The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1920-02-27
LOOKING BACKWARD OVER
THE STRUGGLE FOR SUFFRAGE

When many hundreds of women
journeyed to Chicago from all parts OF
the United States to celebrate the VIC
tory of suffrage after an unremlttlng
battle of sixty years, they went know
ing that the National American Wo-
man Suffrage Association was to be
merged into the National League of
Women Voters. AS women are usu-
ally strong partisans, membership IN
the League means merely slight de-
lay in alliances with Democrats or
Republicans, and brief review of his
tory is therefore timely.
Until section two of the Fourteenth
Amendment was adopted the word
"male" did not appear in the constitu-
ton, and the credit of thus limiting
suffrage belongs to the Republican
party. When the women urged lnclu-
sion in this amendment they were
told: Suffrage for black men will be
all the strain that the Republican par
tv can stand" At the time that the
Fifteenth Amendment was pending the
suffragists again made strong ap-
peal to the Republican party. As a
result, the second plank of the plat
form adopted by the convention held
in 1868 declared that on this question
States right should prevail, except in
the case Of the colored man. -Four
years later great hopes were awaken
ed by a plank declaring that the de-
mands of women for equal rights
should be treated with respectful con-
sideration." After a Republican vic
tory, the women who went to Wash
ington with high hopes of speedy en-
franchisement learned that there was
apparently to be no time limit on the
respectful consideration"
Centennial year came and the Re-
publican party in its Cincinnati con
vention recognized with approval the
substantial advances" made toward
the establishment of equal rights for
women and repeated the opinion that
"honest demands" should be treated
with respectful consideration. The
Susan B. Anthony Amendment, des-
tined to focus the political hopes OF
women for more than forty years,
was introduced in the Senate January
10, 1878. The committee to which 1t
was referred reported on it adversely.
In accordance with a resolution passed
in 1870 by the National Suffrage Con-
vention a committee Of three women
visited President Hays "to remind MIN
of the existence of one-half of the
American people, whom he has entire
" overlooked and Of whom it would
be wise for him TO make mention in
his future messages" but he omitted
reference to suffrage in any later mes
sage.
After twenty years of respectful
consideration" the Forty-ninth Con-
gress, both branches of which were
Republican, beat the Federal Amend
ment by vote of 81 to 16. But the
world had been slowly moving. AL
though, in 1896, when the women of
Wyoming, Colorado and Idaho had
been enfranchised, the Republican
platform had plank favoring the ad-
mission of womearto spheres of wild
err usefulness" the electoral votes Of
the three suffrage States were cast for
the Democratic candidate for Presi-
dent.
For nearly ten years after that,
both branches of Congress were Re
publican and the suffrage amendment
had scant attention. Most of the time
it was apparently forgotten by the
legislators 1t was not until the Six
ty-third Congress, l913-l915, in which
both branches were Democratic, that
for the first time in history, on March
10, 1914, a favorable majority was
given. OF the SO votes cast in the
Senate 35 were for the amendment
and "a against Nine Senators were
paired in favor, but the vote was far
short of the necessary two-thirds.