The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-06-07
WORLD SUFFRAGE
 CONGRESS OPENED Proceedings Are Begun With Sermon By Miss
 Royden of London
By Associated Press

Geneva. June 6.-The eighth con- gress of the International Woman Suf- frage Alliance was opened this morn neya cathedral by Miss Maud Royden, up to short time ago pastor of the City Temple in London. Miss Roy den's frail figure in black seemed al. most lost in the great pulpit from which Calvin and Knox preached. The local authorities were present in ful. strength in the cathedral which was crowded. A touch of color was lent by ten Indian women delegates in their costumes of many hues.
 Miss Royden, who delivered her ser mon both in French and English, ex- horted the women of the world to fos- ter fraternity among mankind and aid the work of humanity in rebuild ing the ruin caused by the war. She was warmly congratulated for the broad views she expressed
 The first official meeting of tn congress was held tonight in Com munial Hall. The principal speaker was Mrs. Carrie Chapman Catt. presi- dent of the alliance
 The hall was crowded, among those present being Lady Astor and Mrs. Jo- sephus Daniels, wife of the Secretary of the United States Navy.
 MRS. GATES SPEECH
 Mrs. Catt said in part:
 For the suffragists of the world a few facts stand forth with great clarity. The first and greatest is tha. the political liberation of women was tossed up out of the war chaos like an isolated mountain when the world was in the making. War the un- doubted original cause of the humili : ating, age-old subjection of women the world around; war, the combined enemy of their emancipation; war has rendered to the women of many lands their political freedom Strange. be- wildering fact!
 The Latin and oriental countries still hold out, but that will not be for long Rumania, the first Latin coun- try to extend the vote to women, has already led the way, the others will follow. I believe no country in Eu- rope except Turkey now is without woman suffrage association. Women will soon vote wherever men do Yet while all these old barriers are swept aside in many lands and men and wom- en enfranchised, the task is not yet completed in the countries where wom- en have Iabored hardest and where the principle of democracy has longest been unchallenged.
 There must be millions of women in Europe who never hoped for political liberty and who are now dazed by it's sudden coming. The women of Norway, Denmark and Iceland have long been enfrenchised, but Germany nas out stripped all other nations in the rec ognition of the principle of equality, with 137 women serving on city coun- c!ls and 37 as members of the national parliament. The president of the Ger man National Suffrage Association comes to this congress as member of the city council of Dresden.
 Tt is not for me to interpret the sen tlments of the women of other lands but with authority I may say that there are millions of suffragists in the United States who have been fairly supplied with astonishment at these almost unaccountable events. As all the world knows. the United States of America has been dedicated from the first to the principle of self-govern- ment. No other nation has made the same announcements.
 No other country has repudiated it's constitution, principles and history in