M,  668. 

Oregon,  polit.  leaders  urge  suff. 
campn;  Natl.  Assn.  agrees  to  as- 


sist, 147;  Dr.  Shaw  points  out  re- 
sponsibility of  Ore.  men  and 
women,  149 ;  assn.  helps,  161 ;  ap- 
peal for  campn.  funds  at  natl.  suff. 
conv,  161 ;  generous  response,  Miss 
Anthony  gives  her  birthday  money, 
184;  defeat  of  amend,  200;  work 
of  Natl.  Assn,  211;  254;  majority 
vote  for  amend,  1912,  332;  337. 

O'Reilly,  Leonora,  334;  bef.  Senate 
Com ;  demand  of  working  women 
for  the  ballot,  351. 

Organizations,  large  number  endorse 
worn,  suff,  1906,  162;  none  oppose, 
205;  in  1908,  218;  in  1909,  249;  in 
1910,  281. 

Organizations  of  Women,  efforts  for 
better  laws,  iv. 

Organizers,  225  employed  in  1917,  in- 
structed by  Mrs.  Catt,  work  dune. 
539;  in  1918,  work  in  20  States, 
556-7;  list  of  in  1919,  Mrs.  Sliuler 
praises,  603. 

Osborn,  Gov.  Chase  S.  (Mich.), 
greets  natl.  suff.  conv,  341. 

Osborne,  Eliza  Wright,  219;  288; 
memorial,  328. 

O'Shaughnessy,  U.  S.  Rep.  George  F. 
(R.  L),  549. 

O'Sullivan,  Mary  Kenney,  174;  asks 
suff.  for  working  women,  injustice 
of  Govt,  189. 

Oversea  Hospitals,  Women's,  Natl. 
Suff.  Assn.  maintains,  558;  568; 
574;  Assn's.  fund  for,  608;  final 
report,  613;  report  of  Mrs.  Tiffany 
and  Mrs.  Brown,  its  directors,  at 
natl.  conv.  of  1919,  valuable  work 
in  France,  recognition  by  French 
Govt,  732 — 735;  financial  report  of 
Mrs.  Rogers,  natl.  treas,  734. 

Owen,  U.  S.  Sen.  Robert  L,  natl.  suff. 
conv.  greets  mother,  269 ;  his  pow- 
erful argument  for  worn,  suff,  274; 
323;  383;  50i;  504;  627;  709. 

Owens,  Helen  Brewster,  373. 


Page,  Mary  Hutcheson,  conf.  on 
polit.  work,  286. 

Palmer,  Atty.  Gen.  A.  Mitchell,  654. 

Palmer,  Alice  Freeman,  74;  for  worn, 
suff,  296. 

Palmer,   Prof.   George  Herbert,   206. 

Palmer,  U.  S.  Sen.  Thomas  W,  be- 
quest to  Natl.  Suff.  Assn,  407. 

Pankhurst,  Emmeline,  advises  U.  S. 
suff.  headqrs.  to  sell  not  give  litera- 
ture, 267;  receives  ovation  at  natl. 


INDEX 


799 


suff.   conv;   explains  revolution  of 
women  in  Gt.  Brit,  330. 

Parades,  begun  in  U.  S,  xx ;  in  Lon- 
don, 233;  in  Gt.  Brit,  237;  with 
Fed.  Amend,  petit,  in  Washtn,  275 ; 
in  New  York  and  Washtn,  1913, 
367;  in  Washtn.  bef.  inauguration, 
378-9;  in  New  York,  470;  in  Chi- 
cago during  Repub.  Natl.  Conv, 
482-3;  "walkless  parade,"  in  St. 
Louis  at  Dem.  Natl.  Conv,  483;  in 
Chicago,  484;  of  British  women 
during  the  war,  534;  in  Washtn, 
625  ;  New  York,  626 ;  Washtn,  632 ; 
Men's  Leagues  march,  674;  in 
Balto,  708;  rainy  day  parade  in 
Chicago  in  1916,  710;  the  "walk- 
less"  in  St.  Louis,  712. 

Park,  Alice  L,  249. 

Park,  Maud  Wood,  natl.  suff.  conv, 
1903,  83;  133;  148;  at  conv.  in 
Balto,  unselfishness  of  suff.  lead- 
ers, duty  of  college  women  to  assist 
their  work,  168;  171;  describes 
Coll.  Worn.  Suff.  League,  226;  229; 
on  Mass,  campn,  409;  444;  report 
for  Congressl.  Com,  1917,  523; 
presides  at  hearing  bef.  Rules  Com, 
549;  561;  report  as  chmn.  of  Con- 
gressl. Com,  1919,  562 — 567 ;  tribute 
to  helpful  Senators;  names  them, 
566;  praise  for  members  of  Con- 
gressl. Com,  names  them,  566; 
conv.  gives  rising  vote  of  thanks 
and  dele,  speak  words  of  praise, 
567-8;  re-elected,  574;  at  last  suff. 
hearing,  577;  excellent  speech,  590; 
604;  632;  Congressl.  Com.  report, 
633;  tribute  to  Pres.  Wilson,  640; 
org.  Coll.  Worn.  Suff.  League, 
660- 1 ;  664;  chmn.  Natl.  League  of 
Women  Voters,  689;  701;  bef. 
Repub.  Natl.  Com.  717. 

Parker,  Adella  M,  255;  257;  264. 

Parker,   U.   S.  Rep.   Richard   Wayne 
(N.    J.),    chmn.    at    suff.    hearing, 
300;   compliments  speakers,  makes 
report,  309. 

Parker,  Dr.  Valeria,  on  tour  for 
ratif,  606;  650;  •  hygiene, 

686,  690,  696. 

Clews,  <•' 

ons,       National       Committerman 
Herbert.   511. 

Parsons,    Mar  Dr. 

-v's  office,  276. 

Patten.   1  M,  296. 

Patterson,  Hannah  J.  report  on  I'- 
campn,   409;   on   how   to 
444;    450;    elected    natl.    vice] 


481 ;  485 ;  501 ;  503 ;  tribute  from 
chmn.  Congressl.  Com,  509;  on 
Woman's  Com.  of  Council  of  Natl. 
Defense,  726;  receives  distin- 
guished service  medal,  730. 

Patterson,  U.  S.  Sen.  Thomas  M,  ad- 
dresses natl.  suff.  conv,  45. 

Patterson,  Mrs.  Thomas  M.  74. 

Paul,  Alice,  tells  of  "militancy"  in 
Gt.  Brit,  280;  chmn.  Congressl. 
Com,  366;  arranges  for  Pres.  Wil- 
son to  receive  worn.  suff.  deputa- 
tion, 374;  takes  part  in  Kimli-h 
"militant"  movement,  sent  to 
prison;  wants  to  start  one  in  U.  S. 
but  idea  frowned  upon  by  Dr. 
Shaw,  who  appoints  her  chmn. 
Congressl.  Com.  to  organize  parade 
in  Washtn ;  shows  much  exec. 
ability;  makes  coin,  report  to  natl. 
conv,  377 — 381  ;  form- 
Union,  is  chmn:  Mrs.  c'att  makes 
inquiries,  370^—80;  Natl.  Suit.  I'.d. 
will  not  permit  her  to  act  as  chmn. 
of  both  and  she  is  deposed  from 
Congressl.  Com;  remains  1. 
Union,  381 ;  has  it  fight  Dem.  party, 
454*5  J  presides  at  hearing  bef. 
House  Com ;  members  attack  her 
for  trying  to  defeat  I  )ems.  who 
were  friends  of  worn.  Miff  ;  she  de- 
fends this  action,  4/4-5;  asks  chair- 
man Webb  what  will  be  in  Dem. 
platform,  476;  heads  Congressl. 
Com,  625;  org.  Congressl.  I'liion. 

reorganized  as  Natl.  \\ 
Party,  1917,  Miss  Paul  chmn,  676; 
678-9. 

Peabody,  George  Foster,  on  \\oin. 
suff.  platform.  .vj»>:  holds  Dr. 
Shaw's  annuity  nind.  | 

Peace    and    Arbitration,    Natl.    Suff. 
favors,   '  >d   and 

Mrs.     ("att     appeal     for,    97-8;     re- 
U.  S.  for,  187;  natl. 
siitT.    conv.    endorses    rccomm<  : 
tion  nf    Inter   I  'arlianu  ntary   I'nion. 
ji.  nils  .,n   Natl. 

Ainrr.  5 

for    trcMiies.    336;     .*-'X  . 

o.nv.      in       loi  j      d<  D    •  'nen 

should    h.ivr    .1    \<  nnends 

Pres.    Wilson's    effort 

57,^  'taw's  demand  for  world 

Prof,   N1 

new  h< 

In 


8oo 


INDEX 


erature,  large  sales,  valuable  sug- 
gestions, 267 — 9;  on  Congressl. 
Com,  319. 

Pendleton,  Pres.  Ellen  F,  663. 

Penfield,  Jean  Nelson,  338;  bef.  Sen- 
ate com,  women's  need  of  ballot 
in  social  service  work,  352;  on  tour 
for  ratif,  606;  same,  650. 

Penfield,  Perle,  253;  261. 

Penn,  Hannah,  only  woman  Gover- 
nor, 334. 

Penn,  William,  Govt.  free  only  when 
people  make  laws,  334. 

Pennybacker,  Mrs.  Percy  V,  report 
on  Child  Welfare,  560;  687;  090; 

697. 

Penrose,  U.  S.  Sen.  Boies,  refuses  to 
see  suff.  dele,  516;  opp.  to  suft. 
plank  in  Repub.  natl.  platform, 
711. 

Perkins,  Prof.  Emma  M,  212. 

Perkins,  Mrs.  Roger  G,  494. 

Perkins,  Mrs.  S.  M.  C,  650. 

Petersen,  Florence  Bennett,  669-70. 

Petition  of  National  American  Suf- 
frage Association  for  Federal 
Amendment,  list  of  com,  immense 
work,  258;  report  on  vast  work, 
Mrs.  Catt's  contrib.  signatures  of 
writers;  automobile  parade  to  Cap- 
itol to  present;  vote  of  thanks  to 
members  from  natl.  suff.  conv, 
1910;  last  petition,  274-5;  distin- 
guished signers,  300;  in  1913,  368; 
200,000  names  presented  to  Senate, 
378;  those  of  suffs.  and  "antis" 
compared,  392;  first  to  Cong,  for 
worn,  suff,  619;  first  for  i6th 
Amend,  623;  great  petition  1913, 
626;  for  Worn.  Suff.  Com,  633;  to 
senate  for  Fed.  Amend,  638;  in- 
itiative petit,  of  38,000  in  Mo,  402; 
98,000  Conn,  women  petit.  Legis. 
for  Pres.  suff,  602;  11,000  in  Del. 
to  U.  S.  Senate  for  Fed.  Amend, 
638;  treatment  of  petitions  in 
Mass,  188. 

Phelan,  U.  S.  Sen.  James  D,  645. 

Philadelphia,  municipal  corruption, 
need  of  women's  votes,  65,  72;  ig- 
noring of  women's  civic  work,  177; 
entertains  natl.  suff.  conv.  of  1912, 
overflow  meetings,  332;  great  rally 
in  Independence  Square,  333. 

Philippines,  worn.  suff.  soc.  formed, 
561. 

Phillips,  Elsie  Cole,  at  Senate  hear- 
ing; need  of  the  ballot  by  wives 
and  mothers  of  working  classes; 
theirs  not  the  ignorant  vote,  348; 
361. 


"Picketing,"  work  of  natl.  Press 
Bureau  to  counteract;  Mrs.  Catt 
and  Dr.  Shaw  condemn,  editorials 
on,  529-30. 

Pierce,  Charlotte,  16;  209;  sole  sur- 
vivor of  first  Woman's  Rights  Con- 
vention, 333;  559;  natl.  conv.  sends 
letter,  1920,  610. 

Pierce,  Katherine,  685. 

Pierce,  Rev.  U.  G.  B,  459;  515. 

Pinchot,  Gifford,  shows  nation's  need 
of  women's  vote,  377. 

Pinchot,  Mrs.  Gifford,  entertains 
Natl.  Bd,  516;  report  on  Indus- 
trial Protection  of  Women,  560; 

731- 

Pinkham,  Winona  Osborne,  729. 
Pioneers,  at  natl.  conv.  '02,  31;  suff. 

luncheon  at  natl.  conv.  in  Chicago, 

615. 

Pittman,  U.  S.  Sen.  Key,  713. 
Pitzer,  Annie,  341. 
Planks,  for  Woman  Suffrage,  efforts 

to    obtain    in    platforms    of    polit. 

parties;   Repub.  and  Dem.  endorse 

suff.  in  1916  but  not  Fed.  Amend; 

efforts  at  State  convs,  504-5;  Natl. 

Assn's.  effort  to  secure  from  natl. 

Pres.  convs,  in  1904,  702;  in  1908, 

703;  in  1912,  704—8;  in  1916,  509, 

708;    in    1920,    715.      See    Chapter 

XXIII. 
Plan  of  work,  for  1901,  10;  for  1906, 

163;  for  1909,  240;  for  1917,  510. 
Platt,  Margaret  B,  247. 
Plummer,  Mary  R,  667. 
Podell,  Nettie  A,  286. 
Pohl,  Dr.  Esther  Lovejoy,  133. 
Poindexter,  U.  S.  Sen.  Miles,  638. 
Poindexter,  Mrs.  Miles,  382. 
Polk,  Gov.  Joseph  K.   (Mo.),  668. 
Pollock,  U.  S.  Sen.  William  P,  speaks 

for    Fed.    Suff.   Amend,   565,   642; 

copies  of  speech  sent  to  southern 

States,  603;  tries  to  obtain  needed 

vote,  641;   647. 
Pomerene,  U.  S.  Sen.  Atlee,  refuses 

to  represent  his  State  on  Fed.  Suff. 

