opponents had rushed into town every farmer and small politician they
could secure and the women "antis" pinned a red rose in his
buttonhole. The suffragists had given a yellow jonquil to every
friend. Behind the Speaker's desk hung a huge yellow banner inscribed
"Votes for Women," and so crowded was the room with determined men and
eager women that the sergeant-at-arms had to clear a space for the
Senate. The suffragists had two hours in the morning and the "antis"
the same amount of time in the afternoon, with thirty minutes each for
rebuttal. Mrs. Catt, at the earnest request of the State association,
spoke at this hearing, and its president, Mrs. Ridgely; also Mrs.
Florence Bayard Hilles, president of the Delaware branch of the
National Woman's Party (Congressional Union), United States Senators
McKellar of Tennessee and Stirling of South Dakota came from
Washington to urge ratification. People crowded into Dover from over
the State and hot arguments took place in hotel lobbies and on the
streets. The State anti-suffrage association was represented by Miss
Charlotte Rowe of Yonkers, N. Y., employed by their national
organization. Mrs. Catt closed the argument and her speech was
considered by the hundreds who heard it, according to the staff
correspondent of the Wilmington _Evening Journal_, "one of the
clearest, strongest and most reasonable arguments for votes for women
ever heard in Delaware."

From this time until the vote was taken telegrams from outside the
State urging ratification were poured into the Legislature. They came
from the President of the United States; from Attorney General Palmer
and Secretaries Daniels, Houston and Meredith of his Cabinet; from
Republican Governors, State chairmen and party leaders throughout the
country, urging Daniel Layton to see that enough votes be given by the
Republican legislators to assure a majority in both Houses. In the
Senate all but five of the seventeen members were Republicans; in the
House, all but twelve of thirty-five. If they had adhered to the
expressed policy of their party the amendment could have been ratified
the first day of the session. On March 30 word was received that the
Mississippi Senate had ratified the Federal Amendment. This was
followed by a telegram from Mississippi to the anti-ratificationists
in Delaware that this Senate vote was only "a flash in the pan" and
would be reconsidered. A meeting of the Republican opponents
telegraphed to the