The History of Woman Suffrage Volume V Part 31

Mrs. Pattie Ruffner Jacobs, president of the Alabama Suffrage a.s.sociation, responded in behalf 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 national 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 pa.s.sed 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 pa.s.sed--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 pa.s.sed two Legislatures), Montana, North and South Dakota; and there are three other States where initiative pet.i.tions are now in circulation and if the requisite number of signers is secured the amendment will be submitted next autumn, Ohio, Nebraska and Missouri. Then there are three half-way campaign States where the amendment has pa.s.sed one Legislature and must pa.s.s again, in which case the decision will be made by the voters in 1915--New York, Pennsylvania 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 a.s.sociation to the Congress of the International Alliance in Budapest last June, and there were many more applicants.... During the year the national president, Dr.

Shaw, has spoken at many large meetings in New Hamps.h.i.+re, Nebraska, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Florida, Missouri, Kansas, New Jersey, Maryland, Ma.s.sachusetts, Connecticut and Michigan. She also spoke in England, Holland, Germany, Austria and Hungary.

A ma.s.s meeting was held under the auspices of the a.s.sociation 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 Was.h.i.+ngton; those of May and November in New York and Brooklyn; that of October in Newark, New Jersey. The a.s.sociation was represented at the annual meeting of the House of Governors in Richmond, 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 a.s.sociation 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 the series of important events which have taken place in Was.h.i.+ngton, beginning with the great parade the day before the inauguration of the President. Several of the national officers have made special trips to Was.h.i.+ngton to a.s.sist at these various events--the March parade, the Senate hearing, the April 7th deputation to Congress, the July 31st 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 Was.h.i.+ngton, 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.

Pet.i.tions to Congress were circulated, special letters on behalf of the a.s.sociation 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, a.s.sisted 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 const.i.tutions 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 intellectual 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 a.s.sociation, 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 Congressional Committee and special work in campaign States. Delaware, Florida, Tennessee, Alabama, Missouri, Nebraska and South Dakota were visited. She travelled by automobile from Montana to Was.h.i.+ngton City with pet.i.tions 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 Dakota 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 adopted were two of prime importance: 1. 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 endorse the Suffrage School as a method of work and the National a.s.sociation 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 establis.h.i.+ng more definite connection between the enfranchised women of the States and the National a.s.sociation.

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 const.i.tution of his State but the U. S. Const.i.tution 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 ent.i.tled in Congress."

Probably U.S. Senator George F. h.o.a.r was the first to discover that this power given to Legislatures involved the possibility of the enfranchis.e.m.e.nt of women for presidential electors.

The conspicuous position that women suddenly attained in American politics in 1912 was due to the fact that in six States women were able to determine the choice of thirty-seven presidential electors. The large interests involved in a presidential administration, among which are 300,000 offices of honor and emolument, cause keen political concern from the fact that women voters may hold the balance of power in a close election. The whole number of electoral votes in the nine States where women now have full suffrage is fifty-four. These were attained by campaigns for const.i.tutional amendments that involved vast outlay of time and treasure. Simply by act of Legislature, Illinois has added twenty-nine to the list, an increase 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 a.s.sent 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 suffrage, 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 ill.u.s.trated by the reports in the _Woman's Journal_, whose editors had for a generation collected and preserved in its pages the unsurpa.s.sed addresses which had delighted audiences and inspired workers. As the practical work of the a.s.sociation 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 const.i.tution 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 a.n.a.lysis 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 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 singing 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 5 o'clock in the morning--the whole night long. I saw men jump up on their seats and jump down again and run around in a ring. I saw 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 spinning 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 saw 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 never 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 stand up and wave their handkerchiefs. I have even seen them take hold of hands and sing, "Blest be the tie that binds." n.o.body denies that women are excitable. Still, when I hear how emotional and how excitable we are, I cannot help seeing in my mind's eye the fine repose and dignity of this Baltimore and other political conventions I have attended!

One evening session was devoted to Women and Children and the Courts.

Mrs. Joseph T. Bowen of Chicago presided and made a stirring plea for better conditions in the courts of the large cities. She told of the outrageous treatment of women and 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 s.e.x. 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 const.i.tution 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 Caroline Ruutz-Rees (Conn.), who was a.s.sisted 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 princ.i.p.al changes adopted concerned representation, dues, a.s.sessments, 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; disburs.e.m.e.nts, $42,542; balance on hand from preceding year, $2,874. A carefully prepared "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 legacies that had been left the a.s.sociation, 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. Raymond Brown, president of the New York State Suffrage a.s.sociation, proposed a corporation with a capital stock of $50,000, of which $26,000 should be held by the National American a.s.sociation, the rest sold at $10 a share. The first $10,000 were at once subscribed and later the Woman Suffrage Publis.h.i.+ng Company was organized with Mrs. Cyrus W. Field president.

