FOOTNOTES:

When the plan of holding the Congress of the Alliance at Berlin in 1915 had to be given up Holland sent an urgent invitation for that year but its acceptance was not considered feasible. The Swedish Auxiliary wanted it held at the time and place of the Peace Conference but this was found to be inadvisable. The majority of the officers and auxiliaries in the various countrieswished to have a congress the next spring after the Armistice but there proved to be insurmountable obstacles. Toward the end of 1919 an invitation was accepted from the suffrage societies in Spain to come to Madrid in 1920. Preparations were under way when local opposition developed which made it necessary to abandon the plan. Switzerland had already invited the congress and it gladly went to Geneva.

In the report of Mrs. Coit, the treasurer, she said:

You will remember that at Budapest in 1913 a sum of about 2,000 pounds was raised, mostly by promises of yearly donations for the period of two years. This sum was to finance headquarters and the paper till we met in Berlin in 1915. In August, 1914, not even all the first instalments had been received, and from then on, owing to war conditions, it became impossible for some of our biggest donors to redeem their pledges. By the beginning of 1917 we found ourselves with an empty exchequer and facing the possibility of closing down our work. It was then that help came from our auxiliary in the United States. Mrs. Catt, with the help of her many devoted friends, raised a sum of $4,333, which was placed at our disposal and has enabled the Alliance to keep going. When speaking of the United States' help I wish to make special mention of the splendid work for the Alliance by Miss Clara M. Hyde, private secretary for Mrs. Catt. To her incessant interest and energy it is due that the number of honorary associates in the U. S. A. now is at least three times as high as in any other country; also she has quite trebled the number of subscribers to theInternational Newsin the States. Her devoted work is an example of what can be done by a single national auxiliary to further the development of the Alliance, and I recommend her example for universal imitation.

The United States Auxiliary continued to add to the above sum and from May, 1916, to May, 1920, it sent in membership dues, subscriptions to the paper and donations $9,337. Mrs. Frank M. Roessing, president of the Pennsylvania Suffrage Association, was responsible for collecting over $5,000 of this amount.

The money for the Congress in Geneva, about $3,500, was raised by a British committee of which Miss Rosamond Smith was chairman and Mrs. Pethick Lawrence treasurer. To this fund the United States, which had not suffered from the war to the extent of European countries, was a large contributor. At the close of the congress there were no funds on hand for the comingyear and the delegates from all countries were feeling the effects of the war financially. At this critical moment Mrs. Katharine Dexter McCormick of the United States, corresponding secretary of the Alliance, made a contribution of $5,000, and a little later the Leslie Commission added $4,000. This with individual subscriptions raised the amount of about $15,000 and guaranteed the expenses for resuming and continuing the work of the Alliance.

From the organization of the Alliance in Berlin in 1904 Mrs. Catt had been the president and at no election had there been another candidate. Her strong desire to relinquish the office was overruled at Budapest. She went to Geneva with the positive determination not to accept it again but she faced an equally determined body of delegates. Not only was she supported by all from the Allied Countries, as they were known during the war, but she was equally acceptable to those from the Central Countries. She was literally compelled to retain the office.

Nominations for the other officers were made by ballot and submitted to the convention and the ten receiving the highest number of votes constituted the board. They were as follows: Mme. DeWitt Schlumberger (France), Miss Chrystal Macmillan (Great Britain), Mrs. Anna B. Wicksell (Sweden), Mrs. Corbett Ashby (Great Britain), Dr. Margherita Ancona (Italy), Mrs. Anna Lindemann (Germany), Miss Eleanor Rathbone (Great Britain), Mrs. Katharine Dexter McCormick (U. S. A.), Mme. Girardet-Vielle (Switzerland), Mrs. Adele Schreiber-Krieger (Germany). Most of them were officers of the National Association in their own countries. Miss Rathbone was also a member of the city council of Liverpool.

