Page:History of Woman Suffrage Volume 5.djvu/434

adopted: "The National American Woman Suffrage Association in convention assembled hereby expresses its heartfelt thanks and deep appreciation to our national president, Dr. Anna Howard Shaw, for her devoted and unremitting work for woman suffrage and for this association during the past year; for her splendid services in the campaigns which did so much to lead to victory two States; for her willingness to stand for re-election in order that she may lead us to new victories in the coming year."

Greetings were brought from the recently formed National Suffrage Association of Canada by Miss Ida E. Campbell, who said that although it was only eight months old it represented many affiliated societies in all the Provinces. She spoke of the splendid war work that was being done by women and said: "Our national president, Mrs. L. A. Hamilton of Toronto, is at the head of the relief work in that city and the feeling is general that the patriotic activities of the suffragists are doing much to enhance the cause of woman suffrage in the eyes of the Canadian public.^[1] May we now express the hope that when the war is over we may welcome many of our American sisters to what we have been looking forward to—our first Canadian National Suffrage Convention. Canada salutes you." Greetings were read from the Colorado State Federation of Women's Clubs and were presented from the Southern States Woman Suffrage Conference by its president, Miss Kate M. Gordon (La.).

The large hall was crowded at the first evening meeting and the convention was formally welcomed by Governor B. W. Hooper, who said in the course of his address:

It is highly appropriate that your progressive movement should unfurl its banners in this, the most progressive State in the South. Our people are not swift in their pursuit of strange doctrines, but they are as a rule open to conviction and tolerant of differences of opinion. Whatever may be our views of the necessity and efficacy of woman suffrage most of us have sense enough to know that it is surely coming in every State in the republic.... When it comes to Tennessee I trust that there will be no faltering compromise, giving only the limited right to vote in the election of certain classes of officials. The suffrage, if granted at all, should not be grudgingly given but should be the complete and comprehensive right to participate in all elections. When suffrage comes to the

1. Complete, universal suffrage was conferred by the Parliament in 1917.