ON THIS DAY, 1915 – The United States House of Representatives rejects a proposal to give women the right to vote. Suffragists Lose Fight In The House A Constitutional Amendment Resolution Debated Ten Hours and Rejected, 174 to 204 LEADERS ARE UNDISMAYED Will Press Senate Resolution Now -- Antis Leader Sees Passing of Hysteria Wave. Special to The New York Times. Washington, Jan. 12 -- Woman suffrage was discussed from every point of view for more than ten hours in the house today. At the close of the debate the proposed constitutional amendment giving nation-wide suffrage to women was rejected by the overwhelming vote of 174 - 204. The suffragists fell 78 men short of the necessary two-thirds vote, with 57 members not voting. This vote, coming so soon after President Wilsons firm statement that the women should carry their fight to the States instead of to Congress marks the second defeat for the suffrage cause in the national legislature within a year. On March 19, an equal suffrage constitutional amendment proposed by Senator Chamberlain of Oregon received a vote of 35 to 34 in the Senate, securing a bare majority, but falling of the necessary two-thirds. However, the suffrage workers are not disheartened. Dr. Anna Howard Shaw, President of the National Suffrage Association, said after the adjournment: I am not gratified, but the vote was better than I had expected. We now have an alignment from which we can move onward. It is now a political and rational question, for Congress would not take up a local or sectional matter in this way. It never can be said again that it is a local or partisan question. The National House of Representatives has discussed suffrage and has voted upon it. It would not have done that if it were not a question of national importance. The Congressional Union, said Miss Alice Paul, President of the Congressional Union, tonight after the vote in the House, will begin tomorrow to work in the Senate for a vote on the Bristow resolution, which is identical with the Mondell resolution considered in the House today. We believe that when this resolution is passed by the Senate it will come back to the House with new prestige. It is now on the calendar of the Senate. The Congressional Union believes that the Bristow resolution can be passed at this session of the Senate. Mrs. Arthur M. Dodge, President of the National Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage, said after the vote was taken tonight: The deliberations of the House of Representatives today were, of course, of the greatest importance because the final vote was such as to persuade the country forever that the National Congress will not undertake to dictate to the various States what they shall do in the regulation of their franchise. In my opinion todays work in the House demonstrated that from now on the wave of hysteria in which the suffragists have indulged or of which they have been the victims will be on the wane. Voting for the resolution were 86 Democrats, 72 Republicans, 12 Progressives, 3 Progressive-Republicans and one independent, and against it 171 Democrats and 33 Republicans. Day in Court for Suffrage This was a companion day in the history of the Sixty-third Congress to the day two weeks ago when prohibition was the subject of an all-day debate. The struggle for a third of a century before committees of Congress had finally culminated in a day in court. As early as 8 oclock this morning women and men began to gather at the House end of the Capitol, willing to wait patiently for two hours before the galleries would be open to the public. A drizzling rain did not deter those who had the least interest in suffrage. A few minutes after 10 oclock the galleries were filled. Even the standing room in the corridors was in demand. The steps leading from the doors also were milled and remained filled during the eight hours of debate that began at 11 oclock. It was a solemn day in the galleries. There was wit and fun enough on the floor, but in the galleries there was silence. The women there were slow to laugh, and they seemed too much awed by the Speakers call for order to applaud even their strongest champion. Twice the Speaker had to reprove the galleries- once for a little too much conversation, and once for what seldom occurs in the House- an outbreak of hissing. This was during the speech of Mr. Bowdle of Ohio, the Democrat who defeated Nicholas Longworth two years ago, and is now soon to give way to him as his successor. At one point he remarked: The women of this smart capital are beautiful. Their beauty is disturbing to business; their feet are beautiful; their ankles are beautiful, but here I must pause- for they are not interested in the State. The acoustic qualities of the hall or the House are bad, and few who spoke could be heard by all. Mr. Bowdle suffered in this respect, and the galleries caught only enough of his allusion to the charms of Washington women to imagine that a coarse argument had been employed, when that really was not the case. A hiss came from the gallery and was quickly taken up. One of the speeches that attracted comment was that of Mr. Mann of Illinois, the Republican leader. Two years ago, after the failure of the Washington police to protect the pageant of suffragists on March 3 just before Mr. Wilsons inauguration, there was sharp criticism in the House of the brutality of the crowds along Pennsylvania Avenue, and the Chief of Police was threatened with an investigation. Mr. Mann in the course of debate at that time remarked: They should have been at home where they belonged, referring to the women in the pageant. For this utterance Mr. Mann was blacklisted by the suffragists and threatened with bitter opposition in his district. The apology was offered that the remark was made in the heat of debate, and that Mr. Mann was at heart in favor of equal suffrage. Today he made a strong speech for the amendment and if any resentment remained among the suffragists it disappeared in the applause that greeted the close of his remarks.
Posted on: Mon, 12 Jan 2015 23:48:14 +0000
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