Among the twenty-two sent as Government delegates were Viscountess Astor, member of the British House of Commons; Mrs. Marie Stritt, city councillor of Dresden, and Mrs. Josephus Daniels, wife of the Secretary of the Navy, U. S. A. Invited members were present from nine countries, including ten from India, one from Japan and the wife of the Tartar president of the Parliament of Crimea. There were fraternal delegates from six international associations; from associations in nearly every country in Europe (fourteen in Great Britain) and from SouthAfrica, Australia, Argentina and Uruguay. Greetings were sent from associations in many countries including China.

A number of the resolutions adopted have been foreshadowed in this report of the proceedings. Others were for the equal status of women with men on legislative and administrative bodies; full personal and civil rights for married women, including the right to their earnings and property; equal guardianship of their children by mothers; that the children of widows without provisions shall have the right to maintenance by the State paid to the mothers; that children born out of wedlock shall have the same right to maintenance and education from the father as legitimate children, and the mother the right of maintenance while incapacitated. Resolutions called for the same opportunities for women as for men for all kinds of education and training and for entering professions, industries, civil service positions and performing administrative and judicial functions, and demanded that there shall be equal pay for equal work; that the right to work of women, married or unmarried, shall be recognized and that no special regulations shall be imposed contrary to the wishes of the women themselves. A higher moral standard for both men and women was called for and various resolutions were adopted against traffic in women, regulations of vice differentiating against women and State regulation of prostitution.

The Congress took a firm position on the League of Nations and its recognition of women in the following resolution: "The women of thirty-one nations assembled in congress at Geneva, convinced that in a strong Society of Nations based on the principles of right and justice lies the only hope of assuring the future peace of the world, call upon the women of the whole world to direct their will, their intelligence and their influence towards the development and the consolidation of the Society of Nations on such a basis, and to assist it in every possible way in its work of securing peace and good will throughout the world."

A resolution was adopted that a conference of representative women be summoned annually by the League of Nations for the purpose of considering questions relating to the welfare and status of women; the conference to be held at the seat of the League, if possible, and the expenses paid by the League. The Boardinstructed Mrs. Ashby Corbett to arrange a deputation to the League of Nations to present resolutions and to ask for the calling of the conference as soon as possible.[230]

On the last day of the Congress from 5 to 7 o'clock the State Council of the Canton and the Municipal Council of Geneva gave an official reception and tea to the delegates and visitors. The resolutions of thanks for the assistance and courtesies received from committees and individuals filled two printed pages. TheWoman's Leaderthus closed its account: "The immense hospitality of Geneva and of the Swiss Consulate, the superb weather and the beautiful excursions by land and lake were above all praise.... Taking the Conference as a whole, with its concrete work and its general spirit, it is clear that it marks a new step forward. A new force has come into the politics of almost all the world. It is a force inspired at present with good will, a humanitarian and an internationalizing force, drawing together the thoughtful and disinterested women of all countries. It is a force that the world has need of and no Government should be so blind as to ignore it."

