the new—the sixty-fourth—congress did not meet until december in 1915. this is the first and only summer in president wilson’s administration in which congress was not in session. normally, congress meets every other summer, but president wilson has called three special sessions in the alternate years. in consequence, that year in washington is less full than others with work with congress or the president. in the meantime, however, the congressional union did not permit the people of the united states to forget the suffrage fight.
alice paul now felt that it was necessary to swing in the support of the country back of the suffrage demand for the federal amendment. she felt that this could only be accomplished by a nation-wide organization which, dissipating no energy in state work, would focus on congress.
at a meeting of the advisory council in new york city on wednesday, march 31, she outlined plans for the coming year. she said in part:
we want to organize in every state in the union. we will begin this by holding in each state a convention on the same lines as this conference, at which we will explain our purposes, our plans, and our ideals. at each of these conferences, the members will select a state chairman, who will appoint a chairman of each of the congressional constituencies in her state. each convention will also adopt a plan of state organization, suited to the needs of their locality. each convention too will send representatives to a culminating convention of women voters, to be held at san francisco during the course of the panama-pacific exposition, on september 14th, 15th, and 16th. at this first convention of women voters to be held on their own 100territory in behalf of the national suffrage amendment, delegates will be appointed to go to washington, d. c., the week congress opens, to lay before their representatives and the leaders of the majority party in congress, the demand of women voters for the national enfranchisement of women. during the opening week in congress, too, the pageant on the life of susan b. anthony, along the lines which hazel mackaye has just outlined to you, will be given. we want to make woman suffrage the dominant political issue from the moment congress reconvenes. we want to have congress open in the midst of a veritable suffrage cyclone.
during the sixty-third congress, we have been able, with very little organized support, to force action on the federal suffrage amendment. when we have an active body of members in every state in the union uniting in this demand, i believe that we will be able to get our amendment passed.
the organization of the various state conventions progressed rapidly from week to week. an incredible amount of work was done—and done with the swift, broad, slashing strokes which always characterized the congressional union work. this, of course, brought the congressional union into prominence everywhere; but the eye of the country was held by a new type of demonstration which, following her genius for picturesque publicity, alice paul immediately began to produce. the stage was the entire united states of america, and the leading woman in the—one would almost call it a pageant—was sara bard field of california. the prologue opened at the panama-pacific exposition of 1915.
through mrs. kent an exhibit booth for the congressional union for woman suffrage was secured in the educational building at the panama-pacific exposition. the record of the sixty-third congress was exhibited there, and the people in charge invited detailed inspection from visitors. all american visitors were asked to look up the record of their congressman, to discover how he voted on the suffrage amendment: they were asked to sign the monster petition to congress. this booth, always decorated with purple, white, and gold, was to become during the year the scene of meeting 101after meeting; all characterized by the picturesqueness which would inevitably emerge from a combination of the congressional union with california.
sara bard field, in the suffragist of september 11, thus describes it:
a world passes by. it looks reverently at the firmly-sweet face of susan b. anthony, whose portrait hangs upon the wall. it scans the record of the vote of the sixty-third congress.... it peers with curious smiles at the brief array of lady dolls which mutely proclaim the voting and non-voting states for women, and the forces which prevent suffrage....
the first california conference of the congressional union was held in san francisco june 1 and 2. every part of the state and every political party was represented at the gathering. florence kelley, national secretary of the consumers’ league, appealed to the women of the west for aid in the battle of eastern women for suffrage in the following eloquent words:
i come from a state in which women have been trying to get suffrage for twenty-seven years. we are forced to come to you women of california and ask you to stand behind us; and we are thankful that california has re-enlisted for suffrage. women in california have talked to me about the ease with which they won suffrage, and praise their men-folk. i would like to say there was nothing the matter with my father. he was a suffragist. there is nothing the matter with our men in the state of new york. our trouble is with the steerage. they inundate our shores year after year. we slowly assimilate and convert; but each year there is the same work to do over—the same battle with ignorance and foreign ideas of freedom and the “place of woman.”
mrs. kelley gave instance after instance of the humiliation to which women working on the new york suffrage petition had been put by naturalized foreign residents. she pointed out the curious, paradoxical inconsistency of granting foreigners the vote, and yet denying it to american women.
102she described with a real dramatic effect the incident of the president’s trip to philadelphia, when he welcomed a great army of naturalized immigrants, and denied a hearing to american women.
