When the Woman’s Party forces joined Miss White in Nashville at the convening of the Legislature, the town had filled with strangers. The anti-Suffrage forces had poured into the Capital. Lobbyists for railroads, manufacturing interests, and corporations of various kinds, came too.
One curious member of this army used to interrogate legislators as to their views. He said he was a reporter for a syndicate. Nobody had ever heard of the syndicate he represented. When Parley Christensen, candidate for President on the Farmer Labor ticket, came to Nashville to help with ratification among the labor members of the Legislature, he investigated the record of this gentleman, accused him, through the Press, of sinister purposes in lobbying. When this accusation appeared, the man hastily left town.
To off-set all this, the Suffragists of the State, as was usual in the State campaigns, poured into the Capital.
The atmosphere of Nashville grew rapidly more active ... tense ... hectic.
The Tennessee legislature convened on the ninth of August. It ratified on the eighteenth of August. The nine days between were characterized by work more intensive than ratification had yet known.
The Tennessee campaign was a miniature reproduction of the big national campaign which the Woman’s Party had been waging ever since 1912. Here the Woman’s Party was confronted with a double responsibility. It had to prove to the Democratic governor, Roberts—and it never relaxed for an instant in bringing it home to him—that he, as leader of the dominant Party in this Democratic Legislature, was responsible for ratification and could bring it about. In addition and at the same time, the Woman’s Party had to make the Republican minority realize that they were responsible for votes favorable to ratification from their men.
In all this work in Tennessee, the Woman’s Party was enormously assisted by the political sagacity of their chairman, Sue White, and the fact that all the politicians recognized that political sagacity. The experienced politicians said that they had never seen a more bitter fight in Tennessee. When the Legislature met, the Suffragists had a majority on paper. But they knew from previous experience they could not trust this paper majority to remain stable.
The ratification resolution was introduced in the House and the Senate on the same day, August 10. It was referred to a committee in both Houses and these committees held a joint hearing on August 11. This hearing, a notable and picturesque occasion, took place in the great Assembly Hall of the Capitol. Both floor and gallery were dotted with the colors of the opposing forces. The most famous State authorities on constitutional law appeared in behalf of the Suffragists.
The Woman’s Party had, of course, immediately ascertained who were the members of both Houses who always supported Governor Roberts’ measures. They found that many of these were not supporting ratification. They went with a list of these men to Governor Roberts, called his attention to this significant state of things. They also sent the news to Abby Scott Baker, who approached Cox daily on the subject. Cox responded by urging Governor Roberts to do all in his power to put ratification through.
Sue White gave out daily statements that were models of succinctness and comprehensiveness, which warned Governor Roberts that he would be held responsible and warned the Democratic Party that it would be held responsible, if ratification did not go through.