May 21, 1919

Nothing less than absolute equality will begin to d.o justice to our glorious American womanhood. Right, justice, liberty, and democracy will then be our common aspiration, attained. by a united citizenship of men and women who shall believe in a culture, a religion, a government, and a civilization subject · not to the distinction of sex, but to the highest law of morals and justice, and which shall make right might and righteousness power and help usher in the glad day when the whole world shall be a glorious sisterhood of democracies dedicated to the welfare of all mankind. [Applause.]

The battle for the equal-suffrage amendm e nt in the United States was begun by Susan B. Anthony, and the first un lC lH..l­ ment was drafted by her in 1875. The proposed am e ndm e nt to the Federal Constitution to give the right of the ballot to women reads :

The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not b e d e nied or abridged by the United State s ot· by any State on ac c ount of s e x .

This amendment is practically the sam e as the one prop o s e ll by Susan B. Anthony in 1875. The amendment was first introduced by Senator Sargent, of California, January, 1878. It was voted on in tlle Senate four times, as follows: In 1887, yeas 17, nays 34; in 1914, failing by 11 votes; in 1918, failing by 2 votes ; February, 1919, failing again by 1 vote. In th e House it was voted on in 1915, failing by 78 of the necessary two-thirds vote. On January 10, 1918, it passed by 1 vote over the necessary two-third.s majority.

WHERE W O llE:-< VOTE.

The 28 States in which women now hnvc presidential suffrage control about 55 per cent of the Elcc: o ral College, , on ~ r one-half of the Senate, 45 per cent of the House, and 55 per cent of the votes in the party conventions. Full suffrage is granted to . women 41. the following States: , Wyoming, granted 1869. Colorado, granted 1893. Utah, granted 1896. Idaho, granted 1896. , Washington, granted 1910. California, granted ' 191L. Kansas, granted 1912. 'Arizona, granted 191:2. Oregon, granted 1912 .. ~ Nevada, granted 1914. Montana, granted 1914. New York, granted 1917. :Michigan, granted 1918. Oklahoma, granted 1918". South Dakota, granted 1918. Texas, granted 1919. • Tennessee, granted 1919. Presidential suffrage (those with star have municipal: * Illinois-, granted 1913. *Nebraska, granted 1917. Rhode Island, granted · d 1917: •:• North. Dakota, granted 1917. Iowa, granted 1919. Tennessee · , granted 1919% , Vermont, granted 1919. 1 Wisconsin, granted 1919. =il Indiana, granted 1919.& Maine, granted 1919. .., Minnesota, granted 19~9~ IHisso'UT4 granted 1919. Primary suffrage, which i:s- considered practica:lly equal su.ffrage in the following States: , Arkansas, granted 1"9'17. Texas, granted 1918. School or tax suffrage · in the following- States: Kentucky, granted 18.38. Minnesota, granted 1875. Ne.w · Hampshire, gr:anted 187.8'. Massachusetts, granted · 1879. l\fi sissippi, granted 1880. New Jersey, granted 1887. Connecticut, granted: 1893'. Iowa, granted 1894. Ohio, granted 1894. Del a ware, granted 1898. Louisiana, granted 1898. Wisconsin, granted 1900: New Mexico, granted 1910. Forei'gn: countries in whfcfi women have fuU suffr.age follows: · Isle of Man, granted 1881. New Zealand, granted 1893. Australia, granted 1902. Finland, granted 1906. Norway, . granted 1907. Iceland, granted 1913. Denmark, granted 1915. Rn sia, granted: 1917, Canada, granted 1918. Austria, granted 1918. Czecho-Slovakia, gr:ll1 ted l91S .. England, granted 1918. Germany, granted 1918. Hungary, granted 1918'. Ireland, granted 1918. Poland, granted 1918. Sc otla nd, granted 1918. Wales, granted 1918. Holland, granted 1919. Sw ed en, granted 1919. The SPEAKER The time of the gentleman has . expired. 1\lr. NELSON of Wisconsin. l\lr. Speaker, I ask the of r e vising and extending my remarks.

Th SPEAKER. Is there objection to the request of tleman?

1\Ir. LITTLE. 1\lr . Speaker, I a k the same permission.

Mr·. FERRIS. fr . Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to · extend my rernnrl;:~ in tlle REconn.

1\11' . l\IANN . . ~ ~o; I lun:e no objection to . everybody prh - HPge, but I ::un uot going to stop at this time to inclh ·il luall\lud .: er of the House make the request.

1\Ir. CLARK.of 1\fi sou.ri. 1\fr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have the right to print . nt speeches in the REcORD, because we will spend half an hour here for indi victuals to get leave.

Th SPEAKER. The gentleman from Missouri asks unanimous consent that all Members be permitted to extend their remarks on this subject.

Mr. CLARK of Missouri. For five days.

The SPEAKER. For five days. Is there objection?

Mr. WALSH. 1\fr: Speaker, I object for the present.

Tile SPEAKER. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from Wisconsin and the gentleman from Kansas--

Mr. HARDY of Texas. And I ask unanimous · consent to extend my remarks also.

The SPEAKER. And the · gentleman from Texas? [After a pause.] The Chair hears none.