“there are some of our men,” she commented, “the mechanics of whose minds we do not understand. george washington, you may remember, in woodrow wilson’s history of the united states, had no mother.”
mrs. kelley told of the battle women, themselves sworn to enforce the law, have to fight if they are without the ballot. she went into her experiences as a voteless citizen of illinois, when she was a factory inspector there.
eastern women have been degraded by sixty-eight years of beggary. they have begged of the steerage; they have begged of politicians; now they find it possible to come west and ask the co-operation of their own sisters. but i come to you with a nobler argument when i ask you to support the work of the congressional union for woman suffrage. do not do it for us, even though we have borne the rigor and heat of the day in the long fight for enfranchisement. do it for the children of the future: let them come into a noble heritage through us.
the climax of this conference came the final day when, at the inside inn ball-room of the exposition, the representatives of the eleven enfranchised states, the territory of alaska and in addition the enfranchised nations, meeting on the same platform, told what freedom for women had accomplished in their nations and states. the great ball-room was decorated with purple, white, and gold banners of the union, and massed with golden acacia. many of the women representatives wore the costumes of their native land. mayi maki, a finnish girl typically blonde, in the striking peasant costume of finland, spoke. mrs. chem chi, a chinese woman, in the no less striking costume of china, spoke. representatives of new zealand, the isle of man, norway, iceland, and denmark spoke.
the congressional union celebrated bunker hill day, 103june 17, by another charming occasion. it dedicated to the massachusetts exhibit a miniature reproduction of bunker hill monument, thrown into relief by a black-velvet background, which bore the history of the notable women of the state.
it was a brilliant day, sunny and clear. the massachusetts building, a facsimile of the noble state house of boston, situated between the gorgeous bay of san francisco and the iridescent marin shore on the one hand, and the long line of orientally colored exposition buildings on the other, was decorated for the occasion with the red, white, and blue of the national flag, and the white of the great state flag.
a procession of suffragists, headed by gail laughlin, wearing the purple, white, and gold regalia, and escorted by a special military band, marched behind a large purple, white, and gold flag, and between an avenue of purple, white, and gold flags up to the massachusetts building, where they were confronted by a great banner, bearing the words of the susan b. anthony amendment.
gail laughlin, who was educated in massachusetts, said in part:
there were pilgrim mothers in those days, as well as pilgrim fathers, though they were singularly absent from history. you will find nothing of them in the schoolbooks; you have to go to the sources from which histories are made. then mary warren, advisor of knox and adams and jefferson; and hannah winthrop and abigail adams begin to stand out beside the men who are said to have made the history of that time. was it not abigail adams who wrote to her husband at the continental congress when the very document we women are now striving to change was drawn up: “if you do not free the women of the nation, there will be another revolution.” i consider abigail adams the first member of the congressional union for woman suffrage.
there was julia ward howe, the author of the battle hymn of the republic, and harriet beecher stowe, who so largely helped in the freeing of the slaves; and lucy stone, that staunch abolitionist and suffragist—all closely linked with massachusetts’ 104great history. it was lucy stone who, when protest was made that she injected “too much suffrage” into her abolitionist speeches, declared, “i was a woman before i was an abolitionist.”
later, at a mass-meeting of the congressional union, maud younger, who, in washington, was to become so steadfast a worker for the congressional union, spoke. maud younger is one of the most picturesque of the many picturesque figures among the native daughters of california: a student of economic conditions; a feminist; much traveled; an ex-president of the waitresses’ union; her life is as inextricably mixed with the labor and suffrage history of california as later it was bound with the woman’s party. on this occasion, she said:
the burden of the women of the unenfranchised states, their struggles, is ours more than it ever was; our freedom is not our own while they are unenfranchised. i realized in the east that we women can spend a lifetime for suffrage, if we continue to work state by state only. do you realize that, since we won our vote in california, ohio has been twice defeated, and michigan twice defeated?... i heard frank p. walsh, chairman of the industrial railways commission, say in washington: “the ballot for women will only come through the persistent and unremitting effort of the women in the free states.”
maud younger was followed by andrew gallagher, equally important, and equally as picturesque a figure among the native sons of california. mr. gallagher is an ex-champion amateur heavyweight of the pacific coast; a labor leader; a power in california politics. he said in part:
in those days when suffrage hopes were dark in california, labor stood by women; as we stood for state suffrage, so now we stand for national suffrage. if labor can help to bring about the passage of the national woman suffrage amendment, then labor will put its shoulder to the wheel, and do all in its power to force its adoption.
