Page:History of Woman Suffrage Volume 6.djvu/817

WOMAN SUFFRAGE IN MANY COUNTRIES 8oi beginning of the third session this passed to an amendment, con- ferring the same complete universal suffrage possessed by men. The Chamber was undecided when M. Viviani and M. Briand, former Prime Ministers, in strong speeches called for the amend- ment. Their powerful influence turned the scale and on May 20 by 377 ayes, 97 noes, the Deputies voted for the amendment amidst the greatest enthusiasm. It had to be ratified by the Senate, a non-progressive body not elected by popular vote but by District and Municipal Councillors in each Commune. With much anxiety the women turned to the Senate and after interviews with individual members succeeded in obtaining a hear- ing before the Commission, or Committee, on Adult Suffrage, June 12. They presented an eloquent appeal, signed officially by the Union of Suffrage Societies with 80 branches; the National Council of Women with 150 and several other large organizations of women, and gave a copy to each member. It was received in cold silence and they knew that not more than half-a-dozen of the 27 members were favorable. The elections were approaching and the commission would not report the subject to be discussed in the Senate. After the election the new Chamber of Deputies consid- ered in September a proposal to the Senate to hold a discussion on the woman suffrage bill, which was passed by a vote of 340 to 95. It had no effect and the commission not only refused to lay the measure before the Senate but rejected one to give the franchise to woman relatives of the men who were killed in the war. The Radical members fear that to give women a vote would strengthen the power of the Catholic church; the Conservatives fear that the political emancipation of women would diminish the influence of the clergy. Thus the situation remains in the so-called 'Republic. OTHER COUNTRIES IN EUROPE. At the meeting of the International Woman Suffrage Alliance in Geneva in 1920 the president, Mrs. Carrie Chapman Can. called attention in her to the fact that Creece and Spain in Europe, Argentina and Uruguay in South America and the island of Cuba had made eiM-utdi | i /at ion for woman suffrage within a few yean to !< accepted ai auxiliaries.