Mrs. Catt's closing words to the delegates were to encourage agitation, education and organization in their countries. "The enfranchisement of women is as certain to come as the sun is sure to rise tomorrow," she said. "The time must depend on political conditions and the energy and intelligence with which our movement is conducted." Thus ended happily and auspiciously the first Congress of the International Woman Suffrage Alliance.
FOURTH CONFERENCE OF THE ALLIANCE.
The Executive Meeting and Fourth Conference of the International Woman Suffrage Alliance was held in Amsterdam, June 15-20, 1908, in the spacious and handsome Concert Hall, in response to the Call of Mrs. Carrie Chapman Catt, president, and Mrs. Rachel Foster Avery, secretary. No one who was present can ever forget this meeting in the most fascinating of countries, with every detail of its six days' sessions carefully planned and nothing left undone for the comfort and entertainment of the visitors who had come from most of the countries of Europe, from Canada, the United States and far-away Australia and New Zealand. The following account is condensed from the very full report of the recording secretary, Miss Martina G. Kramers:
The arrangements for the congress were made by a Central Committee, of which Dr. Aletta Jacobs, president of the Vereeniging voor Vrouwenkiesrecht, the organization which had invited the Alliance to Amsterdam, was chairman. Mrs. W. Drucker was chairman of the Finance Committee, Mrs. Van Buuren Huys, secretary, and Miss Rosa Manus gave much assistance. The Press Committee, Miss Johanna W. A. Naber, chairman, did excellent work in conjunction with a committee from the Amsterdam press association.... That the accounts throughout the world were so complete is due to this painstaking, able committee's assistance to the correspondents from far and wide.
The Committee on Local Arrangements, Mrs. van Loenen de Bordes, chairman, performed well many duties, issued a dainty booklet, bound in green and gold, which contained the program interspersed with views of Amsterdam, and provided handsome silk flags to mark the seats of each delegation, which were presented to the Alliance. A Bureau of Information was presided over by young women who were able to answer all questions in many languages. The back of the great stage was draped with the flags of the twenty nations represented, those of Norway, Finland and Australia being conspicuously placed in the center, that especial honor might be done the full suffrage countries. The front of the stage was a mass of flowers and plants, a magnificent bust of Queen Wilhelmina occupying a conspicuous place.
The Committee on Reception, chairman, Mrs. Gompertz Jitta, and that on Entertainments, chairman, Mrs. Schöffer-Bunge, provided many pleasures. Chief among these was the musical reception on the first afternoon. A grand welcome song with a military band playing the accompaniment was sung by four hundred voices; a variety of children's songs followed and the program was closed by a cantata called Old Holland's New Time, which had been prepared especially for the congress. All the music had been composed by Catherine Van Rennes, who was also the conductor. The congress opened with a large reception given by the Dutch Women's Suffrage Association at Maison Couturier, with a greeting by Mrs. Gompertz-Jitta. It had as a unique feature a little play written by Betsy van der Starp of The Hague. The gods and goddesses with much feeling discussed the appeal of Woman, who had asked their help in her effort to secure more rights on Earth.... On Tuesday afternoon a reception was given by Burgomaster and Mrs. van Leeuwen at their beautiful home, where refreshments were served in a shaded garden and the hospitable and democratic freedom was greatly enjoyed. On the same afternoon the Amsterdam branch of the National Association took the foreign visitors for a delightful excursion on the Amstel River. On Wednesday afternoon Dr. Jacobs had a most enjoyable tea in the Pavilloen van het Vondelpark. Mrs. Gompertz-Jitta opened her own luxurious home for tea on Friday. A house filled with a rare art collection, a fine garden and a charming hostess gave an afternoon long to be remembered. A farewell dinner on Saturday night was held in the great Concert Hall. A gay assembly, a good dinner, the national airs of all countries played by a fine band, furnished abundant enjoyment and aroused enthusiasm to the utmost. The climax came when a band of young men and women, dressed in the quaint and picturesque costumes of the Dutch peasantry, to rollicking music executed several peasant dances on the platform and around the big room.