105the political convention of woman voters held in san francisco in september at the panama-pacific exposition, carried out all these traditions of picturesqueness. mrs. o. h. p. belmont opened the convention. mrs. fremont older, the novelist, spoke. dr. yami kin, the first woman physician in china—bringing to the event a picturesque touch of internationalism by wearing a pale blue brocaded mandarin coat—spoke in excellent english. mme. ali kuli khan, the wife of the persian minister, and mme. maria montessori, the famous italian physician and educator, also spoke.
mrs. belmont said:
we women of the north, of the south and of the east, branded on account of sex, disfranchised as criminals and imbeciles, come to the glorious west, where the broad vision of its men has seen justice.
mrs. older said:
i thought that woman suffrage was like utopia; when women were good enough to vote, the men would give it to them; but i have learned that utopias are not given away; they must be fought for.
dr. yami kin said:
all countries look to north and west for inspiration and help in their march toward freedom.
mme. montessori said:
we have watched individual states in your country give justice to women, one by one. now we are waiting for the united states to declare its women free.
the convention passed resolutions calling upon the sixty-fourth congress to vote for the susan b. anthony amendment. sara bard field and frances joliffe were selected as envoys to carry the resolution across the country 106to congress. a plan was made for the envoys to travel slowly eastward, holding meetings and collecting signatures to the petition; arriving in washington the day congress assembled. mabel vernon acted as advance guard for this expedition and was more responsible than anybody else for its success.
the final ceremony of the convention took place in the court of abundance on the night of the day which had been designated by the directors of the exposition as the congressional union for woman suffrage day. on that evening, mr. m. h. deyoung, on behalf of the directors of the exposition, presented mrs. belmont for the congressional union with a bronze medal in recognition of the work of the congressional union. ten thousand people gathered there to witness it. they listened rapt to the speeches, and then—lighting their way by thousands of golden lanterns—accompanied the envoys to the gates.
the national suffrage edition of the san francisco bulletin, edited by mrs. o. h. p. belmont, assisted by doris stevens as city editor, mrs. john jay white as art editor and alice paul as telegraph editor, charmingly described the scene:
the great place was softly and naturally lit except for the giant tower gate flaming aloft in the white light, which focussed on it as on some brilliant altar. far below, like a brilliant flower bed, filling the terraced side from end to end, glowed the huge chorus of women, which was one of the features of the evening. those at the top—hardly women—were the girls of the oriental school, from midget size up, in quaintly colorful native costumes. in the foreground were the finnish, swedish, and norwegian girls in their peasant costumes, and, stretching the length of the stage, like a great living flag of the congressional union, were massed union members in surplices of the organization colors. the effect was one of exotic brilliancy.
back of the stage, curtaining the great arch, fluttered the red, white, and blue emblem of the nation that women have sacrificed as much to upbuild as the men; but significantly waving with the stars and stripes hung the great suffrage banner, that ringingly declared: we demand an amendment to the 107constitution of the united states enfranchising women. and the great crowd in the court joined in the swelling song that another band of women across the sea, fighting for liberty, had originated. every one was catching the words:
“shout, shout, up with your song!
cry with the wind, for the dawn is breaking.
march, march, swing you along,
wide blow our banners, and hope is waking.”
and then came the envoys, delegated by women voters to carry the torch of liberty through the dark lands and keep it burning. and the dark mass below the lighted altar-tower caught the choristers’ spirit, and burst into cheers.
the chorus also sang the song of the free women, written by sara bard field to the music of the marseillaise.
the envoys spoke. their words were greeted with cheers. one of the nation’s greatest actresses, margaret anglin, said a few fitting farewell words to them in the name of the women of the world.
then, all at once, the great, brightly-colored picture and its dark background began to disintegrate and fade. the court darkened, but bright masses of women were forming in procession to escort the envoys to the gates of the exposition. orange lanterns swayed in the breeze; purple, white, and gold draperies fluttered, the blare of the band burst forth, and the great surging crowd followed to the gates.
there, ingeborg kindstedt and maria kindberg, of providence, rhode island, who had purchased the car that is to take the crusaders on their long journey, met the procession. the overland car was covered with suffrage streamers. miss kindberg was at the wheel. to the wild cheering of the crowd, miss joliffe and mrs. field, the two envoys for washington, were seated. the crowd surged close with final messages. cheers burst forth as the gates opened, and the big car swung through, ending the most dramatic and significant suffrage convention that has probably ever been held in the history of the world.
and so alice paul’s stupendous pageant—whose stage was the entire united states—opened.
the petition which the envoys were to carry across the country to washington was, even when it left california, 108the largest ever signed in one place. it was 18,333 feet long, and contained 500,000 names.
very soon after the envoys started, president wilson made his first declaration for suffrage. he also went to new jersey and voted for it.
