Page:History of Woman Suffrage Volume 6.djvu/314

3OO HISTORY OF WOMAN SUFFRAGE opinion of the State Supreme Court as to its constitutionality and she filed a brief. The Supreme Court decided adversely and in view of the rapid advance of the Federal Suffrage Amendment the association decided that no State amendment should be submitted by the convention. The directions of the National Suffrage Association for con- gressional work were carried out. Federal Amendment meetings were held, thousands of letters sent to members of Congress from their districts and about 500 telegrams sent just before the vote was taken in 1918. The amendment lacked but one vote of pass- ing the U. S. Senate and it became necessary to defeat at least one among the anti-suffrage Senators who were coming up for re-election, so it was decided to defeat Senator John W. Weeks in Massachusetts. His reactionary record was spread before the Republican voters by 370,000 circulars and advertisements in Republican papers. A special campaign among the working men was made by members of the Women's Trade Union League, under the leadership of Miss Mabel Gillespie, and among the Jewish voters, who were normally Republican, under the leader- ship of Mrs. Joseph Fels and Mrs. Lillian E. deHaas of New York. The great popularity of President Wilson at this time was of assistance and also that of the Democratic candidate for the Senate, ex-Governor Walsh. A special letter was sent to every listed member of the State association asking that at least one vote be secured against Mr. Weeks, with a spirited appeal by Mrs. Ames, who belonged to a prominent Republican family. Mr. Walsh was elected by about 20,000 majority, the first Democratic U. S. Senator from Massachusetts since the Civil War. The Congressional Committee, Mrs. Ames, chairman, sent more than 5,000 letters and telegrams asking suffragists in the State to write and telegraph the Massachusetts Senators and members of Congress to vote for the Federal Amendment. Con- centrated work was done upon three doubtful Representatives, one of whom was secured, Carter of Needham. This proved most fortunate as the House gave exactly the two-thirds vote. The work done in 1918 on the great petition for the Federal Amendment was very successful despite the influenza epidemic. In Worcester, Springfield, Pittsfield and North Adams women