for the faith that was in
them. Delegates were present from Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama,
Mississippi and Illinois. Addresses were given by Miss Laura Clay and
Mrs. Lida Calvert Obenchain of Kentucky, Mrs. Virginia Clay Clopton
and Miss Griffin of Alabama, Miss Josephine E. Locke of Illinois, Mrs.
Flora C. Huntington and Mrs. Meriwether.

The second convention took place at Memphis, April 22, 1900, Mrs.
Chapman Catt and Miss Mary G. Hay, national organizer, in attendance.
Mrs. Meriwether was elected honorary president for life; Mrs. Elise M.
Selden was made president and Miss Margaret E. Henry, corresponding
secretary. On Sunday evening Mrs. Chapman Catt addressed a mass
meeting in the Grand Opera House, and the next evening spoke in the
audience hall of the Nineteenth Century Club, both given free of
charge.

One incident will further show the growth of public sentiment in this
direction. In 1895 a prominent Memphis woman sent to the _Arena_ an
article entitled The Attitude of Southern Women on the Suffrage
Question, which she claimed to be that of uncompromising opposition.
In conclusion she said: "The views presented have been strengthened by
opinions from women all over the South, from the Atlantic Coast to
Texas, from the Ohio to the Gulf. More than one hundred of the
home-makers, the teachers and the writers have been consulted, all of
them recognized in their own communities for earnestness and ability.
Of these, only thirteen declared themselves outright for woman
suffrage; four believed that women should vote upon property and
school questions; while nine declined to express themselves. All the
others were opposed to woman suffrage in any form." She then gave
short extracts from the letters of eighteen women, four in favor and
fourteen opposed.

The editor wrote to Mrs. Josephine K. Henry of Kentucky asking for an
article from the other side. She sent one entitled The New Woman of
the New South, and the two were published in the _Arena_ of February,
1895. Mrs. Henry gave extracts from the letters of seventy-two
prominent women in various parts of the South--all uncompromising
suffragists. She had written to Mrs. Meriwether that, as her opponent
was from Tennessee, she wanted a distinct voice from that State, and
requested her to give a few reasons for desiring the suffrage and
obtain the signatures of women to the same. Mrs. Meriwether supplied
the following:

We, the undersigned women of Tennessee,