frances joliffe was called back to california by illness in her family at the beginning of the journey. sara bard field, therefore, continued alone across the continent with her two swedish convoys. it was a remarkable trip, filled with unexpected adventure. a long procession of mayors and governors welcomed mrs. field in her nation-wide journey. everywhere she advertised the democratic record in congress. one of the early mishaps was to get lost in the desert of utah. they wandered about for a whole day, and regained the highway in time to arrive in salt lake city at five o’clock in the afternoon. later in kansas came a more serious mishap. but let mrs. field speak for herself. no better picture can be given of her picturesque journey than her own reports, published from time to time in the suffragist.
from fallon, nevada, mrs. field wrote:
here we are in the heart of nevada’s desert, having traveled already over three hundred and eighty miles of every kind of country—meadow land, green, luxurious ranches, rolling hill country, steep mountain grades, the grass lands of the sierras, and now through the bare but beautiful desert.
we reached reno at midnight on sunday after a vision of the sublime chaos of the sierras at night.
at night, from a car flying the congressional union colors and the amendment banner, miss martin and i spoke in the streets of reno. the crowd listened with close attention, and pressed closely about the car to sign the petition.
at noon today, we left reno for the most trying and perilous part of our journey. we are traveling across some six hundred miles of barren land known as the “great american desert.” our next destination is salt lake city.
from salt lake city, mrs. field wrote:
109the state capitol, where each meeting was held, stands on a hill. the world is at its feet. the mountains wall the entire city.... while the earth was glowing in the light of a flaming sunset, and the mountains about stood like everlasting witnesses, representative howell of utah pledged his full and unqualified support to the susan b. anthony amendment in the coming session of congress.
at colorado springs, their reception was almost a pageant. marching to music, a procession of women clad in purple, white, and gold surplices and carrying banners, accompanied the suffrage car to the city hall where they sang the march of the women and the song of the free women. the mayor of colorado springs greeted them with a welcoming speech.
in the bogs of southern kansas, the suffrage car had an adventure. the suffragist says:
pulling into hutchinson on monday evening over muddy roads, the car plunged suddenly into a deep hole filled with water. the body of the flier was almost submerged. the petitioners, fearing to step out of the car, sat and called “help!” into the darkness of the night until their voices were hoarse. no response came from the apparently deserted country. but they knew there was a farmhouse about a mile back. so sara bard field, little but brave, slipped away from her place on the back seat; before her companions knew it, was almost up to her waist in slimy mud. hardly able to pull one foot out of the mud to plant it ahead of the other, she finally, after a two hours’ struggle, reached the ranch, where the farmer and his son were roused from their sleep (for it was now midnight) and told of the women’s plight. in a little while, horses were harnessed and a rescue party was on its way; but not until three o’clock did the women start toward hutchinson tired and wet, and covered with mud.
in kansas city, missouri, the suffragists, accompanied by a procession of automobiles, impressively long, called first on mayor jost and then on senator reed. the difference between suffrage and non-suffrage states became immediately evident from mayor jost’s attitude; for, while he bade the envoys welcome, he declined to state his own convictions 110on the purposes of their journey. there was no doubt about senator reed’s conviction. he had voted against the suffrage measure in the last session. the women made speeches. in answer, senator reed spoke several sentences in such a low and indistinct manner that no one in the crowd that overflowed his office could understand him, and a man in the delegation called out, “you need say only one word, senator.” there were more speeches from the women, and, when senator reed saw that something must be said, he finally declared he “would take the matter into consideration.”
mrs. field writing of missouri, said:
“in the enemy’s country,”—that is what the newspapers said of our arrival in missouri, the first non-suffrage state we reached. such kind, genial, hospitable “enemies.” i wish all enemies were of their disposition. for a whole day and night, kansas city, missouri, was alive with suffrage enthusiasm; great crowds attended our advent everywhere. we never spoke that whole day, from our noon meeting on the city hall steps until the last late street meeting at night, but we had more people to talk to than our voices could reach. as our auto procession passed down the street, crowds gathered to see it; and the windows of every business house and office building were lined with kindly faces. often, there was applause and cheers; when these were lacking, there was a peculiar sort of earnest curiosity. and, oh the suffragists! i wish that every western voting woman who is making a sacrificial effort at all for national suffrage could have seen those grateful women. “the greatest day for suffrage kansas has ever seen,” said some of the older suffrage workers: “how good of the western women to come to our aid!” at the city club meeting, which was packed, mr. frank p. walsh predicted national suffrage in 1916. there was good fellowship over a suffrage dinner, and earnest street meetings afterwards; gravely interested crowds attended, and the newspapers gave large space. the whole city talked national suffrage for at least two days.
