Page:History of Woman Suffrage Volume 6.djvu/800

 784 HISTORY OF WOMAN SUFFRAGE extension of the suffrage to men, who had not asked for it. It required a long, hard effort to organize for woman suffrage, as there was almost no sentiment for it, but on Feb. 5, 1894, the Vereeniging voor Vrouwenkiesrecht was formed of women in different places with Mrs. Versluys-Poelman, president. She held the office eight years and then Dr. Jacobs, who had been president of the Amsterdam branch during this time, was elected and served till the contest was finished in 1918. It is to Dr. Jacobs this chapter is indebted for the information it contains. This was the only association of a national character until 1908, when the Bond voor Vrouwenkiesrecht came into existence. When the work ended it had 80 branches and about 10,000 members. The former had 160 branches and over 25,000 members and reorgan- ized in the Netherlands Society of Women Citizens to work for the legal and economic equality of women. At first the press was hostile, all political parties were opposed except a small group of Constitutional Democrats and no member of Parliament would introduce the question. The work had to begin from the bottom with personal interviews with the members, watching the bills relating to women and children, showing the need of women's influence, etc. In 1904 Dr. Jacobs, Misses Johanna W. A. Naber and E. L. van Dorp, Mrs. von Loenen de Bordes, Mrs. Rutgers Hoitsema and Mrs. Hengeveld Garritson were present at the organization of the International Woman Suffrage Alliance in Berlin, as was Miss Martina Kramers, who was elected Secretary, and the Dutch national association became auxiliary. From that time it went into direct political work, in 1905 presenting to the Queen and the Prime Minister its request that in a proposed revision of the constitution the words men and women be used after citizens. The Commission that drafted it in 1907 recommended suffrage and eligibility for women. The association, expecting a campaign, had invited the International Alliance to hold its congress in Amsterdam in June, 1908. It proved to be one of the most brilliant and successful ever held and was enthusiastically received by the press and the public. An active Men's League for Woman Suffrage was formed. From that time the question of woman suffrage was on a con- stantly rising tide. A liberal Parliament had been elected and it