Indeed, two kinds of campaigns were going on—one in the States among the constituents of these possible men and the campaign of the Watchfires in Washington. As soon as the Watchfires began, the President again began to work. He called various Senators asking them to support the Amendment. The Democratic leaders became alarmed at the effect on the country of this constant turmoil in front of the White House. In fact they did the thing they had always steadfastly refused to do—called a caucus to mobilize the Democrats back of the Suffrage Amendment. At this caucus, various Administration leaders appealed to the Party members in the Senate to give their support to the measure. Pollock then made his first public declaration that he would vote for the Suffrage Amendment.
The Amendment now needed but one vote.
The chairman of the Suffrage Committee then announced that another effort would be made to pass the measure and it would be brought up for a vote on February 10, although until the Watchfires started, they had repeatedly declared that it would be impossible to bring it up twice in the same session.
As Congress was coming to an end, it was decided to take the vote anyway, although, as things stood, even with Pollock, the Suffragists lacked one vote. Pollock did vote for Suffrage but the other vote was not forthcoming. The Amendment was therefore defeated on February 10.
From February 10 to June 4, the Woman’s Party was working to get that one vote.
While the Senate was debating Suffrage, thirty-nine of the women who had burned the President in effigy the day before were being tried. Twenty-five sentences of five days and one of two days were pronounced. Then the Judge demanded, “How many more women are there out there?” When he found that several were still waiting, he dismissed them without trial.
They were not charged with burning the effigy of the President, but with unlawfully setting fire to certain combustibles in that part of the District of Columbia known as the White House grounds.
The prison conditions which these Suffragists endured were as unpleasant as before. At first they went to the District of Columbia jail. Since previous incarcerations and the resulting complaints and investigations, soap and water had been used to some extent in this jail. So much, indeed, had soap and water been used that the prisoners could now clearly distinguish the vermin of more than one species creeping up and down the walls. The rats ran about in hordes. While conditions were somewhat improved, they were still bad.