History of Woman Suffrage/Volume 6/Chapter 30

 

CHAPTER XXX.

NEW MEXICO.^[1]

As the railroads were few and automobiles almost unknown in New Mexico in the first decade of the present century, and as the distances were great and cities and towns widely separated, there was no attempt to organize for woman suffrage. In 1910 the Women's Clubs were called in convention at Las Cruces through the efforts of Mrs. George W. Frenger, secretary of the General Federation, and Mrs. Philip North Moore, then its president, was in attendance. A State Federation was formed with Mrs. S. P. Johnson of Palomas Springs, president; Mrs. Sam J. Nixon of Portales secretary, and several department chairmen were named, Mrs. W. E. Lindsey being chosen for the Legislative Department.

This department through its bold stand for woman suffrage and better laws for women and children easily became the foremost factor in the federation. At each yearly convention one evening was given to the discussion of the benefits which women would receive from the suffrage. Almost before it was realized suffrage had become popular with both men and women. The delegates carried the messages from the State conventions to their own clubs; suffrage discussions became the regular program for one meeting each year in almost every club and generally made converts of those taking the opposition. Women began searching the statutes and questioning their attorneys and husbands in regard to laws. Their interest became such that no Legislature during the federation's existence has proposed any law derogatory to the rights of women and children, but when attention has been called to unfair laws, some of them have been replaced by better ones.

Under direction of the executive board of the federation this NEW MEXICO 435 department sent out questionnaires to all of the State candidates for office in 1916 as to whether they would work for placing women on the State boards and use their influence to bring the Federal Amendment to a successful vote in the United States Senate and House. Their members were also interrogated as to whether they would work and vote for it. Therefore the Legis- lative Department of the Federated Clubs really did the work that any suffrage organization would do and had the backing of the women of the State in general. Suffrage was unani- mously endorsed in the convention of the federation at Silver City in 1914. It is to the credit of the work of the Federated Clubs in the State that its members of Congress, with one excep- tion, have needed no lobbying from suffrage forces in Wash- ington. Senator Andrieus A. Jones, as chairman of the Suf- frage Committee, made the submission of the amendment pos- sible in the present Congress by his systematic and forceful course in the last one. Mrs. Lindsey remained chairman of this department six years. In 1913 she was appointed State chairman for the National American Woman Suffrage Association by its president, Dr. Anna Howard Shaw. In 1914 the suffragists had a "float" in the parade at the State fair in Albuquerque. In May, 1916, the National Association under the presidency of Mrs. Carrie Chap- man Catt, sent one of its organizers, Miss Lola Walker of Pitts- burgh, for ten days to look over the situation and she visited Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Portales and Las Vegas. In the last place she spoke before the Woman's Club with about eighty present and at the close of her talk a vote was taken which stood unanimous for suffrage. At Portales a society was formed and a large evening reception was held to which both men and women were invited. Miss Walker gave a very interesting

