The committee this day met, Hon. Edwin Y. Webb (chairman) presiding.

The CHAIRMAN. The committee will come to order. It is now 25 minutes to 11 o'clock, and I understand there are some Members of Congress here who want to be heard on some matter-I do not know just what-and if we are going to be able to hear them we will have to begin immediately.

Mr. RAKER. Quite a number of Members desire to be heard this morning. I have seen them personally, and those who are not here will be here later, as some of them had to go to other committee meetings, but they will be back. I wish to have the names of those who are here this morning and want to be heard before this committee entered in the record. They are: Arizona, Hon. Carl Hayden; California, Hon. Denver S. Church, Hon. Charles H. Randall, Hon. William Kettner, and myself; Colorado, Hon. Benjamin C. Hilliard, Hon. Edward Keating, and Hon. Edward T. Taylor; Illinois, Hon. James T. McDermott, Hon. Adolph J. Sabath, Hon. James McAndrews, Hon. Frank H. Buchanan, Hon. Thomas Gallagher, Hon. Clyde H. Tavenner, Hon. Claudius U. Stone, Hon. Henry T. Rainey,

Hon. Martin D. Foster, and Hon. William Elza Williams (a member of this committee); Kansas, Hon. Joseph Taggart (who is a member of this committee), Hon. Dudley Doolittle, Hon. Guy T. Helvering, Hon. John R. Connelly, Hon. Jouett Shouse, and Hon. William A. Ayres; Montana, Hon. John M. Evans and Hon. Tom Stout; Utah. Hon. James H. Mays; and Washington, Hon. C. C. Dill-making 28 in all. These men are interested in this proposed amendment that is to be taken up by the committee, namely, proposed constitutional amendment, House joint resolution No. 1, now pending before this committee. I would ask that proposed amendment No. 1, being the House joint resolution with which we are all familiar, may be inserted in the record at this point.

The CHAIRMAN. Known as the Susan B. Anthony amendment? Mr. RAKER. Yes, sir.

(Said joint resolution follows:)

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled (two-thirds of each House concurring therein), That the following article be proposed to the legislatures of the several States as an amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which, when ratified by three-fourths of said legislatures, shall be valid as part of said Constitution, namely:

"ARTICLE

-SECTION 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.

"SEC. 2. Congress shall have power, by appropriate legislation, to enforce the provisions of this article."

I want to say a few words later, but there are gentlemen here who have other committee meetings to attend, and I will ask that they be allowed to make their statements now.

The CHAIRMAN. I understand that no Member cares to speak more than five minutes.

Mr. RAKER. I think that is about the limit. We are anxious to have this resolution reported out by the committee, so that it may be placed on the calendar and voted upon by Congress at the earliest time that it may see fit to vote upon it.

The CHAIRMAN. The House meets at 11 o'clock, and after that hour we may have a call for tellers at any moment; and if you gentlemen want to get into the record, I advise that you be as brief as possible.

Mr. RAKER. We will hear first from Mr. Stout.

STATEMENT OF HON. TOM STOUT, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF MONTANA.

Mr. STOUT. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of the committee, this matter can be much better presented by gentlemen like my friend from California, Mr. Raker, Mr. Taylor, of Colorado, and others, who have had greater legislative experience than I have had, and I feel that it would be useless for me to take up the valuable time of this committee further than to add my own personal insistence, or rather to express the hope that this committee may see fit at this session of Congress to submit this question to a vote in the House. I can not conceive of any more important subject than one dealing with the suffrage of millions of citizens of this country. We are daily grappling with great problems here, and I think that we could

very well afford the time to include this in line with the others which we have before us for consideration.

It was my privilege and very great pleasure to be the author of the joint resolution providing for woman suffrage in my State of Montana. That amendment was adopted by popular vote, it is now in operation, and the women of our State will be accorded the privilege of voting for the first time at a general election at the forthcoming election. I have no doubt in the least but that it is going to justify the very high hopes of all of those who have advocated it from the beginning, and of that number I happen to be one. So that without transgressing any further upon the time of this committee I simply desire to urge that this question be acted upon favorably. It having been so thoroughly discussed and the minds of men having been so well fixed upon the subject I really think it does not require much discussion, but that it does call for action. For one I would be delighted to see some such action by the committee at this time in order that the House may have a fair and square show to vote upon it, and such being the case I feel that we might have the chance of seeing the hopes of so very many people in this country realized. I thank the committee.

