Volume VI Part 20 (1/2)

LEGISLATIVE ACTION. Prior to 1904 it was an unheard of thing for women in Louisiana to take an active part in legislative procedure. A woman's club, the Arena, had been instrumental in obtaining the first ”age of consent” legislation, but a Unitarian minister had entirely managed the Legislature. Therefore the tyros who formed the first Legislative Committee of the Era Club showed their ignorance and enthusiasm when their program included at least twelve bills which they proposed to have enacted into law in one session.[62] Without any friends at court it was with considerable relief that they followed advice to put them all in the hands of an influential lobbyist. Reform bills were not in his line and the session was drawing to a close with nothing done when the Gordon sisters cast precedent and propriety to the winds, telegraphed to the Senator from their district for an audience, boarded a morning train for Baton Rouge and descended upon the Capitol. Article 210 of the State const.i.tution adopted in 1898 made women ineligible to serve in any official capacity. One of the first acts of the Era Club had been to try to have it amended so as to allow the appointment of a woman to fill a vacancy on the School Board. The surprised Senator met them on their arrival, learned the object of their visit and they will never know whether sympathy, amus.e.m.e.nt or curiosity actuated the Committee on Judiciary to whom he appealed for a hearing, but a few minutes after their arrival they were pleading their cause before its members. They then called on Governor Newton Blanchard, who offered to have Article 210 amended to enable the appointment of a factory inspector, but in their zeal for the larger object they declined.

1906. Wiser by two years' experience, the Legislative Committee was glad to accept Lieutenant Governor Jared Y. Sanders's offer of an amendment for the above purpose, and Miss Jean Gordon was appointed factory inspector for the city of New Orleans. It was not long before she realized that the Child Labor law, under which she must operate, was not worth the paper on which it was written. She then studied the child labor laws of every State and selected what was best suited to southern conditions, and put it into form for submission.

1908. The legislative program was limited to the attempt to amend Article 210, pa.s.s a School suffrage bill and the Child Labor bill. The School suffrage bill, under the skillful management of Senator R. E.

Gueydan, a.s.sisted by Senators Albert Estinopal and James Brady and Lieutenant Governor Thos. C. Barrett, pa.s.sed the Senate but failed in the House. The Child Labor bill pa.s.sed the House but not the Senate.

1910. Senator Gueydan introduced the amendment of Article 210.

Representative S. O. Shattuck introduced the first resolution to strike out the word ”male” from the State const.i.tution, with instructions from the women to subst.i.tute a School or Munic.i.p.al suffrage bill if a favorable report was more likely to result. By this time the women had sufficiently progressed to address a joint suffrage committee hearing in the House in the presence of an immense audience, Miss Belle Van Horn, Mrs. Parker, Mrs. Douglas, Miss Gordon and labor representatives presenting suffrage arguments. The School suffrage bill was subst.i.tuted and received a unanimous favorable report, but not the necessary two-thirds vote.

1912. The amendment to Article 210 was introduced by Martin Manion in the House and William Byrnes in the Senate. In the interim between the sessions Mrs. O. W. Chamberlain, legislative chairman, had rolled up a monster pet.i.tion from all sections of the State and the favorable report of the committee was followed by the required two-thirds vote in the House. There seemed no hope in the Senate, but Miss Gordon appealed to Senator Byrnes to call it from the calendar. There was active lobbying among the opponents, but it finally pa.s.sed and was sent to the voters! In the campaign for it the Newcomb College Alumnae, the State Nurses' a.s.sociation and the Federation of Women's Clubs were very active, but it was defeated.

An interesting phase of this year's session in connection with the suffrage amendment was the presenting of the idea of Primary suffrage for women by Miss Gordon at the hearing. She had grown so tired of hearing from the opponents of woman suffrage that their objection rested solely upon the fact that negro women would be enfranchised, that on the part of the Legislative Committee she offered as a subst.i.tute for the full suffrage bill one limiting it to the white primary elections. This novel offer was received with great applause by the a.s.sembled members of the two Houses, but was not accepted. [See Arkansas and Texas chapters for Primary suffrage for women.]

1914. The full suffrage bill was introduced by Representative Manion and a quiet committee hearing held, with representatives from the State Suffrage a.s.sociation and the Woman Suffrage Party. It received 60 ayes, 41 noes in the House, but not the necessary two-thirds.