FOOTNOTES:[221]History of Woman Suffrage, Volume IV, page 124.[222]Delegates and alternates present besides those already mentioned were Misses L. G. Heymann and Marta Zietz, Germany; Mrs. Stanton Coit, Great Britain; Mrs. Henrietta von Loenen de Bordes, Mrs. Hengeveld Garritson, Miss C. C. A. Van Dorp, Netherlands; Mrs. Vibetha Salicath, Miss Eline Hansen, Mrs. Charlotte Eilersgaard, Miss Rasmussen, Denmark; Mrs. Anna B. Wicksell, Mrs. Frigga Carlberg, Miss Jenny Wallerstedt, Sweden; Miss Fredrikke Mörek, Miss Marie Scharlenberg, Norway; Mrs. Saulner, Switzerland; Mrs. Henry Dobson, Australia; Miss Rosika Schwimmer, Hungary; Mrs. Mary Wood Swift, Miss Belle Kearney, Mrs. Ida Husted Harper, Miss Lucy E. Anthony, Miss Nettie Lovisa White, Mrs. Lydia Kingsmill Commander, United States.[223]The reports from the various countries prepared for this congress filled fifty-seven pages of the printed report and fully justified Mrs. Catt's statement.[224]The committee which had been appointed to prepare for the congress and had been working for many months beforehand consisted of the Executive Committee of the central board of the National Suffrage Association and the presidents of sub-committees formed for different purposes. Miss Signe Bergman acted as president, Miss Axianne Thorstenson as vice-president, Miss Anna Frisell as treasurer, Miss Nini Kohnberger and Miss Elise Carlson as secretaries. Mrs. Virgin was at the head of the Finance Committee. The work of the Press Committee was directed by Mrs. Else Kleen. Mrs. Lily Laurent was at the head of the Committee on Localities. Mrs. Lizinski Dyrssen headed the Committee for Festivities. Mrs. Ezaline Boheman was the head of the Information Bureau. Miss Lamm and Miss Anden directed the work of the thirty university students who served as pages and whose kindness and swift and silent service none will ever forget. At the head of the Travelling Committee was Dr. Malin Wester-Halberg, who arranged the journey to Lapland, gave information about all excursions, etc.[225]International headquarters were established in London, the paper was greatly enlarged and published there under the title,Jus Suffragii, International Woman Suffrage News, and Miss Mary Sheepshanks was appointed editor, a post which she filled most satisfactorily during the following six troubled years.[226]Because of the war which devastated Europe for the next five years these pledges could not be kept and the Alliance did not meet again until 1920. Meanwhile the United States contributed enough so that the London headquarters were kept open and the paper did not miss an issue.[227]The English church of Geneva also for the first time admitted a woman to its pulpit, which was occupied on the following Sunday, June 13, by Miss Edith Picton Turberville of Great Britain.[228]Among the many entertainments during the congress were a reception given by the British delegation; a motor excursion by invitation of Mrs. McCormick and the American delegates; a dinner party at Hotel Beau Rivage by Lady Astor for British and American delegates; a delightful "tea" by the French delegation and a garden party by M. and Mme. Thuillier-Landry. Excursions were arranged by the Geneva Committee and visits to the schools, museums, parks and endless points of attraction in this most interesting city.[229]These valuable accounts of the status of women in the various countries were published in full in the 252-page Report of the Congress.[230]They called on Sir Alec Drummond, head of the Secretariat, in London. He received them cordially but said it would be impossible for the League to undertake such expenses and advised them to appoint a committee to act as a source of communication between the League and the Alliance. Thenceforth the League recognized the Alliance as an authority and accepted its recommendation to place Mrs. Anna B. Wicksell on its Mandates Commission and Miss Henni Forchhammer on its White Slave Traffic Commission. These women had already been sent to the League meetings by Sweden and Denmark as alternate delegates.

[221]History of Woman Suffrage, Volume IV, page 124.

[222]Delegates and alternates present besides those already mentioned were Misses L. G. Heymann and Marta Zietz, Germany; Mrs. Stanton Coit, Great Britain; Mrs. Henrietta von Loenen de Bordes, Mrs. Hengeveld Garritson, Miss C. C. A. Van Dorp, Netherlands; Mrs. Vibetha Salicath, Miss Eline Hansen, Mrs. Charlotte Eilersgaard, Miss Rasmussen, Denmark; Mrs. Anna B. Wicksell, Mrs. Frigga Carlberg, Miss Jenny Wallerstedt, Sweden; Miss Fredrikke Mörek, Miss Marie Scharlenberg, Norway; Mrs. Saulner, Switzerland; Mrs. Henry Dobson, Australia; Miss Rosika Schwimmer, Hungary; Mrs. Mary Wood Swift, Miss Belle Kearney, Mrs. Ida Husted Harper, Miss Lucy E. Anthony, Miss Nettie Lovisa White, Mrs. Lydia Kingsmill Commander, United States.

