NEW MEXICO.[121]
As the railroads were few and automobiles almost unknown in New Mexico
in the first decade of the present century, and as the distances were
great and cities and towns widely separated, there was no attempt to
organize for woman suffrage. In 1910 the Women's Clubs were called in
convention at Las Cruces through the efforts of Mrs. George W.
Frenger, secretary of the General Federation, and Mrs. Philip North
Moore, then its president, was in attendance. A State Federation was
formed with Mrs. S. P. Johnson of Palomas Springs, president; Mrs. Sam
J. Nixon of Portales secretary, and several department chairmen were
named, Mrs. W. E. Lindsey being chosen for the Legislative Department.
This department through its bold stand for woman suffrage and better
laws for women and children easily became the foremost factor in the
federation. At each yearly convention one evening was given to the
discussion of the benefits which women would receive from the
suffrage. Almost before it was realized suffrage had become popular
with both men and women. The delegates carried the messages from the
State conventions to their own clubs; suffrage discussions became the
regular program for one meeting each year in almost every club and
generally made converts of those taking the opposition. Women began
searching the statutes and questioning their attorneys and husbands in
regard to laws. Their interest became such that no Legislature during
the federation's existence has proposed any law derogatory to the
rights of women and children, but when attention has been called to
unfair laws, some of them have been replaced by better ones.
Under direction of the executive board of the federation this
department sent out questionnaires to all of the State candidates for
office in 1916 as to whether they would work for placing women on the
State boards and use their influence to bring the Federal Amendment to
a successful vote in the United States Senate and House. Their members
were also interrogated as to whether they would work and vote for it.
Therefore the Legislative Department of the Federated Clubs really did
the work that any suffrage organization would do and had the backing
of the women of the State in general. Suffrage was unanimously
endorsed in the convention of the federation at Silver City in 1914.
It is to the credit of the work of the Federated Clubs in the State
that its members of Congress, with one exception, have needed no
lobbying from suffrage forces in Washington. Senator Andrieus A.
Jones, as chairman of the Suffrage Committee, made the submission of
the amendment possible in the present Congress by his systematic and
forceful course in the last one.
Mrs. Lindsey remained chairman of this department six years. In 1913
she was appointed State chairman for the National American Woman
Suffrage Association by its president, Dr. Anna Howard Shaw. In 1914
the suffragists had a "float" in the parade at the State fair in
Albuquerque. In May, 1916, the National Association under the
presidency of Mrs. Carrie Chapman Catt, sent one of its organizers,
Miss Lola Walker of Pittsburgh, for ten days to look over the
situation and she visited Albuquerque, Santa Fé, Portales and Las
Vegas. In the last place she spoke before the Woman's Club with about
eighty present and at the close of her talk a vote was taken which
stood unanimous for suffrage. At Portales a society was formed and a
large evening reception was held to which both men and women were
invited. Miss Walker gave a very interesting résumé of woman suffrage
which aroused much interest. An appeal was sent to the National
Association to return her for a fall campaign to organize the State as
an auxiliary. She went to Maine, however, and Miss Gertrude Watkins of
Little Rock was sent to New Mexico in January, 1917. She visited the
eastern and central parts of the State organizing leagues in most of
the towns. In Santa Fé one was formed of about thirty members with
Mrs. Paul A. F. Walter president; Mrs. R. W. Twitchell secretary, and
Mrs. Ellen J. Palen treasurer.
The Congressional Union also sent an organizer into the State in 1916,
Mrs. Thompson, who spent some time in Santa Fé, Albuquerque and Las
Vegas. The Santa Fé women were sufficiently aroused to hold a street
parade and march to the home of U. S. Senator Catron, an opponent,
where they gathered on the lawn and made speeches to convince the aged
Senator of the wishes of the women as to his conduct in the Senate.
Mrs. Joshua Reynolds was made State chairman of the Congressional
Union and afterwards Mrs. Nina Otero Warren, and Mrs. A. A. Kellan was
legislative chairman, all of Albuquerque. Miss Mabel Vernon came from
Washington to hold meetings that year and Miss Anne Martin in 1917,
and active work was done.
Washington E. Lindsey was Governor in 1917-18, and in November, 1918,
all the suffrage forces in Albuquerque and Santa Fé were invited by
Mrs. Lindsey to meet at the Executive Mansion and form a committee to
work for suffrage at the coming session of the Legislature. This
meeting elected the following officers: Mrs. R. P. Barnes chairman;
Mrs. A. B. Stroup secretary; Mrs. Warren legislative chairman; Mrs.
John W. Wilson party platform chairman; Mrs. Walter congressional
chairman. This committee did good work for suffrage in both the
regular and special sessions.
In December, 1919, Mrs. Carrie Chapman Catt and her party of speakers
for the ratification of the Federal Amendment came to Albuquerque for
the last of several western State conferences. It was arranged by Mrs.
Barnes and was carried out with great success. Mrs. Catt spoke at a
large luncheon held in the Y. M. C. A. building, which many of the
Judges, newspaper representatives and other prominent men and women
attended. On account of the great distances few except from
Albuquerque and Santa Fé were present but Mrs. Catt's appeal was
carried from one end of the State to the other through the public
press and created an atmosphere of hope. This was changed to rejoicing
as word came that Governor Octaviano A. Larrazolo would call a special
session of the Legislature for the ratification.
RATIFICATION. When the time came the Legislature had adjourned and
would not meet again until 1921, so a special session would be
necessary if it ratified before the presidential election. The
opponents concentrated their forces to prevent it and were successful
until 1920 but finally were obliged to yield and Governor Larrazolo
called the special session for February 16. When it met there was a
determined effort by one member, Dan Padillo of Albuquerque, to have a
referendum to the voters of the State. All the city was up in
arms--men's organizations, the Y. W. C. A., the W. C. T. U., the
Woman's Committee, the Woman's Party, individual men and women--until
at last he declared that he would vote for the immediate ratification.