at topeka occurred another adventure. a great crowd awaited the suffrage automobile for two hours. but sixty miles away, afflicted with tire trouble and engine difficulties, 111the car stood stationary for those two hours. and all the time, the valiant mabel vernon talked, hoping against hope that the arrival of the car would interrupt her speech. she says that in those two hours she talked everything she ever knew, guessed, hoped, or wished for suffrage.
the chicago reception was unusually picturesque. enthusiasm was heightened by the fact that the women voters were holding a convention there, and they added their welcome to that of the city.
at eleven o’clock in the morning, fifty automobiles, flying the suffrage colors, and filled with suffrage workers from all organizations, met mrs. field at her hotel. then the long line of cars escorted by mounted officers, passed through the crowded streets to the art museum on the wide michigan boulevard. here was a stage equal in impressiveness, although of quite a different kind, to that of the court of abundance, which saw the envoys depart down their nation-wide trail. back of them was the great silver-gray lake; in front of them, the long line of monolithic chicago skyscrapers, grim and weather-blackened; and on both sides the wide expanses of the boulevard. the suffrage women, a mass of brilliant color, covered the steps of the museum. at the top a chorus of a hundred women grouped about the band. from the bronze standard in the center of the steps hung the amendment banner. and in their midst, like, as somebody has said—“a brown autumn leaf blown from the west”—sara bard field in her simple traveling suit punctuated all that vividness.
mayor thompson said:
speaking for the city of chicago, which i have the honor to represent, i can say that we wish you god-speed and much success in your mission.
he further told mrs. field:
we have watched the growth of the suffrage movement with great interest, and as you know, we have partial suffrage in 112illinois. i hope it will not be long before women have full suffrage here and throughout the nation.
mrs. field replied:
i like mayor thompson’s way of putting it. at kansas city the other day, the mayor quite flustered me with his speech. he said so many things about women—for instance, that woman was a muse that soared; that she was the poetry of our existence; and something about the sun, moon, and stars. then he added that he did not think women should be allowed to vote. i think mayor thompson’s method is much better.
“my recollections yesterday,” mrs. field wrote to the suffragist, “are a confused mass of impressions—music and cheers—throngs of men, women, and children—colors flying in the sunshine, and great crowds surging and pressing about.”
in indianapolis, there gathered to meet the envoys the largest street meeting ever held in indiana in behalf of suffrage. the indianapolis news of november 8 says:
mrs. sara bard field, brown-eyed and slender, saw men gather at the curbing in the shadows of the morton monument, on the state house steps, shortly after noon today—watched them smile as she began her talk for woman suffrage, then saw their faces grow serious as they stepped nearer. then she smiled herself, and her argument poured forth while “old hands” in the state house coterie and machine politicians stood with open mouths and drank in her pleadings.
there is only space for glimpses of this picturesque single pilgrimage from now on to its reception at washington. at detroit, they were welcomed by a glowing evening reception. a long procession of automobiles, decorated with yellow flags, yellow pennants, yellow balloons, and illuminated yellow lanterns, met them on the outskirts of the city, and escorted them to the steps of the county building. here four stone urns foamed with red fire. “the scene was,” one of the papers said, “like pictures of rome in the time of the c?sars....” in cleveland, they held an open-air meeting in the public square in the midst of a whirling 113snowstorm. a drum, a trombone, and a cornet escorted them—with an effect markedly comic—through the echoing corridors of the city hall to the mayor’s office; escorted them, after the official call, onto the street again. in new york came their first real accident. on the way to geneva, the axle broke. the rochester motor companies declared it was impossible to do anything for a day at least; but mrs. field telephoned to the head office at toledo, and a new axle appeared in rochester at seven o’clock in the evening. however, the envoys had to drive through cold and a light fall of snow until half-past one in the morning, in order to make the meeting at syracuse the next day.... in albany, preceded by a musical car which played the battle hymn of the republic, they proceeded to the enormous capitol building, where governor whitman, surrounded by his staff, met them. the governor was amazed that a woman had driven the car all the way from san francisco, and even more amazed at the size of the envoy. “i thought you would be six feet tall,” he said.... at providence, after a rousing welcome in boston—where governor walsh met the envoys, and the enormous crowd which accompanied them, in the beautiful rotunda of the state house—the little car, which now registered nearly five thousand miles of hard travel, was put on the boat, and its occupants brought to new york city. the weather-beaten automobile, bearing the slogan on the front, on to congress!, and on the back, the great demand banner, we demand an amendment to the constitution of the united states enfranchising women, followed one hundred other cars, beautifully decorated with purple ribbons, with gold and white chrysanthemums and with floating golden balloons, blazed—among the jet-black motors and the glossy green busses of fifth avenue—a path of purple and gold. a huge meeting was held in the ball-room at sherry’s at which mrs. o. h. p. belmont, frances joliffe, and florence kelley spoke for the suffragists. sara bard field closed the meeting. the 114tribune said: “a tired little woman in a travel-worn brown suit, she stood in the glitter of sherry’s ball-room, and held out a tired little brown hand.”