Amending Article 210 had become a city administration measure and was slated for success. A donation towards a Tuberculosis Hospital in New Orleans had been made by Mrs. John Dibert and the gift was munic.i.p.alized by a condition which required a certain annual revenue from the city. She desired to be a member of the hospital board, but was ineligible under this article. The Era Club gave notice that it would challenge her eligibility and she supported its position. The long desired amendment was on the way to a successful pa.s.sage, but went on the rocks because of the club's campaign against a financial measure for refunding the city debt known as the Nine Million Bond issue, in which the provisions for the public schools and the teachers' pay were totally inadequate and it was to be in effect for fifty years! The Era Club and the Mothers' Co-operative Club protested and worked against this political-financial alliance. In retaliation twenty-four hours before the election the order went to the voters to defeat the amendment to Article 210, which would have made women eligible to serve on school and charity boards, and they did so.

1918. Governor Ruffin G. Pleasant recommended in his message the submission of a woman suffrage amendment to the State const.i.tution.

The State a.s.sociation had a resolution for it introduced in the House by Frank Powell; the Woman Suffrage Party one in the Senate by Leon Haas, and it pa.s.sed in both.

CAMPAIGNS. There have been two campaigns in the interest of woman suffrage in Louisiana, one for preparing for an expected const.i.tutional convention which would have met in 1915, and the other in 1918 to amend the State const.i.tution by striking out the word ”male.” A special session of the Legislature in 1915 proposed a convention to revise the const.i.tution and submitted the question to the voters. Immediately Miss Jean Gordon, president of the State Suffrage a.s.sociation, accompanied by Miss Lilly Richardson and Mrs.

Ida Porter Boyer, visited the various parishes and formed working committees in 40 of the 63. The enthusiastic reception wherever they went was practical testimony to the sentiment for woman suffrage that they knew existed and could be utilized if the politicians could be made to submit the amendment to the voters. The latter rejected the proposal to hold a convention, but the work done by the women laid the foundation for the campaign three years later.

In 1918 there was finally submitted for the first time the long desired amendment to the State const.i.tution to enable women to vote.

To Governor Pleasant is due a great debt of grat.i.tude, for every influence that he could bring to bear was exerted, not alone to secure its submission but also its ratification. He had particularly urged in his Message at the opening of the Legislature the great importance of the South's realizing the danger threatened from the proposed submission of the Federal Suffrage Amendment. The State Suffrage a.s.sociation was in the midst of opening the campaign when the Woman Suffrage Party announced that they would retire from all suffrage activity and devote themselves to Red Cross work. Robert Ewing, member of the Democratic National Committee, owner of the New Orleans _Daily States_ and Shreveport _Times_, and a political power, offered his support if the Woman Suffrage Party would unite with the State a.s.sociation and leave the Federal Amendment question entirely out of the campaign. They finally agreed to this and a joint committee was formed of the president and three capable women in each organization.

Headquarters were opened in New Orleans; the parish committees which were organized in 1915 were found to be ready for active work. A pet.i.tion to be signed was sent to each with a strong official letter from the Campaign Committee. A bitter three-cornered Senatorial fight was under way and the women were asked to delay action until after the September primaries, which they consented to do.

All was ready for beginning a whirlwind campaign on October 1, when suddenly just before that date the influenza epidemic broke out and no a.s.sembling of people was allowed. To add to the difficulties, instead of the usual dry, clear weather of this season there came a deluge of rains that lasted for six weeks and the condition of the roads made it wholly impossible to do any work in the outlying districts. Thus there was practically no campaign in the way of making personal appeals to the voters, but in New Orleans and other cities thousands received urgent letters from Miss Gordon and other leaders. Notwithstanding these adverse conditions, the majority against the amendment was only 3,600, nearly all of it in New Orleans, where it was the result of direct orders from Mayor Martin Behrman, through the ward ”bosses” of a perfectly controlled ”machine.” From parish after parish in the State came reports of precincts not even being opened on account of the epidemic and the weather. There is no doubt that others which reported an adverse majority were really carried for the amendment. At a public meeting of protest immediately after Miss Gordon made an address recalling the glorious history of the Democratic party and comparing it with this election which had repudiated its highest principles.

In 1920 the State Suffrage a.s.sociation stood alone in again having a resolution introduced for amending the State const.i.tution, all the other suffrage societies concentrating on the ratification of the Federal Amendment, which had been submitted by Congress on June 4. It was presented in the Lower House by L. L. Upton, in the Senate by J.