The day following at an early hour several car loads of suffragists set forth for Rotterdam and near the station two steamers took their cargo of happy people for a trip on the River Maas. They went as far as Dordrecht, where opportunity was given to see this quaint town. Luncheon had been served on the steamers and at Rotterdam the guests proceeded to the Zoological Garden, which many people pronounce the finest in the world. At 6:30 dinner was served in a large, fine restaurant, followed by animated speeches until train time. It had been a rare day, full of interest, for which the Congress was indebted to the Rotterdam branch of the National Association and to Mrs. van den Bergh-Willing, who supplied one of the steamers and invited over a hundred of the delegates as her guests for the day. The next day was spent under the direction of The Hague branch. An afternoon tea with music was given at the Palace Hotel, Scheveningen, the famous seaside resort, and later a dinner was served at the Kurhaus, followed by a fine concert arranged in honor of the guests. Later came a special display of fireworks with a closing piece which triumphantly flashed the words "Jus Suffragii" across the sky.
Mrs. Catt was in the chair at the first afternoon session and Dr. Jacobs welcomed the conference in an address given in perfect English during which she said: "When so strong and energetic a body of earnest women meets to deliberate on this greatest of modern world problems the impression can not fail to be a powerful one, for the vision must arise of the beauty and glory of future womanhood, of women who have obtained proper place and power in the community, which shall enable them to infuse their love, their moral perceptions, their sense of justice into the governments of the world. We believe the moment has now come to show our country the seriousness and extent of our movement and its determination to gain political equality for women in every civilized land. With the greatest appreciation we see among our visitors many high officials, who have not hesitated to answer our invitation favorably and to give us through their presence a proof of sympathy with the work we do. We wish to welcome these gentlemen first of all." Naming one country after another Dr. Jacobs mentioned the particular achievement of each during the past two years and extended a special welcome, saying: "May your presence here contribute to augment the public interest in the movement for women's enfranchisement in our country."
The address of the international president, Mrs. Carrie Chapman Catt, was a masterly effort and should be reproduced in full. In beginning it she referred to the suggestive coincidence that the opening day of the Congress commemorated the anniversary of the signing of the immortal Magna Charta and said: "At no time since the movement for the enfranchisement of women began have its advocates had so much cause for self-congratulation as now. The Alliance met in Copenhagen twenty-two months ago and in the brief time since then the progress of our cause has been so rapid, the gains so substantial, the assurance of coming victory so certain that we may imagine the noble and brave pioneers of woman suffrage, the men and women who were the torch-bearers of our movement, gathering today in some far-off celestial sphere and singing together a glad pæan of exultation." Mrs. Catt referred to the granting of full suffrage and eligibility to women by Norway in 1907 and continued:
Within the past two years appeals for woman suffrage have been presented to the Parliaments of eighteen European governments; the United States Congress and the Legislatures of twenty-nine States; the Parliaments of Canada and Victoria and the Legislature of the Philippines—fifty-one independent legislative bodies. The appeals were made for the first time, I believe, in twelve of the European countries. In Spain and the Philippines bills were introduced by friends of the cause quite unknown to national or international officers. This activity has not been barren of results and the delegates of six countries come to this congress vested with larger political rights than they possessed at the time of the Copenhagen meeting, namely, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Iceland, England and Germany. Each of the five Scandinavian lands has won something. Norwegian women come with full suffrage rights; Finnish delegates come as representatives of the only nation which has elected women to seats in its Parliament; Sweden and Iceland have gained a step in eligibility and our Icelandic delegate of two years ago is now a member of the city council of Reykjavik, the capital. The women of Denmark, next to those of Norway, have made the largest gain, as Municipal suffrage with liberal qualifications has been bestowed upon them. English women have secured eligibility to become Mayors and members of town and county councils. Germany has revised its law and women are now free to join political associations and to organize woman suffrage societies. The German association affiliated with the Alliance is now a federation of State bodies. In Sweden within two years the membership in the organization has doubled and the 63 local organizations reported at Copenhagen have become 127. A petition of 142,128 names has been presented to Parliament; deputations have waited upon the Government and been granted hearings.