Page:History of Woman Suffrage Volume 6.djvu/487

NEW YORK 471 in all the large cities and schools in every county to train watchers for the polls. As was expected the resolution for the suffrage amendment was passed by the Legislature of 1915, the vote to be taken on the day of the regular election, November 2. Forty paid organ- izers were kept in the field and a convention was held again in each county. By autumn each of the 150 assembly districts was organized and in addition there were 565 clubs and 183 campaign committees. About 2,500 women held official positions, serving without pay. It was estimated that about 200,000 women worked in some capacity in this campaign. Twelve thousand New York City public school teachers formed a branch under Katharine Devereux Blake as chairman. Each paid fifty cents dues and many gave their summer vacation to work for the amendment. The Equal Franchise Society, in charge of the literature, printed 7,230,000 leaflets, requiring twenty tons of paper ; 657,200 booklets, one full set sent to every political leader in the State ; 592,000 Congressional hearings and individual speeches were mailed to voters; 149,533 posters were put up and 1,000,000 suffrage buttons were used ; 200,000 cards of matches with "Vote Yes on the Suffrage Amendment" on the back were distributed and 35,000 fans carrying the suffrage map. The value of street speaking had long since been learned. A woman speaking from an automobile or a soap box or steps, while she might begin by addressing a few children would usually draw a crowd of men of the kind who could never be gotten inside a hall, and these men were voters. The effect of these outdoor meetings was soon seen all over the State in the rapidly changing sentiment of the man in the street. During the six months pre- ceding the election 10,325 meetings were recorded besides the countless ones not reported. Mass meetings were held in 124 different cities, sixteen in New York, with U. S. Senators and Representatives and other prominent speakers. The week before election in New York, Buffalo, Rochester and other large cities Marathon speeches were made continuously throughout tin* twenty-four hours, with listening crowds even during the small hours of the night. Suffrage speeches were given in moving ire shows and vaudeville theaters and a suffrage motion