The History of Woman Suffrage Volume V Part 62

The entire Resolutions Committee met in the evening of the 15th 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 committeemen became wide awake and their voices rose till they could be heard in the corridors and out into the street. The unqualified endors.e.m.e.nt of woman suffrage asked for by the National a.s.sociation was defeated by a vote of 24 to 20.

The approval of the Federal Amendment asked for by the National 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 prepared 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 Governor Stanley of Kentucky, in opposition.

The Resolutions Committee adjourned at 7:15 a.m. and the convention opened at 11. 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 Senators 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 Ferguson was given thirty minutes to present the minority report, 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 again he was 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 expediency and pointed out that the minority report was signed by only four of the fifty members of the Resolutions Committee. Attempts were made to howl him down and in the midst of the turmoil a terrific storm broke and flashes of lightning and roars of thunder 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 President Wilson knows of this plank and deems it imperative to his success in November that it be inserted in the platform." The plank, which was adopted by a viva voce vote read as follows: "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 a.s.sociation, 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 Democratic convention today with regard to your att.i.tude 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 frankness. 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 Democratic plank was to be considered a distinct approval of the suffrage 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 endors.e.m.e.nt 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, Democratic, Progressive, Prohibitionist and Socialist. The Progressive party made its declaration stronger than at its national convention 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 parties would help in a practical way to a.s.sist 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 pa.s.sed 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 Const.i.tution. 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 demand. 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 Committees 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 1 to the Republican Governors and legislators of Delaware, Connecticut and Vermont the following appeal to ratify the Federal Amendment so that the Republican party might have the credit of a.s.sisting women to win their final battle and thus gain their grat.i.tude and allegiance:

Whereas, The Republican National Committee at its regular meetings has repeatedly endorsed woman suffrage and the 19th Amendment to the Const.i.tution of the United States, and has called upon the Congress to submit and the States to ratify such amendment; and, whereas, it still lacks ratification by a sufficient number of States to become a law, therefore be it

Resolved, by the Republican National Committee that the 19th Amendment be and the same is hereby again endorsed by this committee, and such Republican States as have not already done so are now urged to take such action by their Governors and Legislatures as will a.s.sure its ratification and establish the right of equal suffrage at the earliest possible time.

When the Republican National Convention met in Chicago June 8-12 the Resolutions Committee received the following memorial:

The National American Woman Suffrage a.s.sociation asks permission to place on record with the National Republican Convention its appreciation of the resolution of the National Republican Executive Committee on June 1.... 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 significance, this a.s.sociation 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 responsibility, 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 be 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 a.s.surance 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 a.s.sociation 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 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 const.i.tuted a committee to present this plank to the Resolutions Committee of which Senator James E. Watson (Ind.) was chairman. Miss Hay made the princ.i.p.al speech and Mrs.

Gellhorn 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 partic.i.p.ation 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 Legislatures for the purpose of ratifying said amendment, to the end that all the women of the nation of voting age may partic.i.p.ate 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 Governor, 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 partic.i.p.ate 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 asked for a woman vice-chairman of the National Republican Committee and for men and women to be represented on it in equal numbers. The Committee on Rules, responding to this demand, changed the rules for representation and provided that seven members be added to the National Executive Committee, all to be women. With this concession the women had to be content.

The Democratic National Convention met in San Francisco June 28-July 5. Prior to the convention the National Committee had yielded to the pressure from the suffrage leaders and Democratic 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 Const.i.tutional Amendment is pa.s.sed 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 urgency of an immediate meeting of your State Legislature for the purpose of ratifying the proposed 19th Amendment to the Federal Const.i.tution. 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 a.s.sociation appointed Mrs.

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 pa.s.sage 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 Republican 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 a.s.sembled, urge the cooperation of Democratic 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 partic.i.p.ate in the approaching elections."

The National Woman's Party through Mrs. Abby Scott Baker, its publicity chairman, presented a plank through U. S. Senator Carter Gla.s.s of the Resolutions Committee, which read: "The Democratic Party endorses the proposed amendment to the U. S. Const.i.tution 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 endorse the proposed 19th Amendment of the Const.i.tution of the United States granting equal suffrage to women. We congratulate the Legislatures of 35 States which have already ratified said amendment and we urge the Democratic Governors and Legislatures 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 partic.i.p.ate 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 s.e.x 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 endors.e.m.e.nt by all of them in 1920.

FOOTNOTES:

[147] The History is indebted for this chapter to Miss Mary Garrett Hay, second vice-president of the National American Woman Suffrage a.s.sociation.

[148] 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.

[149] One evening during the convention the Maryland suffragists, reinforced by others from surrounding cities, had a long and handsomely equipped parade.

CHAPTER XXIV.

WAR SERVICE OF ORGANIZED SUFFRAGISTS.[150]

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 organization 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 examined under two headings: 1. War Service of the National American Woman Suffrage a.s.sociation; 2. War Service of suffragists 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 a.s.sociation, 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 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 circ.u.mstances postponed or even averted.

"If the worst comes, very serious problems confront us. Our suffrage work would unquestionably come to a temporary standstill. 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 connected with any particular movement are calling meetings in order to pa.s.s pointless resolutions of the promised service of women if required. The big question presents itself, shall suffragists 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 headquarters 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 unprecedented condition, the majority of the National Board avails itself of the provision of the const.i.tution 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 ent.i.tled 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 Congressional Chairmen also to this meeting...."

It was, therefore, for the Executive Council to decide what the a.s.sociation could best do to help the Government in case of war. The summons came as no surprise to the members of the National a.s.sociation, since for many months their eyes had been 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 a.s.sociation 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, remarkable 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 "conscientious objectors" to come forward and record their names as dissenting. Almost all who did so stated that they believed women should give their a.s.sistance in case of war but they feared that an offer of help to the Government made in advance might tend 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 a.s.sociation should now abandon its unbroken custom of not partic.i.p.ating in any matters except those relating directly to woman suffrage and that in view of the national emergency it should offer its a.s.sistance 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 a.s.sociation had auxiliaries, it might be considered as expressing an almost nation-wide conviction among the members of the a.s.sociation. On February 24 the conference issued the following Note:

"To the President and Government of the United States:

"We devoutly hope and pray that our country's crisis may be pa.s.sed without recourse to war. We declare our belief that the settlement of international difficulties by bloodshed is unworthy of the 20th Century, and also our confidence that our Government is using every honorable means to avoid conflict. If, 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 womanhood 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 application of this suggestion our a.s.sociation declares its willingness 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 planning systematic courses for women to accomplish these purposes. The cultivation by women of garden plots and vacant lots in cities will be encouraged at the same time that the larger importance of regular farming is urged.