Through the years the officers and members of the State and local suffrage associations united with those of other women's organizations to obtain laws. The age of consent was raised first to 12, then to 16 and in 1914 to 18; better child labor laws were secured; the law permitting a father to dispose of the children by will at his death was repealed. It is a fact not generally known that Mississippi was the pioneer State in securing to married women the right to own and dispose of property. This was done by an Act of the Legislature on Feb. 15, 1839.
Ratification. Congress submitted the Federal Amendment in June, and the Ratification Committee was organized in November. It opened its headquarters in Jackson at the beginning of the legislative session in January, 1920, after having made a whirlwind campaign. At the initial meeting of the committee in Clarksburg there had been great enthusiasm and women gave money as they never had done before. Mrs. B. F. Saunders was made chairman and among those who worked with her in Jackson were Mrs. Somerville, Mrs. Trotter, Mrs. Sam Covington, Miss Blanche Rogers, Mrs. Thompson, Miss Kearney, Mrs. Annie Neely and Mrs. Cunningham of Texas. The legislators were systematically interviewed, literature distributed, petitions circulated and the press kept supplied with arguments and news.
Mrs. Thompson, in charge of the Jackson press, wrote innumerable articles, and Mrs. Somerville and others contributed to the press work. Letters, telegrams and petitions from all over the State urging ratification poured in daily upon both Houses. Delegations of women came to urge their representatives to vote for ratification. Nine influential women came from Lauderdale county bringing a petition of 2,100 names of prominent people obtained in a day and a half and begged their representatives to vote for the amendment but not one of them did so.
Many of the State's leading newspapers were in favor of ratification. The Daily News of Jackson, in keeping with its policy for years, gave editorial support and generously of its space. The Clarion Ledger, also a Jackson daily, boasted of being the only paper in the State which openly fought ratification. The editor, Colonel Hiram Henry, a veteran journalist of the State, always bitterly opposed to any form of woman suffrage, began his attack weeks before the Legislature met and daily during the session the pages of his paper reeked with hatred for the cause. The literature of the "antis" was largely copied and extracts from negro journals published in the North were reproduced in glaring headlines, extracts so offensive that had they been used against any cause save that of disfranchised women would have been suppressed. It was through his influence that Mrs. Cola Barr Craig, once a resident of Jackson, and Mrs. James S. Pinckard of Alabama came early in January to organize a branch of what they called the Southern Women's Rejection League. They held a public meeting in the Carnegie library, at which besides the two speakers, there were nineteen women present, many of them the old friends of Mrs. Craig. No one would take even the temporary chairmanship and the attempt to organize failed ignominiously. Not daunted Mr. Henry sent for Miss Kate Gordon of New Orleans, a veteran suffragist who had joined hands with the "antis" in fighting ratification. She was advertised for a speech at the Carnegie library and all legislators were urged to attend. Two legislators and fifteen women were present, six of the latter State workers for ratification.
The retiring and incoming State officials were almost to a man outspoken in their advocacy of ratification. Governor Theodore G. Bilbo, the retiring Governor, instead of having the clerk of the House read his farewell message, according to time honored custom, delivered it in person. Woman suffrage was its conspicuous feature and after a profound argument for ratification of the Federal Amendment, he closed his remarks with the solemn statement: "Woe to that man who raises his hand against the onward march of this progressive movement!" The newly elected Governor, Lee M. Russell, in his inaugural address, delivered in front of the Capitol to an audience of thousands, devoted more time to woman suffrage than to any other topic, making a clear cut, logical argument for ratification and a powerful plea for the enfranchisement of women.
On January 21, W. A. Winter, Representative from Grenada county, offered the following resolution: "Resolved that the proposed amendment to the Constitution of the United States be and hereby is rejected as an unwarranted, unnecessary and dangerous interference with the rights reserved to the States, or to the people, in both State and Federal Constitutions...." This came without warning to the friends of ratification and was not referred to a committee but rushed to a vote after Representative Guy W. Mitchell of Lee county had spoken strongly against it. It was carried by a vote of 94 ayes to 25 noes and the announcement received with cheers and laughter. Sennett Conner of Covington county was the Speaker of the House whose ruling permitted this unparliamentary action.
Sent to the Senate the Winter Resolution of Rejection was referred to the Committee on Constitution, of which Senator Minor was chairman. At the meeting of the committee W. B. Mixon of Pike county was authorized to draft a resolution ratifying the amendment, to be offered in the Senate as a substitute. This was done and Senators Minor, Mixon and Fred B. Smith made a majority report. This resolution was earnestly advocated by Senators Percy Bell and Walton Shields of Washington county, W. B. Roberts of Bolivar, Fred B. Smith of Union, A. A. Cohn of Lincoln and E. F. Noel of Holmes. It failed of adoption and the Winter resolution was recommitted to the Committee on Constitution, where it remained.
In the meantime Senator Mixon had introduced a bill in the Senate giving the right to women to vote in Primary elections and Representative A. J. Whitworth of Pike county a similar one in the House. In Mississippi a nomination is equivalent to an election. Both bills were defeated. A resolution for a woman suffrage amendment to the State constitution to be submitted to the voters at the election of November, 1920, passed both Houses with very little opposition. During the last three weeks of the session Senator Mixon introduced a bill giving the right of suffrage to women in the event of the ratification of the Federal Amendment by thirty-six Legislatures, thus enabling them to vote in the August primaries, and Representative Whitworth introduced two bills, one giving suffrage to women in primary elections and the other in general elections, both contingent upon ratification. These bills passed without opposition.
During the last week of the Legislature Senator Roberts called out of the committee the original Winter Resolution of Rejection and in Committee of the Whole it was amended by striking out the word "reject" and substituting the word "ratify." Thus amended the vote in the Senate stood 21 ayes, 21 noes and Lieutenant Governor H. H. Casteel broke the tie in favor of its adoption. News of the Senate's favorable action spread all over the country in a few hours. Telegrams came pouring in to the Governor and Legislature offering congratulations and appealing to the House to make Mississippi the 36th State to ratify.
The Senate substitute was presented to the House the next afternoon, March 31. Representative Winter moved that the House "do not concur with the Senate Resolution of Ratification." Immediately there came calls for the vote. Telegrams were on the Speaker's stand from William Jennings Bryan, Homer Cummings, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels, Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer and many other prominent Democrats. A vote was taken as to whether these should be read to the House. Representative E. M. Lane of Smith county, although an opponent of ratification, made an earnest appeal that the courtesy of a hearing should be accorded these national party leaders. A vote of 65 to 32 decided that the telegrams should not be read. Governor Russell had stated that he desired the privilege of the floor to make an appeal in behalf of ratification but this courtesy was denied him. Representatives T. D. Rees of Prentiss county and Walter Sillers of Bolivar spoke in favor of ratification but were poorly heard so great was the confusion and so loud and insistent the calls for the vote. Representative Mitchell was absent. Dr. Whitworth (author of three suffrage bills at this session) spoke against ratification and while he was speaking Representative R. H. Watts of Rankin county interpolated, "I would die and go to hell before I would vote for it." The substitute was defeated by 94 noes, 23 ayes.