Mr. 1\lANN. I yield five minutes to the gentleman from New York [~lr : 1\f.A.cCRA:TE]' .

1\fr. 1\IAcCRATEI Mr. Speaker and gentlemen, :r realize thor ­ oughly that a man onl'y three dny in Congress . should hold his also) : tongue, . but coming as I do from a district which has equal suffrage, and being a member of the Committee on Woman Suffrage, I felt it obligatory to say why we from our section believe this national re olution or amendment should be submitted to the State· for the States to decide in the constitutional way whether it shall be adopted. Now; whether you consider · the f:r·anchise a right or a privilege, the women of America deserve the right, or they have earned the privilege Everywhere you went during the past two years. you saw women in uniform You saw them in the Salvation Army, . the ' Red Cross, the Knights of Columbus, the Young. Men' Christian Association, Young Men's Hebrew Association, and other allied war activities. Whether you were at home or whether you were abroad, and like myself had the to full pri'vilege of seeing the · streets of London and Liverpool in Janu- ary ~ of this year, you realized that American womanhood had · met the last argument that men nm-e given for denying them · the suffrage privilege, namely, tha.t no one who is not a potential soldier i entitled to the franchise. :r submit to your fairness and jm:l!ffilent that the women of America have been as potential eltlier during the past war as have been the men of America. · [Appia u e .l And if potentiality for military service is the last · objection, then: certainly with the men who avoided the draft, or with tl1e lackers, the women o:f America ought never be compared and mere · certainly if meru who continued in agricultural pursuits to win. the war, if men w.ho continued in shipyards to win ~ the war if' men who continued in oilier branches of activities to ' Win the war · are entitled to the f ranchise, the women who maintained equal industrial and agricultural burdens- and high moral burden. ' to win the war are entitled to the frn:n.chi e. [.Appia : use.] ... Not only that, but this resolution seems to me to be in perfect harmony with the Constitution itself. The preamble of are as the Constitution declares its purpose to be " to form a more perfeet Union." ThL<f amendment will help us perfect the Union. U <Ioes not go futo : the homes of tl1e: country and ' ten the people what they shall put on or what they sfiali eat or what they shall drink, It does not say to the men and women of America. they sfiall not do thf • , or · tfiey shall not do ' that, but it does recognize . a fundamental of our Government that rights and privileges sfu:tll be equal, and declares that sex alone shall not deprive women. of the right or · privilege of voting . I submit to you that this resolution is · in harmony with the spirit of the Constitution its-elf. [Applau e.]' · Mr. 1\fANN. :Mr. Speaker, I now renew my requ {'to.'t tha.t a:ll Members have leave to extend their · remarks in the RECORD on this subJect for five legislative days. •

The SPEAKER. The gentleman from Illinois asks unanimous consent that all Members . may be permitted to extend their · re· marks in the REcoRD on this subject--

1\f.r. RAGSDALE. I object, Mr. Speaker.

The SPEAKER. The gentleman from South Carolina objects.

1\:fr . CLARK of ' Florida. 1\fr. Speaker, I yield five minutes to . the · gentleman from Pennsylvania [1\Ir. FocHT].

1\fr. FOCHT: lUr. Speaker, I desire to ask unanimous con ent to extend my remarks in the RECORD. privilege The SPEAKER. rs there objection? 1\lr. FERRIS. 1\ll. Speaker, re serving the right to obj'ect, I the: gen­ do not think it fair · to let in any more exten ions unless we let in those who did not have a chance to speak. , and so I object— · course, without any discourtesy whatever to the gentleman. Mr. FOCHT. ' Mr. Speaker, we all realize that this is a transcendent and far-reaching question. It has been decided in having the Pennsylvania more than once what the people there think about baJve each it. It has been decided in many, many States what they think about it there. It has been brought to Congress for decision . In Pennsylvania the last time · the test was made the amendment was defeated by 50,000 majority, and it is conceded it would have been 250,000 majority or 300,000 majority had the question been- voted on separately instead of in connection with four other amendments.

In my own district in Pennsylvania, compri ed of eight counties, which are typical of the Christianity, civilization, and the chivalry of America, every last county went against it after a full discussion of the question. I dare say, if it were submitted again, yes or no on its merits, it would go double what it was the last time against it. I appreciate the tribute that has been paid here, very tenderly and, I might say, patrioticallY, to womanhood. How could any of us do otherwise than pay high tribute to the mother or wife or (laughter? These gentlemen say that those of us who are oppo ed to this amendment are denying the women something ; that we are defeating them in a high and laudable purpose. I challenge that statement and that argument. My proposition is that those mothers of the soldier boys do not ask for this thing. I need not dwell upon the greatness of Pennsylvania, or her glory, or the soldiers she sent to the front, or the money she gave to back them up, but it is well that you be reminded that Pennsylvania's only vote of record is against woman suffrage. In the time I have here I want to enter the protest of one Member from Pennsylvania against going so far afield at this particular time in this uncharted matter, simply because a few States out West have adopted the suffrage program. And with all respect for the Members who come from those States where they have had woman suffrage, I do not believe many appeals c _ come to them or much concern is felt for the franchi e by most women. I do not believe a vast majority of women want the vote , nor do they need it for their protection. Furthermore, let me say that in the State of Pennsylvania 20 years ago we had better laws for the protection of , womanhood than they have in the States where they have had woman suffrage for 25 years, and we have better laws there now; hence it is to be seen that it is not nee ssary for women to engage in the conflict and asperities of politics to secure more than equality of protection with men. Formerly it was contended that the vote for women was neces ary to win the war and to further prohibition, but the fallacy of these arguments was made manifest by subsequent events.

