Page:History of Woman Suffrage Volume 5.djvu/678

640 HISTORY OF WOMAN SUFFRAGE that he would take the unprecedented step of addressing the Sen- ate in person on the subject September 30. This was done to the joy of its friends and the wrath of its enemies. Mrs. Park, chairman of the Congressional Committee of the National Suf- frage Association, said in her report: "For a while our fears were at rest and Monday afternoon when the words of that noble speech fell upon our ears it seemed impossible that a third of the Senate could refuse the never-to-be-forgotten plea. 1 Scarcely had the door closed upon the President when Sena- tor Underwood took the floor for a prolonged State's rights argu- ment against the amendment. He was followed by others op- posed and in favor, during whose speeches the leaders of the op- position of both parties went about among the members trying to counteract the influence of the President's address. The next day various amendments proposed were defeated; one by Senator Williams (Miss.) to amend by making the resolution read: "The right of white citizens to vote shall not be denied, etc.," was laid on the table by a vote of 61 to 22. One by Sena- tor Frelinghuysen (N. J.), denying the vote to "female persons who are not citizens otherwise than by marriage was also laid on the table by a vote of 53 to 33. One by Senator Fletcher (Fla.) to strike out the words "or by any State" so that the section would read: "The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States on account of sex," was laid on the table by a vote of 65 to 17. The Senate vote Oct. i, 1918, on the amendment itself, stood 54 in favor to 30 against, or, including pairs, 62 in favor to 34 against, two votes short of the needed two-thirds majority. Chairman Jones changed his vote and moved reconsideration, which put the amendment back in its old place on the calendar. Analyzed by parties and including pairs the vote stood : Yes No Democrats 30 22 Republicans 32 12 Total 62 34 1 For speech in full see Appendix for this chapter.