Amend,  598. 
Pomeroy,  U.  S.  Sen.  S.  C,  offers  first 

res.   for  Fed.  Worn.  Suff.  Amend, 

in  1868,  621. 
Porritt,    Annie    G,    Laws    Affecting 

Women  and  Children,  494;  532. 
Portland,   Ore,   entertains   natl.    suff. 

conv,     117;     Mrs.     Duniway     and 

others  meet  the  delegates,  cordial 

welcome    from    press    and    people, 

119. 
Porto   Rico,   Natl.  Assn.   asks   worn. 

suff.  for,  ii ;  suff.  soc.  formed,  561. 


INDEX 


801 


Post,  Louis  F,  on  Ethics  of  Suffrage, 
18;  20;  205;  212. 

Potter,  Eva,  556. 

Potter,  Prof.  Frances  Squire,  Women 
and  the  Vote,  speech  on  coll.  wom- 
en's eve,  228;  at  Spokane,  246; 
masterly  speech  on  Coll.  Women 
and  Democracy,  255-6;  260;  elected 
natl.  cor.  secy,  261;  265;  sends  let- 
ter of  regret  from  Natl.  Suff.  Bd. 
to  Pres.  Taft,  272;  address  on  The 
Making  of  Democracy,  274;  natl. 
cor.  secy's,  report,  conv.  gives  ris- 
ing vote,  declines  re-election,  281-2; 
on  Res.  Com,  289;  290. 

Pou,  U.  S.  Rep.  Edward  W.  (N.  C), 
chmn.  Rules  Com,  524;  548;  628; 
633;  for  Worn.  Suff.  Com,  634-5. 

Pound,  L.  Annice,  109. 

Poyntz,  Juliet  Stuart,  283. 

Pratt,  Mayor  N.  S,  welcomes  suff. 
dele,  to  Spokane,  244. 

Presidential  Conventions,  treatment 
of  worn,  suff,  see  Chapter  XXIII. 

Presidential  Suffrage,  natl.  assn's. 
early  work  for,  2,  n;  Mr.  Black- 
well's  argument  for,  12;  right  of 
Legis.  to  grant,  43;  great  value  of, 
62;  Chief  Justice  Fuller's  decision, 
130;  line  of  least  resistance,  219; 
gained  in  Ills,  and  other  States, 
power  it  gives  women;  first  sug- 
gested by  U.  S.  Sen.  Hoar,  369-70; 
Ills.  Sup.  Ct  declares  legality,  407; 
Natl.  Exec.  Council  strongly  en- 
dorses, 452;  bills  introduced  in 
1916,  495 ;  Mrs.  Catt  declares  grant 
by  Legis.  legal,  520;  great  "drive" 
for  begun,  528;  Natl.  Assn.  works 
for,  victories  gained,  539;  great 
gains  in  1918,  550-1;  Mo.  Legis. 
grants  during  natl.  suff.  conv;  ap- 
peals to  conv.  from  Iowa,  Tenn. 
and  Conn,  to  ask  their  Legis.  for  it, 
559 »  98,000  women  ask  for  in  Conn, 
602;  granted  in  many  States,  602, 
643;  effect  on  personnel  of 
Cong,  643. 

Trice,    Ellen    II.    E,    welcomes    natl. 

suff.  conv.  to  Phila,  33-4;  666. 
Price,   Lucy  J,  391;  467;  476;   548; 
585. 

i  age,  in  Texas,  551 ;  in 
.  Texas,  641. 

c    of    Wales,    decorates    A 
woman  doctor  for  war  service,  735. 
Sec 

Progress,  natl.  suff.  organ,  begun,  35; 
wide  circulation,  60;  62,000  distrib, 
made  a  monthly,  162;  changed  to 
weekly,  205. 


Progressive  Party,  adopts  worn,  suff, 
xxi;  women  assist,  1912,  342;  Natl. 
Conv.  declares  for  Fed.  Suff. 
Amend,  480;  for  worn,  suff,  625; 
formed  in  Chicago,  adopts  worn, 
suff,  women  flock  into  it,  705 — 707 ; 
strong  woman  suffrage  plank, 
714. 

Prohibition,  Federal  Amendment 
adopted,  xxiii ;  vote  for  compared 
with  vote  for  Suff.  Amend,  449; 
submitted  by  Cong;  suffs.  see 
State's  rights  advocates  voting  for 
it,  537. 

Prohibition  Party,  worn.  suff.  in  plat- 
form, 206;  women  assist,  1912,  342; 
Natl.  Conv.  declares  for  Fed.  Suff. 
Amend,  480;  accepts  League  of 
Women  Voters'  planks,  700 ;  always 
for  worn,  suff,  702;  714. 

Proxies,  natl.  suff.  conv.  1912,  abol- 
ishes their  voting,  341. 

Publishing  Company,  Woman  Suf- 
frage; see  Natl.  Worn.  Suff.  i'ub. 
Co. 

Pyle,  Mrs.  John  L,  work  in  S.  Dak, 
420-1;  describes  successful  campn, 
494J  570;  669;  offers  res.  against 
U.  S.  Sen.  Wadsworth  in  natl.  suff. 
conv,  692. 


Queen  Mary,  cables  Dr.  Shaw  thanks 
of  British  women  to  Woman's 
Com.  of  Council  of  Natl.  Defense, 
738. 

Queen  Maud,  of  Norway,  247. 


Race  Problem,  Natl.  Suff.  Assn.  de- 
clares its  neutral  position,  50;  Mr>. 
Catt  says  each  State  must  decide 
it,  83;  U.  S.  Sen.  Borah's  opinion. 
413.  See  Negroes. 

.,    Mrs.    Henry   T, 
Raker,  U.  S.  Rep.  John  E.   (Cal 
worn.    suff.    clean    cut    q 
right,  356;  demand^ 
Suff.    in    Lower    House,    388;    at 
i  1916,  504-5;  i 
mil    rex  .    Suff. 

i.    new 
ed.  Suff. 

\\  ils,.ii. 

iff,  634-5  < 
lions   |:.ll,  658. 
r,  Mrs.  John  E,  382. 


802 


INDEX 


Rarikin,  Jeannette,  report  as  field 
secy,  368;  tells  of  Montana  victory, 
409;  on  Congressl.  Com,  451;  as 
U.  S.  Rep.  addresses  suff.  conv, 
520-1 ;  tells  of  her  bill  for  nation- 
ality of  wives,  521 ;  speaks  at  natl. 
suff.  headqrs.  in  Washtn,  523; 
introd.  Fed.  Suff.  Amend,  524; 
urges  it  at  Senate  hearing,  546; 
548;  grills  anti-suff.  speaker,  584; 
vote  against  war,  585;  first  worn. 
Representative,  speaks  at  suff. 
headqrs.  and  escorted  to  Capitol, 
632;  633;  opens  debate  on  Fed. 
Amend,  636. 

Ranlett,  Helen,  368;  405. 
Ransdell,   U.   S.   Sen.  Joseph   E,   on 
Worn.    Suff.   Com,  383;    votes    for 
Fed.  Amend,  627. 

Ratification  of  Federal  Woman  Suf- 
frage Amendment,  Mrs.  Catt's 
plans  and  work  for ;  sends  repre- 
sentatives to  Governors,  649-650; 
effort  for  spec,  sessions  of  Legis, 
New  York  and  Kans.  lead ;  Mrs. 
Catt  heads  deputation  to  western 
States,  650;  action  of  southern  sec- 
tion; Conn,  and  Vt,  651 ;  great  fight 
in  Tenn,  Mrs.  Catt  leads,  Pres. 
Wilson  assists,  652;  Maine  and 
Ohio  try  referendum,  U.  S.  Sup. 
Ct.  decision,  final  victory,  Amend, 
proclaimed,  652;  Conn,  then  rati- 
fies and  later  Vt,  653;  appeals  to 
courts,  653 — 655.  See  St.  chapters 
in  Vol.  VI  near  end  of  each. 
Fight  on  by  Men's  Anti-Suff.  Assn. 
in  Conn,  Md,  W.  Va,  and  Tenn, 
681-2. 
Ratifications  of  Federal  Amendment, 

partial  list,  606. 

Red  Cross,  535;  natl.  suff.  conv. 
asks  that  women  be  represented  on 
its  War  Council;  women  do  much 
of  its  work,  plan  of  worn,  nurses 
in  army  hospitals  orig.  with  a 
woman  and  first  military  hospital 
was  estab.  by  a  woman ;  com.  ap- 
pointed to  confer  with  Red  Cross, 
540;  branch  in  natl.  suff.  headqrs, 
567. 

Reed,  U.  S.  Sen.  James  A,  638;  645. 
Reed,    Speaker    Thomas    B,   73;    for 

worn.  suff.  236. 

Reid,  Mrs.  Ogden  Mills,  519. 
Reilley,  Mrs.  Eugene,  490. 
Reilly,    Caroline    I,    249;    report    of 
Natl.    Press   Bureau   for   1911;    its 
work    extends    around    the    globe, 
315;    for    1912,    20    syndicates    on 
list,  2,000  copies  of   press  bulletin 


sent  weekly  to  every  State  and 
many  countries,  spec,  editions  for 
papers  prepared,  3,000  letters  an- 
swered during  year,  336;  604. 

Remsen,  Pres.  Ira,  presides  at  coll. 
worn.  suff.  evening,  in  Balto,  168; 
invites  natl.  suff.  conv.  to  visit 
Johns  Hopkins,  183. 

Reports  on  Federal  Suffrage  Amend- 
ment, Senate  and  House  Corns, 
urged  to  report,  299,  303,  309;  re- 
fuse, 1912,  363;  from  corns,  of 
Cong,  624;  favorable  from  Senate, 
626,  633;  few  reports  from  House, 
627;  from  House  Com.  on  Rules, 
628;  from  House  Judic,  631;  from 
House  Worn.  Suff.  Com.  635. 

Republican  National  Committee  re- 
fuses to  give  natl.  suff.  com.  list 
of  its  candidates  for  Cong,  319; 
receives  suff.  speakers,  440 ;  natl. 
suff.  conv.  thanks  chmn.  for  help 
with  Fed.  Amend,  610;  effort  for 
amend,  636—638;  Mrs.  Catt  thanks, 
648;  work  for  ratification,  651-2; 
in  i9_'o  sends  out  appeal  for  it, 
715. 

Republican  National  Conventions, 
one  in  1916  declares  for  worn.  sutT, 
480 ;  refuses  plank  for  Fed. 
Amend,  but  endorse  worn,  suff, 
505;  struggle  over  plank,  509-10; 
action  on  League  of  Women  Vot- 
ers' planks,  700;  on  worn.  suff. 
planks  in  1904,  702;  in  1908,  703; 
in  1912,  704;  great  struggle  in  1916, 
names  of  friends  and  foes,  State's 
rights  plank,  710 — 712;  in  1920, 
Natl.  Suff.  Assn.  demands  ratif.  of 
Fed.  Amend,  presents  plank,  Rt-s. 
Com.  evades,  716-17;  women  ask 
representation  in  party,  partially 
conceded,  717. 

Republican  Party,  attitude  toward 
worn,  suff,  xviii,  xx ;  adopts  plank. 
xxi;  vote  in  Cong,  xxii,  xxiii ;  rec- 
ord on  Fed.  Suff.  Amend,  430 ;  why 
was  it  not  held  responsible,  434; 
record  of  members  of  Cong,  on 
Fed.  Suff.  Amend,  474-5;  vote  of 
members  of  Cong,  on  Worn.  Suff. 
Com,  525 ;  vote  of  members  of 
Cong,  on  Fed.  Amend,  563,  565 ; 
members  in  Cong,  responsible  for 
delay  of  Amend,  598;  promise 
Amend,  620;  do  not  assist,  625;  vote 
in  Cong,  on  Fed.  Amend,  Senate, 
624,  627;  Lower  House,  629,  636; 
Senate,  640,  642;  House,  644:  Sen- 
ate, 646.  See  647-8-9.  Res.  of  Sen- 
ators, 639;  party  makes  first  dec- 


INDEX 


laration  for  State's  rights  in  worn, 
suff.  plank,  1916,  711. 

Resolutions,  adopted  by  natl.  suff. 
conv.  of  1901,  15;  of  1902,  43; 
1903,  67;  of  1904,  105;  of  1905,  136, 
145-6;  of  1906,  179;  of  1907,  212; 
of  1908,  240;  of  1909,  257;  of  1911, 
328;  of  1912,  339;  of  1913,  373;  of 
1914,  425-6;  of  1915,  sacredness  of 
home  and  marriage,  461 ;  of  1916, 
502;  of  1917,  loyalty  and  service  to 
the  Govt,  518;  Cong,  urged  to  sub- 
mit Fed.  Suff.  Amend,  as  a  War 
measure;  rejoicing  over  many  im- 
portant victories;  support  for  war 
measures  of  Govt;  equal  pay  for 
equal  work,  543;  of  1919,  574-5; 
of  1920,  600- 1. 

Resolutions  for  Woman  Suffrage  by 
various  organizations,  128. 

Reynolds,  Minnie  J,  work  on  natl. 
suff.  petit,  258;  secures  writers' 
names,  275 ;  gives  eminent  list  at 
Senate  hearing,  295 — 297. 

Rhees,  Pres.  Rush,  speaks  of  An- 
thony Mem.  Bldg,  744. 

Rhinelander,  Rt.  Rev.  Philip  Mercer, 
343- 

Richards,  Janet,  260,  264;  bef.  House 
Judic.  Com,  434;  on  recep.  com, 
1917,  515. 

Richardson,  A.  Madely,  611. 