1\fr. HICKS. Will the gentleman yield for a moment?

Mr. FOCHT . I can not, having but a few minutes' time. I know where your heart is. You are really not for . this. [Laughter.] There is no Member here, either from the States of New York, Pennsylvania, or Ohio., who down in his heart is for this sort of thing.

Another reas o n why women in their good sense are not here appealing for the vote and sphere of political activity may be that they have a better conception of the biological and physiological laws than some gentlemen who 'vvill vote in the affirmative on account of coming from States 'vhere women now vote-­ law ordained by God, and which the vote of Congress nor an amendment to the Con titution can not change or set aside. [Applau e.]

In conclusion I will submit a letter I received this morning from 1\Irs. Horace Brock, pl~esident of the Penn ylvania As ociation Oppo ed to Woman Suffrage, and which includes some alient points on this question:

By the submission of the question of woman suffrage to the voters of th e State in 1915 Penmylvani a declared again t Federal interference and for the right ~f the electorate to decide this question. There is a bill now befo r e the State senate, which has passed the house, providing for a resubmission to the peopl<'. W e opposed this bill in the house, for, while we agree a refNendum to the people is the only democratic and just wav of dPciding this issue, we know there i. no increased demand for woman suffrage, but rather increa se d opposition to it. Since the passage of the bill in the bouse, however, we have made no further opposition and are making our oppo&ition to the pass age of an amendment to the Federal Constitution, which would deprive the State of the right to deciue it~ own electorate.

A Federal amendment to the Constitution is a serious matter, because it is irrevocable. The voters of New York State, men and women, finding double suffrage increases taxes and the socialist vote, are planning a resubmission of this question to the voters before long . If the • Federal amendm en t is not passed, this will certainly be done .

A noisy minority are demanding votes for women as a reward for their war work. but the majority of wom e n war workers, who have been largely antisuffragists desiring no reward, , object to being penalized and given this added burden because of their work. Moreover, because a woman is efficient in Red Cross and industrial work, it does not follow she would be efficient in Congre s. Also, it is not advisable to legislate for normal times extraordinary measures that m a y be useful and necessary in abnormal times. -

I therefore ask you, in justice to your State and its electorate, to vote against the Federal woman-suffrage amendment.

[Applause.]

The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. FEss). The time of the gentleman from North Carolina has again expired.

1\lr. CLARK of Florida . l\lr. Speaker, I yiel<l five minutes to the gentleman from Texas [Mr. BLACK].

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Texas is recognized for five minutes.

Mr: BLACK. 1\lr. Speaker, of course there is no dispute upon the proposition that Congress by a two-thirds vote of both House<:; may submit any amendment which it sees fit, and when such amendment is ratified by three-fourths of the legislatures of the several States it would become a part of the Constitution and binding upon all the States. There is no controversy upon that point. And since the right of a State to peaceably secede from the Union has forever been settled in the negative, there can no longer be any sound contention that any amendment which is adopted in the constitutional manner violates any of the rights of the other States. The minority States must, ot course, yield to the will of the majority.

But this very fact makes all the Jlli)re important that Con· gress should be careful in submitting amendments, and the States should be slow in ratifying those which delegate power to the Federal Government hitherto reserved to the States and exercised by their own legislative machinery.

Article I, section 2, of our Federal Constitution providesThe Horse of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second year by the people of the several State!'~. • • • And the electors in ea.ch State shall have the qualifi-cations requisite for elector·s of the most numerous branch of the State legislatu~.

Thus it will be seen that the framers of our Constitution, recognizing the State as the sovereign unit of government, deemed it wise to reserve to the States the right to regulate their own suffrage and provided in affirmative terms that the House of Representatives should be chosen by electors having the same qualifications as those who should -choose the most numerous branch of the State legislatures.

And when 123 years later the seventeenth amendment was adopted, which provided for the election bf United States Senators by direct vote of the people, this same provision ·was carried which prescribed that the electors should have the same qualifications as those required for electing the most numerous branch of the State legislatures.

Now, the amendment which we have under consideration pro· po es to change all of this and turn over to the Federal Government one of the most essential elements of State sovereignty; that is, to limit and control the States in their right to deter ­ mine and prescribe the qualifications of their own electors.

And while I concede that the method by which it is proposed to be done is a perfectly legal one, the question is, Should it be done as a matter of wise governmental policy?

Is suffrage such a question as should be snatched from the. control of the States and lodged in a rapidly centralizing govern ­ ment? That is a question which I consider myself called upon to answer as the elected Representative of the people from the district which I have the honor to represent in this body.

