Page:History of Woman Suffrage Volume 5.djvu/92

 is always sweet and its methods always business-like but to be sure it has always been blessed by having one of its citizens as national president. This year, however, Massachusetts has won the place at the head of the list." Mrs. Catt reported for the Congressional Committee that Congress had entirely ignored the urgent appeals of last year for a committee to investigate the effects of woman suffrage in the equal franchise States. Mrs. Sallie Clay Bennett (Ky.) made her usual strong plea for an effort to secure from Congress Federal suffrage or the right to vote for members of Senate and House Representatives. Tor many years Mrs. Bennett, as chairman of the committee, had appealed to the association for action but while it considered that the measure would be perfectly valid it believed it to be hopeless of attainment. [History of Woman Suffrage, Volume IV, page 6.] Mrs. Elnora M. Babcock (N. Y.), chairman of the Press Committee, made a comprehensive report of the constantly increasing favorable comment of the newspapers. Mrs. Boyer, chairman for Pennsylvania, had placed 5,700 suffrage articles and the chairmen of various other States had a proportionate record. Miss Blackwell gave as a recipe for finding favor with editors: "Make your articles short; make them newsy; don't denounce the men." Mrs. Priscilla D. Hackstaff (N. Y.), chairman of the Enrollment Committee, reported a good start on the nation-wide enrollment of men and women who believe in woman suffrage.

Henry B. Blackwell, chairman of the Presidential Suffrage Committee, urged the southern women to petition their Legislatures, seven of which would meet during the year, to give women the right to vote for presidential electors. 'The choice of President and Vice-president of the United States," he said, "is the most important form of suffrage exercised by an American citizen... . The King of England and the Emperor of Germany are practically possessed of no greater political power than our President during his official term," and he continued:

Here then is an open door to equal suffrage. Once let the women of any State take their equal part in this great national election and their complete equality is assured. Without change of State or Federal Constitution, without ratification by the individual voters, a simple majority of both houses of any Legislature at any time in any