Page:History of Woman Suffrage Volume 6.djvu/534

From Wikisource
Revision as of 07:17, 22 July 2024 by Ineuw (talk | contribs) (Proofread)
(diff) ← Older revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
518
HISTORY OF WOMAN SUFFRAGE.

ratify on June 16 and the House vote was 76 ayes, 6 noes. In order that the women might be sure of a vote at the next election the Presidential suffrage bill was immediately passed by a vote of 75 ayes, 5 noes. The House was in an uproar, cheering, laughing and talking. Then a committee came to the suffrage leaders who were now on the floor, always heretofore in the gallery, and escorted them to the Senate through the legislative passage way which had always before been closed to them. The Senate ratified by a vote of 27 ayes, 3 noes. The Presidential bill was read, debated and passed by the Senate late that night by 27 ayes, 3 noes.

Never was there a finer example of cooperation than in this ratification of the Federal Amendment. The adoption of the joint resolution was moved by the Republican floor leader and seconded by the Democratic floor leader. The same spirit characterized the passage of the Presidential suffrage bill. Mr. Reynolds, fearing some prejudice might attach to it if it bore his name, as he was a minority party member, proposed to the Republican leaders that the name of Speaker Kimball be substituted. The Speaker replied: 'No, you deserve to have it go through with your name attached." Mr. Reynolds then asked that the name of Mr. Fouts be added because he had introduced a full suffrage measure, and it became the Reynolds-Fouts Bill. Miss Hauser, editor of the Bulletin, official organ of the State Suffrage Association, said in it: "We had just witnessed a perfect exhibition of team work and a demonstration of loyalty to a cause and to each other by members of opposing political parties that was heart warming. We had finished the suffrage fight in Ohio as Mrs. Upton had always wanted to finish it, with love, good will and harmony in our own ranks, and, so far as we were able to judge, with nothing but good will from the men with whom we had worked since the present stage of the contest was inaugurated in 1912."

The suffragists believed the fight was over, not so the opponents. They at once secured referendum petitions on both ratification and Presidential suffrage. In 1918 the Home Rule Association (the liquor interests) had initiated and carried at the November election an amendment to the State constitution providing that Federal amendments must be approved by the voters