[223]The reports from the various countries prepared for this congress filled fifty-seven pages of the printed report and fully justified Mrs. Catt's statement.

[224]The committee which had been appointed to prepare for the congress and had been working for many months beforehand consisted of the Executive Committee of the central board of the National Suffrage Association and the presidents of sub-committees formed for different purposes. Miss Signe Bergman acted as president, Miss Axianne Thorstenson as vice-president, Miss Anna Frisell as treasurer, Miss Nini Kohnberger and Miss Elise Carlson as secretaries. Mrs. Virgin was at the head of the Finance Committee. The work of the Press Committee was directed by Mrs. Else Kleen. Mrs. Lily Laurent was at the head of the Committee on Localities. Mrs. Lizinski Dyrssen headed the Committee for Festivities. Mrs. Ezaline Boheman was the head of the Information Bureau. Miss Lamm and Miss Anden directed the work of the thirty university students who served as pages and whose kindness and swift and silent service none will ever forget. At the head of the Travelling Committee was Dr. Malin Wester-Halberg, who arranged the journey to Lapland, gave information about all excursions, etc.

[225]International headquarters were established in London, the paper was greatly enlarged and published there under the title,Jus Suffragii, International Woman Suffrage News, and Miss Mary Sheepshanks was appointed editor, a post which she filled most satisfactorily during the following six troubled years.

[226]Because of the war which devastated Europe for the next five years these pledges could not be kept and the Alliance did not meet again until 1920. Meanwhile the United States contributed enough so that the London headquarters were kept open and the paper did not miss an issue.

[227]The English church of Geneva also for the first time admitted a woman to its pulpit, which was occupied on the following Sunday, June 13, by Miss Edith Picton Turberville of Great Britain.

[228]Among the many entertainments during the congress were a reception given by the British delegation; a motor excursion by invitation of Mrs. McCormick and the American delegates; a dinner party at Hotel Beau Rivage by Lady Astor for British and American delegates; a delightful "tea" by the French delegation and a garden party by M. and Mme. Thuillier-Landry. Excursions were arranged by the Geneva Committee and visits to the schools, museums, parks and endless points of attraction in this most interesting city.

[229]These valuable accounts of the status of women in the various countries were published in full in the 252-page Report of the Congress.

[230]They called on Sir Alec Drummond, head of the Secretariat, in London. He received them cordially but said it would be impossible for the League to undertake such expenses and advised them to appoint a committee to act as a source of communication between the League and the Alliance. Thenceforth the League recognized the Alliance as an authority and accepted its recommendation to place Mrs. Anna B. Wicksell on its Mandates Commission and Miss Henni Forchhammer on its White Slave Traffic Commission. These women had already been sent to the League meetings by Sweden and Denmark as alternate delegates.