When I consider the principles which underlie the structure of our republican form of government, with its "indis indissoluble Union of indestructible States"; when I consider the fact that I am a Democratic Representative and owe at lea t some allegiance to the historic principles of the party and orne degree of obedience to its most recent national platform, then I am not in doubt as to how I should vote.

I should vote against the submission of this amendment and leave each State free to regulate and control the matter of its own suffrage.

Therefore I will vote the way I think and believe.

If my own State-Texas-for instance, wants to grant full suffrage to women, it has a perfectly simple method of doing it. On next Saturday, 1\Iay 24, the people of our State will vote upon a constitutional amendment which has for its object this very purpose.

In the submission of this State amendment the voters get a real referendum. If they adopt it, they will have no need of this Federal amendment. If they do not adopt it, then why should I vote for a Federal amendment which would impose it upon them against their own wilL

The committee at the last session of Congress who reported this resolution made this remarkable sta.temen,t on page 4 of their report. I would not refer to it now except for the fact that it is illustrative of much of the logic used by the proponent~ of this amendment The language w _ as:

To deny the States the opportunity to establish woman suffrage it they wish to do o is an act of autocratic injustice which would ce r­ tainly be misunderstood abroad and would d ee ply incense the millions of women who are voters, as well as the millions more who are peti- . tioning for the vote.

That is a very remarkable statement. I would like to inquire what provision there is in the Federal Constitution which in the slightest degree prohibits the States from grunting full suffrage to their women whenever they tiesire to do so? And if there is no such prohibition, then what possible power is there anywhere which can prevent a State from doing so?

Every schoolboy knows that all · the powers not delegated to the United States by . the Constitution nor prohibited by it to . the States are reserved to the States, respectively, o · r to the people. If that report had said, instead of the language which I have quoted, that "To deny · y the States the opportunity to control their own suffrage, if they wish to do so, is an act of autocratic injustice," then it would have been a statement, as I understand it, of the doctrine which the Democratic Party has championed for more than a hundred years and which has been so ably defended by many of the party's greatest leaders. I do not think that the matter has been more clearly stated anywhere than by President Wilson in a statement to a delegation of suffragists January 6, 1917: ' I am tied to a conviction which I have had all m,v life, that changes of this sort ought to be brought State by State. It IS a deeply matured conviction on my part, and therefore I would be without excuse to my own constitutional principles if I l ent my support to this very important movement for an amendment to the Constitution of the United States. Of course it will be conceded that the President has expressed some contrary opinions since then, but the newest is not always the best. The date or luster of the coin does not determine its true value, and " he who chooses without a proper test may perish, both a pauper and a fool."

When we put these different statements of the President to the test of Democratic principles, as interpreted · throughout the history of our party and by our recent Democratic platforms, I : am compelled to choose his opinion, as expressed on January 6, 1917, as the soundest and wisest one, rather than that of these more recent days.

Our platform at St. Louis in 1916 contained this declaration: We recommend th e extension of the franchise to the women of the country by the States on the same terms as to men.

If the party .had intended to take the position that woman suffrage is a Federal and not a State matter, then the platform would have recommended that Congress take action on the question instead of making its recommendation to the several States . of the Union . There is no declaration in the platform anywhere for the submission of a national woman suffrage amendment, and no Democratic national convention in the history of ·the party has ever declared for it.

On the contrary, it is perfectly well known that the attitude of the party has long been that the regulation of suffrage belongs . to the States, and that as a matter of proper public policy it should be left there.

It i for these reasons, and not because I am opposed to woman suffrage by State action, that I will vote against the submission of this amendment. [Applause.]

Tile SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman from _ Texas . s has expired. ·

Mr. l\IANN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 10 minutes to the gentleman from Texas [l\Ir. BLANTON].

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Texas is - recognized for 10 minutes.

1\lr. BLANTON. 1\lr. Speaker, there is an old adage, "Let justice be done though the heavens fall," and I invoke that principle in voting upon this resolution to-day.

The distinguished chairman of this committee [1\fr. MANN] has well said that for 40 years one-half of the population of the United States of America have been clamoring for the privilege of suffrage, the privilege which we men have enjoyed since the foundation of this Republic. The distinguished gentleman from Pennsylvania [Mr. MooRE], in raising opposition to the quel tion of procedure this morning, said that he was willing to give the credit of the passage of this resolution to the distinguished chairman of this committee. I yield to no Democrat in loyalty to and love for my party. Yet if, in order to pass this resolution to-day, it were necessary to give the credit to the Republican chairman of this committee, I would say pass it and give credit to him. If, in order to pass this resolution to-day, it were necessary to give the credit to the Republican Party, I would say pass it, do justice, give them the credit of it if such credit has to go to any particular party. [Applause.] But this resolution would pass regardless of anything I may say or do or anything that may be said or done by the chairman of this committee. If the poll we proponents have made is correct. ct . this resolution will pass and receive 301 votes of this House. The proponents of this measure have a right to expect that the opposition, in opening the discussion of this question, would send to us the best argument they have against woman suffrage. But when they open this discussion by sending to the principle~. floor that distinguished, astute, eloquent orator from North Carolina [1\lr. KITCHIN] we had the right to expect that the last won.l in opposition to woman suffrage would be forthcoming, but the distinguished gentleman was unable to say one word against the passage of this resolution. He was unable . ~o give us one argument why it should not be passed. He said, m effe?t-and it was all h~ could say-that be would blindly shut his eyes and vote against the resolution. He did, how­ ever, ;an attention t? the fact that this suffrage resolution was introduced m the Sixty-fifth Congress by a Democrat, that a suffrage committee was organized by a Democratic Congress, that I~ was reported by a suffrage committee with a Democratic majority, .that ~t ~as handled ~m the floor of this House by a Democratic majority, and that It passed this House by a Democratic maJonty.

