IN THE TERRITORIES AND PHILIPPINES 717 presented it again in 1916, with a like result. Soon afterwards Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin F. Pitman of Brookline, Mass., visited the Islands. Mr. Pitman was the son of a Hawaiian Chiefess and although he had not been there since childhood he was the person of the highest rank. Mrs. Pitman was prominent among the suffrage leaders in Massachusetts and was deeply interested in the situation in Hawaii. She attended the opening of the Legisla- ture and conversed with nearly all the members, finding them to a man in favor of the bill, and the Legislature adopted strong resolutions calling upon Congress to sanction it. In answer to a request for her experience to use in this chapter she wrote : It was on Jan. 30, 1917, that we arrived in Honolulu and on the 3 ist Madame Nakiuna, who was known as the Court historian, gave us a large reception at Laniakea. At this fete were all the women of the highest social circles in the Islands. Among them were Mrs. John W. Dorsett, Mrs. A. P. Taylor, Mrs. Castle-Cole- man, Miss Mary Ermine Cross and others who had heard of my activities in "the cause" and importuned me to hold meetings to try to arouse a keener interest. I would have consented at once but for the fact that almost the first person I saw in this beautiful land was the field-secretary of the Massachusetts Association Op- posed tu the Extension of Suffrage to Women. I had a feeling that if there was not already an anti-association here there would
- ie the moment I began any serious work and so I advised wait-
ing, promising to do my best for them as soon as it seemed wise, and MJ, while I was indeed sorry that the serious illness of a relative obliged her to depart for home at a very early date, it was amusing to say the least that while she was sailing out of the harbor I was holding my first suffrage meeting in the home of Mrs. Dorsett. I held meetings on two successive days, one attended mostly 1> the middle class and the other by high caste Hawaiian s and the "inis-
- ry set," which, perhaps, we might style their "400." My talk
was in the form of a discussion and I was surprised and delighted at the fluency of all who spoke, their wide knowledge of world affairs and desire for the franchise. Many months had passed since the departure of Prince K.-danianaole and so they begged me to investigate as soon as I returned home. This I promised to do and >te at once to Mrs. Catt all that I heard. Mrs. Catt sent Mrs. Pitman's letter to Mrs. Maud Wood Park, chairman of the Congressional Committee of the National Suf- frage Association and she took up the question with Senator John F. Shafroth, chairman of the Committee on Pacific Islands and to Rico. The Delegate from Hawaii, who was deeply inter-