“we want to help you, the voting women of the west,” she pleaded; “will you let us?” “the audience,” the suffragist says, “was moved to tears and action: six thousand dollars was contributed to the congressional union.”
the late mayor mitchell telephoned to the meeting his regret that he was unable to be present because of illness; but he received the envoys at his home, and added his name to the petition.
at washington, the envoys were met by an escort, planned and directed for the congressional union by mary austin, the celebrated novelist. it comprised a group of mounted women, representing the eleven states and alaska, in all of which women are enfranchised; another group, representing the thirty-seven unenfranchised states; great numbers of flag and banner bearers, wearing long, purple capes with deep yellow collars and white stoles; hundreds of women carrying purple, white, and gold pennants.
the party started at once for the capitol to the music first of the marseillaise and then of dixie.
there were two picturesque features of the parade. the famous petition itself, bearing five hundred thousand signatures, unrolled to the length of one hundred feet, and carried by twenty bearers, was the focus for all eyes. a replica of the liberty bell, lavishly decorated in purple, white, and gold, and mounted on the same truck which had carried it through the pennsylvania state campaign, of course attracted almost an equal degree of attention.
at the top of the high broad capitol steps senator sutherland of utah and representative mondell, surrounded by a group of senators and representatives, formed a reception committee. to music, sara bard field and frances joliffe marched up the steps followed by the petition bearers and attendants. the envoys made speeches and senator sutherland and representative mondell replied to them.
115from the capitol, the party proceeded to the white house.
president wilson received the envoys in the east room. anne martin introduced sara bard field and frances joliffe.
in closing, miss joliffe said: “help us, mr. president, to a new freedom and a larger liberty.”
sara bard field emphasized that same note:
... and, mr. president, as i am not to have the woman’s privilege of the last word, may i say that i know what your plan has been in the past, that you have said it was a matter for the states. but we have seen that, like all great men, you have changed your mind on other questions. we have watched the change and development of your mind on preparedness, and we honestly believe that circumstances have so altered that you may change your mind in this regard.
mrs. field then requested the president to look at the petition. he advanced, unrolled a portion of it, and examined it with interest.
the president said:
i did not come here anticipating the necessity of making an address of any kind. as you have just heard (and here the president smiled), i hope it is true that i am not a man set stiffly beyond the possibility of learning. i hope that i shall continue to be a learner as long as i live.
i can only say to you this afternoon that nothing could be more impressive than the presentation of such a request in such numbers and backed by such influence as undoubtedly stands behind you. unhappily it is too late for me to consider what is to go into my message, because that went out to the newspapers at least a week ago; and i have a habit—perhaps the habit of the teacher—of confining my utterances to one subject at a time, for fear that two subjects might compete with one another for prominence. i have felt obliged in the present posture of affairs to devote my message to one subject, and am, therefore, sorry to say that it is too late to take under consideration your request that i embody this in my message. all i can say with regard to what you are urging at present is this: i hope i shall always have an open mind, and i shall certainly 116take the greatest pleasure in conferring in the most serious way with my colleagues at the other end of the city with regard to what is the right thing to do at this time concerning this great matter. i am always restrained, as some of you will remember, by the consciousness that i must speak for others as well as for myself as long as i occupy my present office, and, therefore, i do not like to speak for others until i consult others and see what i am justified in saying.
this visit of yours will remain in my mind, not only as a very delightful compliment, but also as a very impressive thing which undoubtedly will make it necessary for all of us to consider very carefully what is right for us to do.
it will be noted that in this speech, the president referred to the “influence” behind the women. he speaks of the “impressive” quality of this demonstration.
from now on the strength of the woman voters became a dominant note in the work with both the president and congress.
on december 12, a great mass-meeting of welcome to the envoys was held in the belasco theatre. forty-five thousand dollars was pledged there for the work with congress.
the sixty-fourth congress convened december 6.
the susan b. anthony amendment, at the request of the congressional union, was introduced in the senate on december 7 by senator sutherland of utah and in the house on december 6 by representative mondell of wyoming. other members introduced the identical measure the same day. in the senate, it was referred to the committee on woman suffrage and in the house to the judiciary committee.