NEBRASKA MEN'S ASSOCIATION OPPOSED TO WOMAN SUFFRAGE.To the Electors of the State of Nebraska:At a meeting of men lately held in the city of Omaha the following resolution was unanimously adopted: "Resolved, That it is the sense of this meeting that a Manifesto be prepared, issued and circulated, setting forth the reasons for our opposition to the pending constitutional amendment providing for equal (woman) suffrage and requesting the cooperation of the voters of the State, and that such Manifesto be signed by all the men present."We yield to none in our admiration, veneration and respect for woman. We recognize in her admirable and adorable qualities and sweet and noble influences which make for the betterment of mankind and the advancement of civilization. We have ever been willing and ready to grant to woman every right and protection, even to favoritism in the law, and to give her every opportunity that makes for development and true womanhood. We have a full appreciation of all the great things which have been accomplished by women in education, in charity and in benevolent work and in other channels of duty too numerous to mention, by which both men and women have been benefited, society improved and the welfare of the human race advanced. We would take from women none of their privileges as citizens but we do not believe that women are adapted to the political work of the world.The discussion of all questions growing out of the social and family relations and local economic conditions has no direct relationship to the right of women to participate in the political affairs of government. The right of suffrage does not attach of right to the owners of property, for, if so, all other persons should be disfranchised. It is not a fundamental right of taxpayers, for a great body of men are not taxpayers, and nine-tenths of the women who would become voters, if woman suffrage were adopted, would be non-taxpayers. It is not an inherent right of citizenship, for the time never was in the whole history of the world when the franchise was granted to all citizens.... Franchise is a privilege of government granted only to those to whom the Government sees fit to grant it. As a law-abiding people men and women alike should recognize once and for all that the right of suffrage is not a natural or inherent right of citizenship but can only come by grant from the Government. [Legal authorities quoted.]We must also recognize that woman suffrage is inconsistent with the fundamental principles upon which our representative government was founded and to accept it now involves revolutionary changes. The framers of the Federal Constitution, a body of the wisest men the country has ever produced, did not recognize or provide for woman suffrage. No one of the original thirteen States which adopted it provided in their constitutions for woman suffrage. True it was permitted in New Jersey from 1776 to 1807, a period of thirty-one years, when it was taken away by statute, by reason of unsatisfactory conditions and results. After the close of the Civil War, the southern States which had gone into rebellion were admitted back into theUnion under constitutions limiting suffrage to men. These precedents in our governmental history were never departed from until in recent years.The greatest danger to the Republic of the United States today, as it always has been in governments where the people rule, is in an excitable and emotional suffrage. If the women of this country would always think coolly and deliberate calmly, if they could always be controlled and act by judgment and not under passion, they might help us to keep our institutions "eternal as the foundations of the continent itself"; but the philosophers of history and the experience of the ages past and present tell us in unanswerable arguments and teach us by illustrations drawn from actual experience, that governments have been overturned or endangered in periods of great excitement by emotional suffrage and the speech and writings of intolerant people....Open that terrible page of the French Revolution and the days of terror, when the click of the guillotine and the rush of blood through the streets of Paris demonstrated to what extremities the ferocity of human nature can be driven by political passion. Who led those bloodthirsty mobs? Who shrieked loudest in that hurricane of passion? Woman. Her picture upon the page of history is indelible. In the city of Paris, in those ferocious mobs, the controlling agency, nay, not agency but the controlling and principal power, came from those whom God had intended to be the soft and gentle angels of mercy throughout