Page:History of Woman Suffrage Volume 5.djvu/544

5IO HISTORY OF WOMAN SUFFRAGE cago there would be no hope in St. Louis. At midnight that all- powerful sub-committee by a vote of 5 to 4 turned down our plank and refused to permit suffrage to be mentioned in the platform in any way. That committee has seldom been reversed in all the history of the party. When later Senator Borah, also sleepless and hungry, came to us in one of those agonizing moments when decision must be made at once, when we could not reach our president or our board, it was Miss Patterson who made the decision that won the plank. 1 A comprehensive plan of work was adopted with the following principal features: Federal Work: The National Board shall continue a lobby in Washington until the Federal Amendment shall be submitted; the matter of removing headquarters to Washington shall be left to the judgment of the Board ; it shall conduct a nation-wide campaign of agitation, education, organization and publicity in support of the amendment, which shall include the following: a million-dollar fund for the campaign from Oct. I, 1916, to Oct. I, 1917; a monthly propaganda demonstration simultaneously conducted throughout the nation; at least four campaign directors and 200 organizers in the field and a vigorous, thorough organization in every State ; a na- tionalized scheme for education through literature; national suf- frage schools ; a speakers' bureau ; innumerable activities for agita- tion and publicity; a national press bureau and a national publicity council with departments in each State; a national committee to extend suffrage propaganda among non-English-speaking races. State Work: A Council of the representatives of States shall meet in executive session in connection with each annual national convention to hear reports as to the status of each campaign State and to fix upon States which shall be recommended to go forward with campaigns. No State association shall ask the Legislature for the submis- sion of a State constitutional amendment or for the submission of the question by initiative or by a referred law until such Council or the National Board has had the opportunity to investigate condi- tions and to give consent. Any State which proceeds to a referendum campaign without securing this consent shall be prepared to finance its own campaign without help from the National Board. Any State which has secured the consent of the National Board to proceed with a campaign shall have its cooperation to the fullest extent of its powers. 1 Senator Borah told them that the plank the National Suffrage Board had submitted, endorsing a Federal Amendment, was absolutely impossible but one could be obtained declaring for woman suffrage by State action. They accepted it, which was a wise thing to do, as had the Republican platform not favored woman suffrage per se the Democratic platform, adopted the following week, would not have done so.