The vote in the Senate February 18 was 17 ayes, 8 Republicans, 9
Democrats; 5 noes, all Republicans--Gallegos, Mirabel, Lucero
(Emiliano), Salazar and Sanchez. The vote in the House February 19 was
36 ayes, 23 Republicans, 13 Democrats; 10 noes, 8 Republicans, 2
Democrats.
LEGISLATIVE ACTION. Beginning with 1915 the Federation of Women's
Clubs was able to secure some legislation favorable to women and
children. In 1916 the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, through its
president, Mrs. Harriet L. Henderson, had a Prohibition Amendment
endorsed by the State Republican platform which the Legislature
submitted to the electors in November, 1917. Both parties, all women's
organizations and everybody of influence from the Governor down worked
with zeal for its passage. Miss Anna A. Gordon, national president of
the W. C. T. U., came to the State in October and was a guest at the
convention of the Federated Clubs in Gallup, which voted unanimously
to give all the time until the election to work for its success, and
parades and much individual effort followed. Women went to the polls
with their lists of voters, checking them off as they came and then
going for those who had not voted. It was carried by 20,000 majority,
the largest percentage vote ever given by any State for prohibition.
As the State constitution rendered it impossible to carry an amendment
for woman suffrage the women made no attempt to have the Legislature
submit one, but in 1917 some of the Representatives brought an
amendment resolution before the House, which promptly killed it. As
the State conventions of both political parties this year had declared
in favor of woman suffrage, the committee appointed at the meeting in
the Governor's mansion asked for the Presidential and Municipal
franchise, which the Legislature had power to grant without a
referendum to the voters. They made a spirited campaign with all the
assistance that Governor Lindsey could give and the suffrage societies
throughout the State poured in letters upon the legislators. The vote
in the Senate was 9 ayes, 14 noes. Before it was taken in the House a
conference was held in the office of the Governor at the Capitol
attended by the following workers for the bill: Senator Isaac Barth,
National Committeeman; Charles A. Spiess, Holm O. Bursum, Supreme
Justice Clarence J. Roberts, Charles Springer, Mrs. Kellam, Mrs.
Walter, Mrs. Hughey, chairman of the State suffrage legislative
committee; Mrs. Kate Hall, president of the Santa Fé branch of the
Congressional Union; Mrs. N. B. Laughlin and Mrs. Lindsey.
The leaders of the two political parties admitted that they could not
control their legislators and tried to hold the Spanish-Americans
responsible. The House voted on the bill March 7, after a loud,
disorderly and acrimonious debate, 26 noes, 21 ayes. The Speaker
afterwards explained his affirmative vote by saying that he thought it
was to submit the question to the electors! Of the 29 Republican
members 10 voted for the bill; of the 18 Democratic members, 11 voted
for it.
SUFFRAGE. The convention to prepare a constitution for statehood,
which met in 1910, was the battle ground for School suffrage for
women. The question was very seriously debated in the Elective
Franchise Committee, which many times voted it down only to renew it
upon appeal to do so. Mrs. S. F. Culberson, then county school
superintendent in Roosevelt county, argued the matter before the
committee, and its chairman, Nestor Montoya, cast the deciding vote
for it to come before the convention. Both Democrats and Republicans
rallied to its support but José D. Sena, Clerk of the Supreme Court, a
member of the convention, strenuously opposed it and finally carried
it back to be caucused upon by the Republican majority. After a stormy
caucus it was returned to the convention and passed. The president of
the convention, Charles A. Spiess, spoke urgently in Committee of the
Whole to save women's eligibility to the county superintendency from
being eliminated. The clause gave women the right to vote for school
trustees, on the issuing of bonds and in the local administration of
public schools but not for county or State superintendents. It
provided that "if a majority of the qualified voters of any school
district shall, not less than thirty days before any school election,
present a petition to the county commissioners against woman suffrage
in that district it shall be suspended and only renewed by a petition
of the majority!"
No effort could obtain any larger extension of the franchise to women
but the new State constitution gave universal suffrage to men and
carefully protected the right to vote of those who could not speak,
read or write either the English or Spanish language. It then provided
that the suffrage clause could only be amended by having the amendment
submitted by a vote of three-fourths of each House of the Legislature.
In order to be carried, it must have a three-fourths majority of the
highest number voting at a State election and a two-thirds majority of
the highest number voting in every county. This was expressly designed
to prevent woman suffrage and it destroyed all possibility of it until
conferred by a Federal Amendment.
Among the women who worked for woman suffrage in addition to those
mentioned in the chapter were Mesdames Margaret Cartright, S. F.
Culberson, George W. Carr, Josie Lockard, J. R. Kinyon, H. F. LaBelle,
N. J. Strumquist, Margaret Medler, William J. Barker, Lansing Bloom,
C. E. Mason, R. P. Donahoe, Ruth Skeen, John W. Wilson, S. C. Nutter,
Catherine Patterson, Minnie Byrd, Howard Huey, Alfred Grunsfeld, Edgar
L. Hewett, I. H. Elliot and I. H. Rapp.
As all women were fully enfranchised by the Federal Amendment a State
branch of the National League of Women Voters was formed with Mrs.
Gerald Cassidy as chairman.
FOOTNOTES:
[121] The History is indebted for this chapter to Deane H. (Mrs.
Washington E.) Lindsey, State chairman of the National Woman Suffrage
Association.