Richardson,  Nell,  6,000  mile  motor 
suff.  trip,  481. 

Richardson,  "Tom",  welcomes  natl. 
suff.  conv.  to  New  Orleans,  57. 

Ringrose,    Mary    E,   317. 

•Ian,   U.   S.   Rep,   Daniel   J.    (N. 

548;  645. 

Roberts,  Gov.  Albert  H,  helps  ratif. 
in  Tenn,  652;  Dem.  Natl.  Com. 
urges  to  call  spec,  session  for  ratif, 
717- 

Robertson,   Beatrice   Forbes,  289. 
i,  Raymond,  289;  511. 

Mrs.  Raymond,  pres.  Natl. 
Worn.  Trade  Union  League,  on 
White  Slave  Traffic,  286;  appeals 

vote    in    name   of    the    1 

-;   306;    res.   that   suffs.   support 

K      candidates      favoring      Fed. 

Amend,  stirs  up  Atlantic  City  conv, 

489;  asks  ballot   for  women  wage 

earners,  496,  499;  564;  57" :  rhnin. 

Women  in  Industry  Com,  686,  692. 

ate    Sen.     Helen     I 
(Colo.),  366. 

nson,    Margaret    C,    accused    by 
Catt   of   niaki  asser- 

tions  against    her  durimr    the    war, 
736. 


Rochester  University,  mem.  bldg.  for 
Miss  Anthony,  2OO-I. 

Rodgers,  Helen  Z.  M,  214. 

Roessing,  Mrs.  Frank  M,  tells  of 
Penn.  campn,  444;  450;  elected 
natl.  vice-pres,  456 ;  485 ;  501 ;  appt. 
chmn.  Congressl.  Comm,  506;  re- 
port of  work,  503—511;  aids  Con- 
gressl. Com,  525;  566;  work  at 
Repub.  Natl.  Conv,  710. 

Rogers,  Mrs.  Henry  Wade,  elected 
natl.  treas,  425;  report,  large  re- 
ceipts, 441;  re-elected,  456;  report 
for  1916,  receipts,  $81,869;  oblina 
tions  to  "finance  com.  of  tin>." 
482-3;  report  as  chmn.  for  war 
com.  on  Food  Production,  520;  re- 
elected,  treas.  report  for  1917,  com 
parison  with  early  days,  541 ;  555 ; 
report  for  1918,  receipts,  $107,736; 
Oversea  Hospitals'  fund,  $133,339, 
558;  report,  receipts  from  1914  to 
1920;  with  Oversea  Hospitals'  fund. 
$612,000,  608;  seven  years  of  grat- 
uitous service,  609;  at  Repub.  Natl. 
Conv,  716;  724;  report  of  funds 
for  Women's  Oversea  11> 
during  the  war,  734. 

Rogers,  Mrs.  John,  395. 

Roosevelt,  Alice,  greets  Miss  An- 
thony, 88. 

Roosevelt,   President  Theodore,   I 
invites    Miss    Anthony    to    White 
House,  88;  receives  natl.  suff.  i-onv. 
09;  it  asks  him  to  recommend  Fed. 
Suff.    Amend,    126;    Miss    Anthony 
presents    list    of    requests,    all    ig- 
nored, 137;  birthday  letter  to  Miss 
Anthony,     191  ;     suff.     com.     intrr 
views,    he    says    a    petition    would 
have  no  effect  on   him,   217 
says  people  have  a  right  to  chains 
Natl.    Constitn,    359;    speaks     for 
worn,  suff,  in  Metrop.  Opera  House. 
New  York,  367;  urges  U.  S.  Sen. 
Moses     to     vote     for    Fed.     Suff. 
Amend,    571;    favors   Amen.! 
favors    worn.    suff.    plank    it 

ivr  platform,  625;  speaks  for 
Fed.    Suff.    A 
Natl.    Repub.    Conv, 
forms        i 

Tan  com.  substitutes  an- 

other for  his  worn.  sulT.  plain 
1  speaks   for   i: 

while-   I'res,  he  refused  all  appeals, 
706. 

Roose\  Mrs.  The«> 

cs  Pres.    i 
suff.    conv, 


804 


INDEX 


Root,  Martha  S,  106;  146. 

Rowe,  Charlotte,  amazing  "anti" 
speech,  592. 

Rucker,  U.  S.  Rep.  A.  W,  speaks  for 
Colo,  at  suff.  conv,  269;  introd. 
Fed.  Suff.  Amend,  300;  women's 
vote  in  Colo,  308;  354. 

Rumely,  Edward  A,  548. 

Russia,  loyal  to  U.  S,  28;  legal  and 
polit.  status  of  women,  50;  213. 

Ruutz-Rees,  Caroline,  372;  elected 
natl.  vice-pres,  373;  org.  Junior 
Suff.  Corps,  405;  chmn.  Com.  on 
Literature,  compiles  some  of  Dr. 
Shaw's  speeches,  447;  bef.  Senate 
com,  464;  bef.  House  com,  472;  at 
mem.  service  for  Dr.  Shaw,  611. 

Ryan,  Agnes  E,  315;  380. 

Ryerson,   Mrs.  Arthur,  542. 

Ryshpan,   Bertha,  286. 


Sacajawea,  statue  dedicated,  132. 
Safford,  Rev.  Mary  A,  98;  541;  553. 
Sage,   Mrs.  Russell,  contributions  to 

suff.  work,  183,  191. 
St.  Louis,  entertains  Jubilee  Conv.  of 

Natl.   Suff.  Assn,  552;   report  fills 

322  pages. 

Salmon,  Prof.  Lucy  M,  college  wom- 
en's debt  to  suff.  pioneers,  address 

at  natl.  suff.  conv.  in  Balto,  168-9; 

663. 
Sanders,  M.  J,  shows  need  of  worn. 

suff,  70. 

Sanford,  Prof.  Maria  L,  617;  669. 
Sargent,   U.   S.   Sen.   A.   A,  first   to 

present   Fed.   Worn.    Suff.   Amend, 

623. 
Sargent,  Ellen  Clark   (Mrs.  A.  A.), 

137;   entertains   suff.   leaders,    150; 

1 80;  208;  memorial,  328. 
Sargent,  Mrs.  James,  204. 
Savage,  Bessie  J,  264. 
Savage,  Clara,  442. 
Schall,     U.     S.     Rep.     Thomas     D. 

(Minn.),  548. 
Schauss,    Elizabeth,    shows    working 

women's  need  of  suff,  302. 
Schneiderman,  Rose,  286;  no  chivalry 

to  working  women,  409;  519. 
Schoff,  Mrs.  Frederick,  135. 
Schools  for  citizenship,  under  League 

of  Women  Voters,  688,  690,  698-9. 
Schwimmer,       Rosika       (Hungary), 

brings  petition   for  peace  to   Pres. 

Wilson  and  says  worn.  suff.  would 

do  away  with  war,  410;   at  Miss. 

Valley  Conf,  669. 
Scott,  Mrs.  Francis  M,  679. 


Scott,  Prof.  John  A,  invites  suff. 
conv.  to  visit  Northwestern  Univ, 
208. 

Scott,  Mrs.  Townsend,  585. 

Scott,  Mrs.  William  Force,  391. 

Seattle,  entertains  natl.  suff.  conv.  of 
1909,  243;  receives  vote  of  thanks, 
257. 

Semple,  Patty  Blackburn,  tells  of  "in- 
direct influence,"  312. 

Senate  Committee  on  Woman  Suf- 
frage, 380;  grants  six  hearings  in 
1913,  names  of  com,  382-3. 

Seneca  Falls,  has  first  Woman's 
Rights  Conv,  213;  618. 

Seton,  Ernest  Thompson,  for  worn, 
suff,  297. 

Seton,  Mrs.  Ernest  Thompson,  319; 
report  of  Art  Publicity  Com,  403; 
442;  arr.  display  of  suff.  posters, 
532. 

Severance,  Caroline  M,  pioneer  suff, 
137;  208;  288. 

Sewall,  May  Wright,  24;  speaks  for 
Peace  and  Arbitration,  67;  for 
memorial  bust  of  Miss  Anthony, 
201-2;  founder  Intl.  Council  of 
Women,  658. 

Sexton,    Minola   Graham,  94. 

Shafroth,  U.  S.  Sen.  John  F,  ad- 
dresses natl.  suff.  conv,  45;  an- 
swers Pres.  Cleveland's  anti-suff. 
article,  163;  bef.  Senate  com.  in 
IQIO,  men  have  usurped  suff. 
rights,  297-8;  arr.  hearing  for  Dr. 
Shaw  bef.  House  of  Governors, 
314;  introd.  Shafroth  Suff.  Amend, 
415;  answers  misrepresentations 
on  worn.  suff.  in  Colo,  444;  natl. 
suff.  conv.  thanks  for  assistance, 
450;  on  suff.  platform,  459;  has 
conf.  of  Senators  on  worn,  suff, 
503;  700,000  copies  Amend,  speech 
circulated,  532;  Mrs.  Catt  introd. 
to  Senate  com.  as  an  "unfailing 
friend"  of  worn,  suff;  he  declares 
it  to  be  "simply  another  step  in 
the  evolution  of  govt,"  545;  tribute 
of  chmn.  Congressl.  Com,  566;  571 ; 
speech  for  Fed.  Suff.  Amend,  633; 
648. 

Shafroth-Palmer  National  Woman 
Suffrage  Amendment,  full  story  of, 
411 — 418,  422 — 424,  427;  drawn  up 
and  submitted  to  lawyers  and  Sen- 
ators, introd.  by  Sen.  Shafroth  and 
Rep.  Palmer,  414 — 416;  Official  Bd. 
approves  it,  text  of,  416;  its  merits 
presented  to  conv.  by  Mrs.  Funk ; 
refers  to  at  hearing  bef.  Judic. 
Com;  U.  S.  Sen.  Bristow  calls  it  a 


INDEX 


8oS 


national  initiative  and  referendum ; 
Woman's  Journal  says  it  should 
have  been  submitted  to  Natl.  Exec. 
Council,  416 — 418;  strong  protest 
at  Miss.  Valley  Conf,  422;  great 
dissatisfaction  among  suffs;  Official 
Bd.  stands  by  it;  discussion  at  natl. 
conv:  Miss  Blackwell  supports  it, 
422-3;  will  hasten  day  of  Fed. 
Amend.  423;  Mrs.  Blatch  objects, 
res.  adopted,  423;  effect  on  elec- 
tion of  officers.  424;  Mrs.  Funk 
calls  it  natl.  initiative;  Congressl. 
Com.  works  for,  451;  natl.  suff. 
conv.  1915,  rescinds  last  year's  ac- 
tion :  passes  res.  that  Natl.  Amer. 
will  work  only  for  old  Fed. 
Amend;  Dr.  Shaw  explains  her 
action;  end  of  Amend,  452-3;  let- 
ters on  it  in  Woman's  Journal, 
747—750. 

Shaw.  Dr.  Anna  Howard,  at  natl. 
conv.  in  1001,  would  rather  starve 
than  give  up  worn,  suff,  7;  on 
chivalry,  scores  "antis,"  8;  appeal 
against  "regulated"  vice,  IT;  12; 
20;  welcomes  intl.  suff.  conf,  26; 
at  Balto.  conv,  35 ;  on  Miss  An- 
thony's birthday,  40;  speech  on 
Power  of  an  Incentive,  45;  ad- 
dresses Senate  com.  and  urges 
Cong.  to  investigate  practical 
working  of  worn,  suff,  49;  at  natl. 
suff.  conv.  in  New  Orleans,  57;  re- 
sponds to  greetings,  tribute  to 
southern  women,  58;  preaches  Sun- 
day sermon.  6p;  presides  at  meet- 
ings. 70-1 ;  tribute  to  Mrs.  Stan- 
ton.  Miss  Anthony  and  Lucy  Stone, 
74;  lively  answers  to  question  box, 
on  The  Modern  Democratic 
Ideal.  81 ;  on  Fate  of  Republics,  85; 
at  natl.  conv.  of  1004,  86;  prepares 
Deri,  of  Principles:  dele,  to  Berlin 
ronf;  makes  southern  tour.  87; 
optimistic  view  of  worn.  suff.  80: 
08;  on  hymn.  America.  106;  elected 
pres.  of  \ritl.  Assn;  Mrs.  Catt  pre- 
^ents.  tribute  of  Wnshtn.  Star.  108; 
speaks  on  Woman  without  a  Coun- 
tr\.  109;  rccep.  en  route  to  Port- 
land conv.  118;  presides  at  conv. 
Ore.  Hi<;t.  Society  presents  gavel, 
eives  first  written  address, 
pen  picture  of.  123:  pavs  tribute 
to  Sacajawea.  124;  extols  work  of 
suffs.  T2s;:  answers  criticism*  of 
Cnrrlinal  Gibbons  and  rx-Pres. 
Cleveland.  12^;  describe 
"dreamers"  of  the  past.  126;  chrnn. 
of  suff.  com.  of  Intl.  Council  of 