on december 16 occurred a suffrage hearing before the judiciary committee. it will be remembered that this was the first hearing since the congressional union had campaigned against the democratic party. it was one of the most stormy in the history of the congressional union. later a republican congressman referred to it, not 117as the “hearing,” but as the “interruption.” the storm did not break until after two hours in which the speakers of the other suffrage association had been heard, and the following members of the congressional union: mrs. andreas ueland, jennie c. law hardy, florence bayard hilles, mabel vernon, all introduced by alice paul.
at this point, there occurred among the democratic members of the committee a sudden meeting of heads, a disturbed whispering. to informed lookers-on, it became evident that it had just dawned on them that the pale, delicate, slender slip of a girl in a gown of violet silk and a long quakerish white fichu was the power behind all this agitation, that redoubtable alice paul who had waged the campaign of 1914 against them.
as alice paul rose to introduce one of the speakers, mr. taggart of kansas interrogated her. it will be remembered that this was the mr. taggart whose majority had been diminished, by the woman’s party campaign, from three thousand to three hundred.
mr. taggart to miss paul: are you here to report progress in your effort to defeat democratic candidates?
miss paul: we are here to talk about this present congress—this present situation. we are here to ask the judiciary committee to report this bill to the house.
mr. taggart: i take this occasion to say as a member of this committee that if there was any partisan organization made up of men who had attempted to defeat members of this committee, i do not think we would have given them a hearing. and if they had been men, they wouldn’t have asked it.
miss paul: but you hear members of the republican party and of the prohibition party.
mr. webb: they aren’t partisan. (laughter).
mr. taggart, coming back to the attack: you didn’t defeat a single democratic member of congress in a suffrage state.
miss paul, quickly: why, then, are you so stirred up over our campaign? (audible murmur from republican left wing).
mr. webb: i move a recess of this committee for one hour.
after the recess miss paul rose to introduce helen todd of california.
118mr. williams put the following question to her:
miss paul, would you state to me the names of the candidates for congress which your organization opposed in the state of illinois?
miss paul: we conducted our campaign only in the nine states in which women were able to vote for members of congress. in no way did we participate in the campaign in illinois.
miss paul then introduced helen todd. after miss todd had spoken, frances joliffe and sara bard field spoke.
later alice paul said:
in closing the argument before this committee, may i summarize our position? we have come here to ask one simple thing: that the judiciary committee refer this suffrage amendment, known as the susan b. anthony amendment, to the house of representatives. we are simply asking you to do what you can do—that you let the house of representatives decide this question. we have tried to bring people to this hearing from all over the united states to show the desire of women that this should be done.
i want to emphasize just one point, in addition, that we are absolutely non-partisan. we are made up of women who are strong democrats, women who are strong republicans, women who are socialists, progressives—every type of women. we are all united on this one thing—that we put suffrage before everything else. in every election, if we ever go into any future elections, we simply pledge ourselves to this—that we will consider the furtherance of suffrage and not our party affiliations in deciding what action we shall take.
mr. williams, of illinois: is it your policy to fight this question out only as a national issue? do you make any attempt to secure relief through the states?
miss paul: the congressional union is organized to work for an amendment to the national constitution. we feel that the time has come, because of the winning of so many suffrage states in the west, to use the votes of women to get suffrage nationally. in the earlier days in this country, all the suffrage work was done in the states, but the winning of the western states has given us a power which we did not have before, so we have now turned from state work to national work. we are concentrating on the national government.
mr. gard: miss paul, is it true that you prefer to approach 119this through the state legislatures than to approach it directly through the people?
miss paul: we prefer the quickest way, which we believe is by congressional action.
mr. taggart: why did you oppose the democrats in the last election?
miss paul: we came into existence when the administration of president wilson first came in. we appealed to all members of congress to have this amendment put through at once. we did get that measure out upon the floor of the house and senate, but when it came to getting a vote in the house we found we were absolutely blocked. we went again and again, week after week, and month after month to the democratic members of the rules committee, who controlled the apportioning of the time of the house, and asked them to give us five or ten minutes for the discussion of suffrage. every time they refused. they told us that they were powerless to act because the democrats had met in caucus and decided that suffrage was a matter to be decided in the states and should not be brought up in congress. (here miss paul, moving the papers in front of her, deftly extracted a letter.) i have here a letter from mr. henry, chairman of the rules committee, in which he says: “it would give me great pleasure to report the resolution to the house, except for the fact that the democratic caucus, by its direct action, has tied my hands and placed me in a position where i will not be authorized to do so unless the caucus is reconvened and changes its decision. i am sure your good judgment will cause you to thoroughly understand my attitude.”
