“WOMEN ARE FREE AT LAST IN ALL THE LAND”
Chant Royal
Waken, O Woman, to the trumpet sound
Greeting our day of long sought liberty;
Gone are the ages that have held us bound
Beneath a master, now we stand as he,
Free for world-service unto all mankind,
Free of the dragging chains that used to bind,
The sordid labor, the unnoticed woe,
The helpless shame, the unresisted blow,
Submission to our owner’s least command—
No longer pets or slaves are we, for lo!
Women are free at last in all the land.
Long was the stony road our feet have found
From that dark past to the new world we see,
Each step with heavy hindrance hemmed around,
Each door to freedom closed with bolt and key;
Our feet with old tradition all entwined,
Untrained, uneducated, uncombined,
We had to fight old faiths of long ago,
And in our households find our dearest foe,
Against the world’s whole weight we had to stand
Till came the day it could no more say no—
Women are free at last in all the land.
Around us prejudice, emotion-drowned,
Rose like a flood and would not let us free;
Women themselves, soft-bred and silken gowned,
Historic shame have won by their mad plea
To keep their own subjection; with them lined
All evil forces of the world we find,
No crime so brazen and no vice so low
But fought us, with inertia blind and slow,
And ignorance beneath its darkling brand,
these we strove and still must strive, although
Women are free at last in all the land.
419The serving squaw, the peasant, toil-embrowned,
The household drudge, no honor and no fee—
For these we now see women world-renowned,
In art and science, work of all degree.
She whom world progress had left far behind
Now has the secret of full life divined,—
Her largest service gladly to bestow;
Great is the gain since ages far below,
In honored labor, of head and hand;
Now may her power and genius clearly show
Women are free at last in all the land.
Long years of effort to her praise redound,
To such high courage all may bend the knee,
Beside her brother, with full freedom crowned,
Mother and wife and citizen is she,
Queen of her soul and body, heart and mind,
Strong for the noble service God designed;
See now the marching millions, row on row,
With steady eyes and faces all aglow,
They come! they come! a glad triumphant band,—
Roses and laurels in their pathway strow—
Women are free at last in all the land!
ENVOI
Sisters! we now must change the world we know
To one great garden where the child may grow.
New freedom means new duty, broad and grand.
To make a better world and hold it so
Women are free at last in all the land.
Charlotte Perkins Gilman,
The Suffragist, September, 1920.

The Suffrage Amendment had now passed both the House of Representatives and the Senate. One step was necessary before it became a part of the Constitution of the United States—ratification by the legislatures of three-quarters of the States in the union—by thirty-six States out of forty-eight. No time limit was set by Congress on ratification, but naturally Suffragists wanted it to come as soon as possible. 420Some people believed it would take twenty years. They did not reckon with Alice Paul however.

As soon as Congress passed the Suffrage Amendment, the whole situation—as far as Suffrage was concerned—changed. Now the President, the leaders in the Administration, the leaders in the great political Parties became potential allies.

In four States—Wisconsin, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts—the Legislatures were in regular session. In three States—Texas, Ohio, Michigan—called on matters not pertaining to Suffrage, the Legislatures were in special session. The first undertaking of the Woman’s Party was to get the convening Legislatures to ratify and the remaining States to call special sessions.

A race as to who should be the first to ratify, set in between Wisconsin, Michigan, and Illinois. All three ratified on June 10. But Illinois had to re-ratify later on June 17 because of an error in printing the Amendment on its first ratification on June 10. As between the other two, Wisconsin won.

The story of Wisconsin’s part in the race is interesting and humorous. D. G. James, the father of Ada James, former Chairman of the Wisconsin Branch of the Woman’s Party, was spending the day in Madison when the Legislature ratified. His daughter was, of course, exceedingly desirous that Wisconsin should achieve the honor of the first ratification, and he was equally desirous of aiding her. He assisted her in every way to avoid official delays and in getting the action of the Legislature properly certified. He commandeered his daughter’s traveling bag, made a few swift purchases of the necessities of traveling, and caught the first train to Washington. He procured a signed statement that Wisconsin’s ratification was the first to be received from the Department of State, on June 13. He brought his trophy in triumph to Headquarters and told his story to the newspaper men while the statement was being photographed.

That statement runs as follows:

421DEPARTMENT OF STATE

WASHINGTON.
June 13, 1919.

By direction of the Acting Secretary of State, I hereby acknowledge the receipt of a certified copy of the Joint Resolution of the Legislature of the State of Wisconsin, ratifying the proposed Amendment to the Constitution of the United States extending the right of Suffrage to women, which was delivered by Special Messenger, D. G. James, on June 13, 1919, and is the first ratification of the Amendment which has been received.
J. A. Towner,
Chief of Bureau.

