The Examiner was friendly and offered a column on the editorial page of the Sunday edition, throughout the campaign if Miss Anthony would fill it. She protested that she was not a writer, but it was only upon this condition that the space would be given. It was too valuable to be sacrificed and so she accepted it, and for seven months furnished Sunday articles of 1,600 words. These were widely copied, not only throughout the State, but in all parts of the country. Every possible influence was exerted to persuade William R. Hearst, the proprietor, who was residing in New York, to bring out the paper editorially in favor of the amendment. Miss Anthony wrote an earnest personal letter which closed: "So, I pray you for the love of justice, for the love of your noble mother, and for the sake of California—lead the way for the Democratic party of your State to advocate the suffrage amendment. The Examiner has done splendidly thus far in publishing fair and full reports of our meetings and articles from our leading suffrage women. The one and only thing we do ask is that it will editorially champion the amendment as it will every other measure it believes in which is to be voted upon next November." All pleadings were in vain and the great paper remained silent. It did not, however, contain a line in opposition.
During Miss Anthony's visit to San Francisco the previous year, the Monitor, the official Catholic organ of California, had come out in two editions with full-page editorials in favor of woman suffrage, as strong as anything ever written on that subject. When the two ladies called on the editor, he assured them of his full sympathy and agreed to accept a series of articles from the chairman of the press committee. These were published regularly for a time and then suddenly were refused, and every effort to ascertain the reason was unsuccessful. Miss Anthony called on him several times and waited for half an hour in his anteroom, but he declined to see her and, during the remainder of the campaign, the amendment received no recognition from the Monitor.
The response from the other papers of the State was most remarkable. The Populist press, without exception, was for woman suffrage. Every newspaper in Oakland, Alameda and Berkeley spoke in favor of the amendment. The majority of those in Los Angeles and San Diego counties endorsed it. All but one in San Jose, and all but one in Sacramento, did likewise. Before the campaign closed, 250 newspapers declared editorially for the suffrage amendment. Only two of prominence in the entire State came out boldly in opposition, the Record-Union, of Sacramento, and the Times of Los Angeles. The former ceased its opposition some time before election; the latter continued to the end, ridiculing, misrepresenting, denouncing, and even going to the extent of grossly caricaturing Miss Anthony.
The Star, the Voice of Labor and other prominent journals published in the interests of the wage-earning classes; those conducted by the colored people; the Spanish, French and Italian papers; the leading Jewish papers; the temperance, the A. P. A. and the Socialist organs; and many published for individual enterprises, agriculture, insurance, etc., spoke strongly for the amendment. The firm which supplied plate matter to hundreds of the smaller papers accepted a short article every week. There were very few newspapers in the State which did not grant space for woman suffrage departments, and these were ably edited by the women of the different localities. Matter on this question was furnished to the chairman of the press committee by the San Francisco Clipping Bureau, and these clippings were carefully tabulated and filed. At the close of the eight months' campaign they numbered 9,000, taken from the press of California alone. Twenty-seven papers came out in opposition; these included a number of San Francisco weeklies of a sensational character and a few published in small towns.
It must be remembered, in this connection, that the woman suffrage organization had not a dollar to pay for newspaper influence, had no advertising to bestow, and that even the notices for meetings were gratuitous. All this advocacy on the part of the papers was purely a free-will offering and represented the honest and courageous sentiments of the editors. It is deemed especially worthy of notice because there was never anything like it in previous suffrage campaigns. Toward the end, when the influence of the opposition began to do its fatal work, these papers were closely watched and in not one instance was there a defection.
Notwithstanding this splendid support of the press, Miss Anthony was firm in her decision that she would not remain through the campaign unless the amendment could secure the endorsement of the political parties, and every energy was directed toward this point. Several of the Republican county conventions declared for it, and a number of Republican leaders who were visited, announced themselves in favor of the plank. The State Convention was to be held May 5. On May 3, the Sunday edition of the San Francisco Call, the largest and most influential Republican paper in the State, came out with flaming headlines declaring boldly and unequivocally for woman suffrage! The sensation created was tremendous, and amendment stock went up above par. The Monday and Tuesday editions continued the editorial endorsement, declaring that the Republican party stood committed to woman suffrage, and that the Call constituted itself the champion and would carry it to victory.
Tuesday morning the Republican convention opened at Sacramento. The woman suffrage delegation, consisting of Mrs. Sargent, Mrs. John F. Swift, Mrs. Blinn, Mrs. Austin Sperry, Mrs. Knox Goodrich, Miss Anthony, Rev. Anna Shaw, Miss Hay, Miss Yates, Mrs. Harper, opened their headquarters at the Golden Eagle Hotel, decorated their parlor with flowers, spread out their literature and badges and waited for the delegates. They had not long to wait. With the influence of the Sunday Call, a copy of which had been laid on the seat of every delegate in the convention hall, they had a prestige which found favor in the eyes of the politicians. The visitors came early and stayed late; they went away and returned bringing their friends to be converted. The Call account said: "They went in twos and threes, in large groups and in entire delegations, to pay homage to their more modest workers and apparently to beg the privilege of serving them." The rooms were crowded until after midnight.
The delegates put on the badges, and when the convention opened 250 of them were wearing the little flag with its three stars. The ladies were given the best seats in the great building. The delegates were divided into two hostile camps, representing opposite wings of the party, and the women had to move very carefully, as it was by no means certain which faction would secure control of the convention. They also had to frame many non-committal answers to the question, "How do you stand on the A. P. A.?" The headquarters were thronged with reporters; every woman was interviewed at length and her opinions telegraphed to the great San Francisco dailies. Miss Anthony's interviews occupied a column in the Examiner, each day of the convention. Those alarmists who fear women will lose the respect of men when they are invested with political influence should have had this object lesson.
The chairman of the convention was considered not favorable to woman suffrage. Of the seven men appointed on the resolution committee, five were said to be opposed to the plank. The spirits of the ladies began to droop. In the evening permission was given them to address the platform committee. Mrs. Harper wrote the San Francisco Call:
I wish I could picture that scene. In the small room, seated around the table, were the seven men who held the fate of this question in their hands. At one end stood Miss Anthony, the light from above shining upon her silver hair until it seemed like a halo, and she spoke as no one ever heard her speak before. On the face of every delegate was an expression of the deepest seriousness, and before she had finished tears were in the eyes of more than one. She was followed by Miss Shaw, who stood there the embodiment of all that is pure, sweet and womanly, and in a low, clear voice presented the subject as no one else could have done. As we were about to leave the room, the chairman said, "Ladies, we will take the vote now, if you desire." We thanked him, but said no, we would withdraw and leave them to consider the matter at their leisure.
Within a very few minutes we had their decision—six in favor of the resolution and one opposed. Here I want to call attention to one thing. Eight women knew of the favorable action of the committee by 9 o'clock, but although we were besieged by reporters and delegates until nearly midnight we gave no sign, and the Wednesday morning papers could only say that it was probable there would be a woman suffrage plank. It is charged that women can not keep a secret, but this is one of those many ancient myths which take a long time to die.