Women,  127;  130;  135;  140;  on 
Ore.  suff.  canipn,  149;  cordial  re- 
cep.  in  Calif,  150;  opens  natl.  suff. 
conv.  in  Balto,  152;  responds  to 
greetings,  says  people  must  help 
God  to  answer  their  prayers,  153; 
replies  to  Gov.  Warfield,  time 
women  ceased  to  be  proxy  voters, 
153-4;  introd.  Mrs.  Howe  and  Miss 
Barton,  154;  gives  written  address, 
hearers  protest,  156;  criticises  Pres. 
Roosevelt's  statement  that  women 
in  industry  decreases  marriage. 
157;  that  woman's  domain  is  homr. 
158;  has  fun  with  the  "oracles," 
Cardinal  Gibbons,  ex- Pres.  Cleve- 
land and  Dr.  Lyman  Abbott,  157-8; 
women  need  self-respect;  scores 
Legislatures,  loss  to  country  by 
women's  disfranchisement,  150: 
great  injustice  from  time  of  Civil 
War;  when  will  Pres.  and  Cong, 
act,  160;  would  continue  proxy 
votes  at  convs,  161 ;  asks  for 
women  on  Natl.  Divorce  Com- 
missn,  164;  guests  of  Miss  Garrett 
at  Balto.  conv,  167;  conducts  Sun- 
day services,  179;  184;  closes  conv. 
with  appeal  for  consecrated  work, 
187 ;  presides  at  Senate  hearing, 
188 ;  Miss  Anthony  places  the  work 
in  her  charge,  191 ;  presides  over 
natl.  suff.  conv.  of  '07,  194;  presi- 
dent's address,  rejoices  over  vic- 
tories; never  will  be  orgztn.  of 
Tories;  farewell  tribute  to  Miss 
Anthony  and  her  sister,  200,  204; 
on  mem.  fund  com,  202 ;  tribute  to 
suff.  pioneers,  204;  addresses  Chi 

Univ.    girls,    206;    rea-1 
message    of    Mary    Anthony.    207; 
closes    conv.    with    hopeful    words. 
212;  presides  at  natl,  conv.  of  looR. 
flowers     presented,     comrner1 
teachers,    214;    sends    suff. 
greetings    to    Natl.    W.    C.    T 
215;    president's    address    on    revo- 
lution   of   the    pioneers:    tribute   of 
Buffalo    Exfrcss.    2in;    opens    coll 
evening.  226:  Mrs.  Gcoree  Howard 
Lewis  m'vcs  luncheon  at   2Oth   On 
fury  Club.  230;  prr 

dignity  of  labor  work 

but     do     not     t-  232; 

tells  of  parade  in  I 

Tres.  235 

' 

peroration.    21 
•  u1,  244;  presented  with  gmvel 


8o6 


INDEX 


at  Spokane,  says  blow  for  worn, 
suff.  will  be  struck  on  Pacific  coast, 
244;  opens  suff.  conv.  at  Seattle, 
pays  tribute  to  Mrs.  Catt,  246-7;  is 
member  of  Grange,  247;  249;  no 
stenographic  report  of  speeches, 
252;  "question  box,"  257;  258; 
Sunday  services,  260;  thanks  Miss 
Gordon,  compliments  Gov.  Vessey, 
261 ;  does  not  know  politics,  262 ; 
263;  closing  speech,  264;  at  Expos, 
on  suff.  day,  264;  opens  natl.  conv. 
of  1910,  266;  presiding  when  Pres. 
Taft  makes  address  of  welcome, 
distressed  at  apparent  hissing,  ex- 
presses regret  in  the  conv,  sends 
letter  to  the  President  in  name  of 
Official  Bd,  269,  272-3;  tributes  to 
Mr.  Rlackwell  and  Mr.  Garrison, 
280;  re-elected  pres,  282;  presides 
at  Sunday  meeting,  289;  closes 
conv.  290;  presides  at  Senate  hear- 
ing, tells  of  great  petit,  says  democ- 
racy never  has  been  tried ;  introd. 
speakers;  scores  women  "antis"; 
begs  for  a  report,  291 — 299;  opens 
natl.  conv.  in  Louisville,  311;  gives 
$3,000  from  unknown  contrib.  315; 
president's  address ;  tribute  to  men 
of  Wash,  and  Calif,  317:  K"est  of 
honor  Coll.  Women's  Suff.  League, 
319:  presides  at  Sunday  afternoon 
meeting,  introd.  noted  speakers, 
321;  re-elected,  324;  closing  ad- 
dress, "eloquent  with  hope,"  331 ; 
"citizen  of  the  world,".  334;  large 
fund  for  campns.  received  from 
Mrs.  Quincy  A.  Shaw,  337;  presi- 
dent's address,  "American  women 
are  ruled  by  the  men  of  every 
country  in  the  world."  338;  sends 
congrat.  of  Natl.  Assn.  to  Gover- 
nors of  States  with  suff.  victories, 
who  respond,  341 ;  presides  at 
great  Sunday  meeting  in  Phila, 
343;  345:  at  Senate  hearing,  1912, 
347;  begs  the  com.  to  bring  a  Fed. 
Suff.  Amend,  bef.  the  Senate  and  to 
appoint  a  com.  to  investigate  its 
working  in  equal  suff.  States,  353 ; 
speaks  in  13  States  and  5  countries 
of  Europe  in  1913,  367;  president's 
address  at  natl.  conv;  has  heard 
objections  against  worn.  suff.  but 
no  reasons;  women  too  emotional; 
compares  last  Pres.  conv.  in  Balto. 
with  natl.  convs.  of  women,  370-1 ; 
criticizes  Pres.  Wilson  for  ignoring 
worn.  suff.  in  his  first  message,  373- 
4;  reed,  by  him  and  presents  case 
for  suffs,  375;  appoints  Alice  Paul 


head  of  Congressl.  Com,  378 ;  closes 
conv,  382;  presides  at  hearing  for 
a  Worn.  Suff.  Com,  384;  387;  says 
suffs.  would  not  ask  partisan  com, 
388;  business  of  the  Govt.  to  pro- 
tect women  in  their  right  to  vote, 
391 ;  presides  at  natl.  conv.  in  Nash- 
ville, presented  with  gavel  from 
tree  planted  by  Andrew  Jackson, 
398;  pays  tribute  to  southern  wom- 
en, calls  on  southern  men  to  give 
them  the  ballot,  399;  conv.  passes 
res.  of  appreciation  for  her  "splen- 
did services"  of  past  year  and  will- 
ingness to  stand  for  re-election, 
400;  president's  address,  divine 
right  of  Kings  soon  obsolete;  with 
worn.  suff.  war  could  be  averted, 
402;  asks  Pres.  Wilson  to  proclaim 
Women's  Independence  Day,  402; 
uses  her  campn.  fund,  her  long  itin- 
erary, 404 ;  rec.  testimonial  from 
organizers,  406;  tribute  to  people 
of  Nashville,  409;  agrees  to  Shaf- 
roth-Palmer  Amend,  422;  re- 
elected,  1914,  424 ;  sits  on  Speaker's 
bench  at  opening  of  Cong ;  reed,  by 
Pres.  Wilson,  asks  him  to  use  his 
influence  for  a  Fed.  Suff.  Amend, 
and  plank  in  Dem.  natl.  platform, 
440 ;  welcomes  new  workers,  thanks 
God  for  old,  441 ;  tribute  of  pub- 
licity chmn,  442;  decides  to  retire 
from  presidency,  states  reasons  in 
Woman's  Journal,  445;  president's 
address,  leading  feature  of  convs ; 
outlines  future  work  of  assn,  445 ; 
shows  need  of  loyalty  and  co-op- 
eration bet.  officers  and  members ; 
receives  ovation,  446;  shows  Miss 
Anthony's  pin  from  Wyoming 
women ;  conv.  orders  address 
printed,  447;  compilation  of  her 
speeches  made ;  speaks  30  times  in 
N.  J.  campn.  447;  204  in  N.  Y,  457; 
addresses  Coll.  League,  450;  atti- 
tude on  Shafroth  Amend,  opposed 
but  yields  to  Official  Bd,  thinks  it 
was  introd.  too  soon,  450-1 ;  ac- 
cepted presidency  of  Natl.  Assn.  in 
1904  only  because  urged  by  Miss 
Anthony;  compelled  to  give  it  up 
by  other  duties,  wants  Mrs.  Catt 
for  her  successor,  455-6;  votes  for 
her  and  pays  tribute,  457 ;  natl.  suff. 
conv.  releases  Dr.  Shaw  with  beau- 
tiful ceremonies,  elects  her  hon. 
pres.  and  friends  present  her  with 
annuity.  457-8;  she  responds  and 
introd.  Mrs.  Catt,  458;  presides  at 
mass  meeting  Sunday,  459-60;  ap- 


INDEX 


807 


preciation  and  thanks  of  Natl. 
Assn.  461 ;  presides  at  Senate  hear- 
ing, 462;  takes  up  world  questions 
and  asks  for  woman's  vote  on 
them ;  tribute  to  com,  465-6 ;  at 
House  hearing  asked  to  state  diff. 
between  Natl.  Suff.  Assn.  and 
Congressl.  Union  and  does  so,  471 ; 
urges  no  change  in  policy  of  Natl. 
Am.  Assn,  487;  stands  for  non  par- 
tisanship, 490;  responds  to  Pres. 
Wilson's  address  to  natl.  suff.  conv, 
"women  want  siiff.  now,"  498;  pre- 
sides over  last  evening  session ; 
closes  address  with  a  definition  of 
Americanism  and  tribute  to  the 
flag.  511;  reception  with  wives  of 
Cabinet  at  suff.  conv.  1917,  515; 
opens  convention  with  invocation, 
517;  moves  rising  vote  on  pledge 
of  war  service  to  Govt,  518;  ap- 
pointed by  Govt.  as  chmn.  of  Wom- 
an's Com.  of  Council  of  National 
Defense,  520;  presides  at  evening 
session,  520;  nominates  Mrs.  Catt 
for  office,  522-3 ;  condemns  "picket- 
i»s".  530;  proposes  message  of 
loyalty  and  support  to  Pres.  Wil- 
son, which  conv.  sends,  533;  speech 
on  women  and  war,  534—6 ;  women 
the  army  at  home;  must  not  make 
all  the  sacrifices ;  should  be  "smoke- 
less" days;  describes  Woman's 
Corn,  of  Natl.  Defense,  536;  speaks 
of  injustice  to  Clara  Barton;  pre- 
sents Mrs.  Avery,  540;  tribute  to 
her  oratory.  544;  invocation  at 
opening  of  natl.  conv.  1919;  pre- 
sents Mrs.  Catt,  553;  southern  dele. 
give  illuminated  testimonial  and 
she  responds.  554;  moves  a  res.  of 
thanks  to  Pros.  Wilson.  558;  559; 
nice  to  Congrcssl.  Com,  567; 
at  Pioneer's  evening  gives  remind, 
of  Miss  Anthony,  569-70;  pr 
on  last  evening,  576;  at  last  suff. 
hearing.  577;  speech  shows  Govt's 
recognition  of  loyalty  of  Natl.  Suff. 
other  countries  recog- 
•i'<;  service  by  giving  stiff. 
•  •minent  supporters  of 
•\mrnd:  to  fail  to  ask  it 
581;  opened 

natl.  ronvs.  with  pr.;  .  596; 

tribute   of    Mrs.    Slniler.    memorial 
booklet     bv     Xatl.     P.<! ;     her     last 
').    What    the    War    Meant   to 
rn.  607;  memorial 
natl.  stiff,  ronv.  program,  tribute  of 
N.    Y.    T- 
eulogy,  beautiful  comparison,  612; 


devotion  to  cause  of  worn,  suff ; 
nearest  and  dearest  to  Miss  An- 
thony; great  power  of  oratory,  612; 
work  for  her  country;  two  college 
foundations  estab.  as  memorials; 
her  college  degrees.  Autobiography, 
Story  of  a  Pioneer,  613;  her  trib- 
ute to  Miss  Anthony,  615;  Pres. 
Wilson  congratulates,  634;  vice- 
pres.  Coll.  Equal  Suff.  League,  663 ; 
favors  League  of  Women  Voters, 
685;  appeals  to  Dem.  natl.  conv.  in 
1908,  704;  in  1912,  707;  724;  on 
women's  attitude  toward  war,  725; 
Govt.  appoints  her  chmn.  Woman's 
Com.  of  Council  of  Natl.  Defense, 
726-7;  her  work,  737;  telegram 
from  Queen  Mary,  738;  tribute  by 
Secy,  of  War  Baker ;  receives  dis- 
tinguished service  medal,  739; 
closes  work  of  Woman's  Com.  but 
thinks  it  should  be  continued  for 
civic  work,  739;  goes  on  speaking 
tour  in  behalf  of  League  of  Na- 
tions with  former  Pres.  Taft  and 
Pres.  Lowell,  739;  overworks  and 
dies  before  it  is  finished,  740.  Ap- 
pendix, approves  Anthony  Mem. 
Bldg,  744,  754;  address  on  resign- 
ing presidency  of  Natl.  Amer. 
Assn;  U.  S.  Govt.  violates  its  own 
principles  in  refusing  suff.  to  wom- 
en, 750;  assn.  must  not  be  swerved 
from  its  purpose,  new  recruits  want 
spectacular  methods,  State  -action 
is  the  foundation,  751 ;  on  tour  for 
League  of  Nations:  nation  mourns 
death,  757-8;  tribute  to  Amer.  flag: 
women  traitors  to  democracy  not 
to  demand  suff;  receives  disting. 
service  medal ;  accepts  it  for  ser 
vice  of  all  women:  on  Fxec.  Com. 
of  League  to  Enforce  Pea 
circulates  her  last  speech,  758; 
"out  of  this  war  must  come  world 
peace;  American  flag  means  hope 
for  the  world ;  mothers  will  not 
endure  war;  will  of  the  people 
must  prevent  it,"  r^o;  nv 
of  Natl.  Suff.  F.d;  tributes  of  Prrv 
Wilson.  Vice-pre<;.  Marshall,  for- 
mer Pres.  Taft.  Director  Gn»s- 
venor  R  Garkson.  Sccv.  "f  the 
Inferior  Lane.  M - 

li/abeth    C. 
Cart  \ssns,  760-1. 

Shaw.    Helen    -Vlrlaidr,   36. 

•las,  754. 
Shaw.   Mr<.   Onincv    \     fTm:!: 

•2;  gives  fund  for  campn. 
work,  404. 