the world....It has been said that if woman suffrage should become universal in the United States, in times of great excitement arising out of sectional questions or local conditions this country would be in danger of State insurrections and seditions and that in less than a hundred years revolutions would occur and our republican form of government would come to an end. The United States should guard against emotional suffrage. What we need is to put more logic and less feeling into public affairs. This country has already extended suffrage beyond reasonable bounds. Instead of enlarging it there are strong reasons why it should be curtailed. It would have been better for wise and safe government and the welfare of all the people if there had been some reasonable standard of fitness for the ballot.During the intense feeling and turbulent conditions growing out of the Civil War, suffrage was so extended that many of the southern States were turned over to the political control of those not sufficiently informed to conduct good government. It has taken half-a-century of strenuous effort to correct that mistake. The granting of universal woman suffrage would greatly increase the existing evil and put it beyond the possibility of correction except by an ultimate revolution.We hear it frequently stated that there is no argument against woman suffrage except sentiment. We can reply with equal force that there is no argument for woman suffrage except sentiment, and that often misguided and uninformed. Some suffragists insist that if woman suffrage became universal "it would set in motion the machinery of an earthly paradise." It was a woman of high standing in the literary and journalistic field who answered, "It is my opinion it would let loose the wheels of purgatory." ... Suffragists frequently ask the question, "If we want to vote why should other people object?" If it is wrong they should not ask it any more than they should ask the privilege of committing a crime. If it is a wrong against the State everyother man and woman has a right to object and it is their duty to object....There are spheres in which feeling should be paramount. There are kingdoms in which the heart should reign supreme. That kingdom belongs to woman—the realm of sentiment, the realm of love, the realm of gentler and holier and kindlier attributes that make the name of wife, mother and sister next to the name of God himself, but it is not in harmony with suffrage and has no place in government.We submit these considerations in all candor to the men of this State. Ultimately the decision of this question at the polls is a man's question. We ask your cooperation....Omaha, July 6, 1914.Joseph H. Millard, ex-U. S. Senator and president Omaha National Bank. (Largest creditor of Willow Springs Distillery.)John A. McShane, ex-Congressman and retired capitalist.John Lee Webster, lawyer, representing Omaha Street Railway.Luther Drake, president Merchants' National Bank.John C. Cowin, prominent lawyer.William F. Gurley, prominent lawyer.William D. McHugh, lawyer representing Standard Oil Company.Frank T. Hamilton, president Omaha Gas Co. and officer Street Railway Co.William Wallace, former cashier Omaha National Bank.John A. Munroe, vice-president Union Pacific Railway Company.Frank Boyd, employee Omaha National Bank.Gerrit Fort, Union Pacific Railway official.Joseph Barker, insurance official.Edward A. Peck, general manager Omaha Grain Elevator Company.Henry W. Yates, president Nebraska National Bank.Milton C. Peters, president Alfalfa Milling Co.William H. Koenig, of firm of Kilpatrick & Co., dry goods merchants.W. H. Bocholz, vice-president Omaha National Bank.Fred H. Davis, president First National Bank.Benjamin S. Baker, lawyer.L. F. Crofoot, lawyer for Omaha Smelting Co. and Chicago & Milwaukee R. R.E. E. Bruce, wholesale druggist.George W. Holdrege, manager Burlington & Missouri River R. R. Co.Fred A. Nash, President Omaha Electric Light Co.Nelson H. Loomis, General Attorney Union Pacific R. R.Edson Rich, assistant attorney Union Pacific R. R.Frank B. Johnson, president Omaha Printing Co.Thomas C. Byrne, president Wholesale Dry Goods Co.Rev. Thomas J. Mackay, Minister All Saints' Church (Episcopal).Rev. John W. Williams, Minister St. Barnabas' Church (Episcopal).This Manifesto with the signatures is given almost in full because in language and in the business interests of the signers it is thoroughly typical of the open opposition to woman suffrage. The other classes who were opposed—the "machine" politicians, the liquor interests and those directly or indirectly connected with them—for the most part worked more secretly.