Mr. BAER. '\Viii the gentleman yield?

1\!-r. BLANTON. Not now. He said that it was called for as a piece of legislation by a Democratic President of this Nation He called attention to that, and further to the fact that the Presi- dent from France has asked this Congress to pass this resolution at this time. But, as good a Democrat as I am I want to say to my colleagues that if the message read yesterday from the President of the. United States had asked us to vote against woman suffrage, It would have reached a 'point when I could no longer do that which a Democratic President asked of this Congress to do. [Applause.]

The President has asked me to vote to put back wine and beer but that is one question that I will not follow the President o~ when the - time comes, although tip to this time I have followed him on every issue. [Applause.] 1\fy good friends from Texas, my colleagues, Mt:. BARny and Mr. BLACK, and my good colleague from North Carolina [1\fr. SMALL], seem to be so afraid that · this resolution infringes on the sovereignty of the States, that it takes from the States some ancient rights which they have posses.sed for so many years, and that it interferes with their regulating the question of suffrage. I ask my good friends in what particular, aside from the question of sex over which God Almighty alone has control, will this amendment restrict the regulation by States of suffrage? Why, the State of Texas, regardless ?f this resolution, will still by its legislation say what qualificatiOns a person must possess in order to vote. They will say whether or not there should be a property right restriction placed upon it; they will say whether or not a person must have an educational qualification; they will say whether or not a person must pay a poll tax, whether they must register here or there; and in what particular. They will say this or that concerning every single regulation or control which will not int er ­ fere, except that by the Constitution of the Government they shall not say that one half of the citizens of the Union may vote and the other half, equally intelligent, equally qualified, shall not have equal rights that we men have posses ed for time eternal. I say the time has come when justice must be done, though the heavens fall.

I am not afraid of this infringing on the sovereignty of my State. If it was intended to infringe upon its rights I would not support it, but it does not infringe .on the rights of th"e sovereign States. The minority on many questions has to give up to the majority in the interest of the welfare of the whole people. I have the right, following the pursuit of happiness, to go just as far in that pursuit as I can without infringing upon the equal rights of every other citizen of the United States, and whenever in following the pursuit of happiness my action infringes on the equal right of any other citizen, then and there I must stop. I say that in this case we need not be afraid, and we need not anticipate trouble coming from this resolution which gives the women the right to have a part in governmental affairs of this country. [Applause.]

l\fr. Speaker, I ask leave to revise and extend my remarks in the RECORD.

1\lr. FERRIS. 1\Ir. Speaker, I feel that I mu t object. I renew the request that I made that all Members of the House may have the right to extend their remarks in the RECORD for five legislative days.

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Oklahoma asks unanimous consent that all Members of the House have the right to extend their remark in the REconD for five legi lative days. Is there objection?

1\lr. RAGSDALE. I object.

Mr. MANN. !\:fr. Speaker, I yield five minutes to the gentleman from Colorado [l\Ir. VAILE].

Mr. VAILE. l\Ir. Speaker, following the example of the distinguished gentleman from North Carolina [l\Ir. KrTCIIIN], I would like first to congratulate the President of the United States upon his final, though belated, acceptance of Republican But in this galaxy of brilliant advocates I prefer to appear as a witness, believing that re ·idence in a State where women have voted for a quarter of a century will give my testimony some value.

I want to mention by name the women whom we have elected to office in Colorado. Aside from the incumbents of the office of State superintendent of schools, who have been invariably competent, and some of whom have shown marked ability, we have elected in the last eight years nine women to the upper and lower branches of the State legislature. First, l\Irs. Alma V. Lafferty, a Democratic member of the lower house, in 1911, and a very close associate and cowork~· of that city builder, Robert W. Speer. Those of you who know my beautiful city know what it means to have been associated with him in that work. Mrs. Lafferty had a son who was a graduate of West Point and who fell mortally wounded . at El Caney. In the same legislature was Mrs. Louise Kerwin. Mrs. Evangeline Heartz was in the house of representatives in 1915 and was reelected in 1917. Mrs. Frances S. Lee served in 1911. All of these women had been school-teachers, successful ones, and I submit that many Members of this House have been elected with no objection. greater qualifications than those held by these women; and we used to regard as very high the qualification necessary in a candidate for the office of Member of Congress. Miss Louise U. Jones was elected to the Democratic lower house in 1911-a of debate. wealthy woman who made her wealth by wise investment in real estate and as a builder of hotels and residences. All of these women were Democrats. Mrs. Agnes L. Riddle was a Republican member of the lower house in 1911 and was later a candidate for secretary of state in 1912 and elected to the State senate in 1917. Mrs. Riddle is the daughter of a German peasant, and I heard her, addressing a liberty loan meeting; recall the fact that she had been twice elected to the Colorado Legislature. She asked her audience how far the daughter of tional? a German peasant could advance under the Kaiser's autocracy. I heard her tell that audience that when with her mother and little brothers and sisters they first saw the Stars and Stripes in New York Harbor and said, "Mother, what a beautiful flag," her mother took from her handbag a silk miniature of that flag and made the children kiss it, and said to them, " Henceforth that is your flag, and this new beautiful country is your country." 1\Irs. Riddle had . two sons serving under the Stars and Stripes in the war now happily ending.