O. Stewart. They were followed immediately by Representative S. O.

Shattuck and Senator Norris C. Williamson with one to ratify the Federal Amendment. At the close of the session Miss Jean Gordon issued the following statement:

To the Friends of Woman Suffrage:

Now that the smoke of battle has cleared ... as president of the State a.s.sociation I feel that an unbiased statement of facts should be given in order that the history of woman suffrage in this State may be correctly recorded. Having been at Baton Rouge from the opening day of the Legislature until its adjournment I can give all the facts and some of the reasons for one of the most remarkable controversies ever held in Louisiana.

The proposed amendment to the State const.i.tution having been defeated in 1918 by the malevolent influences of the influenza throughout the State and Mayor Behrman in New Orleans, it was necessary to have another sent to the voters in 1920.

Congress having submitted a Federal Amendment to the Legislatures it was to be expected that men and women who believe in centralizing the voting power in Congress would work for its ratification, but that those who claimed to be ardent suffragists would work to defeat State submission after they found the sentiment for ratification amounted to almost nothing in both Houses seems incredible. The fact remains, however, that while the actual defeat of the State amendment was due primarily to personal animosity on the part of Senator Leopold of Plaquemine parish, when he realized what he had done he said that if it was possible to have it re-introduced he would vote for it, thus giving the necessary twenty-eight votes. After all arrangements for re-consideration had been made, Senator Louque, a faithful suffragist of many years' standing, provoked because one of his bills had been defeated, slipped away and it was again deprived of the one vote needed.

In the Senate Chamber were those nine Senators who proclaimed all through the session their intense belief in woman suffrage--so intense that they wanted the women enfranchised immediately and they wished to help all the women of the United States--these and many other reasons were given by them for standing firmly for a Federal Amendment but they voted against State submission, knowing the Federal Amendment had been killed overwhelmingly.

Therefore the real defeat of the State amendment must be accredited to the following nine Senators: Bagwell, Brown, Cunningham, Hood, Johnston of Bossier, Lawrason, Wear, Williamson and Wood....

Very different was the spirit among the proponents of the Federal Amendment in the House. Men who have always been suffragists voted for both Federal and State suffrage.... When Senators Craven, Johness, Johnson of Franklin and Durr saw the Federal Amendment was hopelessly defeated they voted for State submission. When Mayor Behrman caught the vision of how a Federal Amendment could help him in the September primary, he had Senators Davey, Thoele and Roberts vote for it, though it was reported that all had said no power on earth could ever make them do it. After it was defeated they continued to vote against the State amendment. The interpretation put upon their att.i.tude was that they would not help it because its success would be considered a victory for Mr. Ewing, as his _Daily States_ had been the only city paper to stand for State submission. Be it said to the credit of Senators Boyer, Butler, Clinton, Doussan, Domengeaux, Dugas, Weil and Wilbert that although avowed anti-suffragists, they worked hard to secure the submission of the State amendment while so-called ardent suffragists worked overtime for its defeat.

LOUISIANA. PART II.[63]

Louisiana had no State organization for woman suffrage when in March, 1913, Mrs. A. B. Singletary of Baton Rouge organized there the State Equal Suffrage League,[64] and in April Mrs. John T. Meehan organized the Woman Suffrage Party of Louisiana in New Orleans.[65] Both enrolled men as well as women, affiliated with the National American Suffrage a.s.sociation and worked harmoniously for the enfranchis.e.m.e.nt of Louisiana women by State and national legislation. Later the League became the Sixth District branch of the Party. When the Woman Suffrage Party was organized its platform contained only a pledge to work for an amendment to the State const.i.tution, but after affiliating with the National a.s.sociation it was pledged to work also for a Federal Suffrage Amendment, and this was fully understood by the members.

By June 15 the Party, with Mrs. Edgar M. Cahn as State chairman, had enrolled 300 members. It held open air rallies, organized by legislative districts, which are known as ”parishes,” and in the seventeen wards of Orleans parish congressional chairmen were appointed by the beginning of 1914. This year the Teachers' Political Equality Club and the Newcomb College Suffrage Club became branches of the Party, and the Orleans Parish Branch was organized. Delegates were sent to the national suffrage convention at Nashville in November.