This convention of 1914 will be always noted for the long controversy over what was known as the Shafroth National Suffrage Amendment. It occupied all or a part of several sessions and the Woman's Journal said: "The greatest emphasis of the convention was laid on the work in Congress; this was true even to the extent of cutting short discussion of State methods. The story of the year's work in the different States for both full and Presidential suffrage had to be abruptly dismissed." A new Congressional Committee had been appointed on January 1, consisting of Mrs. Medill McCormick, Mrs. Antoinette Funk and Mrs. Sherman M. Booth, of Illinois, Mrs. Breckinridge (Ky.), Mrs. Mary C. C. Bradford (Colo.); Mrs. John Tucker (Cal.); Mrs. Edward Dreier (N. Y.); Mrs. Helen H. Gardener (D. C.). Mrs. Dreier resigned; Mrs. Gardener was largely prevented from serving by illness and absence. Other members were too far away for active work and the headquarters in Washington were in charge of the three comparatively young, energetic women from Illinois, who had shown such remarkable political acumen in getting the Presidential suffrage bill through the Legislature of that State and were leaders in the Progressive party. The remarkable report of the committee's work presented by the chairman, Mrs. McCormick, including her report as chairman of the Campaign Committee, filled 45 pages of the printed Handbook of the convention. It contained a full account of the action on woman suffrage in both houses of the 63rd Congress, names and votes of members, committee hearings, Senate debate, record of speeches, statistics and information such as was never before presented to a suffrage convention, and showed an amount of committee work accomplished almost equal to that which had been done in all preceding sessions of Congress combined.[1] It was clear that for the first time the attempt to secure action by Congress on woman suffrage was being made in political fashion, which was the proper way, but unfortunately it showed also that the Federal Amendment, which had been the principal object of the National Association for the past forty-four years, was in danger of being replaced with one of a totally different char-
- ↑ A portion of this report is in the chapter on the Federal Suffrage Amendment.