Michigan, almost neck and neck in the race with Wisconsin, ratified on June 10. Kansas, Ohio, and New York ratified on June 16. Kansas was the first State to call its Legislature in special session to ratify the Suffrage Amendment, the first also in which the legislators paid their own expenses to attend the special session. Illinois, held up by that mistake in printing, ratified on June 17.

Pennsylvania, the first non-Suffrage State, ratified on June 24, but not without a struggle. The session of the Legislature was drawing to a close and it was difficult to get the measure introduced. The National Woman’s Party made a strenuous campaign. Mrs. Lawrence Lewis, Chairman of the Pennsylvania Ratification Committee, enlisted the aid of Governor Sproul and in a conference with Senator Penrose, who had been one of the strongest opponents to the Suffrage Amendment in the United States Senate, persuaded him to give his support to ratification. Mary Ingham, the State Chairman, brought all the Woman’s Party forces in the State to bear upon the situation. The scene in the Senate when the vote was taken was highly colorful. The floor was a waving mass of purple, white, and gold. The tri-color badges of the National Woman’s Party appeared everywhere on the floor and among the audience. There was such demand for the Woman’s Party colors that at the last moment the stock had to be replenished. After the final victory in the 422House, a parade of purple, white, and gold blazed its way through Harrisburg.

Massachusetts followed close on Pennsylvania, ratifying on June 25. Agnes Morey, the State Chairman of the National Woman’s Party, assisted by members of the State branch, and by Betty Gram, national organizer, made the intensive drive on the Legislature, which resulted in their bringing the Bay State into camp. Here, Senator Lodge, another hitherto unchangeable opponent to the Suffrage Amendment in the United States Senate, did not oppose the measure when it came up before the Massachusetts Legislature, although he did not give the support which Penrose of Pennsylvania gave.

Texas, the first Democratic “one-party” State to do so, ratified by special session on June 28. Iowa, after an appeal for a special session from Senator Cummins to Governor Harding—this was done at the instance of the Woman’s Party—ratified on July 2; Missouri ratified by special session on July 3.

In the meantime the Legislature of Alabama, which only convenes once in four years, met and although Suffragists had not wanted this session and had very little hope of success, they conducted a campaign for ratification. As it was the first Democratic State in which there was difficulty, an appeal was made to the President. He despatched the following telegrams:
White House,
July 12, 1919.

Hon. Thomas E. Kilby, Governor,

Montgomery, Alabama.

I hope you will pardon me if I express my very earnest hope that the Suffrage Amendment to the Constitution of the United States may be ratified by the great State of Alabama.

It would constitute a very happy augury for the future and add greatly to the strength of the movement which, in my judgment, is based upon the highest considerations, both of justice and experience.
Woodrow Wilson.
423White House
July 14, 1919.

Hon. H. P. Merritt,

Speaker of House of Representatives,

Montgomery, Alabama.

I hope that you will not think that I am taking an unwarranted liberty in saying that I earnestly hope, as do all friends of the great liberal movement which it represents, that the legislature of Alabama will ratify the Suffrage Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. It would give added hope and courage to the friends of justice and enlightened policy everywhere and would constitute the best possible augury for future liberal policy of every sort.
Woodrow Wilson.

Alabama was the first State in which ratification was defeated.

By this time, the Legislature in Georgia was convening. Suffragists had no more hope of ratification here than in Alabama. Nevertheless the campaign was made. They appealed to the national Democratic leaders for help and the President despatched the following telegram:
White House,
July 14, 1919.

Governor Hugh M. Dorsey,

State Capitol,

Atlanta, Georgia.

I am profoundly interested in the passage of the Suffrage Amendment to the Constitution, and will very much value your advice as to the present status of the matter in the Georgia legislature. I would like very much to be of help, for I believe it to be absolutely essential to the political future of the country that the Amendment be passed. It is absolutely essential to the future of the Democratic Party that it take a leading part in this great reform.
Woodrow Wilson.

Georgia defeated ratification July 24, although the national Democratic leaders had aided in the entire campaign.

Arkansas ratified on July 20; Montana, July 20; Nebraska on August 2, all by special session.

424Then came a lull in the ratification race. By August, only two States west of the Mississippi, had ratified and to the great surprise—and the intense disappointment—of Suffragists, the West continued to maintain this lethargy.

In the meantime, there came a special session for good roads in Virginia, another Democratic State. Since the session was meeting, the Suffragists had no alternative but to make the fight. In Virginia, they relied again on the Democratic national leaders to overcome the opposition of the local Democratic leaders. As in the case of Alabama and Georgia, although the national leaders did much, they did not do enough. The President, however, despatched the following letter:
August 22, 1919.

President of the Senate,

Richmond, Virginia.

May I not take the liberty of expressing my profound interest in the action which the Legislature of my native State is to take in the matter of the Suffrage Amendment to the United States Constitution. It seems to me of profound importance to our country that this Amendment should be adopted and I venture to urge the adoption on the Legislature. With utmost respect and with the greatest earnestness,
Woodrow Wilson.

