1915. The bill for Municipal suffrage was rejected as unconstitutional.
1917. Two measures were introduced, one for the amendment by Representative Flower and the other for Presidential suffrage by Senator John M. Damon of Mt. Pleasant. At last the officers of the State Association had to withdraw their opposition to the referendum in order to save the Presidential bill. The vote on the referendum March 28 was, House 71 ayes, 21 noes; April 19, Senate, 26 ayes, 4 noes; a two-thirds vote required. The Presidential suffrage vote on March 21 in the Senate was 22 ayes, 7 noes; on April 18 in the House, 64 ayes, 30 noes. There was no strong opposition. The amendment was carried by a large majority on Nov. 5, 1918.
FOOTNOTES:
[87] The History is indebted for this chapter to Mrs. Clara B. Arthur, vice-president of the State Equal Suffrage Association 1895-1906; president, 1906-1914, and Mrs. Belle Brotherton, acting president, 1918; chairman of the League of Women Voters, 1919.
[88] Following are the times and places of holding State conventions: Oct. 23-25, 1901, Saginaw; Oct. 29-31, 1902, Charlotte; Nov. 10-12, 1903, Paw Paw; Oct. 25-27, 1904, Jackson; Nov. 1-3, 1905, Port Huron; Oct. 9, 10, 1906, Kalamazoo; Sept. 18-20, 1907, Charlotte; Nov. 5, 6, 1908, Bay City; Dec. 7, 8, 1909, Grand Rapids; Nov. 6-8, 1910, Kalamazoo; Nov. 16, 17, 1911, Kalamazoo; no convention in 1912; Jan. 15, 16, 1913, Lansing; Nov. 5-7, 1913, Jackson; Nov. 4-6, 1914, Traverse City; Nov. 10, 11, 1915, Saginaw; Nov. 15-17, 1916, Grand Rapids; no convention in 1917; March 26, 27, 1918, Detroit; April 3, 4, 1919, Grand Rapids.
[89] The officers of the Association Opposed to Equal Suffrage as published in the press were: President, Mrs. Henry F. Lyster; secretary, Miss Helen Keep; publicity committee, Miss Julia Russell, Mrs. A. A. Griffiths, Mrs. J. A. McMillan, Mrs. Fred Reynolds, Mrs. Edward H. Parker, Mrs. Richard Jackson and Miss Caroline Barnard.
[90] Mrs. Brotherton writes: "Special tribute should be paid to the splendid administrative ability of Mrs. Arthur. Her conduct of the 1912 and 1913 campaigns and the years of effort that preceded them deserve the unending gratitude of Michigan women. Her greatest monument was the vote of taxpaying women on bond issues. Mrs. Orton H. Clark, who succeeded Mrs. Arthur in 1914, brought to the work the same patient and consecrated zeal and to her is largely due the gaining of Presidential suffrage.