ly
pilgrimages of women came from different parts of the country and on
the 31st a petition with 200,000 signatures was presented to the
Senate by 531 "pilgrims." Three deputations called on President Wilson
asking his support of the amendment, one from the National American
Association, one from the National College Equal Suffrage League and
one from the National Council of Women Voters, and in November a
fourth from his own State of New Jersey. Congress remained in session
all summer and mass suffrage meetings in theaters were held in
Washington. The large corps of newspaper correspondents were
constantly supplied with news. Countless suffrage meetings were held
in Maryland, Virginia and all the way up to New York and the members
were kept constantly informed of the activities in their own
districts. On September 18 Senator Ashurst announced on the floor of
the Senate that he would press the resolution to a vote at the
earliest possible moment and Senator Andrieus A. Jones of New Mexico
spoke in favor and asked for immediate action.

During the regular session in 1914 the resolution was discussed at
different times and many strong speeches in favor were made. The
Senate vote, which was taken on March 19, stood, ayes, 35; noes, 34;
lacking eleven of a necessary two-thirds majority. Twenty Republicans,
one Progressive and fourteen Democrats voted aye; twelve Republicans
and twenty-two Democrats voted no; ten Republicans and sixteen
Democrats were absent. For the first time southern Senators declared
in favor of giving suffrage to women by amending the National
Constitution--Senators Owen, Ransdell, Luke Lea of Tennessee and
Morris Sheppard of Texas voting in the affirmative.

For a trial vote this was considered satisfactory. The effort in the
Lower House was not so successful. Its Judiciary Committee had been
continuously opposed to allowing the amendment to reach the
Representatives, but two favorable majority reports having been made
in the thirty-six years during which the question had been before it
(1883, 1890). A larger Congressional Committee had been formed by the
National Suffrage Association, of which the chairman was Mrs. Ruth
Hanna McCormick, a daughter of former U. S. Senator Mark Hanna, who
had inherited her father's genius for constructive politics.
Headquarters were opened in the Munsey Building in Washington and the
work was divided into three departments--Lobby, Publicity and
Organization. Careful