Virginia did not ratify.

During all this period campaigns for special sessions continued. Typical of these is the following account by Julia Emory, national organizer, in the July Suffragist:

“Good-by, good luck, and don’t come back until Maryland ratifies!” This from the group of National Headquarters when I waved farewell and started over the hills and far away toward a special session in Maryland. Over the hills to Baltimore, and then early the next morning, very, very early, the big bay boat splashed down the Chesapeake to Cambridge where Governor Harrington was spending the week-end.

“It’s good of you to come,” the Governor greeted me. “Not good of me, but necessary, Governor, to let you know how much 425women need a special session in Maryland, now. Not just the 15,000 Maryland women of our organization who have asked me to come to you, but all the women in the United States.” “Ah!” said he. “You ladies are too impatient. We will have a regular session in January, why can’t you wait till then?” “Because,” I answered, “there is no need of prolonging the struggle. We have the necessary thirty-six States in view. We want the special session so that we can vote for the next Governor of Maryland at the election this November, and for members of our legislature at the same election.” “But the question of expense,” he suggested. “That is easily eliminated,” I said. “Take Kansas, for example, where the legislators waived all pay and mileage in order to push forward ratification. Surely our Maryland men will do the same. And, anyhow, two days at the outside would see the thing through. Think of the taxes women have paid for so many years. Think of the war for Democracy, think of the part women gave in human sacrifice, service and money, and then tell me if anybody would say that a special session called for the purpose of giving them a voice in their government would take too much out of the State treasury.” “That’s true,” said the Governor, “but special sessions are unpopular, and suppose the resolution should fail——” “Oh!” I said with a beaming smile of relief, “if what you want is a convincing poll, I’ll give you that,” thinking of the poll which, though still not yet completed, already showed a majority pledged in both Houses. “Next Tuesday,” said he. “Now,” said I. It was then Friday. But the Governor said Tuesday, and told me that in the meantime he was going to “feel around” for sentiment. And so did I.

First I went to a State Senator. “Why the special session?” he wanted to know. And when he found the thirty-six States were in view, he sat up. “The thing is upon us,” he said. We went over the situation from the political point of view from beginning to end. He was a Democrat. “And,” said he in a low voice, “if I had to bet on the fall elections, I’d—well, all I have to say is, if the Democrats want to get any credit, it’ll have to be by special session.”

“Will you say that to the Governor?” I asked.

“I will, tonight,” he said, “and as for the question of expense, I for one, will waive my pay.” Just then the train whistled. “You can’t make it,” said the Senator. “We are some distance from the station.” “I must,” I said. “I have to see another man.”

The Senator laughed and called to a man in an automobile and 426away I whisked and the conductor helped me to hop on the train as it moved off.

The man at the other end was in Chicago. And the next train was due in six hours. Then on to a little town where I sat on a pile of baggage and waited until the Republican delegate arrived. “I hope,” he said, “that the Republicans will take the initiative and ask for a special session. Yes, you bet, I’ll waive my pay.”

Then a Democrat, who said he would fight a special session to a finish. “Knowing what it will mean to your Party if you do?” I asked. We went into it from the political viewpoint. Then he saw the end in sight. We carefully went over the thirty-six States. He rubbed his head and looked at the opposite wall (or it may have been the State of Maryland he was gazing at so intently). “You know,” he said finally, “I am an anti-Suffragist at heart, but at the same time I am no fool. The thing is here, and the point is, what is the best thing to do about it. I will not urge a special session, but I will not fight it.”

Then on Tuesday, Mrs. Donald Hooker, our Maryland Chairman, went over the poll with the Governor. Man by man, they considered the delegates and senators. Yes, this one was sure, that one was practically sure but wasn’t pledged and so we wouldn’t count him yet, another was hopeful, another was hopeless, and the then uncompleted poll stood fifty-nine to thirty-eight in the House and thirteen to eleven in the Senate. We looked expectantly at the Governor. “I need more time to consider,” was what he said.

“In the meantime,” said Mrs. Hooker to me as we went out, “we will complete the poll as fast as possible. A big majority will surely convince him that it must go through.”

So off to Southern Maryland and the counties around Washington. One legislator I found in Washington in a big, cool office, dressed in a Palm Beach suit and on the point of departing for a vacation. I looked at him and thought of canoes and bathing suits which had been shoved aside for me till after the special session. “I hope you will have a good time,” I told him. “Mine will come after you have voted ‘yes.’” He smiled happily and his reply made me smile happily too.

