The Pensacola journal., 1920-02-23
WOMEN MAY NOT
VOTE This FALL
Suffrage Leaders Despair of
Getting Six More States to
Ratify Before May First
BY GEORGE H. MANNING.

Washington, D. c., Feb. 22.-A1l
hope Of making it possible for the
women to vote in the presidential cleo
tion this fall has practically been
a abandoned by the leaders of the ma
tional womens party who carried on
the campaign for passage of the
amendment by congress and have
since been campaigning throughout
the country TO urge ratification by the
necessary thirty-six state legislators.
The suffrage leaders despair of get
ting six more state legislatures to rati-
fy the amendment before May 1st,
the first date for registration for cleo
tions. Without these six additional
ratifications the women will be unable
to vote in November for president.
The inability Of the women to vote
in November will bring great peace of
mind to the politicians of both parties
who admit failure to predict what
the women will do in national politics
day ahead Of election day. Neither
party seems able to count the women
among its supporters as a unit and
without assurance that they can rely
on the majority of women they would
rather they could not vote at all.
Thirty-six states must ratify the
WoIItdIl suffrage StiII0ifolasiiI JS1oI
May 1st in order to make the women
eligible to vote for president, Thirty
states have ratified, but Ohio's rati-
fication may be annulled by the courts,
reducing the number TO twenty-nine.
Legislatures of three states held spe-
cial sessions this month on ratiflca-
ton; Idaho met February 1fth: Ari-
zona February 18th, and New Mexico,
February 10th. The Arizona legis-
ature ratified on February 18th; the
suffragists are depending on Idaho
to ratify but despair of getting New
Mexico The Maryland legislature is
now in session but is fully expected
to reject the suffrage amendment. The
women were very hopeful month ago
of getting New Mexico but sentiment
there seems to have veered strongly
away from them now.
Eight states have rejected the
amendment and in Tennessee it must
be submitted TO the people. In the
six remaining states, Connecticut, Ok
lahoma, Vermont, Washington, West
Virginia and Delaware, the governors
refuse to call the legislatures in extra
session. If they continue to refuse
woman suffrage in 1920 is dead The
suffra gists claim the legislatures Of
these states would ratify if convened;
OppOIeLito VI "OAiAsAtA
otherwise.
The women hope that the governor
of oklahoma will soon call special
session. They are actively campaign
ing in Delaware, where they claim the
legislature is favorable but the gov
ernor refuses to call a special session
for fear of other legislation. Wig
orous campaign has been waged in
Maryland by the suffragists for the
past six months without any appreci-
able headway on the legislature.
The governors of Connecticut and
Vermont are opposed to suffrage and
decline to call special sessions to act
on the suffrage amendment.
The republican leaders made great
claims of giving suffrage to the women
through passage of the suffrage
amendment by congress and conf
dently expected that with the women
vote they would sweep the country
at the national election sfor the next
decade. They have been sadly dlsap-
pointed however, to find that the
women will not stick to party lines
and that they cannot be delivered"
at the national elections for the next
heen accustomed to deliver the men.
The complete inability to calculate
how women will vote is already bring
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