The first National Convention of the Congressional Union was held at Cameron House from December 6 to December 13, 1915. The following ten members were elected for the Executive Committee: Alice Paul; Lucy Burns; Mrs. O. H. P. Belmont; Mrs. John Winters Brannan; Mrs. Gilson Gardner; Mrs. William Kent; Mrs. Lawrence Lewis; Elsie Hill; Anne Martin; Mrs. Donald R. Hooker.
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THE CONFLICT WITH THE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE
(“Why do you come here and bother us?”—Chairman Webb, at the Suffrage hearing in Washington.)
Girls, girls, the worst has happened; Our cause is at its ebb. How could you go and do it! You’ve bothered Mr. Webb! You came and asked for freedom, (As law does not forbid) Not thinking it might bother him, And yet, it seems, it did.
Oh, can it be, my sisters, My sisters can it be, You did not think of Mr. Webb When asking to be free? You did not put his comfort Before your cause? How strange! But now you know the way he feels I hope we’ll have a change.
Send word to far Australia And let New Zealand know, And Oregon and Sweden, Finland and Idaho; Make all the nations grasp it, From Sitka to El Teb, We never mention Suffrage now; It bothers Mr. Webb! ALICE DUER MILLER.
(“I am opposed to Woman Suffrage, but I am not opposed to woman.”—Anti-Suffrage speech of Mr. Webb of North Carolina.)
Oh, women, have you heard the news Of charity and grace? Look, look, how joy and gratitude Are beaming in my face! For Mr. Webb is not opposed To woman in her place!
Oh, Mr. Webb, how kind you are To let us live at all, To let us light the kitchen range And tidy up the hall; To tolerate the female sex In spite of Adam’s fall.
Oh, girls, suppose that Mr. Webb Should alter his decree! Suppose he were opposed to us— Opposed to you and me. What would be left for us to do— Except to cease to be? ALICE DUER MILLER.
DURING 1916, the central department of the Congressional Union—the legislative—was in the hands of Anne Martin who after her notable success in making Nevada a free State and with the added advantage of being a voter herself, was particularly fitted for this work. Anne Martin showed extraordinary ability in building back-fires in Congressional Districts, in keeping State and district chairmen informed of the actions of the representatives, in getting pressure from home upon them and in organizing the lobbying. Maud Younger, as chairman of the Lobby Committee, composed of women voters, assisted her. Lucy Burns edited the _Suffragist_.
