Page:History of Woman Suffrage Volume 5.djvu/681

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FEDERAL AMENDMENT FOR WOMAN SUFFRAGE
643

—Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, North Dakota, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. In all of these women already had full or partial suffrage.

On February 17 Senator Wesley L. Jones of Washington reintroduced the amendment in its old form, stating that he expected no action during the present Congress. On the following day Senator Gay introduced an amendment in which the right of enforcement was given to the various States and Congress was excluded. On the 20th Senator Kenneth McKellar of Tennessee introduced one requiring personal naturalization of alien women. Senator Gay agreed to support an amendment introduced February 28 by Chairman Jones, giving the States the right to enforce the amendment, but, in case of their failure to do so, permitting Congress to enact appropriate legislation. Just before the close of the session on March 3, a southern Democrat, in response to a cablegram from President Wilson, consented to give the measure the lacking vote if it could be brought up again but this the Republicans declined to permit.


During this winter of 1919 the National American Association continued the work of obtaining from the Legislatures Presidential suffrage for women and to the list were added Maine, Vermont, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri and 'Tennessee, fourteen altogether. By May 1, adding the States with this Presidential suffrage to the fifteen where women had the complete franchise, it was estimated that about 15,500,000 would be able to "vote for the President" in the general election of 1920. They could vote for 306 of the 531 members of the Electoral College, 40 more than half. About half of the above number would exercise the full suffrage. Thirty-four Senators and 130 Representatives were now elected partly by women, including those from Arkansas and Texas.

One-third of the Senate and all of the House of Representatives were elected in November, 1918. Many of the old members were re-elected, some friends and some enemies of the Federal Suffrage Amendment. The Republicans had a large majority and