our association to abandon its one
purpose of securing votes for women and turn its attention and
organized machinery to the real or imaginary dangers which beset
us as a nation, but let us never for a moment forget the specious
promises and assurances that were given to the pioneers, who,
when the Civil War took place, gave up their associated work and
turned their efforts to its demand in the belief that when the
war was over the country would recognize their patriotic services
and the dependence of the nation upon women in war as in peace
and reward them with the ballot, the crowning symbol of
citizenship. But instead of recognizing their service and
rewarding the loyal women, the cry went forth: "This is the
negroes' hour. Let the women wait"--and they are still waiting.
As they wait they are not blind to the fact that this nation did
what no other nation has ever done, when it voluntarily made its
former slaves the sovereign rulers of its loyal and patriotic
women.

The greatest service suffragists can render their country and
through it the whole world at this time, is to teach it that
there is no sex in love of individual liberty and to stand
without faltering by their demand for justice and equality of
political rights for men and women.

Dr. Shaw impressed upon the workers, especially the younger ones, not
to be discouraged at what seemed slow progress and said:

It has been the privilege of your president to participate
actively in twenty-four out of twenty-seven State campaigns; in
the New Hampshire constitutional convention campaign, the
Wheeling municipal campaign and directly though not actively in
all the others except that of Illinois. The vote cast upon the
amendments but inadequately expresses the expanding sentiment in
behalf of woman suffrage and it needs only consecrated,
persistent, systematic service to reach the goal and complete the
task begun by the pioneers of 1848 and led by Susan B. Anthony
until her death in 1906. While we accept as our motto her last
public utterance, "Failure is impossible," we must also remember
her prophetic words, uttered just before she laid down her life
work: "There is nothing which can ultimately prevent the triumph
of our cause but the time of its coming depends largely upon the
loya