America's history of freedom.

II. SOUTHERN MEMBERS OF CONGRESS VERY GENERALLY URGE THAT THEY OPPOSE
THE FEDERAL AMENDMENT BECAUSE IT WILL CONFER THE VOTE UPON THE NEGRO
WOMEN OF THEIR RESPECTIVE STATES; AND THAT THAT WILL INTERFERE WITH
WHITE SUPREMACY IN THE SOUTH.

It is difficult to believe this objection to be sincere, since facts
do not support the contention. The facts are that woman suffrage
secured by Federal Amendment will be subject to whatever restrictions
may be imposed by state constitutions (provided those restrictions are
in accord with the National Constitution) in precisely the same way
as woman suffrage secured by state constitutional amendment. No larger
number of negro women can be enfranchised by Federal Amendment than
will be enfranchised by State Amendment. If the women of the South
are ever to be enfranchised, it must be by (1) Federal Constitutional
Amendment, or (2) State Constitutional Amendment. If their franchise
is obtained by the former method, it will come by the votes of white
men in Congress and legislatures; if by the second, they will be
forced to appeal to voting Negroes to elevate them to their own
political status. One would suppose the first would be the preferable
method from the Southern viewpoint. It is possible that behind this
commonly spoken objection, lies a hope and belief that Southern women
will remain disfranchised forevermore. A man unfamiliar with political
history, psychology, and the science of evolution might cherish such
a belief in fancied security, but ideas cannot be shut outside the
borders of a state. There is no Southern state in which women of the
highest families are not giving their all in order to propagate this
cause, and they are doing it with so noble a spirit and so eloquent
an appeal that final surrender of the citadel of prejudice is only a
question of time. No one has ever questioned the "fighting ability" of
the South. That ability is not confined to men. Courage, intelligence,
conviction and willingness to sacrifice characterize the suffrage
movement in every state, and the South is no exception. The women of
that section will vote; the question is how long must they work, how
much must they sacrifice to win that which has so freely been granted
to men of all classes?

White supremacy will be strengthened, not weakened, by woman suffrage.
In the fifteen states south of the Mason and Dixon line are:

8,788,901 white women,
4,316,565