ne of woman suffrage which aroused much interest. An ap

peal was sent to the National Association to return her for a fall campaign to organize the State as an auxiliary. She went to Maine, however, and Miss Gertrude Watkins of Link- Rock was sent to New Mexico in January, 1917. She visited the rn and central parN f the State organizing leagues in must of the towns. In Santa Fe one was formed of about thirty 43 HISTORY OF WOMAN SUFFRAGE members with Mrs. Paul A. F. Walter president; Mrs. R. W. Twitchell secretary, and Mrs. Ellen J. Palen treasurer. The Congressional Union also sent an organizer into the State in 1916, Mrs. Thompson, who spent some time in Santa Fe, Albuquerque and Las Vegas. The Santa Fe women were suffi- ciently aroused to hold a street parade and march to the home of U. S. Senator Catron, an opponent, where they gathered on the lawn and made speeches to convince the aged Senator of the wishes of the women as to his conduct in the Senate. Mrs. Joshua Reynolds was made State chairman of the Congressional Union and afterwards Mrs. Nina Otero Warren, and Mrs. A. A. Kellan was legislative chairman, all of Albuquerque. Miss Mabel Vernon came from Washington to hold meetings that year and Miss Anne Martin in 1917, and active work was done. Washington E. Lindsey was Governor in 1917-18, and in No- vember, 1918, all the suffrage forces in Albuquerque and Santa Fe were invited by Mrs. Lindsey to meet at the Executive Man- sion and form a committee to work for suffrage at the coming session of the Legislature. This meeting elected the following officers : Mrs. R. P. Barnes chairman ; Mrs. A. B. Stroup sec- retary; Mrs. Warren legislative chairman; Mrs. John W. Wilson party platform chairman; Mrs. Walter congressional chairman. This committee did good work for suffrage in both the regular and special sessions. In December, 1919, Mrs. Carrie Chapman Catt and her party of speakers for the ratification of the Federal Amendment came to Albuquerque for the last of several western State confer- ences. It was arranged by Mrs. Barnes and was carried out with great success. Mrs. Catt spoke at a large luncheon held in the Y. M. C. A. building, which many of the Judges, newspaper representatives and other prominent men and women attended. On account of the great distances few except from Albuquerque and Santa Fe were present but Mrs. Catt's appeal was carried from one end of the State to the other through the public press and created an atmosphere of hope. This was changed to re- joicing as word came that Governor Octaviano A. Larrazolo would call a special session of the Legislature for the ratification. NEW MEXICO 437 RATIFICATION. When the time came the Legislature had adjourned and would not meet again until 1921, so a special session would be necessary if it ratified before the presidential election. The opponents concentrated their forces to prevent it and were successful until 1920 but finally were obliged to yield and Governor Larrazolo called the special session for February 1 6. When it met there was a determined effort by one member, Dan Padillo of Albuquerque, to have a referendum to the voters of the State. All the city was up in arms men's organizations, the Y. W. C. A., the W. C. T. U., the Woman's Committee, the Woman's Party, individual men and women until at last he declared that he would vote for the immediate ratification. The vote in the Senate February 18 was 17 ayes, 8 Republicans, 9 Democrats ; 5 noes, all Republicans Gallegos, Mirabel, Lucero (Emiliano), Salazar and Sanchez. The vote in the House Feb- rary 19 was 36 ayes, 23 Republicans, 13 Democrats; 10 noes, 8 Republicans, 2 Democrats. LEGISLATIVE ACTION. Beginning with 1915 the Federation of Women's Clubs was able to secure some legislation favorable to women and children. In 1916 the Woman's Christian Tem- perance Union, through its president, Mrs. Harriet L. Hender- son, had a Prohibition Amendment endorsed by the State Re- publican platform which the Legislature submitted to the electors in November, 1917. Both parties, all women's organizations and everybody of influence from the Governor down worked with zeal for its passage. Miss Anna A. Gordon, national president of the W. C. T. U., came to the State in October and was a guest at the convention of the Federated Clubs in Gallup, which voted unanimously to give all the time until the election to work for its success, and parades and much individual effort followed. Women went to the polls with their lists of voters, checking them off as they came and then going for those who had not voted. It was carried by 20,000 majority, the largest percentage vote ever given by any State for prohibition. the State constitution rendered it impossible to carry an amendment for woman suffrage the women made no attempt to have the Legislature submit one, hut in <n~ some of the Kcprr- aives brought an amendment resolution before the House, 438 HISTORY OF WOMAN SUFFRAGE which promptly killed it. As the State conventions of both political parties this year had declared in favor of woman suf- frage, the committee appointed at the meeting in the Governor's mansion asked for the Presidential and Municipal franchise, which the Legislature had power to grant without a referendum to the voters. They made a spirited campaign with all the assist- ance that Governor Lindsey could give and the suffrage societies throughout the State poured in letters upon the legislators. The vote in the Senate was 9 ayes, 14 noes. Before it was taken in the House a conference was held in the office of the Governor at the Capitol attended by the following workers for the bill : Senator Isaac Barth, National Committeeman ; Charles A. Spiess, Holm O. Bursum, Supreme Justice Clarence J. Roberts, Charles Springer, Mrs. Kellam, Mrs. Walter, Mrs. Hughey, chairman of the State suffrage legislative committee; Mrs. Kate Hall, president of the Santa Fe branch of the Congressional Union; Mrs. N. B. Laughlin and Mrs. Lindsey. The leaders of the two political parties admitted that they could not control their legislators and tried to hold the Spanish- Americans responsible. The House voted on the bill March 7, after a loud, disorderly and acrimonious debate, 26 noes, 21 ayes. The Speaker afterwards explained his affirmative vote by saying that he thought it was to submit the question to the electors! Of the 20 Republican members TO voted for the bill; of the 18 Democratic members, IT voted for it. SUFFRAGE. The convention to prepare a constitution for statehood, which met in 1910, was the battle ground for School suffrage for women. The question was very seriously debated in the Elective Franchise Committee, which many times voted it down only to renew it upon appeal to do so. Mrs. S. F. Culberson, then county school superintendent in Roosevelt county, argued the matter before the committee, and its chair- man, Nestor Montoya, cast the deciding vote for it to come before the convention. Both Democrats and Republicans rallied to its support but Jose D. Sena, Clerk of the Supreme Court, a member of the convention, strenuously opposed it and finally carried it back to be caucused upon by the Republican majority. After a stormy caucus it was returned to the convention and NEW MEXICO 439 passed. The president of the convention, Charles A. Spiess, spoke urgently in Committee of the Whole to save women's eli- gibility to the county superintendency from being eliminated. The clause gave women the right to vote for school trustees, on the issuing of bonds and in the local administration of public schools but not for county or State superintendents. It provided that "if a majority of the qualified voters of any school district shall, not less than thirty days before any school election, present a petition to the county commissioners against woman suffrage in that district it shall be suspended and only renewed by a peti- tion of the majority !" No effort could obtain any larger extension of the franchise to women but the new State constitution gave universal suffrage to men and carefully protected the right to vote of those who could not speak, read or write either the English or Spanish language. It then provided that the suffrage clause could only be amended by having the amendment submitted by a vote of three-fourths of each House of the Legislature. In order to be carried, it must have a three-fourths majority of the highest number voting at a State election and a two-thirds majority of the highest number voting in every county. This was expressly designed to prevent woman suffrage and it destroyed all possi- bility of it until conferred by a Federal Amendment. Among the women who worked for woman suffrage in addi- tion to those mentioned in the chapter were Mesdames Margaret Cartright, S. F. Culberson, George W. Carr, Josie Lockard, J. R. Kinyon, H. F. LaBelle, N. J. Strumquist, Margaret Medler, William J. Barker, Lansing Bloom, C. E. Mason, R. P. Donahoe, Ruth Skeen, John W. Wilson, S. C. Nutter, Catherine Patterson, Minnie Byrd, Howard Huey, Alfred Grunsfeld, Edgar L. Hewett, I. II. Elliot and I. H. Rapp. As all women were fully enfranchised by the Federal Amend- ment a State branch of the National League of Women Voters was formed with Mrs. Gerald Cassidy as chairman.

 

1. The History is indebted for this chapter to Deane H. (Mrs. Washington E.) Lindsey, State chairman of the National Woman Suffrage Association.