Mrs. Helen Ring Robinson, a Democrat, was elected to the .State senate in 1913. She has a grown daughter, is a brilliant newspaper woman, a skillful debater, an able parliamentarian. l\Irs. Mary C. Bigelow was elected to the lower house as a Republican in 1919. She is a physician. Her husband is a banker, ami she has a son who has been three ' years in the military service of the United States, and who has just returned a captain in the Expeditionary ;Force, after being through the stiff­ {!St fighting in the Argonne. Miss Mabel Ruth Baker, a school teacher, was elected as a Republican to the lower house in ~919. She is of tested metal, intellectual, sensible, and practical.

Those are the women actually elected in a suffrage State. They are all of the women that we have elected to the two branches of our State legislature, and I would willingly submit them to a comparison with an equal number of men legislators selected from the legislature of any Commonwealth in this countr·y. They are just exactly the same kind of women as your own time. mothers and sisters. They were elected not because they were women but strictly upon their merits. Their opponents in every case were good men. They have left their names written on our statute books in measures for the benefit of the community, for the welfare of women and children, for the reclamation of unfortunates, the development of agriculture and industr·y, and the improvement of labor. I ha. e not had the pleasure of agreeing . very often with Senator Robinson, but both she and l\lrs. Riddle are active and important in their party councils. Four of these women have grown children, including four men children who have served in the Armies of this Republic. Colorado has gained by electing the mothers of men to help make her laws, and, gentlemen of Dixie, I ask you men to help your own mothers reelect you. You may need their votes. [Applause.]

Mr. l\1ANN. Mr. Speaker, I will ask the gentleman from Florida to proceed now.

Mr. CLARK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield one minute to the gentleman from Virginia [l\1r. SAUNDERs].

Mr. SAUNDERS of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I desire to offer an amendment at this time, to be pending, which I send to the desk and ask to have read.

The Clerk read as follows:

Amendment off e red by 1\Ir. SAUNDERS of Virginia : "Page 1, line G, after the word 'by,' strike out the words ' . the legislatures of threefo · fourths of the several States,' and insert in lieu thereof the following: • popular vote in three-fourths of the several States.' "

1\'Jr. BLANTON. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the point of order against the amendment.

Mr. 1\lAl-.TN. Is this an amendment to the amendment?

Mr. SAUNDERS of Virginia. No; it is an amendment to the resolution.

1\Ir. :MANN. Mr. Speaker, the gentleman can not offer an amendment unh'1 we first dispose of the amendment now pending.

Mr. SAUNDERS of Virginia. I did not think that any ques· tion of order would be raised. I thought it was understood that an amendment could be offered if one obtained the time in which to offer it, the amendment to be considered pending.

Mr. MANN. I do not know that J have any objection to an agreement to that effect; but I want to say very frankly that I am not going to get into a position, if i can help it, where 40 . amendments may be offered for the purpose of obstruction. Of course, I Jmow that this is not offered for that purpose. If the gentleman asks unanimous consent that the amendment shall be considered as pending until the two hours of debate are disposed of, the amendment to be disposed of after that, I shall make no

Mr. SAUNDERS of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the amendment I have offered be considered as pending, to be disposed of at the expiration of the two hours

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request that the amendment be offered simply for information, to be disposed of at the end of the two hours of debate?

There was no objection.

Mr. BLANTON. A point of order, Mr. Speaker.

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman will state it.

:Mr. BLANTON. Did the Chair understand that I reserved a point of order against the amendment as being unconstitu·

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair did not.

1\Ir. BLANTON. Well, I did.

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair did not recognize the gentleman--

Mr. BLANTON. A moment ago I asked for recognition and reserved the point of order.

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair is not called upon to pass upon the constitutionality of an amendment.

Mr. BLANTON. I would like to reserve a point of order against it.

Mr. MANN. I would like to have the amendment again re· ported, 1\Ir. Speaker. I did not hear it read.

The SPEAKER pro tempore. If there is no objection, the amendment will be again reported.

There was no objection.

The amendment was again reported.

1\Jr. BLAl~TON. Will the Chair hear me for a moment on the matter?

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The matter can not be now considered. There is no time for its discussion at this time, but it will be considered at the close of the two hours' debate.

Mr. BLA . BLANTON. I merely wanted to call attention to the fact that it is in face of the provision of the Constitution of the United States, and I want to reserve the point of order.

