by the Meyer-Davis orchestra. This
evening the speakers were the Hon. Franklin K. Lane, Secretary of the
Interior; the Hon. Jeannette Rankin, first woman member of the
National House of Representatives, and Mrs. Catt, who gave her
president's address. The presence of Secretary Lane added much
prestige as well as political significance to the program, for it was
interpreted as an indication that President Wilson had advanced from a
belief in woman suffrage itself to an advocacy of the Federal
Amendment, which was the keynote of the convention. "I come to you
tonight," the Secretary said, "to bring a word of congratulation and
good will from the first man in the nation. Dr. Shaw spoke of always
being proud when she had some man back of her who could give
respectability to the cause. What greater honor can there be, what
greater pride can you feel, than in having behind you the man who is
not alone the President of the United States but also the foremost
leader of liberal thought throughout the world? It is to have with you
the conscience, the mind and the spirit of today and tomorrow." He
spoke of his own strong belief in the enfranchisement of women and the
necessity of establishing for every one an individuality entirely her
own, socially and politically. Only scattered newspaper references to
this strong speech are available.

Especial interest was felt in the address of the young member of
Congress, Miss Jeannette Rankin. In speaking of the bill which she had
recently introduced to enable women to retain their nationality after
marriage she said: "We, who stand tonight so near victory after a
majestic struggle of seventy long years, must not forget that there
are other steps besides suffrage necessary to complete the political
enfranchisement of American women. We must not forget that the
self-respect of the American woman will not be redeemed until she is
regarded as a distinct and social entity, unhampered by the political
status of her husband or her father but with a status peculiarly her
own and accruing to her as an American citizen. She must be bound to
American obligations not through her husband's citizenship but
directly through her own."

Mrs. Catt's address had been announced as a Message to Congress and
was eagerly anticipated. Miss Rose Young, the enthusiastic editor of
_The Woman Citizen_, gave this vivid pen picture of the occasion:

When Mrs. Catt rose, the house rose with her. It was a crowde