ps
should not work together in one large strong organization, and this
seemed increasingly important as they welcomed women from other
countries to this first international conference. Unfamiliar with the
personal antagonisms and the sincere differences in policy which had
caused the separation after the Civil War, they did not understand the
difficulties still in the way of union. So strongly, however, did they
press for a united front that the leaders of both groups felt
themselves swept along toward that goal. Susan herself had long looked
forward to the time when all suffragists would again work together,
but since the unsuccessful overtures of her group in 1870, she had
made no further efforts in that direction. She was completely taken by
surprise when in the fall of 1887 the American Association proposed
that she and Lucy Stone confer regarding union.

* * * * *

The negotiations revived old arguments in the minds of zealous
partisans, and in the _Woman's Journal_, the _Woman's Tribune_, and
elsewhere, attempts were made to fasten the blame for the
twenty-year-old rift upon this one and that one; but so strong ran the
tide for union among the younger women that this excursion into the
past aroused little interest.

The election of the president of the merged organizations was the most
difficult hurdle. Lucy Stone suggested that neither she, Mrs. Stanton,
nor Susan allow their names to be proposed, since they had been blamed
for the division, but this was easier said than done. The clamor for
Susan and Mrs. Stanton was so strong and continuous among the younger
members that it soon became apparent that unless one or the other were
chosen, there would be no hope of union. The odds were in Susan's
favor. Her popularity in the National Association was tremendous.
Although Mrs. Stanton was revered as the mother of woman suffrage and
admired for her brilliant mind and her poise as presiding officer, she
now spent so much time in Europe with her daughter Harriot that many
who might otherwise have voted for her felt that the office should go
to Susan, who was always on the job.

[Illustration: Harriot Stanton Blatch]

Most of the American Association regarded Susan as safer and less
radical than Mrs. Stanton, less likely to stray from the straight path
of woman suffrage, and Henry Blackwell recommended her election.

Susan did not want the presidency. She wanted it for Mrs. Stanton,