not know whether he had promised what she asked, and as his speech
progressed our hearts sank lower and lower, for all he said was remote
from our Cause. But he ended with these words:

"There is an amendment of the constitution pending, granting suffrage
to women. The women of California ought to have suffrage. The men of
California ought to give it to them--and the next speaker, Dr. Shaw,
will tell you why."

The word was spoken. And though it was not a very strong word, it came
from a strong man, and therefore helped us.

Election day, as usual, brought its surprises and revelations. Mrs.
Cooper asked her Chinese cook how the Chinese were voting--i. e.,
the native-born Chinamen who were entitled to vote--and he replied,
blithely, "All Chinamen vote for Billy McKee and 'NO' to women!" It is
an interesting fact that every Chinese vote was cast against us.

All day we went from one to another of the polling-places, and I shall
always remember the picture of Miss Anthony and the wife of Senator
Sargent wandering around the polls arm in arm at eleven o'clock at
night, their tired faces taking on lines of deeper depression with every
minute; for the count was against us. However, we made a fairly good
showing. When the final counts came in we found that we had won the
state from the north down to Oakland, and from the south up to San
Francisco; but there was not a sufficient majority to overcome the
adverse votes of San Francisco and Oakland. With more than 230,000 votes
cast, we were defeated by only 10,000 majority. In San Francisco the
saloon element and the most aristocratic section of the city made an
equal showing against us, while the section occupied by the middle
working-class was largely in favor of our amendment. I dwell especially
on this campaign, partly because such splendid work was done by the
women of California, and also because, during the same election, Utah
and Idaho granted full suffrage to women. This gave us four suffrage
states--Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, and Idaho--and we prepared for future
struggles with very hopeful hearts.

It was during this California campaign, by the way, that I unwittingly
caused much embarrassment to a worthy young man. At a mass-meeting held
in San Francisco, Rabbi Vorsanger, who was not in favor of suffrage for
women, advanced the heartening theory that in a thousand years more they
might possibly be ready for it. After a thousand years of education for
women, of ph