One man was in his wheat field. ‘Way into the country we went by automobile where no trains ran and no electric cars penetrated. We reached the town and inquired at the hardware store for our legislator: “Mr. F——? Oh, he don’t live here, he just has his mail sent here, he lives ’bout fo’teen mile round yonder.” “Fo’teen mile round yonder,” we finally found his 427home. “Well, you see it’s this way,” explained his wife. “He might’ve been home, but Mr. So-and-So is thrashing wheat and my husband went over to help him get it in before the storm.” We noticed clouds in the sky. We went on to the So-and-Sos’ farm. At the farmhouse, we all alighted. My companions immediately made for the chicken yard where they made friends with Mrs. So-and-So and helped her to feed the chickens. Afterward, they told us of the strong Suffrage speech the farmer’s wife had made to them, who being the mother of eight children—six girls and two boys—had come to the conclusion that nobody needed Suffrage more than the farmer’s wife. Two of the little girls took me out to the field, up a dusty white road we walked, climbed rail fences and—oh! how good! picked a few blackberries—and came at last to the thrashing field. “No,” said my man, “I can’t see that Suffrage is right, and I can’t therefore vote for it.” “Did you think the war was right?” I asked. “Oh! of course.” “And why did we go to war?” I asked. “To get democracy,” he answered. “Exactly,” I said. “And President Wilson said that democracy was ‘the right of all those who submit to authority to have a voice in their own government.’” “Now look here, Missie,” said my friend, “I believe women are superior beings to men, and if they were to vote, they’d have to be equals. Now look at this hay stack. You could no more pitch hay than——” “Will you lend me your fork?” I asked. I stuck in the form, gave it the peculiar little twist, then the little flop, squared my shoulder and up it went on the wagon. Three times. “Well, I’ll be jiggered,” laughed the legislator, “labor is scarce and now I’ll know where to look for help when I need it!” “Yes,” said I. “And we have come to you for help. We need your vote.”

On to the next, we climbed into the machine and sped away.

And so it runs. Sometimes, we strike an obstinate anti who will not even listen to what we have to say, even though I have traveled weary miles in trains and on foot to find him. Sometimes we have to put up at a funny little village hotel because an inconsiderate legislator has gone out of town for a day. Sometimes they are cordial, and offer all sorts of help. Sometimes the road lies through beautiful country, occasionally in hot, stuffy little towns. At fastest, it is slow work. Why do legislators live so far apart and in such inaccessible places? And generally so very far from anything to eat! Some evenings as it begins to grow dark, I am keenly aware that I have had nothing to eat since breakfast. But that is part of the game, and after all what does it matter when I can write to Headquarters before 428I fall into bed, “We can add the following names of legislators to the list of pledged, and all of them have offered to waive their pay.” So far only one has refused to waive pay.

So, with a big majority in both houses pledged to vote for the measure, there remains nothing but the calling of the special session. This, it is up to Governor Harrington to do at once.

And this, according to the following answer to Attorney General Palmer’s letter, he still refuses to do. Yet the Governor must surely yet see the light, as he knows that there IS no question of defeat if a special session is called to ratify.

The poll which has been so carefully and accurately drawn up demonstrates that fact most convincingly, and we are going to keep right on working until Governor Harrington sees it that way!

Maryland defeated ratification later.

Owing to the fact that most of the governors who must call special sessions were Republicans, the National Woman’s Party made a drive on the national Republican leaders to get them to act upon these governors. On August 14, Abby Scott Baker went to the Governors’ Conference at Salt Lake City where, assisted by Louise Garnett, State Chairman of the Woman’s Party in Utah, she succeeded in getting governors whose Legislatures had already ratified to organize an informal committee to work upon those whose Legislatures had not ratified. Some of these governors of these backward States—or rather some of the backward governors of these States—made tentative promises in regard to special sessions, but these promises were so vague that Mrs. Baker started, at the close of the Governors’ Conference, to California. We shall hear about her work there later.

Minnesota ratified on September 8; New Hampshire on September 10, both in special session. Utah—but there is a story about Utah.

Utah was backward. Alice Paul interested Isaac Russell, a newspaper man, and a native of Utah, in the situation. He prevailed upon Senator Smoot, Republican, to write a letter to Alice Paul saying that he was disappointed that Governor Bamberger, Democrat, was not calling a special session. 429Alice Paul gave this letter to the Press, and of course, the Republican papers of Utah carried it. Alice Paul waited a while and then she sent Anita Pollitzer to see the Democratic Congressmen from Utah, and to put it clearly to them that the responsibility for the delay was on their Party. As a result of Miss Pollitzer’s representations, Congressman Welling, a Democrat and a friend of Governor Bamberger, wrote a strong telegram to him in which he urged him to set the date of a special session at once. Early the next morning, Congressman Welling telephoned Headquarters that the telegram had brought results and read a message from Governor Bamberger announcing the date on which he would call that special session. Utah ratified on September 30.

