ate house and the officers were cared for
there but the delegates were obliged to scatter over the city wherever
they could find shelter, were always cold and some of the time not far
from hungry and prices were double what was expected. Notwithstanding
all these drawbacks the convention program was carried out and a large
amount of valuable work accomplished, tried and loyal suffragists
being accustomed to hardships and self-sacrifice.

The victory in New York State the preceding month had marked the
beginning of the end and the universal enfranchisement of women seemed
almost in sight. Even the intense excitement of the war had not
entirely overshadowed what had now became a national issue. Under the
auspices of Mrs. Helen H. Gardener, resident in Washington, an
Advisory Council was formed to act in an honorary capacity and extend
official recognition to the convention, Senators, Representatives,
Cabinet officers, Judges, clergymen and others prominent in the life
of the capital, with their wives and other women of their family,
cheerfully giving their names for this purpose.[108]

The evening before the convention opened a reception by invitation was
given in the ball room of the New Willard Hotel to Dr. Shaw, Mrs. Catt
and the other officers and the delegates, the following acting as
hostesses: Mrs. William Gibbs McAdoo, Mrs. Newton D. Baker, Mrs.
Thomas W. Gregory, Mrs. Albert Sidney Burleson, Mrs. Josephus Daniels,
Mrs. Franklin K. Lane, Mrs. David F. Houston, Miss Agnes Hart Wilson,
Mrs. James R. Mann, Mrs. Philip Pitt Campbell. The first seven were
the wives and the eighth the daughter of the members of President
Wilson's Cabinet, only Mrs. Robert Lansing being absent, who, like her
husband, was an anti-suffragist. The last two were the wives of
prominent Representatives from Illinois and Kansas. Because of the war
the other social festivities that were usually so delightful a
feature of these annual meetings were omitted. Before the convention
opened Mrs. Gifford Pinchot, whose home was directly across from
"suffrage house," the national headquarters, entertained the officers
at luncheon.

The hearings before the committees of Congress which generally took
place during the convention, had been held in the spring at an extra
session and therefore Mrs. Catt had planned an effective ceremony for
this occasion at the Senate office building, the senior Senator from
each State where women were without a vote being