Miss Paul said in introducing Miss Frances Jolliffe: "She is a strong Democrat who campaigned for President Wilson and Senator Phelan and is one of the envoys sent by the women's convention in San Francisco, at which there were present 10,000 people who bade her 'Godspeed' on this journey."[102] The beginning of her speech was as follows: "I am here as a messenger from the women voters of the West. Perhaps first I should offer my apologies to the minority for appearing at all; for, gentlemen, I did my level best to defeat the Republican candidate for the Senate last year and I think I did a good deal to defeat him when I went before the women and told them they could not send back——"
Mr. Volstead spoke quickly saying: "Will you pardon me an interruption? Was that the pay you gave the Republicans for giving you almost as many votes in the House as the Democrats gave you, and that despite the fact that the Democrats had a two-thirds majority in the House? That is, less than one-half of the vote in favor of your proposition came from the Democrats and more than five out of every six who voted against it were Democrats." The controversy kept up and when Mrs. Sara Bard Field, the other "envoy," commenced her speech she begged that she might finish it without interruption. Toward the close, however, the hearing became a free-for-all debating society, the discussion filling seven pages of the official report. Miss Paul's closing remarks caused the debate to be continued through another six pages. "Can you tell me what will be in the platform of the Democratic party in 1916?" she asked Chairman Webb. "I can tell you one plank that will not be in it and that is a plank in favor of woman suffrage," he answered. The retorts of the women were clever but both Republican and Democratic members of the committee were very much out of humor and not in a very good frame of mind to make a favorable report.
The hearing of the National Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage followed immediately. Its president, Mrs. Arthur M. Dodge, said in opening their hearing: "We have come here today to ask you as a committee not to report this bill favorably to the House, because we consider that, in the first place, it is a question of State's rights. In the second place we consider that the women, as represented by their men—good, bad and indifferent, honest or venal—should be heard through the men who represent them at the present time and whom the majority of women are still perfectly willing to have represent them." She then showed how much larger the majorities were which had voted against woman suffrage than for it. The speakers were Miss Emily P. Bissell of Delaware; Mrs. O. D. Oliphant of the New Jersey association; Mrs. James Wells of the Texas association; Miss Lucy J. Price of the Cleveland branch; Mrs. A. J. George of the Massachusetts association. The Judiciary Committee was in an argumentative mood and began with Mrs. Dodge as follows:
Mr. Dyer (Mo.). What is the position of your organization with reference to the question of whether or not women should have the right to vote at all? Are you in favor of women voting?
Mrs. Dodge. We are in opposition to woman suffrage generally. We have never opposed women voting in school matters; we think that is a perfectly legitimate line for them to vote upon. The only trouble is they do not vote upon those questions where authorized; only two per cent. of them do so.
Mr. Dyer. That is as far as you want them to go?
Mrs. Dodge. Yes; that is a perfectly legitimate line for them, we have always taken that position from the first, but that does not mean that women are to be drawn into politics and government and we only draw the line at their taking part in politics and government.
Mr. Dyer. I understand your position is that you favor submitting this question to the States directly.
Mrs. Dodge. Yes. We have always rather inclined to the idea that it should be submitted to the women themselves.[103] ...