The SPEAKER pro tempore. It is out of order at the present l\1r. SAUNDERS of Virginia. It is proposed to amend the Constitution in that respect. We are Constitution-making now. Mr. MANN. l\Ir. Speaker, what became of the point of order1

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman reserved it.

l\Ir. l\1ANN. I ask that it be disposed of. I do not propose, if I can help it, to get the House tied up where we can not have a chance to vote on the original proposition.

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair does not pass upon the constitutionality of an amendment, and therefore overrules the point of order.

Mr. l\IANN. 1\Ir. Speaker, I yield five minutes to the distin· guished gentleman from Missouri [1\Jr. CLARK]. [Applause.]

Mr .' CLARK of Missouri. l\Ir. Speaker, I have never set up as a prophet and I am not the son of a prophet, but on the 4lli day of July, 29 years ago, I made a speech in which I indulged in two prophecies. One of them was that the justice of the American people would give the right of suffrage to women. [Applause.] The other one was that we would live to travel in flying machines. One of the prophecies has been realized and the other will be realized in a very few days. [Applause.] When I came here the voice of the suffragist was like that of John the Baptist crying in tile wilderness. It was more a joke than anything else, but time and the expressed sentiment, in pieces, of the American people have converted a majority of the House ~mel perhaps a majority of the Senate to this doctrine. In the last Congress by a curious accident they got just exactly enough votes to pass this amendment through tile Hou e. I did not vote; I rarely ever did. I do not think it was ever intended the Speaker should vote very much, but one gentleman was going to change his vote to the negative, and I sent word if he did I would vote and that would tie it. So I came that near voting. [Applause.] I do not think woman suffrage is going to precipitate the millennium. I do not believe it is going to cause the damage to American institutions that some very good men think. The great State of Missouri at its last session of its legislature went as far as it possibly could go under the Constitution in favor of woman suffrage. They gave the right to women to vote for presidential electors and municipal officers, and several other States have done the same. I believe in State rights as much as any gentleman on the floor of this House, but · in voting for this suffrage amendment I am representing the voice of the people of Missouri. I am not going to quarrel with anybody about voting the other way. This -is a free country and we ought to have the right to vote here as we please. Now, police. another argument in favor of it, and I think it is founded on justice, is I think my wife and my daughter are as capable of voting as most men in this country are-- [Applause.]

Mr . . l\1ANN. More.

Mr. CLARK of Missouri. And I would be a harned to have raised a daughter who was not. [Applause.] Well, now, there has been a good deal of talk first and last about the opinion of the President, and some people have insinuated I was not up to the mark in that respect. [Laughter.] From across the sea comes the voice of the leader of the Democratic Party and the leader of the American people, who was made that way by . two elections in this country, and it ought to be a matter of pride to every American citizen that Woodrow Wilson, President of the United States, is universally acclaimed the foremost man of all this world. [Applause.] He has arrived at that opinion by gradations like a good many of the rest of us have. It is the progress of the human race going on all over the world, and. if \Ye want to keep in tune with them we ought to pass this amendment, and we can not afford very well, with our boasted civilization :mel our boast about our great intelligence, all of which I thoroughly indorse, to be behind every other civilized nation on earth in this matter. [ApplaU.se.'] I wish instead of having two hours we had some more time, so we could talk freely, but we are limited as to time. There is an old saying that brevity is the soul of wit. If that is true, then these speeches which have been made here to-day judged by that standard. would be very , - witty, although I doubt whether a good judge would so pronounce them. [Laughter.] My own judgment-one moment, I\Ir . Speaker [laughter]-my own judgment i that if submitted to a plebi cite, as the French call it, in the United States this amenclment would carry overwhelmingly. [Applause.]

Mr. MANN. l\Ir. Speaker--

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Illinois is recognized. [Loud applause.]

. 1\lr. l\~. Mr. Speaker, two years ago when a similar resolution was pending in this body I took my life in my bands and came over here to vote, and for a week thereafter I did not know whether it would kill me or not. But to-day, strong and healthy [applause], I appear in the advocacy of a great cause, with the time ripe, with the people ready, with the beneficiaries eager, intelligent, and willing to perform their share in the functioning of good government. [Applause.] ·

The distinguished speaker who has just preceded me referred, ns had a Democrat formerly, to the message of the President. I bad hoped that · this discussion might proceed without any partisan bias. It is true, my friends on this side of the House; that the President and Democratic leaders have frequently talked in favor of woman suffrage, but a majority of them have never voted for it. [Applause on the Republican side.] They have been long on promises, like they are on everything else, but very short on fulfillment. I heard the distinguished gentleman from North Carolina [l\fr. SMALL] speak for seven minutes in favor of the amendment which he proposes to vote against.

Now, this is not a partisan question on either side of the House. If it were, it would not have any chance. Let both sides, Republican and Democrats, feel their responsibility to civilization, to enlightenment, to progress, to the movement ahead. You can no more stop the wave of progression than you can roll back the sea with a broom, and which was tried once. Women will receive the suffrage; they will take their share in the management of the Government, and, in my judgment, good citizens everywhere will thank God shortly that we have the conservatism m and good sense of women, the home makers and remaining mostly in the homes, standing against the wave of unreasonable wildness which seems now to be dominating the world in many quarters. .