8o8 


INDEX 


Shaw,  Mrs.  Robert  Gould,  442;  con- 
trib.  to  worn,  suff,  542. 

Shepherd,   Lulu  Loveland,  395. 

Sheppard,  U.  S.  Sen.  Morris,  speech 
for  Fed.  Amend,  572;  votes  for  it, 
627;  646. 

Shetter,  Charlotte,  designs  seal,  314. 

Shibley,  George  H,  174. 

Shores,  Mrs.  E.  A,  317. 

Shortt,  Rev.  J.  Burgette,  136. 

Shuler,  Marjorie,  natl.  chmn.  of  Pub- 
licity, in  Fla,  556;  in  Okla.  campn, 
558;  on  Congressl.  Com,  566;  re- 
port of  Washtn.  suff.  press  bureau, 
573;  on  Congressl.  Com,  604;  on 
commissn.  to  West,  605-6;  same, 
650;  welcomed  in  Washtn,  652. 

Shuler,  Nettie  Rogers,  pres.  Western 
New  York  Fed.  of  Worn.  Clubs, 
welcomes  natl.  conv,  214;  elected 
natl.  cor.  secy,  501;  527;  report  for 
1917;  tells  of  universal  demonstra- 
tions for  Fed.  Amend,  vast  distrib. 
of  literature,  suff.  schools,  work  of 
225  organizers  instructed  by  Mrs. 
Catt,  538-9;  work  for  Pres.  suff, 
539;  re-elected,  541;  campns.  in 
western  States,  550;  valuable  re- 
port for  Com.  of  Campaigns  and 
Surveys,  554 — 558;  in  campn. 
States,  556;  562;  568;  570;  chapter 
for  Hist,  on  League  of  Women 
Voters,  595,  683;  sends  letter  of 
thanks  to  Governors  for  Natl. 
Assn,  600;  report  for  1919,  most 
important  year  in  history  of  assn, 
601 — 608;  lines  of  work  indexed 
under  respective  heads ;  great 
"drive"  for  ratif;  of  Fed.  Amend, 
from  natl.  headqrs,  under  Mrs. 
Catt's  direction,  604 — 607;  renders 
homage  to  her,  608 :  tribute  to  Natl. 
Suff.  Assn,  607;  chmn.  Citizenship 
Schools  Com,  690;  at  Natl.  Repub. 
Conv,  716;  724;  helps  revise 
constn.  of  Natl.  Assn,  756. 

Sjewers,  Dr.   Sarah  M.  71. 

Simkovitch.  Marv  M.  K,  705. 

Simpson,  Mrs.  David,  511. 

Sims,  U.  S.  Rep.  Thetus  W.  (Tetm.), 
637. 

Sioussat,  Mrs.  Albert  L,  152. 

Skinner,  Mrs.  Otis,  333. 

Slade.  Mrs.  Louis  F,  women's  war 
service  in  N.  Y,  533;  offers  res. 
for  women  on  Red  Cross  War 
Council.  539-40;  New  York's  apol- 
ogy for  U.  S.  Sen.  Wadsworth,  610; 
689. 

Smith,  Gov.^  Alfred  E./N.  Y.),  calls 
spec,  session  to  ratify  Fed.  Suff. 


Amend,  650;   welcomes   Mrs.   Catt 

from  Tenn.  campn,  652. 
Smith,  Caroline  M,  317. 
Smith,  Charles   Sprague,  280. 
Smith,  Mrs.  Draper,  tells  of  defeat 

in    Neb,    402;    campn.    work,    420; 


Smith,  U.  S.  Sen.  Ellison  D,  713. 

Smith,  Ethel  M,  estab.  natl.  speakers' 
bureau,  419;  work  on  Congressl. 
Com,  448;  report  on  Indust.  Pro- 
tect, of  Women,  520 ;  chmn.  of  pub- 
licity, 526,  528;  report  on  Protect, 
of  Women  in  Government  service, 
728. 

Smith,  U.  S.  Sen.  Hoke,  645. 

Smith,  Judith  W,  137;  208;  501. 

Smith,  Dr.  Julia  Holmes,  617. 

Smith,  Mrs.  Thomas  Jefferson, 
speaks  at  natl.  conv,  490;  elected 
to  Natl.  Bd,  501;  724. 

Smithsonian  Institution,  gives  space 
for  suff.  exhibit ;  list  of  articles  in- 
cluding historic  table  on  which  Call 
for  first  Woman's  Rights  Conv. 
was  written;  story  of,  609. 

Smoot,  U.  S.  Sen.  Reed,  "glories  in 
every  victory  for  worn,  suff,"  546; 
speaks  at  Senate  hearing,  633;  for 
worn.  suff.  plank  in  Repub.  plat- 
form, 711. 

Smoot,  Mrs.  Reed,  382. 

Snell,  U.  S.  Rep.  Bertrand  H.  (N. 
Y.),  548. 

Snowden,  Mrs.  Philip,  situation  in 
Brit.  Parl,  defends  "militancy," 
236—238. 

Social  Evil,  natl.  suff.  conv.  protests 
against  "regulated"  vice  in  Manila, 
and  Hawaii,  10;  again;  govt.  "regu- 
lation" in  Philippines  stopped  by 
War  Dept,  44;  conv.  protests 
against  it  in  Cincinnati.  67 ;  pro- 
tests against  legal  sanction,  146; 
calls  for  suppression  of  white 
slave  traffic,  212;  discussion  of 
social  evil,  224 — 226;  position  of 
Natl.  Suff.  Assn.  340;  Miss  Addams 
shows  necessity  for  women  to  deal 
with,  343;  Mrs.  Catt  demands 
polit.  power  in  the  hands  of  women 
to  deal  with,  346. 

Socialist  Party,  for  worn,  suff,  206; 
the  only  one,  362;  Rep.  Berger  at 
House  hearing.  361-2;  Natl.  conv. 
declares  for  Fed.  Suff.  Amend, 
480 ;  statistics  o~f  vote  in  N.  Y.  suff. 
amend,  campn,  537;  did  not  carry 
N.  Y,  580;  "antis"  say  they  did, 
584;  always  advocate  worn,  suff, 
702;  plank  in  platform,  714. 


INDEX 


809 


Somerville,  Nellie  Nugent,  natl.  vice- 
pres,  425 ;  6/1. 

South,  members  of  Cong,  vote  for 
Fed.  Suff.  Amend,  women  work 
for  it,  xxii ;  attitude  toward  worn, 
suff,  88;  see  Chap.  Ill;  child  labor 
laws,  95;  resentment  of  southern 
women  against  attitude  of  south- 
ern members  of  Cong,  on  worn, 
suff.  188;  Dr.  Shaw  pays  tribute 
to  the  women,  says  it  is  duty  of 
southern  men  to  give  them  suff, 
399;  Jane  Addams  speaks  of  the 
men,  409;  attitude  of  women 
toward  suff,  463;  want  Fed.  Suff. 
Amend,  4/2 ;  at  natl.  suff.  conv, 
speakers  demand  worn.  suff, 
49O — 3;  position  of  members  of 
Cong,  on  Fed.  Suff.  Amend,  516; 
press  sentiment  changes,  529; 
southern  dele,  to  natl.  suff.  conv. 
present  testimonials  to  Mrs.  Catt 
and  Dr.  Shaw,  554;  shall  southern 
men  stand  in  the  way,  579;  Mrs. 
Dudley  says  State's  rights  doctrine 
a  fallacy;  negro  vote  discussed, 
580;  many  petitions  for  Fed.  Suff. 
Amend,  583;  from  Texas,  588-9; 
from  other  southern  States,  589- 
90;  Natl.  Assn.  gives  large  assist- 
ance for  worn.  suff.  but  States  fail 
in  their  part,  603;  vote  in  Cong, 
for  Fed.  Suff.  Amend,  637;  same, 
641 — 647. 

South  Africa,  iii. 

South  Dakota,  Natl.  Assn.  helps 
campns.  240;  254;  277;  liquor  inter- 
ests in  suff.  campn.  1913,  420;  in 
1018,  557;  gives  worn,  suff,  641. 

South.  Mr?.  John  G,  on  commissn. 
for  ratif.  to  West,  605;  650. 

South.  Mrs.  Oliver,  394. 

Southworth,  Louisa,  146;  contrib.  to 
suff.  headqrs,  754. 

Southern   Woman    Suffrage    Confer- 
ence, reason   for,  organization,  of- 
plan    of    campn,   671 ;    Mrs. 
Belmont    finances,    headqrs,    paper 
d,    672;    with    State's    rights 
plank  in  Dem.  natl.  platform  conf. 

•nrinued,  673. 
.  John,  at  suff.  hearing,  548. 

Spencer,  Rev.  Anna  Gnrlin,  conv. 
sermon  in  1902,  42;  Felix  Adler's 
tribute,  95;  conv.  sermon  in  1908, 
214;  first  woman's  rights  conv.  re- 
of  wnve  of  idealism,  221; 
kroner  sprrrh  on  sorial  evil. 

rer.  U.  S.  Sen.  Selden  P,  speaks 
iff.   conv. 

Sper  birthday    gift    to 

YOL   » 


Miss  Anthony  in  1902,  40;  enter- 
tains suff.  leaders,  150;  pres.  Calif, 
suff.  assn,  responds  to  greetings, 
1907,  194;  elected  to  Natl.  Bd,  204; 
238;  responds  to  greetings  at  Port- 
land conv,  247;  249;  at  Louisville 
conv,  317;  signs  appeal  to  natl. 
Repub.  conv,  1904,  704. 

Spofford,  Jane  H,  13;  45;  mem.  res. 
for,  180. 

Spokane,  entertains  dele,  to  natl.  suff. 
conv,  244 — 246. 

Springer,    Elmina,    130. 

Stanford,  Mrs.  Leland,  mem.  res.  for, 
146. 

Stanley,  U.  S.  Sen.  A.  O,  713. 

Stanton,  Elizabeth  Cady,  work  for 
Hist,  of  Worn.  Suff,  iii ;  pres.  natl. 
suff.  assn,  i ;  13 ;  letter  on  Church 
and  Worn.  Suff,  4,  5;  Clara  Bar- 
ton's tribute,  25;  had  first  idea  of 
intl.  suff.  conf,  26;  on  Educated 
Suff,  32;  last  address  to  natl.  suff. 
conv,  33;  45;  tributes  of  Miss  An- 
thony and  Dr.  Shaw,  74;  early 
fight  for  worn,  suff,  121 ;  tributes 
from  college  women  at  natl.  suff. 
conv.  in  Balto,  169 — 173;  for  ad- 
mission of  women  to  Cornell  Univ, 
169;  185;  213;  on  first  Worn.  Rights 
Conv,  1848,  215;  signs  Call  for  it, 
219;  at  early  worn.  suff.  hearings, 
306;  writes  Women's  Decl.  of 
Rights,  1876,  333 ;  bef.  House  Judic. 
Com,  428;  address  to  Cong,  in 
1866,  521 ;  mem.  evening  at  natl. 
suff.  conv,  560;  at  suff.  hearings, 
581 ;  calls  first  woman's  rights 
conv.  and  first  after  Civil  War. 
1866,  prepares  Memorial  to  Cong, 
618;  at  first  suff.  conv.  in  Washtn. 
621 ;  deserts  Amer.  Equal  Ri 
Assn,  forms  Natl.  Suff.  Assn,  nia-lo 
pres,  621-2;  address  at  funeral  by 
the  Rev.  Moncure  D.  Conway; 
farewell  words  by  women  minis 
ters;  Miss  Anthony's  last  birthday 
letter  to;  extended  tributes  in  the 
press,  741-2. 

Stapler.  Martha,  pa-pares  Worn.  Suff. 
ok,  332. 

Statehood  Protest,  Natl.  Suff.  Assn. 
heads   protest  against  bill    f 
mitting     new     Territories     d 
women  with  insane,  idiots  and  fel- 
I3n. 

State's  Rights,  this  argument  against 
worn.   suff.   demolished  by   1 
of  Dem.  party:  a  continuous  record 

J.U\  all  • 
but  U.  S.  regard  suff.  as  a  natl. 


8io 


INDEX 


matter,  431 ;  fallacy  shown  in  vote 
for  Fed.  Prohib.  Amend,  449;  vote 
for  this  Amend,  537;  a  "phantom" 
in  South,  580;  Repub.  natl.  conv. 
declares  for,  711 ;  most  men  in  U.  S. 
reed.  suff.  from  Govt,  not  States, 
745-6. 

States,  six  more  grant  worn,  suff, 
708-9,  715. 

Stearns,  Sarah  Burger,  146. 

Steele,  Mrs.  W.  D,  553. 

Steinem,  Pauline,  187-8;  educatl.  suff. 
work,  224;  260;  women  neglected 
in  histories,  263;  chmn.  Com.  on 
Education,  286;  valuable  work, 
320. 

Stern,  Meta  L,  280. 

Stevens,  Isaac  N,  103. 

Stevenson,  \J.  S.  Sen.  Isaac,  320. 

Stevenson,  Dr.  Sarah  Hackett,  280. 

Stewart,  Ella  S,  reviews  clergy's  ob- 
jection to  worn,  suff,  138;  scores 
ex-Pres.  Cleveland  and  Dr.  Abbott, 
ridicules  so-called  chivalry,  166;  at 
Congressl.  hearing,  189;  welcomes 
natl.  conv.  to  Chicago,  194;  220-1; 
elected  natl.  vice-pres,  238;  260; 
witty  remarks,  261-2;  265;  re-elect- 
ed, 282;  289;  324;  at  Senate  hear- 
ing, 349;  work  for  Pres.  suff.  in 
Ills,  370;  at  House  hearing,  395; 
org.  Miss.  Valley  Conf,  667-8. 