In the meantime, we must go back to Abby Scott Baker, whom we left on her way to California. She found that an enormous amount of work had been done by Genevieve Allen, the State Chairman for California, and by the members of her organization, assisted by Vivian Pierce, a national organizer. Governor Stevens, however, seemed immovable on the subject of a special session. But with additional assistance from Mrs. William Kent, one of its national officers, the Woman’s Party inaugurated a vigorous newspaper campaign. Governor Stevens found himself inundated by an avalanche of telegrams, letters, petitions, resolutions; and finally of entreaties of the men who surrounded him. Governor Stevens is a Republican, and the Democratic women began to organize for ratification. Senator Phelan, Democrat, gave them his assistance. National leaders of both Parties brought pressure to bear. It was impossible to resist this current. Governor Stevens issued a call for a special session for November 1, and on that date California ratified.

The Woman’s Party refers to Maine as the first close call. This story is very interesting. Maine called a special session, but Maine was, so to speak, on the fence in regard to Suffrage, as, when the National Woman’s Party approached 430the State on the subject of ratification, a referendum on Presidential Suffrage was pending. So important was the situation there that Alice Paul joined Mrs. Lawrence Lewis and Mrs. Robert Treat Whitehouse, the State Chairman, who were working hard. In Maine, too, the antis were troublesome. They managed to introduce a resolution in the Legislature proposing postponement on the subject of ratification until after the referendum. The President and Secretary of the State Federation of Labor sent an official appeal to the Legislature to vote for this resolution. Immediately the Woman’s Party in Washington obtained a letter from Secretary Morrison of the American Federation of Labor to the Maine Federation, stating that the A. F. of L. stood strongly for ratification. Mrs. Whitehouse gave this letter to the newspapers; gave copies to every member of the Legislature. She conferred with the President of the State Federation, persuaded him to repudiate his former letter and to issue an appeal for the support of ratification. National leaders of both the Democratic and Republican Parties sent telegrams to legislators. Maine ratified on November 5—by a narrow margin of four votes.

After a long siege by the Woman’s Party on the Governor, North Dakota ratified in special session on December 1.

In the case of South Dakota, Governor Norbeck agreed to call a special session of the Legislature if the majority of the members would serve without mileage. Late in November, Alice Paul received a telegram from Governor Norbeck saying that the session would not be called as he was sixteen answers short of a majority who were willing to serve without expense to the State. Alice Paul immediately sent Anita Pollitzer to the Capitol to see Senator Sterling of South Dakota. Miss Pollitzer showed him Governor Norbeck’s telegram to Miss Paul and told him that the Suffragists would be greatly disappointed if the Republican Legislature of South Dakota refused to meet, and a Republican Governor refuse to call a special session. He agreed that was a political mistake and in Miss Pollitzer’s presence, sent telegrams 431to his law partner, the chief politician of the State, telling him to do everything possible to have a special session called; to the Chairman of the Republican State Committee, asking him to telegraph each member of the Legislature, urging him to answer the Governor’s appeal and to agree to come to the special session as the Governor had stipulated, at his own expense. Examining this situation superficially—or even closely—one would think that Miss Pollitzer had done everything that was possible. But there is no reckoning with Alice Paul. When Miss Pollitzer returned to Headquarters, Miss Paul said simply, “We can do more.”

That afternoon Miss Pollitzer visited Mr. McCarl, the Secretary of the Republican Congressional Committee in Washington, who sent telegrams to all the Republican leaders in the State, urging that they make clear to the Republican Governor and to the members of the Legislature the importance to the Republican Party of a good record on ratification. Three days later, a telegram came to Washington announcing that a majority, willing to serve at their own expense, had been secured. South Dakota ratified on December 4.

Colorado, the last State to ratify in 1919, did so on December 12—but only after a long campaign, the result of local conditions.

January of 1920, in which five States came into the fold, was a highly successful month for the ratification record. Rhode Island and Kentucky ratified in regular session on January 6. Oregon, whose Governor broke his promises many times, finally ratified in regular session on January 12. The State Chairman, Mrs. W. J. Hawkins, campaigned vigorously here, assisted by her State organization and Vivian Pierce, national organizer. Much equally vigorous work in Washington supplemented her.

Indiana ratified January 16 in special session.