To the Electors of the State of Nebraska:

At a meeting of men lately held in the city of Omaha the following resolution was unanimously adopted: "Resolved, That it is the sense of this meeting that a Manifesto be prepared, issued and circulated, setting forth the reasons for our opposition to the pending constitutional amendment providing for equal (woman) suffrage and requesting the cooperation of the voters of the State, and that such Manifesto be signed by all the men present."

We yield to none in our admiration, veneration and respect for woman. We recognize in her admirable and adorable qualities and sweet and noble influences which make for the betterment of mankind and the advancement of civilization. We have ever been willing and ready to grant to woman every right and protection, even to favoritism in the law, and to give her every opportunity that makes for development and true womanhood. We have a full appreciation of all the great things which have been accomplished by women in education, in charity and in benevolent work and in other channels of duty too numerous to mention, by which both men and women have been benefited, society improved and the welfare of the human race advanced. We would take from women none of their privileges as citizens but we do not believe that women are adapted to the political work of the world.

The discussion of all questions growing out of the social and family relations and local economic conditions has no direct relationship to the right of women to participate in the political affairs of government. The right of suffrage does not attach of right to the owners of property, for, if so, all other persons should be disfranchised. It is not a fundamental right of taxpayers, for a great body of men are not taxpayers, and nine-tenths of the women who would become voters, if woman suffrage were adopted, would be non-taxpayers. It is not an inherent right of citizenship, for the time never was in the whole history of the world when the franchise was granted to all citizens.... Franchise is a privilege of government granted only to those to whom the Government sees fit to grant it. As a law-abiding people men and women alike should recognize once and for all that the right of suffrage is not a natural or inherent right of citizenship but can only come by grant from the Government. [Legal authorities quoted.]

We must also recognize that woman suffrage is inconsistent with the fundamental principles upon which our representative government was founded and to accept it now involves revolutionary changes. The framers of the Federal Constitution, a body of the wisest men the country has ever produced, did not recognize or provide for woman suffrage. No one of the original thirteen States which adopted it provided in their constitutions for woman suffrage. True it was permitted in New Jersey from 1776 to 1807, a period of thirty-one years, when it was taken away by statute, by reason of unsatisfactory conditions and results. After the close of the Civil War, the southern States which had gone into rebellion were admitted back into theUnion under constitutions limiting suffrage to men. These precedents in our governmental history were never departed from until in recent years.

The greatest danger to the Republic of the United States today, as it always has been in governments where the people rule, is in an excitable and emotional suffrage. If the women of this country would always think coolly and deliberate calmly, if they could always be controlled and act by judgment and not under passion, they might help us to keep our institutions "eternal as the foundations of the continent itself"; but the philosophers of history and the experience of the ages past and present tell us in unanswerable arguments and teach us by illustrations drawn from actual experience, that governments have been overturned or endangered in periods of great excitement by emotional suffrage and the speech and writings of intolerant people....

Open that terrible page of the French Revolution and the days of terror, when the click of the guillotine and the rush of blood through the streets of Paris demonstrated to what extremities the ferocity of human nature can be driven by political passion. Who led those bloodthirsty mobs? Who shrieked loudest in that hurricane of passion? Woman. Her picture upon the page of history is indelible. In the city of Paris, in those ferocious mobs, the controlling agency, nay, not agency but the controlling and principal power, came from those whom God had intended to be the soft and gentle angels of mercy throughout the world....

It has been said that if woman suffrage should become universal in the United States, in times of great excitement arising out of sectional questions or local conditions this country would be in danger of State insurrections and seditions and that in less than a hundred years revolutions would occur and our republican form of government would come to an end. The United States should guard against emotional suffrage. What we need is to put more logic and less feeling into public affairs. This country has already extended suffrage beyond reasonable bounds. Instead of enlarging it there are strong reasons why it should be curtailed. It would have been better for wise and safe government and the welfare of all the people if there had been some reasonable standard of fitness for the ballot.

During the intense feeling and turbulent conditions growing out of the Civil War, suffrage was so extended that many of the southern States were turned over to the political control of those not sufficiently informed to conduct good government. It has taken half-a-century of strenuous effort to correct that mistake. The granting of universal woman suffrage would greatly increase the existing evil and put it beyond the possibility of correction except by an ultimate revolution.

We hear it frequently stated that there is no argument against woman suffrage except sentiment. We can reply with equal force that there is no argument for woman suffrage except sentiment, and that often misguided and uninformed. Some suffragists insist that if woman suffrage became universal "it would set in motion the machinery of an earthly paradise." It was a woman of high standing in the literary and journalistic field who answered, "It is my opinion it would let loose the wheels of purgatory." ... Suffragists frequently ask the question, "If we want to vote why should other people object?" If it is wrong they should not ask it any more than they should ask the privilege of committing a crime. If it is a wrong against the State everyother man and woman has a right to object and it is their duty to object....

There are spheres in which feeling should be paramount. There are kingdoms in which the heart should reign supreme. That kingdom belongs to woman—the realm of sentiment, the realm of love, the realm of gentler and holier and kindlier attributes that make the name of wife, mother and sister next to the name of God himself, but it is not in harmony with suffrage and has no place in government.