Stewart,  Oliver  W,  199. 

Stiles,  Florence,  450. 

Stilwell,  Mrs.  Horace  C,  director 
Natl.  Assn,  541;  assists  Congressl. 
Com,  567. 

Stockman,  Eleanor  C,  76. 

Stockwell,  Maud  C  (Mrs.  S.  A.), 
welcomes  natl.  suff.  conv.  to  Minne- 
apolis, 8;  meets  dele,  to  Seattle 
conv,  244;  249;  668. 

Stockwell,  S.  A,  244. 

Stolle,  Antonie,  40-1. 

Stone,  Rev.  John  Timothy,  D.D,  offi- 
ciates at  mem.  service  for  Dr. 
Shaw,  611. 

Stone,  Lucinda  H,  656. 

Stone,  Lucy,  i ;  marriage,  12,  33 ;  Dr. 
Shaw's  tribute,  74;  great  leader, 
107;  148;  Mrs.  Howe  tells  of,  155; 
185 ;  tributes  from  college  women 
at  natl.  suff.  conv.  in  Balto,  169 — 
172;  for  admis.  of  women  to  Cor- 
nell Univ,  169;  194;  days  at  Oberlin 
Coll.  220:  tribute  of  Mrs.  Villard, 
261;  of  Mrs.  McCulloch,  278;  279; 
visit  to  Ky.  in  early  'so's,  311 ;  natl. 
suff.  conv.  passes  res.  of  indebted- 
ness, 560:  622:  664. 

Stone.  Melville  E,  for  worn,  suff,  296. 


Stone,  Collector  of  Port  William  F, 
welcomes  natl.  suff.  conv,  154. 

Stone,  U.  S.  Sen.  William  J,  for 
worn.  suff.  plank  in  Dem.  natl.  plat- 
form, 713. 

Stoner,  Mrs.  Wesley  Martin,  672. 

Stowe-Gullen,  Dr.  Augusta  (Can- 
ada), 27;  72. 

Strachan,  Grace  C,  290. 

Straight,  Dorothy  Whitney,  contrib. 
to  N.  Y.  campn,  519. 

Strong,  Dr.  Josiah,  258. 

Stubbs,  Gov.  W.  R.  (Kans.),  greet- 
ings to  natl.  suff.  conv,  341. 

Stubbs,  Mrs.  W.  R,  328. 

Suffrage  Schools,  originated  by  Mrs. 
Catt,  538;  large  number  in  1917, 
539;  Natl.  Amer.  Assn.  endorses, 
368;  in  S.  Dak,  556-7. 

Sun,  N.  Y,  suff.  dept.  under  Paul 
Dana,  14. 

Susan  B.  Anthony  Amendment,  413; 
Natl.  Assn.  endorses ;  Stanton  fam- 
ily and  others  object  to  name,  423; 
assn.  re-endorses,  452;  747. 

Sutherland,  U.  S.  Sen.  George,  383; 
at  Senate  hearing,  462,  466;  objects 
to  attack  on  Mormons  in  anti-suff. 
speech,  467-8;  introd.  res.  for  Fed. 
Suff.  Amend,  503;  630;  711. 

Sutton,  Lucy,  666. 

Swanson,  U.  S.  Sen.  Claude  A,  645. 

Sweden,  legal  and  polit.  status  of 
women,  51 ;  213. 

Swift,  Mary  Wood,  birthday  gift  to 
Miss  Anthony,  1902,  40;  speaks  at 
natl.  suff.  conv.  in  New  Orleans, 
76;  pres.  Natl.  Council  of  Women; 
brings  its  greetings  to  natl.  conv. 
1904,  106;  bef.  Senate  com,  no; 
brings  greetings  in  1005,  120;  130; 
entertains  suff.  leaders,  150;  greet- 
ings, 1907,  208. 


Taft,  Gov.  Genl.  William  Howard,  on 
social  evil  in  Philippines,  n;  same, 

44- 

Taft,  President  William  Howard,  ac- 
cepts invitation  to  welcome  natl. 
suff.  conv;  while  speaking  sound 
like  hissing  heard ;  Dr.  Shaw's  dis- 
tress, 269;  text  of  speech,  271;  offi- 
cers of  Natl.  Assn.  frame  a  res.  of 
appreciation  of  his  welcome  to 
conv,  which  delegates  endorse  and 
send  with  letter  expressing  sorrow 
at  the  incident:  the  President  re- 
turns a  cordial  answer,  272-3 ; 


INDEX 


811 


Womdn's  Journal  says  he  should 
have  welcomed  cpnv.  without  de- 
claring his  opinions,  273;  peace 
treaties,  326,  328;  appoints  Miss 
Lathrop  head  of  Children's  Bureau, 
339:  says  Fed.  Constn.  guarantees 
self-govt,  359;  495;  nominated  in 
1912,  705;  not  ready  for  worn,  stiff, 
708;  Dr.  Shaw  joins  on  speaking 
tour  for  League  of  Nations,  739, 
757;  his  tribute  to  her,  760. 

Taggart,  U.  S.  Rep.  Joseph  (Kans.), 
at  House  hearing,  scores  Congressl. 
Union,  474;  quizzes  "antis",  477. 

Talbot,  Dean  Marion,  206. 

Talbot,  Mrs.  M.  C,  467. 

Talbot,  Mrs.  R.  C,  391. 

Talmage,  Rev.  T.  De  Witt,  for  worn. 

Suff.    2^. 

Tarbell,  Ida  M,  726. 

Tarkington,  Booth,  for  worn,  suff, 
297. 

Tasmania,  28. 

Taylor,  A.  S.  G.  340. 

Taylor,  U.  S.  Rep.  Edward  T,  pre- 
sents record  of  worn.  suff.  in  Colo, 
calls  it  unqualified  success,  women 
back  of  150  good  laws,  valuable 
campn.  document,  355,  357,  373; 
natl.  suff.  conv.  thanks  for  assist- 
ance, 450-1 ;  Congressl.  Union  tries 
to  defeat,  474;  introd.  Fed.  Suff. 
Amend,  1917,  524;  for  Worn.  Suff. 
Com,  548;  same,  628-9. 

Taylor,  U.  S.  Rep.  Ezra  B.  (Ohio), 

99- 

Taylor,  Graham  Romeyn,  209;  296. 

Taylor,  Dr.  Howard  S,  197. 

Ten  Eyck,  John  C,  391. 

Tennessee,  grants  Pres.  and  Munic. 
suff.  to  women.  602;  Legis.  give* 
final  ratif.  of  Fed.  Suff.  Amend. 
652;  Speaker  and  opposing  mem- 
bers carry  case  to  Washtn,  6^3. 

Terrell,  Mary  Church,  pleads  for 
negroes,  105. 

Terry,  Mrs.  D.  D,  316. 

Testimony  in  favor  of  worn.  MifT. 
from  Governors,  87;  from  Colo. 
100—105,  "a—IIS,  127. 

Texas,  officials  invite  natl.  stiff,  ronv. 
prominent  citi/cns  petition  for 
Fed.    Stiff.    Amend;    T< 
Primary  stiff,  to  women.  588  0;  de 
frats   St.   worn,   stiff,  an 

TS   Primary  stiff.  Irjjal.  6O2. 

Thaw,  Mrs.  William.  Jr.  542. 

Thomas.  Oi.irlr- 

frimdlv  rhmn  of  Senate  Tom.  on 
Worn.  Stiff.  380:  }v.  «n  op 

posed   by   Congressl.    Union,   453; 


presides  at  Senate  com.  hearing; 
Dr.  Shaw's  tribute,  462;  Mrs. 
Catt's,  465;  refuses  to  preside  at 
Congressl.  Union  hearing,  466;  re- 
elected,  476;  reports  Fed.  Suff. 
Amend,  from  com,  503;  effort  for 
a  vote,  504;  "never  failing  friend 
of  worn,  suff,"  urges  Fed.  Amend, 
546;  626;  630;  632. 
Thomas,  Pres.  M.  Carey  of  Bryn 
Mawr,  arr.  College  Women's  even- 
ing at  natl.  suff.  conv.  in  Balto,  152, 
167;  her  own  strong  speech,  shows 
increase  of  women  in  colleges, 
their  inevitable  demand  for  suff, 
their  gratitude  to  early  leaders, 
171-2;  splendid  tribute  to  Miss  An- 
thony, 172;  conv.  sends  letter  of 
thanks,  180;  assists  Miss  Garrett  in 
hospitality,  182;  with  Miss  Garrett 
raises  large  fund  for  suff.  work, 
183;  declares  in  intellect  no  sex; 
elected  pres.  Natl.  Coll.  Worn. 
Equal  Suff.  League,  229;  230;  233; 
283;  316;  presides  over  Coll. 
League,  319;  says  coll.  women's 
work  for  social  reconstruction 
amounts  to  little  without  franchise, 
321;  338:  presides  at  college  wom- 
en's evening  at  natl.  conv.  1012, 
343;  same,  1915,  450;  presents  Dr. 
Shaw  with  laurel  wreath,  457;  on 
com.  to  confer  with  Red  Cross  War 
Council,  540;  speaks  for  Fed.  Stiff. 
Amend,  630;  work  for  Toll. 
League,  contrib.  to,  66 1 — 664;  in- 
vites Dr.  Shaw  for  trip  to  Spain. 

757- 

Thomas.  Mary  Bentley,  67;  87;   180; 
1 88;  666. 

Thompson,  Ellen  Powell.  106;  204. 

Thompson,  Harriet  Stokes,  appeals  to 
House  com.  for  working  girls,  fu 
hire  mothers  of  the  race  and  teach- 
ers who  train  citizens,  472. 

Thompson.   Jane,   field    secv.  pre 
testimonial    of    orgamVcrs    to    Dr 
Shaw,  406. 

Thompson.  Dr.  Mary  H.  I2O. 

Thompson.  U.  S.  Sen.  William  How- 
ard,  hef.    Senate   com.   tells   benefi 
rent  results  of  worn,  stiff,  in 
546.  5-j8:  630;  633;  638. 

Tiffany.    Mrs.   Charles   T..  450;   in   N. 
Y.    campn.    510;    564;    report    on 
Oversea    Hospitals.    500.    568,    614; 
rk   for  Hospi' 

Tillinphast.  Anna  f", 

Timiin.  Glrnna.    1-1  T. 

Tod'l.    Helm,    motor    *tifT.    t 
bcf.    Com.    on    Rules,    394;    bef 


812 


INDEX 


House  com,  473;  heated  dialogue, 
475;  at  Repub.  Natl.  Conv,  705. 

Tone,  Mrs.  F.  J,  in  N.  Y.  campn,  519. 

Tours,  pilgrimages  to  Washtn,  378; 
the  "golden  flier,"  motor  suff.  trip 
from  New  York  to  San  Francisco, 
481. 

Towle,  Mary  Rutter,  report  as  legal 
adviser  to  assn,  338,  372,  442. 

Treadwell,  Harriet  Taylor,  at  An- 
thony celebr,  615. 

Troupe,  Hattie  Hull,  152. 

Trout,  Grace  Wilbur,  work  for  Pres. 
suff.  in  Ills,  370;  on  limited  suff, 
495 ;  561 ;  chmn.  com.  of  arr.  for 
natl.  suff.  conv,  595 ;  welcomes  dele, 
597;  at  Repub.  natl.  conv,  710. 

Trumbull,  Lillie  R,  120. 

Tucker,  Mrs.  James,  381. 

Tumulty,  Joseph  P,  515. 

Turner,  Robert,  of  Mass.  Anti-Suff. 
Assn,  479. 

Twain,  Mark,  for  worn,  suff,  297. 


U 


Ueland,  Mrs.  Andreas,  bef.  House 
com.  473;  568;  arr.  Miss.  Valley 
Conf,  669-70;  689. 

Underbill,  Charles  L,  391. 

Underwood.  U.  S.  Rep.  Oscar  (Ala.), 
397;  as  U.  S.  Senator,  628;  640; 
645- 

United  Mine  Workers  of  America, 
249. 

United  States  Elections  Bill  to  per- 
mit women  to  vote  for  members  of 
Cong,  504,  659;  Natl.  Suff.  Assn. 
and  Southern  Women's  Cpnf. 
favor,  660.  See  Federal  Elections 
Bill, 

Upton,  Harriet  Taylor,  treas.  report 
at  natl.  conv.  of  1901,  12;  41;  44; 
accepts  charge  of  suff.  headqrs,  61 ; 
presents  testimonials  to  the  Misses 
Gordon,  84;  88;  work  as  natl.  treas. 
love  for  suff.  cause,  94;  tribute  of 
Washtn.  Post.  99;  129;  report,  1905, 
130;  has  interview  with  Pres. 
Roosevelt,  137;  how  to  deal  with 
newspapers,  175;  176;  report  for 

1006,  183;  bef.  Senate  com,  i88;on 
Anthony  mem.  com,  202;  report  for 

1007,  21 1 ;    212;    interviews    Pres. 
Roosevelt,    217;    report    for    1908; 
salaries    paid    for   first   time,   235; 
244;    248;    treas.    report    for    1909. 
where  the  money  went,  252;  257; 
report     for     1910;     legacies     reed, 
work  as  treas.  for  17  yrs;  ed.  of 


Progress  7  yrs;  conv.  thanks,  276- 
7;  re-elected,  resigns,  282;  bef. 
House  com,  urges  that  the  mother 
heart  and  home  element  be  ex- 
pressed in  Govt,  303;  315;  on  Con- 
gressl.  Com,  3*19 ;  346;  bef.  House 
com,  395;  402;  444;  on  limited 
suff,  495;  516;  561;  speaks  at  An- 
thony celebr,  615;  in  Tenn.  ratif. 
campn,  652;  669;  res.  against  U.S. 
Sen.  Wadsworth,  692;  at  Repub. 
natl.  conv,  1904,  703-4;  754;  elected 
director  of  Natl.  Amer.  Assn,  756. 
U'Rea,  W.  S,  father  of  Initiative  and 
Referendum,  136. 