Wyoming was the last of the five January States. For months, Governor Carey had refused to call a special session. He had been peculiarly obstinate at the Governors’ Conference 432at Salt Lake City on August 14, where he had stated that he would not call a special session even if it were needed as the very last State. Wyoming, it should be remembered, was the pioneer Suffrage State. Representatives of the Woman’s Party went at once to Wyoming. Mrs. Richard Wainwright, who was staying in the West, made it her special work to bring pressure on the Governor. Alice Paul sent Anita Pollitzer to the Capitol to talk with the Congressman and Senators from Wyoming. They said that circumstances had arisen which made it impossible for them to try to force the Governor. On the trolley car Miss Pollitzer met Frank Barrow, Secretary to Congressman Mondell, and asked him for help. He agreed to give it. Mr. Barrow had edited the Cheyenne Tribune, the leading Republican paper of the State, when Anita Pollitzer campaigned in Wyoming the year before. He began urging that a special session be called and charged the Governor with hurting the Republican record on Suffrage. Immediately a statement appeared in the Press from the Governor, saying that he would call a special session, but not at the expense of the State; that the men must come without pay or mileage. Wyoming is a huge State, and this was in January, a month of terrific snow storms. Unless extra political pressure was applied, the legislators might not come from far-away ranches at their own expense. In the meantime, whenever politicians from Wyoming arrived in Washington, members of the Woman’s Party saw them at once. Party members learned that a close political advisor of Governor Carey was going to spend one night in Washington. They called on him at his hotel and told him that the responsibility of all this delay lay squarely on the Republicans and on Governor Carey. He was highly indignant at the attitude of the Woman’s Party and their Press campaign. Nevertheless, he said that the Governor was going to call a special session at once.

It was necessary to bring extra political pressure to bear, so long as Governor Carey’s request for a special session put it up to the members of the Legislature, themselves, whether 433they would attend that session. Anita Pollitzer went to the Capitol and got the political line-up from the political leaders. They divided the State into districts for her and told her who were the political bellwethers of each district. With this information, Miss Pollitzer went to Dr. Simeon Fess, Chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee. Dr. Fess sent strong telegrams to every one of the Republican State leaders asking them to round up the legislators of their district, to see that they agreed to go to the special session at their own expense; asked them for a reply; told them he would wire again if a reply was not received.

On January 27, both Houses of the Wyoming Legislature ratified unanimously.

The Governor of Nevada, a Democrat, had refused to call a special session for many months because he was afraid that other measures besides Suffrage would be brought up; but after a long pressure brought upon him by the national Democratic leaders, he was induced to call the session. Nevada ratified February 7.

The next State in the ratification line was New Jersey, and New Jersey gave the Woman’s Party a terrific fight. Mrs. J. A. H. Hopkins, State Chairman, realized that with both the Republican and Democratic bosses opposed to Suffrage, New Jersey would never ratify unless the Woman’s Party made it a matter of the greatest political importance to the majority Party—the Republican Party. She engineered the fight, assisted by Betty Gram and Catherine Flanagan.

In Washington, Alice Paul sent Anita Pollitzer to Frank Barrow, Secretary to Congressman Mondell, who had assisted the Woman’s Party so signally in the Wyoming campaign, and asked him to go to New Jersey. “But I could speak with no authority,” he said, “and Mr. Mondell will need me here.” Anita Pollitzer told him that the Woman’s Party would attend to all those matters. She then went again to Dr. Fess, Chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, and told him that they were likely to lose New Jersey unless somebody was immediately sent from the Congressional 434Committee to assist. At once, Dr. Fess wrote a letter to Mr. Barrow authorizing him to go to New Jersey in behalf of the National Republican Congressional Committee. Miss Pollitzer next went to Senator Poindexter, Chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, and told him that the Woman’s Party wanted Mr. Barrow to go to New Jersey; that Dr. Fess had asked him to urge ratification on behalf of the Republican Congressional Committee and that the Woman’s Party wished him in addition to urge on behalf of the Republican Senatorial Committee. Senator Poindexter, thereupon, wrote a letter to Mr. Barrow authorizing him to go to New Jersey in behalf of the ratification of the Suffrage Amendment.

Last of all, Miss Pollitzer went to Congressman Mondell and broke the news to him that the Woman’s Party would like to commandeer his Secretary to go to New Jersey for as long a time as necessary, to work among Republicans for the ratification of Suffrage. Following an entirely natural impulse, Mr. Mondell said, “I am vitally interested in Suffrage, but I must say I need my own secretary in Washington!” Miss Pollitzer of course represented to him how much it meant to the National Woman’s Party to have Mr. Barrow go—that it would take at the most only a week out of his work; and that it might mean several years out of the lives of the women, if the Republicans allowed New Jersey to fail in ratification. She added that the responsibility was on him and got up to leave. Mr. Mondell said, “Tell Mr. Barrow to be in his office in ten minutes, as I shall want to see him there.” Fifteen minutes later, Miss Pollitzer called on Mr. Barrow, who told her that Mr. Mondell had asked him to go to New Jersey. In a letter to Miss Paul, Mr. Barrow listed the obstacles which he found in the way in the big New Jersey battle:

1. The last Republican State platform on which members of the legislature were elected, declared for a referendum.

2. The Republican State Chairman was an open and avowed anti-Suffragist.

4353. The biggest Republican boss in N. J. was actively hostile to the Suffrage movement.

4. The biggest Democratic boss of N. J. was actively hostile to the Suffrage movement.

5. The tremendous political influence exerted through the liquor interests was actively and openly working against them.

New Jersey ratified on February 10.

