The San Francisco call., 1897-01-27
MISS ANTHONY
TAKES The GhVEL
Opens the Woman Suffragist
Convention at D:S
MoineS.
A Packet Assemb ag', Notwith'
standing the Intensely Cold
Weather.
The PreSid n, in Her Address, R R,fers
10 the Encouraging Vote of
California.

president of the National American
Woman Suffrage Society, in her annual
address to the convention which opened
to-day, She seized the banner from the
desk before her and waved it aloft. cit is
an American flag, save that it has only
four stars-one for every State which has
granted full suffrage 10 woman" and
the confident declaration OF the beloved
president set the convention in an uproar
| of applause thatlasted several minutes.
The convention opened this AFTERNOON
in the Central Christian Church, with
about 800 ladies present. 1t was Is de-
| grees below zero, but the church was
crowded to its capacity forenoon and
| afternoon. Seventeen States were repre-
sented, the weather keeping away many
| delegations.
! Miss Anthony presided, assisted by
| Anna Howard Shaw of Philad lphia, vice
president at large. il was voted that no
State that has not paid its dues should be
allowed to vote.
| was named:
| Colorado, Mary C. C. Bradford; Illinois, Mrs
Kate Hughes: Iowa, Mrs. Julia Clarke Hallam;
! Kansas Mrs. E. NJ. Wardell; Kentucky, Sarah
| &. Bennett; Massachusetts, Mrs. II. Z. Black
well: Massachusetts National, Mrs. C. NJ. At
! len; Michigan Miss Elizabeth Willard; Min
nesota, Miss Martha Scott Anderson; Missouri.
| Ella Harrison; Montana, DR.. Mary A. Atwater;
Nebraska, Mrs. Abb Gay Dustin; New Jersey,
Mrs. p c. Wright; New York, Mrs. II. Banck;
Ohio, DR.. Violet Swift; Pennsy lvanls, Miss
! Marie Beatrice Loucks.
Miss Shaw made her report as vice pres
ident at large brief. because the same
ground was covered by the address of the
president. She told of the campaign
| waged the last year in California for the
! cuff a n in
10000 votes for and 123, 900 against. 1t
was the largest vote suffrage had ever re-
ceived in any State, although it did not
carry.
Mrs. Rachel Foster Avery, the secretary,
told OF the work of the National headquar-
tiers in Philadelphia in sending out liter
ature ann securing assistance from the
press.
She said the past year had been tie
most successive in this direction IN the
history of the association. She recon-
mended that the headquarters be removed
to New York. She said the States that
had secured suffrage because OF the assist
ance of the National organization most
always drifted from it and were of little
assistance afterward. She recommended
| that the association be divided into two
! houses, making the women from the en-
! franchised States the upper house.
Miss Anthony delivered her address,
|
the afternoon. Among other things she
said:
The year 1896 witnessed greater successes
| than any other eince the first pronunciamento n TO
was made at Seneca Falls, n. Y, July 10, 1888.
! On January the President proclaimed Utah
! 10 be State, with constitution that does not
| discriminate against women. Thus we have
| two States coming into the Union on the prin-
| ciple of equal rights to ali women guaranteed
| Dy their constitutions.
November 3, by ma jOrity of 5000 the men
of Idaho eclared in favor OF woman suffrage,
/ and for the first time in the history OF judi
cial decisions upon the enlargement of
woman's rights, civil and physical the courts
| of Idaho-Judges Houslan, Morgan and Sulli-
| van-unanimously decided that the amend
! ment so carried constitutional. This de-
cision the more remarkable, because the
| constitution might easily as well have been
inferred to require amendments to receive a
ma jority of the total votes cast at the election
as u majority OF the votes cast on the amend
ment.
By the former construction the amendment t
would have been lost, Notwithstanding that of
| all who cared to express an opinion two to
one were in favor. II any one Will go through
| the istory OF our woman suffrage movement
adoption of the fourteenth and fifteenth
amendments to the Federal constitution
| taking the decisions of the Supreme Court of
the United States in the cases of Myra Brad
well for the protection of her civil rights, and
| of Mrs. Virginia L. Munro for the protection
of her political rights, and the decision OF the
/ supreme Court OF the OllteQ states giving
| women the right to vote for County School
! Commissioners, and various other decisions
| he will find that In every case the court has
| put the narrowest possible construction upon
| the spirit and letter of the constitution.
| Whereas, the Judges did themselves the
| honor to make decision in direct opposition
| to judicial precedent and prejudice, SO the
| Idaho victory is a great credit not only to the
| majority OF men who stood for the amend
ment, but to the three judges who made this
| broad and just decision. The National Asso-
IAfn tt,Nr,c Lore fn hn n0,,c
| 1895, Mrs. Johns and Mrs. Gait in 1896-and
| they, with Mrs. Bradford and Miss Reynolds
! of Colorado, held meetings and organized
| suffrage clubs in the different settlements
| throughout the State. have not yet learned
| how many of the resident women took art in
| the Campaign.
We also had pending in California woman
suffrage amendments. Your president, vice.
| presided t-at-large and National organizer to-
gether with Miss Yates, Miss Hay, Miss Mills,
| Miss SWEET and Miss Lucy Anthony, gave
more or less time to speaking and working in
| that State for eight months. Never have
| seen more thorough and effe ctive educati tional
| work done in any one of the thirteen suffrage
| amendment campaigns since 1887. Could We
1 have counted out the two largest cities-San
| Francisco and Oakland-the amendment would
| have been carried by about 500 majority; and
in this connection want to call your atten-
! ton o the immensity OF that State, stretching
| nearly q thousand miles north and south and
with an area greater than all New England,
| New York and Pennsylvania combined.
The facilities are very poor, and. long and
weary stagings are necessary to reach the men
| who are scattered over the ranches and mines
OF that great territory.
San Francisco is to California what New
| York City is to the Empire State. All the
| rural counties can be educated so that d ma
/ jority can be given for any measure of justice
! out the cities of San Francisco and Oakland
| contain very large number of foreign born
voters and native born Chinese who have just
come OF age, and this weighted down the in
| telligence not only Of those two cities but of
the rest of the State.
But California's defeat is simply victory de-
| ferred, for the Legislature is sure to resubmit
| the amendment, and the educational cam
| paign carried on for the last two years will be
| continued for the coming two, when large
| enough number will be converted to overcome
the slum vote, and Novem Der, 1898, will add
| to our flag the star of California.
/ But 1t is not only in California that we are
| likely to have amendment campaigns during
| the coming two years. but Nevada and Oregon
| and quite proba bly, Washington and Montana.
| | thing the one and only sure thing to carry
/ an amendment is through the organiZa tion of
| q club in every voting precinct of every
| county of the State.
/ 1t is little use for Us to make our appeals
| upon State or National political party conven-
! tions or on Congress or State Legislatures for
resolutions in favor of woman's enfranchise-
ment while appeals come UP 10 them from
| the rank and file OF the voters.
| Our work, therefore, for the coming year, is
/ to push local organization more thoroughly
| than ever before, and to do that work preciu ct
| by precinct, even If we compass but one county
OF State during the year.
Following this reports were made by