Valentine,  Lila  Meade,  pres.  Va.  suff. 
assn,  288;  speaks  to  House  of  Gov- 
ernors, 367;  asks  suff.  for  develop- 
ment of  woman  and  the  race,  492-3 ; 
on  Congressl.  Com,  506;  568. 

Vanderlip,  Frank  A,  on  recep.  com. 
for  natl.  suff.  conv,  515. 

Van  Klenze,  Camilla,  333. 

Van  Rensselaer,  Prof.  Martha  (Cor- 
nell), Financing  the  War,  533. 

Van  Sant,  Gov.  Samuel  R.   (Minn.), 

Van  Winkle,  Mina,  444;  456. 

Van  Wyck,  Mayor  Robert  A.  (New 
York),  women  without  a  vote 
waste  time  appealing  to  legislators, 
307. 

Varney,  Rev.  Mecca  Marie,  203. 

Vermont,  struggle  for  ratif.  of  Fed. 
Amend,  651,  653. 

Vernon,  Mabel,  bef.  House  com,  473 ; 
549- 

Vessey,  Gov.  Robert  S.  (S.  Dak.), 
261. 

Victoria  (Australia),  gives  women 
State  vote,  243. 

Victory  Conventfon  of  National 
American  Woman  Suffrage  Asso- 
ciation in  Chicago  to  celebr.  end  of 
its  work;  Call,  594;  largest  ever 
held,  595;  list  of  frat.  dele,  596; 
festivities,  610. 

Villard,  Fanny  Garrison  (Mrs. 
Henry),  40;  on  Anthony  Fund 
Com,  202;  220-1 ;  at  natl.  suff.  conv, 
1908,  220;  at  St.  Paul,  recalls  visit 
with  her  husband  when  N.P.  R.R. 
was  completed,  244;  same  at  Spo- 
kane, 245 ;  at  Seattle,  his  devotion 
to  worn.  suff.  and  education.  251 : 
she  appeal?  for  worn,  suff,  251 : 
tribute  to  Lucy  Stone,  261 ;  263 ; 


INDEX 


pi 

\Va< 


mem.  tribute  to  Mr.  Blackwell  and 
Lucy  Stone,  277;  by  Dr.  Shaw's 
side  when  she  resigns  natl.  presi- 
dency, 457. 

Villard,  Henry,  244-5;  251. 

Villard,  Oswald  Garrison,  37-8. 

Vincent,  Dr.  George  E,  declares  for 
worn,  suff,  670. 

Volunteer  League,  eminent  officers, 
442. 

Von  Suttner,  Baroness  Bertha,  plea 
for  peace  of  world  and  worn.  suff. 
as  necessary  factor,  345-6. 

Vorce,  Mrs.  Myron,  402;  570. 

W 

Wadsworth,  U.  S.  Sen.  James  W, 
560;  refuses  to  represent  his  State 
on  Fed.  Suff.  Amend,  598;  645; 
censured  by  Natl.  League  of  Wom- 
en Voters,  692;  opp.  worn.  suff. 
>lank,  1916,  711. 

adsworth,  Mrs.  James  W,  re-elect- 
ed pres.  Natl.  Anti-Suff.  Assn  ;  dur- 
ing natl.  suff.  cpnv.  issues  circular 
in  Washtn.  saying  suffs.  are  paci- 
fists and  Socialists  and  the  N.  Y. 
victory  was  due  to  latter;  Mary 
Garrett  Hay  answers,  536-7;  at 
Senate  com.  hearing,  548;  calls 
suffs.  pro-Germans  and  "slackers," 
560;  at  last  suff.  hearing,  577;  in- 
trod.  her  "staff",  584;  scores  mem- 
bers of  Cong,  who  favor  Fed.  Suff. 
Amend,  585;  592;  679;  Mr 
resents  her  attacks  during  the  war, 
refers  to  her  father,  John  Hay, 

736-7. 
Wainwright,  Mrs.  Richard,  bef.  corns. 

of  Cong,  547,  549,  5^5 ;  675. 
Waite,  Judge  Charles  B,  280;  656. 
Wald,  Lillian  D,  705. 
Waldo,  Clara  H,  120. 
Walker,     Kli/abeth     Wheeler,     525; 

567;  607. 

Walker,  Dr.  Mary,  43& 
Walker,  Speaker  Seth  (Tenn.),  opp. 

Fed.  Amend,  653;  goes  to  Washtn. 

and  Conn,  to  prevent,  682. 
Wallace,  Zerelda      G,      suff.      petit. 

scorned,  297. 
Walsh,  U.  S.  Sen.  David  I,  for  Fed. 

Suff.  Amend,  548;  voted  for  11,641. 
Walsh,   U.   S.   Sen.  Thomas  ),  bef. 

Senate  CM  of  Govt.  to  sec 

i    is    assured    of 

fiindamn  <>f  suff";  speech 

ly  circulated,  547;  sairu 

645;  for  worn.  suff.  plank  it, 

platform,  713. 


Ward,  Lester  F,  on  development  of 
sexes,  92. 

Ward,  Lydia  A  \t-ry  Coonley,  42;  185. 

\\artuld;  Gov.  Edwin  (Md.),  wel- 
comes natl.  suff.  conv,  pays  tribute 
to  suffs,  153;  later  sends  letter  of 
appreciation,  180;  182. 

Warner,  Mrs.  Leslie,  speaks  at  natl. 
suff.  conv,  568. 

\Yarren,  Ohio,  natl.  suff.  headqrs,  re- 
moved to,  6 1,  93. 

War  Service  of  Women  in  Europe, 
natl.  conv.  devotes  evening  to  it, 
speakers  from  various  countries, 
544;  of  suffs.  in  the  Civil  War,  618. 

War  Work  of  Organized  Suffragists, 
vi,  xxii;  in  Canada,  400;  410;  in 
U.  S,  officers  of  suff.  assns.  in 
service;  Mrs.  Catt  urges  necessity 
for  war  work,  517;  Exec.  Council 
of  Natl.  Assn.  pledges  loyalty  and 
service  to  the  Govt,  518;  four 
depts.  of  work,  520;  war  work  of 
suffs.  reviewed  by  Mrs.  Katharine 
Dexter  McCormick ;  "Dr.  Shaw's 
appt.  as  chmn.  of  Woman's  Com. 
of  Council  of  National  Defense  IUN 
made  cooperation  with 
closer",  520;  Natl.  plans 

more  depts.  of  war  work,  reaffirms 
loyalty  to  Govt.  and  support  of  its 
war  measures,  543 ;  all  officers  of 
Natl.  Assn.  in  service,  555; 
sea  Hospitals,  558,  568;  mass  meet- 
ing in  Washtn,  564;  reports  of 
War  :<>iS,  Mrs.  McCor- 

tnick's  chapter  on,   refutes  charges 
of    "antis",   560;   574;    Natl.    A 
first  organized  body  of   women   to 
offer    services    to   G<>\  dent 

accepts  ami  calls  upon  suff.  leaders 
to  cooperate,  578;  patriotism  where 
women  vote,  579;  see  Chap.  XXI V. 
720;  Mrs.  Catt  calls  Exec.  Council 
of  Natl.  Assn.  to  Washtn,  720; 
board  of  officers  submits  plan  for 
aiding  the  Govt.  which  is  discussed 
and  adopted,  r  work, 

723;   mass   i  icld  and  plan 

to  Prcs.  Wilson  by  Secy,  of 
War  Baker;  he  expresses  approval 
begins  its   work,   724-5; 
h"M.  pres,  appt.  by 
Council  of  Natl.  Defense  chinn    of 
Woman's    Com,    which    is    named, 
726-7;   assn.   makes    '  '  or- 

ucnl.  climn.  of  its  War 
ice  Dept,  reports  of  heads  to  natl. 
suff.    C..TW.    of    1917,    727—730;    to 
conv.  of  1919,  730—732;  report  of 
Oversea-  Hospitals,    733—734;    to 


INDEX 


conv.  of  1920,  734-5;  women's  war 
work  in  N.  Y.  obtains  the  suff.  for 
them,  737 ;  work  of  suffs.  on  Wom- 
an's Com.  of  Council  of  Natl.  De- 
fense, 737;  its  work  ended,  Secy. 
Baker's  tribute,  739;  heroic  record, 
740. 

Washington  City,  entertains  natl. 
suff.  conv.  of  1904,  86;  of  1910, 
266;  of  1913,  364;  of  1915,  439J  of 
1917,  under  war  conditions,  513; 
distinguished  recep.  com,  515. 

Washington,  State,  worn.  suff.  amend, 
carried,  xx;  how  women  were  dis- 
franchised when  Territory,  257; 
adopts  constitl.  amend,  for  worn, 
suff,  310;  Dr.  Shaw's  comment;  re- 
ports from  State  officers,  317 ;  natl. 
conv.  sends  greetings,  328;  625. 

Waterman,  Julia  T,  opp.  worn,  suff, 

Watson,  Elizabeth  Lowe,  tells  of 
Calif,  victory,  317. 

Watson,  U.  S.  Sen.  James  E,  chmn. 
Senate  Worn.  Suff.  Com,  645-6;  at 
Natl.  Repub.  Conv.  1920,  717. 

Watson-Lister,  Mrs.  A,  tells  of  worn, 
suff.  in  Australia,  91,  ill. 

Watterson,  Col.  Henry,  329. 

Way,  Amanda,  132. 

Weaver,  Ida  M,  52. 

Webb,  U.  S.  Rep.  Edwin  Y.  (N.  C), 
307;  434J  cTimn.  Judic.  Com,  469; 
tells  suffs.  they  should  not  come 
"bothering"  Congress,  472;  says 
there  will  be  no  worn.  suff.  plank  in 
Dem.  platform,  476;  tries  to  pre- 
vent Worn.  Suff.  Com,  525;  sup- 
presses report  on  Fed.  Amend,  504 ; 
unfair  treatment  of  res,  631,  633, 

635. 

Webster,  Jean,  for  worn,  suff,  297. 

Weeks,  Anna  O,  373. 

Welch,  Prof.  Lillian,  663. 

Weld,  Louis  D.  (Swift  and  Co.),  ad- 
dresses League  of  Women  Voters, 
695. 

Wells,  Mrs.  James  B,  476;  amuses 
House  com,  478. 

Wentworth,  Jennie  Wells,  404. 

West,  Gov.  Oswald  (Ore.),  greetings 
to  natl.  suff.  conv,  341. 

Wester,  Catharine  J,  395. 

Western  New  York  Federation  of 
Women's  Clubs,  first  to  admit  suff. 
societies,  214. 

Wetmore,  Maude,  726. 

Wheat,  Fannie  J,  vase  to  Miss  An- 
thony, 13. 

Wheeler,  Everett  P,  bef.  Com.  on 
Rules,  391;  438;  at  last  suff.  hear- 


ing, 583;  brings  suit  against  Fed. 
Suff.  Amend,  654;  org.  Men's  Anti- 
Suff.  Assns.  in  N.  Y,  Tenn.  and 
Maryland,  conducts  cases  in  court, 
680-682. 

White,  Armenia  S,  137;  208. 

White,  Natl.  Dem.  Chmn.  George, 
Mrs.  Catt  thanks  in  name  of  Natl. 
Amer.  Suff.  Assn.  for  his  own  and 
party's  support  of  Fed.  Suff. 
Amend,  648. 

White,  Mrs.  George  P,  467. 

White,  Mrs.  Henry,  437. 

White,  Mary  Ogden,  528;  report  on 
natl.  publicity,  returns  reach  mil- 
lions of  words ;  instances  given, 
530;  work  on  Woman  Citizen,  571; 
614. 

White,  Nettie  Lovisa,  40;  67;  secures 
names  to  Fed.  Amend,  petition,  275 ; 

34i. 

White,  Ruth,  506;  natl.  exec,  secy, 
525;  resigns,  566. 

Whitehouse,  Norman  deR,  458. 

Whitehouse,  Mrs.  Norman  deR,  in- 
terviews Pres.  candidate  Hughes, 
507;  on  N.  Y.  campn,  519. 

Whitney,  Charlotte  Anita,  tells  of 
Coll.  Women's  League  in  Calif, 
campn,  319;  elected  natl.  vice-pres, 
342;  work  in  Calif,  662. 

Whitney,  Mrs.  Henry  M,  678. 

Whitney,  Rosalie  Loew,  at  last  suff. 
hearing,  578,  580. 

Wickersham,  George  W,  680;  682. 

Wilbur,  Henry,  284. 

Wildman,  John  K,  146. 

Wiley,  Dr.  Harvey  W,  address  at 
natl.  suff.  conv,  1911,  322-3. 

Wilkes,  Rev.  Eliza  Tupper,  140. 

Willard,  Mabel  Caldwell,  at  natl.  suff. 
headqrs,  526;  work  in  Del,  556-7; 
604. 

Willcox,  William  R,  chmn.  Repub. 
Natl.  Com,  636. 

Williams,  Charl,  652. 

Williams,  Fannie  Barrier,  offers  trib- 
ute of  colored  people  to  Miss  An- 
thony, 203. 

Williams,  Jesse  Lynch,  340. 

Williams,  U.  S.  Sen.  John  Sharp, 
640;  713. 

Williams,  Mrs.  Richard,  108;  214. 

Williams,  Sylvanie,  addresses  Miss 
Anthony,  60. 

Willis,  Gwendolen  Brown,  668. 

Willis,  Sarah  L,  209. 

Wills,  M.  Frances,  317. 

