In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

First—Men would Wnd politics corrupting. Second—They would vote as their wives and mothers did. Third—Men’s su¤rage would only double the vote without changing the results. Fourth—Men’s su¤rage would diminish the respect for men. Fifth—Most men do not want to vote. Sixth—The best men would not vote. —Jane Addams, the founder of Hull House, was also a su¤ragist and a founder of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom. She won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1931. May the Women of the United States Vote in 1920? Belle Case La Follette february 1920 On the Wrst day of May 1919, the U.S. House of Representatives passed by a vote of 304 yeas to 89 nays the joint resolution declaring that the right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged on account of sex. On June 4, the U.S. Senate by a vote of 56 yeas to 25 nays adopted this same resolution. At last, after many long years of struggle and sacriWce, the necessary two-thirds vote of both branches of the U.S. Congress had been secured for the amendment! The Wnal action came so easily, so much as a matter of course, that a casual observer judging from outward manifestations might easily have believed it was a matter of no great importance. I sat next to Harriet Taylor Upton in the Senate gallery at the time. Her father, as I remember it, was dean of the House of Representatives, when Mr. La Follette was the youngest member, and had ably championed during his long service this same amendment. From childhood Harriet has been in the thick of the Wght. We squeezed hands and shed a few tears and that was all. There was no attempt at a great demonstration. The vice president did not have any excuse to rise and solemnly remind the galleries that such things are forbidden by the rules of the Senate. This outward calm was not due to the absence of a deep undercurrent of feeling or lack of appreciation of the magnitude of the event. The stage had not been set. There had been no speech making. We knew in advance that we had the necessary two-thirds vote. The expected had happened. The throngs of women su¤ragists as they left the galleries doubtless took long breaths of relief and o¤ered silent prayers of thankfulness. But the victory was not yet complete. There was more work ahead. There was a new responsibility to discharge. Before this resolution could become an accomplished fact—really an amendment to the constitution of the United States—it must be ratiWed by the legislatures of threefourths of the several states. Case La Follette / May U. S. Women Vote in 1920? 81 Since we are so conWdent, so sure, why this impatience, why 1920? For my part, it is not because I expect it will make any great di¤erence in the practical result, that I would have women vote in 1920, but, believing as I do, that the greatest menace to democracy is the lack of interest on the part of the governed, and believing that the Wrst greatest beneWt to the state of votes for women is the increased interest in public a¤airs which the discussion of political problems in the home inevitably brings, for this reason, I think it would be of immense value to the nation if women are enfranchised at the beginning of a presidential campaign, when the greater political enthusiasm will naturally tend to stimulate the largest number of women to register and to exercise the privilege of voting. The issues of the coming campaign—peace and war, government ownership, industrial questions, universal military training, the high cost of living—are all problems within the experience and understanding and close to the hearts of women. For women to assume a direct share of the responsibility in government, at this great crisis in the world’s history, will give tremendous impetus to the patriotism and fervor of all the people in the solution of problems now confronting us. —Belle Case La Follette was a writer, editor, su¤ragist, and champion of civil rights for African Americans. The wife of Fighting Bob La Follette, she helped keep The Progressive going after his death in 1925. Women’s Wages in Government Mary Anderson, Women’s Bureau of the Labor Department, as recorded...

Share