In regard to the New Jersey campaign, Betty Gram has a vivacious article in the Suffragist on March, 1920.

She says:

Miracles happen sometimes—but the ratification of the Suffrage Amendment on February 10th by the New Jersey Legislature was not the result of a miracle.

Every organizer of the Woman’s Party who had worked in the State whispered in my ear, “Don’t try New Jersey—it will never ratify.” It was therefore with reluctance that at the bidding of Miss Paul and Mrs. J. A. H. Hopkins, New Jersey State Chairman, I invaded the territory of the enemy and went to Trenton, where on September 30th both the Republican and Democratic State platform committees were sitting.

Despite all our efforts the Republicans that day in open convention under the leadership of Republican State Chairman Edward Caspar Stokes, declared in favor of a referendum, though each individual who had given a pledge to his constituents to support the Suffrage Amendment was left free to do so.

In significant contrast to this, the Democrats, holding convention just across the street, declared for immediate ratification. This was done upon the persistent demand of the Democratic candidate for governor, Edward I. Edwards, at the probable cost of the support of the most influential Democratic boss in the State, James R. Nugent, who in open convention fought the issue bitterly and pledged his twelve Essex County Assembly candidates against immediate ratification. They ran on that issue.

We watched the election returns on November 4th with acute anxiety. It was a critical point, for we had much to gain and everything to lose. The decision brought joy in one respect. Edwards, a Suffrage governor, was victorious, but alas! the result showed that the Republicans, who had adopted the referendum plank in their platform, had carried the Legislature. They had a majority in the Senate of fifteen to six and in the Assembly 436of thirty-three to twenty-seven—and among the twenty-seven Democratic members were the twelve Nugent men from Essex.

We had only a fighting chance at best—but we set about the task resolutely. As usual, the first duty was to obtain an authentic report of the position of each newly elected man. We had secured pre-primary pledges from the fifteen Edwards Democrats, as well as a few from some staunch Suffragists on the Republican side, but only a very few, for not only was their State Chairman opposed, but the Republican boss of South Jersey—former Senator Davis Baird, whom we knew would fight us to the end—through his tremendous influence.

In a few days our poll was completed. The Senate showed a bare but safe majority of one, for there we needed eleven votes. In the House our poll was much less encouraging. We needed thirty-one votes out of sixty—and we could count only twenty-five positive yeas. Where and how to get the six more supporters out of a Republican opposition was the bewildering—almost stupefying question. Political pressure—both national and local—was the one way out. The time had passed for meetings at which to arouse sentiment of constituents—only pressure of the most intimate nature would move a vote to our side.

We first set about to choose our leaders in the respective houses. We wanted wide-awake, active militants—parliamentarians who would not demand the assurance of the usual excess number of votes before moving; men who would take up the fight eagerly, revel in the chance of victory, and with odds against them enter enthusiastically into a neck to neck race.

At a dinner given by the National Woman’s Party at Newark on December 10th we accomplished our purpose—Senator Wm. B. MacKay, Republican, made an impassioned speech, publicly accepting the responsibility of leading our forces in the upper House. At this same dinner the newly chosen speaker-elect of the Assembly, W. Irving Glover, Republican, pledged his unequivocal support and straightforwardly stated that he would do all in his power to bring New Jersey into the line of ratified States. The happiest moment of the evening arrived when Republican majority leader of the House, Harry Hershfield, made known his position on the Suffrage issue and expressed his desire that New Jersey ratify. Great applause greeted his words that the backbone of opposition had been broken and that he anticipated victory and would exert every influence to that end. The day after the dinner, Mr. Hershfield permitted to be given out from our Headquarters a statement declaring that he would lead the fight in the House.

437The next day I went to Washington. The interest of the two United States Senators from New Jersey as well as the Congressmen had to be recruited. Soon letters and telegrams were pouring into the State from Washington. The resolution passed unanimously by the Republican National Committee in Washington on December 10th did much to strengthen our position and before long the importance of the issue from a national standpoint began to dawn on the vision of some New Jersey Republicans.

The situation took on a more hopeful aspect—a few finishing touches only were needed—but just whose magic touch to summon was the problem.

We were at a standstill. Two votes were still needed to reach the required thirty-one. Then something happened.

Inauguration day came and with it the tactical error of the opposition which acted as a boomerang and assured the House majority leader his position as head of his party. It gave into our hands the strategic parliamentary advantage—which we had coveted and desired for so long. An unexpected resolution calling for a referendum on all constitutional amendments, including pending ones, wedged in among routine measures, was surreptitiously introduced on Inauguration Day by Assemblyman Coles of Camden and by a viva voce vote passed before more than fifteen members knew what had happened. Twelve Nugent men from Essex and three Baird men from Camden were responsible for the railroading through of this resolution. This act of course was a planned and deliberately malicious thrust at Suffrage.