We submit these considerations in all candor to the men of this State. Ultimately the decision of this question at the polls is a man's question. We ask your cooperation....

Omaha, July 6, 1914.

Joseph H. Millard, ex-U. S. Senator and president Omaha National Bank. (Largest creditor of Willow Springs Distillery.)John A. McShane, ex-Congressman and retired capitalist.John Lee Webster, lawyer, representing Omaha Street Railway.Luther Drake, president Merchants' National Bank.John C. Cowin, prominent lawyer.William F. Gurley, prominent lawyer.William D. McHugh, lawyer representing Standard Oil Company.Frank T. Hamilton, president Omaha Gas Co. and officer Street Railway Co.William Wallace, former cashier Omaha National Bank.John A. Munroe, vice-president Union Pacific Railway Company.Frank Boyd, employee Omaha National Bank.Gerrit Fort, Union Pacific Railway official.Joseph Barker, insurance official.Edward A. Peck, general manager Omaha Grain Elevator Company.Henry W. Yates, president Nebraska National Bank.Milton C. Peters, president Alfalfa Milling Co.William H. Koenig, of firm of Kilpatrick & Co., dry goods merchants.W. H. Bocholz, vice-president Omaha National Bank.Fred H. Davis, president First National Bank.Benjamin S. Baker, lawyer.L. F. Crofoot, lawyer for Omaha Smelting Co. and Chicago & Milwaukee R. R.E. E. Bruce, wholesale druggist.George W. Holdrege, manager Burlington & Missouri River R. R. Co.Fred A. Nash, President Omaha Electric Light Co.Nelson H. Loomis, General Attorney Union Pacific R. R.Edson Rich, assistant attorney Union Pacific R. R.Frank B. Johnson, president Omaha Printing Co.Thomas C. Byrne, president Wholesale Dry Goods Co.Rev. Thomas J. Mackay, Minister All Saints' Church (Episcopal).Rev. John W. Williams, Minister St. Barnabas' Church (Episcopal).

This Manifesto with the signatures is given almost in full because in language and in the business interests of the signers it is thoroughly typical of the open opposition to woman suffrage. The other classes who were opposed—the "machine" politicians, the liquor interests and those directly or indirectly connected with them—for the most part worked more secretly.

The contents of this volume are so arranged that the reader will have little difficulty in finding the references desired. The first forty-nine chapters are devoted exclusively to the work for woman suffrage which was done in the various States of the Union through annual conventions, effort with the Legislatures for the submission to the voters of an amendment to the State constitutions which would fully enfranchise women and campaigns to secure a majority vote for it. There was also an attempt to obtain from the Legislatures laws which did not have to be approved by the voters, giving women the right to vote at Municipal elections and every four years for Presidential electors. In addition the women in every State constantly assisted the National American Woman Suffrage Association in its supreme effort to obtain from Congress the submission to the Legislatures for the ratifying of three-fourths of them of an amendment to the Federal Constitution which would give the complete franchise to all the women of the nation.

These State chapters are arranged alphabetically and near the end of each an account is given of the action taken on Ratification, and also of the forming of a League of Women Voters. It is manifestly impracticable to index the names of all the thousands of women who gave devoted service in these States. Only a comparatively few of those who worked longest and most prominently or are mentioned in other parts of the books can be listed. The names of many more will be found in the various chapters. This is also true of the many members of Congress and Legislatures and of other men who were sympathetic and helpful in this long contest.

In the chapters on the effort for woman suffrage in the Territories and possessions of the United States the principal points and workers are indexed. This is the case in the chapter on Great Britain and her Colonies and on the countries of the world, each listed under its proper head. The long chapter on the International Woman Suffrage Alliance forbids an accurate index, as it contains the names of scores of workers for woman suffrage in most civilized countries. Some but not all of the most prominent are noted and in the well indexed chapters on its seven congresses the reader will find a satisfactory roster.

The Table of Contents will act as a trustworthy guide.

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