Page:History of Woman Suffrage Volume 4.djvu/667

 for candidates for such school offices as have been created by the Legislature. (See Suffrage.)

However, this bill was useful in securing from the Supreme Court the ruling that the Legislature had power to regulate the suffrage concerning all positions created by itself. Heretofore the weight of judicial opinion had been the other way; that no change whatever could be made in the suffrage except by constitutional amendment.

During the session of 1893 R. W. Coon secured the passage in the Senate of a Township Suffrage Bill prepared by the State association. Its members argued that if school offices not named in the constitution are creations of the Legislature, so are most of the township offices and therefore it has power to grant women the suffrage for these. This bill was accompanied by a petition of 12,000 names. Senator Bogardus made a spirited report on these, extolling the character of the signers, whose standing he had ascertained from the senators of their districts. It passed the Senate by 26 votes, a constitutional majority. In the House the committee reported it favorably, many members pledged themselves to its support, and it went through the second reading safely; but just when expectation ran highest, it was referred back to the committee and smothered.

In this same Legislature a bill to repeal the School Suffrage Law was defeated in the House, less than 40 of the 153 members voting aye. It was not brought to a vote in the Senate.

In 1895 Senator Coon introduced the Township Bill again, but owing to absentees it received only 23 votes, 26 being necessary to pass it. Fearing that a majority of the members of the House were pledged to vote for it, the chairman of the committee to which it was referred made a sub-committee of three notorious opponents who took care that it never was reported.

In 1897 Senator G. W. Monroe took charge of the State association's measures. Bills for Township and Bond Suffrage, and