Page:History of Woman Suffrage Volume 3.djvu/967

874 division had been taken, and the enormous majority against us which in so many divisions had maintained its strength had dwindled to only 16. A total of 164, including tellers and pairs supported the resolution against an opposition of only 180. If the Liberal side of the House had only been canvassed on this occasion it would have been a victory, as 119 Liberals voted for it and paired, and only 75 against it.

With the close of the session the question was transferred to the country, and the events of the autumn made it amply evident -that the majority of Liberals were in favor of extending the par liamentary suffrage to women. A great conference was held in October at Leeds, where delegates from between 500 and 600 Liberal organizations were present. Fully 2,000 delegates were present at the first meeting. After a long discussion upon the coming Reform bill, the Rev. T. Crosskey, of Birmingham, proposed a rider to the resolution which would include women's suffrage, as follows:

Resolved, That, in order to meet the just expectations of the country, and to fulfill the pledges given at the last general election, this conference is of opinion that a measure for the extension of the franchise should confer on householders in the counties the same electoral rights as those enjoyed by householders in parliamentary boroughs; and that, in the opinion of this meeting, any measure for the extension of the suffrage should confer the franchise upon women, who, possessing the qualifications which entitle men to vote, have now the right of voting in all matters of local government.

Mr. Walter McLaren seconded Dr. Crosskey in an able speech, and Miss Jane Cobden (daughter of the late Richard Cobden) who was sitting on the platform, and who had been appointed delegate from the Liberal association of Midhurst, supported the resolution. She begged them, representing as they did the Liberal principles of all England, to give it their hearty support. This was a continuation of the struggle in which Liberals had taken part during the last fifty years, and she trusted they would be true to their principles.

Mrs. Helen Bright Clark, the daughter of Mr. John Bright, M. P., who had been appointed delegate from one of the few Liberal associations which comprise women among their members, said:

There was in this country a considerable and increasing number of earnest women of strong liberal convictions, who felt keenly the total exclusion of their sex from the parliamentary suffrage. Their hope was, of course, in the Liberal party, though all of its members were not yet converted to true liberalism. The Liberal women would not rest satisfied until there was throughout the United Kingdom a real and honest house-