th men in
the world (in Wyoming) and the Fiftieth Anniversary of the
organization of the first National Woman Suffrage Association. Women
were eligible at this time to vote for President in twenty-eight
States. The submission of the Federal Woman Suffrage Amendment was
promised by the Sixty-sixth Congress and early ratification was
assured, so that the object for which the association had labored
through half a century of arduous sacrifice and toil was nearly
attained. The natural question, therefore, was, Should the association
make plans to dissolve immediately upon ratification or was there
reason for continuance?

On the opening night of the convention Mrs. Catt answered this
question and gave the purpose and aims of the new organization in her
address The Nation Calls. She said in part:

Every suffragist will hope for a memorial dedicated to the memory
of our brave departed leaders, to the sacrifices they made for
our cause, to the scores of victories won.... I venture to
propose one whose benefits will bless our entire nation and bring
happiness to the humblest of our citizens--the most natural, the
most appropriate and the most patriotic memorial that could be
suggested--a League of Women Voters to "finish the fight" and to
aid in the reconstruction of the nation. What could be more
natural than that women having attained their political
independence should desire to give service in token of their
gratitude? What could be more appropriate than that such women
should do for the coming generation what those of a preceding did
for them? What could be more patriotic than that these women
should use their new freedom to make the country safer for their
children and their children's children?

Let us then raise up a League of Women Voters, the name and form
of organization to be determined by the members themselves; a
league that shall be non-partisan and non-sectarian and
consecrated to three chief aims: 1. To use its influence to
obtain the full enfranchisement of the women of every State in
our own republic and to reach out across the seas in aid of the
woman's struggle for her own in every land. 2. To remove the
remaining legal discriminations against women in the codes and
constitutions of the several States in order that the feet of
coming women may find these stumbling blocks removed.