Wilson,  Agnes  Hart,  515. 

Wilson,  Mrs.  Benjamin  F,  entertains 
natl.  suff.  conv.  410. 


INDEX 


8iS 


Wilson,  Mrs.  Halsey  W,  instructs 
suff.  schools,  539;  elected  natl.  rec. 
secy,  541;  556;  570;  at  ratif.  ban- 
quet, 610;  689. 

Wilson,  Margaret,  on  hon.  com.  for 
natl.  suff.  conv,  440;  showers  Dr. 
Shaw  with  flowers,  sits  on  suff. 
platform,  459;  at  suff.  meeting  in 
Washtn,  724. 

Wilson,  Gov.  Woodrow  (N.  J.),  ap- 
proves of  School  suff.  for  women, 
320. 

Wilson,  Pres.  Woodrow,  converted  to 
worn,  suff,  xxi;  first  delegation 
reed,  is  a  group  of  suffs ;  they  quote 
from  his  book  The  New  Freedom, 
374;  urged  by  natl.  suff.  conv.  to 
make  Fed.  Suff.  Amend,  adminis- 
tration measure  and  recommend  it 
in  his  message;  he  pays  no  atten- 
tion; Dr.  Shaw  and  conv.  resent; 
make  appt.  to  call  on  him;  he  re- 
ceives them,  first  President  to  do 
so,  373-4;  Dr.  Shaw  presents  their 
case,  tells  how  Cong,  has  ignored 
them,  asks  him  to  send  spec,  mes- 
sage and  recom.  a  Worn.  Suff.  Com. 
in  Lower  House;  he  answers  that 
he  cannot  speak  as  an  individual 
but  only  as  directed  by  his  party 
but  he  favors  the  Worn.  Suff. 
Com;  delegation  pleased,  374-5; 
378;  asked  to  proclaim  Women's 
Independence  Day,  404;  Miss 
Schwimmer  brings  petition  for 
peace,  410;  favors  initiative  and 
referendum,  417;  Natl.  Suff.  Assn. 
commands  effort  for  peace,  426; 
434;  with  seven  of  his  Cabinet  de- 
clares for  worn,  suff ;  votes  in  N.  J. 
for  amend ;  receives  natl.  suff. 
conv;  says  he  is  thinking  of  suff. 
plank  in  Dem.  platform,  440;  natl. 
conv.  expresses  appreciation  of  his 
declaration  for  worn,  suff,  461 ;  it 
received  more  votes  at  last  election 
than  he  did,  473;  475;  488-9;  ad- 
dresses natl.  suff.  conv.  in  1916; 
scene  in  theater,  495-6;  listens  to 
other  speakers;  Mrs.  Catt  intro- 
duces; text  of  speech,  496;  pictures 
the  evolution  of  the  Govt,  says 
movement  for  worn.  suff.  has  come 
with  conquering  power  an 
prevail;  he  has  come  to  fight  with 
its  advocates  and  they  will  not 
quarrel  as  to  method,  496—498 ;  Dr. 
Shaw  tells  him  women  want  it  in 
his  administration  and  he  smiles 
and  bows,  408-9;  signs  Natl.  Child 
Labor  Law  "with  pride  and  pleas- 


ure," 500;  suff.  leaders  urge  him 
to  endorse  Fed.  Amend,  but  he  de- 
clines, 507;  sends  congrat.  to  natl. 
suff.  conv;  has  reached  a  belief  in 
Fed.  Amend,  520;  calls  extra  ses- 
sion of  Cong,  asks  for  declaration 
of  war,  523;  says  creation  of  Com. 
on  Worn.  Suff.  would  be  very  wise 
act,  524;  "democracy  a  rule  of  ac- 
tion," 533 ;  Dr.  Shaw  proposes  mes- 
sage of  loyalty  and  support  which 
conv.  sends,  533;  chairmen  of  four 
minor  parties  petition  for  Fed. 
Suff.  Amend,  548;  sends  best 
wishes  for  Fed.  Amend,  to  natl. 
suff.  conv;  it  returns  appreciation 
of  his  support,  558;  Dem.  members 
call  on  him;  he  advises  submission 
of  Fed.  Suff.  Amend,  562;  appeals 
to  Senate  in  person,  563;  makes 
second  appeal,  564;  accepts  services 
of  Natl.  Suff.  Assn.  for  war,  578; 
favors  Fed.  Amend,  579;  anti-suffs. 
misuse  his  declaration  on  worn, 
suff,  580;  members  of  House  com. 
interview  and  he  urges  it,  583; 
sends  best  wishes  to  League  of 
Women  Voters,  599 ;  natl.  conv.  ex- 
presses gratitude,  600;  inaugurated, 
receives  four  deputns.  for  worn, 
suff,  626;  favors  it,  630;  favors 
Worn.  Suff.  Com,  633;  634;  de- 
clares for  Fed.  Suff.  Amend,  635 ; 
Dem.  women  confer  with,  639;  ap- 
peals to  Senate,  640;  second  appeal, 
640 ;  cables  from  Paris,  642-3 ;  calls 
spec,  session  of  Cong,  644;  Mrs. 
Catt  pays  tribute  for  his  support 
of  Fed.  Suff.  Amend,  648;  assists 
ratif.  in  Term ;  sends  message  to 
jubilee  suff.  meeting,  652;  on  worn. 
suff.  in  1912  and  1915,  708;  suggests 
worn.  suff.  plank  in  1916,  713-14; 
explains  it;  does  not  disapprove 
Fed.  Amend,  714;  Natl.  Amer. 
Worn.  Suff.  Assn.  offers  its  services 
for  war  work,  722;  he  expresses 
appreciation,  725;  women  ask  rep- 
rcsentn.  at  Peace  Conf,  738;  he 
pays  tribute  to  Woman's  Com.  of 
Council  of  Natl.  Defense.  739:  Dr. 
Shaw  answers  his  declaration  that 
U.  S.  wants  nothing  material  out 
of  the  war,  759;  tribute  to  Dr. 
Shaw  after  her  death,  760;  with 
Mrs.  Wilson  sends  sympathy  and 
flowers,  760;  address  to  U.  S.  Sen- 
ate urging  submission  of  Fed.  Suff. 
Amend;  "worn.  suff.  necessary  to 
prosecution  of  the  war  and  trust 
of  other  peoples,"  761—763. 


8i6 


INDEX 


Winslow,  Rose,  364;  brings  to  natl. 
conv.  res.  for  suff.  of  Natl.  Worn. 
Trade  Union  League,  394. 

Winsor,  Mary,  319. 

Wise,  Rabbi  Stephen  S,  141. 

Wollstonecraft,  Mary,  185. 

Woman  Citizen,  Woman's  Journal 
and  other  papers  merged  in,  528; 
work  for  Fed.  Amend,  556;  acct. 
of  Senate  debate  on  Fed.  Suff. 
Amend,  563;  "service  indispen- 
sable," 614;  698. 

Woman  Suffrage,  status  in  1901,  16. 

Woman  Suffrage  Committee,  gives 
five  days'  hearing  on  Fed.  Suff. 
Amend,  reports  favorably,  562; 
again,  565. 

Woman  Suffrage  Party,  name  widely 
adopted,  313. 

Woman  Suffrage  Publishing  Co, 
Natl,  final  report,  printed  and  dis- 
trib.  50,000,000  pieces  of  literature, 
614.  See  Ogden,  Esther  G. 

Woman's  Christian  Temperance 
Union,  State  of  Tasmania  sends 
greetings  to  natl.  suff.  conv,  28 ; 
World's,  endorses  worn,  suff,  205; 
action  of  States,  206;  close  coop- 
eration with  suff.  assns,  215;  247; 
many  references. 

Woman's  Committee  of  Council  of 
National  Defense,  Govt.  appoints 
Dr.  Anna  Howard  Shaw,  chairman, 
520;  she  describes  its  duties,  asks 
cooperation  of  Natl.  Suff.  Assn, 
534 — 536;  further  acct,  other  mem- 
bers, 726-7;  730;  great  work,  737; 
its  duties  ended,  Secy,  of  War 
Baker's  tribute,  739- 

Woman's  Journal,  39;  on  natl.  conv. 
in  New  Orleans,  55;  73;  79;  89; 
accounts  of  suff.  conv.  in  Portland, 
118-19;  compliments  to,  132;  trib- 
ute to  Miss  Anthony,  134;  comment 
on  change  of  heart  of  Miss  An- 
thony and  Mr.  Blackwell,  147;  re- 
port on  worn.  suff.  in  Legislatures, 
21 1 ;  Miss  Blackwell's  work  on, 
260;  account  of  expos,  at  Seattle 
and  suff.  day,  264;  criticises  Pres. 
Taft's  speech  to  natl.  suff.  conv, 
273;  Mr.  Blackwell's  work  on 
paper,  277;  Miss  Blackwell  offers 
to  make  it  offic.  organ  of  Natl. 
Amer.  Assn,  which  accepts,  289; 
descrip.  of  natl.  suff.  convs,  290; 
founder  and  editors,  311;  first  re- 
port under  auspices  of  Natl.  Amer. 
Assn,  315;  high  praise  for  Ky. 
women,  331 ;  bound  vols.  at  natl. 
suff.  headqrs,  335;  deficit  under 


control  of  Natl.  Assn,  paid  by  Mrs. 
McCormick  and  paper  returned  to 
Miss  Blackwell,  337;  says  Shafroth 
Amend,  should  have  been  submitted 
to  Natl.  Exec.  Council  but  supports 
it,  415,  422;  merged  in  Woman  Cit- 
izen, 528;  667. 

Woman's  Medical  College  of  Penn- 
sylvania, Foundation  in  Preventive 
Medicine,  mem.  to  Dr.  Shaw,  613. 

Woman's  Rights  Convention,  first, 
16;  6oth  anniv.  celebr,  213;  Mrs. 
Stanton's  and  Miss  Rowland's  de- 
scriptions, 215 ;  program  of  meet- 
ing, 219. 

Women's  Trade  Union  League,  Natl. 
res.  for  worn,  suff,  394. 

Wood,  C.  E.  S,  135. 

Wood,  Harriette  Johnson,  238. 

Wood,  Henry  A.  Wise,  at  last  suff. 
hearing,  "voting  a  man's  job,"  585. 

Wood,  U.  S.  Rep.  William  R.  (Ind.), 
548. 

Woods,  Dr.  Frances,  20;  208. 

Woodward,  Mrs.  C.  S,  229. 

Woolley,  Rev.  Celia  Parker,  18;  20; 
703. 

Woolley,  Pres.  Mary  E,  at  natl.  suff. 
conv.  in  Balto,  shows  indebtedness 
of  higher  education  of  women  to 
suff.  leaders,  tribute  to  Miss  An- 
thony, plea  for  worn,  suff,  168-9; 
442;  signs  Call  for  Natl.  Coll. 
Worn.  Suff.  League,  66 1 ;  an  officer, 

663- 

Woolsey,  Kate  Trimble,  239. 

Working  women,  laws  for,  95;  need 
of  vote,  97;  143;  suff.  movement 
needs,  165-6;  their  need  of  vote, 
injustice  of  Govt,  189;  209;  their 
need  of  suff,  210;  conditions  in 
New  York,  231 ;  duty  of  women  of 
leisure,  233;  Congressl.  suff.  hear- 
ing devoted  to,  301 ;  302 ;  304 ;  Miss 
Lathrop  says  theirs  would  not  be 
the  ignorant  vote,  345;  their  case 
presented  at  natl.  suff.  conv,  348, 
350—2;  356;  357;  361;  on  natl. 
worn.  suff.  platform,  1913,  the  bal- 
lot and  a  square  deal  demanded, 
364-5;  their  large  orgztns.  want 
suff,  392;  laws  for  in  equal  suff. 
States,  393;  they  demand  the  vote, 
394;  no  chivalry  for,  409;  472; 
they  only  can  reach  working  men, 

519. 
Works,    U.    S.    Sen.    John    D,    339; 

347- 

Works,  Mrs.  John  D,  382. 
Wright,   Carroll    D,    for   worn,    suff, 

196. 


INDEX 


8l7 


Wright,    Dr.    George    H,   objects   to 

Shafroth  Amend,  747. 
Wright,    Martha    C,    in    anti-slavery 

days,  203;  calls  first  Worn.  Rights 

Conv,  219. 
Writers  and  editors,  eminent  list  sign 

petit,  for  worn,  suff,  296-7. 
Wyoming,  first  to  give  worn,  suff,  34; 

effect  of,  52;  624. 


Yates,  Elizabeth  Upham,  pres.  R.  I. 
assn,  288 ;  report  on  Pres.  suff,  325, 
338;  shows  value  of  Pres.  suff.  al- 
ready gained,  447;  539-40. 

Yellowstone  Park,  delegates  visit,  21. 

Yost,  Mrs.  Ellis  A,  describes  W.  Va. 
suff.  campn,  494. 


Youmans,  Mrs.  Henry,  at  Anthony 
celebr,  615. 

YOUIUT,  Ella  Flagg,  394;  515. 

Young,  Rose,  describes  Mrs.  Catt's 
address  to  Cong,  521 ;  report  of 
Woman  Citizen  and  Leslie  Bureau 
of  Educatn.  in  1917;  founded  with 
Mrs.  Frank  Leslie  fund  under  six 
depts,  527-8;  561;  report  in  1919, 
vast  field  of  activity  described,  570; 
in  1920,  614;  arranges  tableaux  at 
last  suff.  conv,  617;  716. 

Young,  Virginia  Durant,  35;  69;  204. 

Younger,  Maud,  at  Rules  Com.  hear- 
ing, 549;  at  Worn.  Suff.  Com.  hear- 
ing, 585. 


Zakrzewska,  Dr.  Marie,  74. 


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