New-York tribune., 1920-05-06
Amendment Is Ratified
in Upper House ii to E
as Fight to Make State
36th in Line Reopens
Referendum Move
Blocked by Women
Resolution Is Sent to Low
err Body To-day With
Prospects Not Bright
Special Dispatch to The Tribune

DOVER, Del, May 5.-The fight to
make Delaware the thirty-sixth and
deciding state to- approve the suffrage
amendment to the Federal Constitution
reopened here to-day when the state
Senate passed ratification resolution
by vote of II to 6.
The measure will be sent to the House
tomorrow, where speedy action is ex-
pected. Optimistic suffragists ex-
pressed the belief that the House would
reverse its vote of April /, when a
similar resolution was defeated after
having been passed by the Senate, and
will, by passing the new measure. bring
about the adoption of the Nineteenth
Amendment and enable women through
out the country to vote in the coming
Presidential election. Less optimistic
persons said the chances of concurrence
by the House in the Senate's action
were not so bright as they might be.
Amendments Blocked
Two attempts by Senator Gormley,
Democrat, to amend the ratification res
olution were blocked by the suffragists
The Senator's substitute measure,
which would have opposed the Susan
b. Anthony amendment, was beaten
IL to 5, and proposal for q referen-
dunn on the subject was lost by 13 to L.
The vote, which was taken after two
hours debate, stood:
FOR RATIFICATION
Republicans-Allee. Bennett, Handy,
Hlghfield, Long, Pool, Richards. Robert
son, Walker and Speaker Short--1O.
Democrat-Price-1. Total for rati-
ficaton, II.
AGAINST RATIFICATION
Republicans-Brown, Palmer-2.
Democrats-Gormley, Hollett, Latta
and Murphy. Total, 6.
WASHINGTON, May b.-ResoIutions
urging the Delaware Legislature to
ratify the suffrage amendment were
adopted tonight by the Republican
Congressional Committee and trans
mltted to the Speaker of the House at
Dover. In view of the action of the
Senate to-day in voting to ratify, Re-
publican members of the House were
requested to fall in line and make Del
aware the thirty-sixth state.
Mrs. Carrie Chapman Gait, president
of the National American Woman Suf-
frage Association, voiced the satisfac-
ton OF sutfragists over the passage of
the suffrage amendment in the Della
ware Senate yesterday
I'VE have never lost faith that DaIo-
ware would rise to the nations call
for justice to American women" she
said. "The action of the Delaware SEN
ate shows that our faith was we'll
founded. We are equally confident
that the House will follow the SEN
ate's example in making history Of
which delaware posterity will be
proud"
Louisiana Next
The large majority given to the suf-
fragists in the Senate is attributed to
the dauntless campaign which the
women have carried on since their de-
feat in the House on April /: On April
20 the Republican State Convention
passed a resolution calling upon the
Legislature to ratfv the amendment.
If the Delaware House passes the
suffrage measure, 17,000,O00 women
will vote in the Presidential election
next fall.
The race for the honor of being the
last state to ratify now lies between
Delaware and Louisiana, where the
Legislature will meet May 10. SUI
fragists are campaigning in Connect
cut this week, asking the Governor to
call special session of the Legislature
to make Connecticut "the perfect
thirty-six." North Carolina will con-
slider suffrage at its session in July,
and there is a chance that Vermont
will ratfy before election day. Suf-
fragists are anxious to have more than
thirty-six states ratify, in order to
provide against the possibility that
Okio's ratification will be subject to
state referendum.