The election took place under the new primary system and required two days for completion. The only change was the electing 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 doc.u.ments, 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 doc.u.ments 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 Edward 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 (N. Y.), chairman, were brief and to the point. They called on the Senate to pa.s.s immediately the joint resolution proposing an amendment to the National Const.i.tution, which had been favorably 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 proposition to create a Committee on Woman Suffrage; and they demanded 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 session of Congress, but it was 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 manifest approval of the audience: "President Wilson had the opportunity of speaking a word which might ultimately lead to the enfranchis.e.m.e.nt of a large part of the citizens of the United States. Even Lincoln, 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 womankind 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 measure 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 a.s.sociations 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.[79] He met them cordially and gave them as much time as they desired. Dr. Shaw spoke as follows:

As president of the National Suffrage a.s.sociation I have come with this delegation, authorized by the a.s.sociation, 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 Was.h.i.+ngton for many, many years and committees have received us with graciousness and have listened to our arguments, but the difficulty is that they have not permitted our claims to come before Congress, so that body itself might act upon them. Our wish is that we may have a national const.i.tutional 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 Senate 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 administration of which you are the head may use its influence to bring the matter before the Senate and House.

We ask your a.s.sistance 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 Const.i.tution enfranchising women citizens of the United States; if, however, this does not appeal to you, we ask that you will use the administration's influence on the Rules Committee to recommend the appointment in the 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.

We appeal to you in behalf of the women citizens of the country.

Many of them have cast their ballots for the President already and have an influence in the Government; many are very eager to take an equal part and they appreciate the just manner in which since your administration began you have weighed public questions. Recognizing your splendid stand on the liberties and rights of the people, we appeal to you because we believe you will bring to ours that same spirit of justice which you have manifested toward other great issues.

The President gave close attention and in his answer seemed to weigh every word carefully:

I want you ladies, if I can make it clear to you, to realize just what my present situation is. Whenever I walk abroad I realize 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 walking 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 suggestion 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 Suffrage Committee and that was our chief object in coming to see him."

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 coming by one reason or another except Representatives J. W. Bryan of Was.h.i.+ngton and Victor Murdock of Kansas. They made up for all failures, however, by their strong arguments. James Lees Laidlaw 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 enfranchis.e.m.e.nt of women because of the nation's great need for their votes.

An excellent report was presented at this time by Miss Alice Paul, chairman of the Congressional Committee. From the founding of the National a.s.sociation in 1869 prominent representatives had appeared before committees of every Congress and during many winters Miss Susan B. Anthony had remained in Was.h.i.+ngton until she obtained a report from these committees, but after she ceased to do this, although the hearings were still granted, n.o.body made it an especial business to see that the committees made reports and so none was made and action by Congress seemed very remote. In 1910, when the movement entered a new era, the a.s.sociation appointed a special Congressional Committee to look after this matter. By the time of the convention of 1911 the two great victories in Was.h.i.+ngton and California had been gained and the prospect of a Federal Amendment 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 beyond making excellent arrangements for the hearings, the committee was not active. In 1912, when Kansas, 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 the Federal Const.i.tution was inevitable.

At this time Miss Paul and Miss Burns returned from England, 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 demonstrations before the House of Commons and been sent to prison and they came back to the United States filled with zeal to inaugurate 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 a.s.sociation to cooperate in organizing a great suffrage parade to take place in Was.h.i.+ngton 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 Congressional Committee with power to choose the other members to organize the parade, with the proviso that they must themselves raise all the money for it but they could have the authority of the National a.s.sociation letterheads.

Headquarters were opened in a bas.e.m.e.nt on F Street near the New Willard Hotel in Was.h.i.+ngton. They displayed astonis.h.i.+ng 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 Was.h.i.+ngton and most of the remainder in Philadelphia. The parade was long, beautiful and impressive, women from many States partic.i.p.ating. The report of the Congressional Committee presented to the convention by Miss Paul slightly condensed, read as follows:

Work for Federal Amendment:

Headquarters were opened in Was.h.i.+ngton, Jan. 2, 1913.

Hearings were arranged before the Woman Suffrage Committee of the Senate; before the Rules Committee of the House, when members 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 partic.i.p.ated; April 7, when women from congressional districts went to Congress with pet.i.tions and resolutions; July 31, when an automobile procession met the "pilgrims" at the end of their "hike" and escorted them through the streets of Was.h.i.+ngton 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 Was.h.i.+ngton on July 31, when approximately 200,000 signatures to pet.i.tions were presented to the Senate.

Deputations: Three deputations to the President were organized immediately preceding the calling of the special session of Congress in order to ask him to give the administration support to the suffrage amendment during the special session. One of these was from the National a.s.sociation, one from the College Suffrage League and one from the National Council of Women Voters. On November 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 National Council of Women Voters and the convention of the National American Woman Suffrage a.s.sociation.