Page:History of Woman Suffrage Volume 6.djvu/463

 time candidates all over the State were being interviewed and women went to many county and city political conventions asking for endorsement of equal suffrage, seldom with success, although the politicians admitted that the time for acting was not far off.

The convention met at Niagara Falls in October, 1910, in the auditorium of the Shredded Wheat Biscuit Company, and was welcomed by Mayor Peter Porter. Mrs. Crossett responded and gave her annual address, which, she said, would be her last as president. Her home was in Warsaw in the western part of the State and when headquarters in New York City were given to the association she promised to make that her home for one year but could not do so longer. Over 1,000 persons had registered at the headquarters, she said, but these probably were not over one-third of those who called. Most of them came for speakers or help in some way; others came to volunteer assistance. Meetings had been held in nearly every unorganized county and there were 37 county societies. 'There were 155 clubs in the association, which had begun to make the assembly district the unit in the State, as Mrs. Catt had done in New York City. These clubs had held 695 public and 1,614 local meetings. The State board had arranged for 241 public meetings making 2,550. The association had now a membership of 58,000.

Mrs. Belmont, who had rooms on the same floor with the State and national associations, had formed eight clubs and given some of them headquarters. The city had headquarters and altogether there were ten. A Men's League had been organized. A Cooperative Service Club of over 100 business women was formed and met evenings at the State headquarters. The association sponsored the work of securing names to the National petition to Congress and they were tabulated at headquarters. Greater New York women secured 24,114 names and there were 72,086 signers in the State. A lecture bureau was established; Miss Carolyn Crossett went over the State arranging meetings; Miss Mills spoke in 28 counties. Dr. B. O. Aylesworth of Colorado University was spending the summer in New York and gave over twenty lectures for the association before clubs and public meetings. It seemed as if every woman's club in New York City asked for speakers and many of note were