The House adjourned and the anti-Suffragists believe they had scored a point. The reckoning came later. Editorials appeared in papers all over the State denouncing such methods. On the following Monday the House reconsidered the Coles’ resolution with a vote of forty-four to thirteen—and we proceeded with our fight. The ratification resolution was introduced immediately after and sent to the Federal Relations Committee, which was favorable to our measure—four to one. The referendum resolution had gone to the same committee.

Then the problem came of getting our resolution reported out first. We did not have a sufficient number of votes to hazard the chance of having the referendum resolution considered before ours, though some of our supporters preferred this procedure. A conference of leaders was called, to which I summoned Miss Paul, for the political leaders had had little comparative experience 438in handling constitutional amendments, while she had sponsored ratification in two dozen States.

A hearing before the committee was held on February 2nd. Our State Chairman, Mrs. Hopkins, and United States Senator Selden Spencer of Missouri, who came from Washington, made splendid appeals for Suffrage. That evening our resolution passed the Senate eighteen to two as a result of the Republicans having caucused in its support, after an appeal had been made to them to do so by Senator Spencer. There was no dissenting Democratic vote in the upper House. That same evening the House rejected the minority report of the Committee and accepted the favorable majority report on our measure. It was voted to a second reading and made the first order of business for Monday evening, February 9th.

That same week influenza seized various members of the Legislature and four of our most ardent supporters were ill. Their absence meant defeat. Every day we anxiously inquired after their welfare. For a time it seemed we would never have our thirty-one yeas together.

The day before the vote the National Republican Senatorial and Congressional committees sent a representative, Mr. Frank Barrow, from Washington to our aid. He worked with the doubtful Republican members.

At last the long looked-for moment arrived. At eight o’clock on Monday evening the Legislature which was either to reject or accept the ratification resolution convened.

The fight began with opposing men as aggressors and soon one resolution after another was being rushed to the speaker’s desk as a subterfuge of delay. Roll calls were asked on each and every occasion, and as we strained our ears for the yeas and nays we received each time a shock at the transference of a vote. A roll call to postpone lacked only one of the necessary thirty-one votes.

Debate lasted until one o’clock Tuesday morning—five hours of continuous fiery combat—and then a motion to move the previous question fell like a pall on the troubled assembly. With trembling, tired hands we turned to our last spotless roll call and began to mark the records of men on the sands of time. Clear and decisive came the yeas—inaudible and slow came the nays, and after them all the called, “Joint resolution number one adopted—thirty-four to twenty-four.”

Silence followed for long seconds and then the wild, almost hysteric cheers of women reverberated through the halls. Never had there been such a demonstration of joy in the New Jersey 439Capitol and out of the galleries poured countless smiling women—bearing banners of victory, to take their places among the liberated peoples.

Idaho, which ratified on February 11; Arizona on February 12; New Mexico on February 19; Oklahoma on February 27 did so only after a struggle, but their cases were special only in detail.

In the meantime, there had been two January defeats, Mississippi and South Carolina; two February defeats, Virginia for the second time, and Maryland.

West Virginia, which came into the fold on March 10, presents to ratification another dramatic story. I quote an article by Mary Dubrow, in the April Suffragist.

They are all true—the old adages about pride and falls, boasters who forget to rap on wood, chickens and hatchings—West Virginia proved it.

Last August the card catalogue files carefully compiled by Maud Younger, Legislative Chairman of the Woman’s Party, showed an overwhelming majority for ratification in the West Virginia legislature. To check up on this poll, a member of the Legislature took another and discovered the same overwhelming majority. Our National Headquarters kept in touch with the situation until the special session was called.

The West Virginia delegation in Congress, the Democratic governor of the State, and the Republican National Committee-man, all alike expressed certainty of ratification.

As I left for West Virginia I confided to every one I met how happy I was to go to a State which would probably ratify unanimously, and every leading citizen I interviewed for the first four days confirmed my expectation.

Then the legislators began to assemble at the Kanawha Hotel, the political center of Charleston. I had their written pledges and I approached them more to exchange pleasant anticipations of victory than for any other purpose, and my fall began—a gradual inch-by-inch fall. The first man I met said: “Well, I haven’t been here very long and I don’t know just how I will vote. You see our great State voted Suffrage down by a majority of——” And the second man said the same thing, and the third repeated the remark.

Then the splendid men who were leading our fight and who were standing staunch came to me with appalling reports of the 440wavering of this one and that one. It was an opposition stampede—nothing less.

I hurriedly told the Washington Headquarters the situation and the National Republican Senatorial Committee was prevailed upon to send a representative, Mr. Frank Barrow, t............