(this interesting revelation was greeted by appreciative grins from the republican members.)
after we had been met for months with the statement that the democratic party had decided in caucus not to let suffrage come up in congress, we said, “we will go out to the women voters in the west and tell them how we are blocked in washington, and ask them if they will use their vote for the very highest purpose for which they can use it—to help get votes for other women.”
we campaigned against every one of the forty-three men who were running for congress on the democratic ticket in any of the suffrage states; and only nineteen of those we campaigned against came back to washington. in december, at the close of the election, we went back to the rules committee. they told us then that they had no greater desire in the world than to bring the suffrage amendment out. they told us that we had 120misunderstood them in thinking that they were opposed to having suffrage come up in congress. they voted at once to bring suffrage upon the floor for the first time in history. the whole opposition of the democratic party melted away and the decision of the party caucus was reversed.
the part we played in the last election was simply to tell the women voters of the west of the way the democratic party had blocked us at washington and of the way the individual members of the party, from the west, had supported their party in blocking us. as soon as we told this record they ceased blocking us and we trust they will never block us again.
question: but what about next time?
miss paul: we hope we will never have to go into another election. we are appealing to all parties and to all men to put this amendment through this congress and send it on to the state legislatures. what we are doing is giving the democrats their opportunity. we did pursue a certain policy which we have outlined to you as you requested. as to what we may do we cannot say. it depends upon the future situation.
question: but we want to know what you will do in the 1916 election?
miss paul: can you possibly tell us what will be in the platform of the democratic party in 1916?
mr. webb: i can tell one plank that will not be there, and that is a plank in favor of woman suffrage.
question: if conditions are the same, do you not propose to fight democrats just the same as you did a year ago?
miss paul: we have come to ask your help in this congress. but in asking it we have ventured to remind you that in the next election one-fifth of the vote for president comes from suffrage states. what we shall do in that election depends upon what you do.
mr. webb: we would know better what to do if we knew what you were going to do.
mr. gard: we should not approach this hearing in any partisan sense. what i would like is to be informed about some facts. i asked mrs. field what reason your organization had for asking congress to submit this question to states that have already acted upon it. why should there be a resubmission to the voters by national action in states which have either voted for or against it, when the machinery exists in these same states to vote for it again?
miss paul: they have never voted on the question of a national amendment.
121mr. gard: the states can only ratify it. you would prefer that course to having it taken directly to the people?
miss paul: simply because we have the power of women’s votes to back up this method.
mr. gard: you are using this method because you think you have power to enforce it?
miss paul: because we know we have power.
mr. taggart: the women who have the vote in the west are not worrying about what women are doing in the east. you will have to get more states before you try this nationally.
miss paul: we think that this repeated advice to go back to the states proves beyond all cavil that we are on the right track.
mr. taggart: suppose you get fewer votes this time? do you think it is fair to those members of congress who voted for woman suffrage and have stood for woman suffrage, to oppose them merely because a majority of their party were not in favor of woman suffrage?
miss paul: every man that we opposed stood by his party caucus in its opposition to suffrage.
mr. volstead: this inquiry is absolutely unfair and improper. it is cheap politics, and i have gotten awfully tired listening to it.
mr. taggart: have your services been bespoken by the republican committee of kansas for the next campaign?
miss paul: we are greatly gratified by this tribute to our value.
mr. moss: state just whether or not it is a fact that the question is, what is right? and not, what will be the reward or punishment of the members of this committee? is not that the only question that is pending before this committee?
miss paul: yes, as we have said over and over today. we have come simply to ask that this committee report this measure to the house, that the house may consider the question.
mr. moss: can you explain to the committee what the question of what you are going to do to a member of this committee or a congressman in regard to his vote has to do with the question of what we should do as our duty?
miss paul: as i have said, we don’t see any reason for discussing that.
mr. webb: you have no blacklist, have you, miss paul?
miss paul: no.
mr. taggart: you are organized, are you not, for the chastisement 122of political parties that do not do your bidding at once?
miss paul: we are organized to win votes for women and our method of doing this is to organize the women who have the vote to help other women to get it.
the meeting then adjourned.
before going on with the work for 1916, it is perhaps expedient to mention here one of two interesting events. the new york tribune announced on november 5 that, “accepting the advice of mrs. medill mccormick of chicago, the national american woman suffrage association announced yesterday that it had instructed the congressional committee not to introduce the shafroth-palmer resolution in the sixty-fourth congress.” this meant, of course, that there would in the future be no division of the energies of the suffrage forces of the country; that all would work for the susan b. anthony amendment.
