Page:History of Woman Suffrage Volume 6.djvu/33

 the National American Suffrage Association, had come to Little Rock in April and spoken most acceptably to a large audience. She held a conference with the State officers and later the association financed a two-months' campaign for organization. Miss Gertrude Watkins and Miss Josephine Miller of Little Rock gave their services for their expenses only and organized sixty committees.

The new Primary law was almost equal to the full suffrage, as where one party is so largely in the majority the primaries decide the elections, and it gave a great impetus to the movement throughout the country, especially in the southern States.

After the Primary bill passed the suffragists re-organized along the lines of the State Democratic party. Where it had a State Central Committee they had an Equal Suffrage State Central Committee and so on through the organization. The object was to teach women how to work through and with political parties but they were not fully enfranchised and could not give up their suffrage organization, therefore they held together on semi-political but non-partisan lines until such time as they could go into the various parties.

At the close of Mrs. Ellington's administration in August, 1917, seventy-eight papers in the State were handling news items each week. Eighty-five organizations had been completed. The Primary bill had been passed by the Legislature and thousands of women had assessed themselves and paid their poll tax of one dollar a year preparatory to voting in the spring elections. Under the law the assessor can put this tax only on male citizens and the women in asking for the Primary suffrage voluntarily assumed it, as no one can vote until it is paid. This was held to be legal by Attorney General John D. Arbuckle.

Mrs. Ellington left Arkansas on August 1 and Mrs. Cotnam was elected by the State Board to take charge of affairs. On November 28 she was elected chairman of the State Suffrage Cen-