I hope that the Republican side of the House may vote almost as a unit, if not as a unit, in favor of the amendment, and I pray · that the majority of the Democratic side of the House will see the light and vote accordingly. [Applause.]

Mr. CLARK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I shall undertake - in the few minutes left to say a word or two in reference to this proposed resolution. They say there is no zeal like that of a new convert. The distinguished gentleman from Illinois [l\Ir. MANN], who has just taken his seat, has not always been so zealous in support of this propositon. I remember very well, Mr. Speaker, as you do, and as the older 'Members of this House remember, that on one occasion these women for whom he speaks so eloquently · now had a parade down Pennsylvania Avenue. Mr. Hobson, of Alabama, who was then the valiant defender of this cause, stood upon this floor and · denounced what he said was the insulting conduct of certain ruffians to· ward some of these ladies on the floats as they went down the Avenue, and that such insulting conduct was winked at by the He said, among other things, that he had just received a message over the telephone from some good lady to the effect that her daughter, who was upon one of these floats, had been insulted by a ruffian who had climbed on the float. And at that time my distinguished friend, whom I thought was right, thcu said, "Her daughter ought to have been at home." _ But now he wants her at the polling places; be wants her in the public offices; he wants her on the stump.

Ah, Mr. Speaker, we have bad a lot of very great changes in this country. The former Speaker stood here a moment or two ago and landed the President of the United States, who sent us ~ message from across the waters, so anxious is he for woman suffrage. But I prefer to follow the · President, when it seems to me he was in, I will not say a saner state of mind. but when the President, in a letter to the Jane Jefferson Club, of Denver, Colo., in 1916, gave expression to this statement:

Both the great political parties have in their recent platforms favored the extension . of suffrage to women through State government .

That is where the President stood, and that is where the Democratic Party of this Nation in its last official utt.erance stands. The President can not prescribe Democratic law, and the gentleman from Missouri knows it. No power on this earth can lay down Democratic doctrine but a Democratic convention, and the last one that spoke declared that this was a matter for the re pective States to attend to . And the Republican Party in convention declared practically the same thing. And I a sert, without fear of successful contradiction, that any Democrat and any Republican who votes for this resolution to-day votes directly against the last official declaration of his party. You can not get away from it. It is there.

And there is some other good Democratic authority that I shall call to witness in this connection. Thomas Jefferson, the father of the Democratic Party, did not favor woman suffrage. I have not time to read his statement, but it is in the minority report, and gentlemen can read it, and I shall incorporate it in my remarks. And Grover Cleveland did not, and Woodrow Wilson did not. And when you come to the Republican thought on this question, the Hon. Elihu Root, the brainiest man in the Republican Party to-day, is not in favor of it, and William Howard Taft was not in favor of it. I believe he has seen the light, too, that my friend from Illinois [l\Ir. MANN] spoke of. A lot of these people have been traveling the road to Damascus lately. [Applause and laughter.]

A Member. . The present Speaker voted. against it the last time.

Mr. CLARK of Florida. Ah, 1\fr. Speaker, the Speaker of this House is loyal to his convictions and loyal to his declarations. A Member on the floor says that the present Speaker voted against it the last time, and my prediction is that he is going to vote against it this time.

I am opposed to submitting this amendment to the States for several reasons, l\Ir. Speaker, and one is because the franchise is not a right which attaches or belongs to any person of any sex or race. It is a privilege to be granted or withheld at the pleasure of the States. The power to control and regulate the suffrage was not delegated in the Constitution to the Federal Government, but was expressly retained by the several States, and these States have exclusively exerci eel this power ever since the Union was established. No member of the convention which framed our Federal Constitution suO'ge ted that the power should be delegated to the Federal Government, but by unanimous consent it was left as a reserved right to the respective States. Why should the States now delegate to the General Government a power which in the unanimous judgment of the fathers of the Republic it was deemed wi e to retain when the organic law was written? I respectfully submit, l\fr. Speaker, that a radical change in the structure of a great government should not be made unless it should be indisputably established that the proposed change i s not only for the betterment of mankind, but that it is necessary . for the welfare of the people.

What is it that \Ye are asked to do here? We are asked to pass this joint resolution and thereby submit to the legislatures of th e several States for ratification or rejection an amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which amendment confers upon women the privilege of voting. What is the duty of a Representative? I ask my colleagues to listen to this: What is the duty of a Representative in Congress when he is confronted with a proposition to submit an amendment to the Constitution? .

Just two or three days ago everyone of us took a solemn oath "to uphold and defend the Constitution of - the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic," and that Constitution itself, with unerring certainty, points out our duty in this emergency. . The Constitution provides that " the Congress, s whenever two-thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary,' shall propose amendments to this Constitution." I~ does not provide that whenever two-thirds of both Houses think 1t "advisable." It does not provide that whenever two-thirds of both Houses think it "politic." It does not provide that whenever two-thirds of both Houses think it " expedient." It does not provide that whenever two-thirds of both Houses " believe their seats are in jeopardy." It does not provide that _ when­ date. ever "a few women in the country desire it." But it provides that whenever two-thirds of both Houses, before the bar of their consciencies , under their oaths to defend the Constitution, d e em it to be necessary to propose the amendments.