Mr. RAKER. We will next hear from Mr. Shouse, of Kansas.

STATEMENT OF HON. JOUETT SHOUSE, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF KANSAS.

Mr. SHOUSE. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of the committee, I am here because I believe in suffrage, equal suffrage, and full suffragesuffrage not only by the States but suffrage nationally. As a Democrat, it is a matter of great pride with me that in Kansas the amendment to the constitution submitting suffrage to the vote of the people was drawn by a Democrat, and it is further a matter of pride with me that in Kansas in 1912, when, for the first time in the history of the State, we elected a Democratic majority in both houses of the legislature, the same votes that elected that Democratic legislature passed the suffrage amendment. We had full suffrage in effect for the first time in 1914, and the interest taken by the women in that election absolutely discredited the arguments that have been made in some States and in some sections of the country that women will not vote if given the opportunity. More than 50 per cent of the women of Kansas voted in 1914, the first year they had an opportunity to enjoy full suffrage.

In my State it is no longer a question of argument; no longer a question open to discussion; it is agreed generally, even by those who had previously opposed it, that suffrage has been a success thus far in Kansas, and there is every reason to believe that it will continue to be a success there. Those of us who come from suffrage States can see no good reason why the suffrage amendment should not be put up to the House. I have no desire to transgress in any sense upon the authority of this committee. I know its intentions are good; I know that what it does it will do from a sense of justice and a sense of right, but I very much hope that the committee may see its way clear to report this amendment out so that we may have action at this session of Congress.

Mr. RAKER. We will next hear from Mr. Taylor, of Colorado.

STATEMENT OF HON. EDWARD T. TAYLOR, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF COLORADO.

Mr. TAYLOR. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of the committee, I will only take a few moments of your time, as I understand there are a number of gentlemen who desire to address you, and that the hearing is confined to this morning's session.

I have addressed this committee at length heretofore and spoken several times in Congress once at great length-in behalf of equal suffrage, so that everyone knows my position on this subject.

The question, as I understand it, before the committee is not the discussion generally of woman suffrage, but is solely confined to the question of the advisability of reporting out by this committee of the Susan B. Anthony constitutional amendment.

Personally, I think your committee ought to report it out; no matter whether the report is unanimous or divided, I think it ought to be presented to the House. After it is on the calendar, then it is for the House to determine under its rules as to when and what action will be taken upon it. It is one of the great live and growing questions before the American people to-day. There is no more important question before the country-in fact, before the entire. world, aside from the European war-than the question of the right of women to exercise the franchise, and I do not think that any committee, and especially a committee controlled by a majority of Democrats, should prevent a matter of this kind from being put up to the House for its determination.

As a matter of fact, neither our party nor any party, much less any committee, can keep this question back very long, because it is progressing all over the country. The sentiment is growing; it is a forward movement; and just as sure as the night follows the day it is only a question of a little time before the women of this country will be given this right.

But, be that as it may, the question this committee has to determine is whether or not it will give the House an opportunity of expressing itself upon the subject, and I do not think you are justified in declining to do so, no matter what kind of a report the committee makes. Of course, each member of the committee will and should express himself in the report.

The CHAIRMAN. Is not the Democratic Party the only party which in the last 15 years has given a vote upon the woman suffrage amendment in the House?

Mr. TAGGART. It is the only one that ever did.

Mr. TAYLOR. Yes; and we have as a party made a splendid record on this question-much better than the Republican Party ever did when it was in power--and therefore I do not feel that we ought to take any backward step.

Mr. TAGGART. You appreciate the fact that certain people are organizing for the purpose of defeating the party which really gave an opportunity to vote on it?

Mr. TAYLOR. Yes. I was somewhat chagrined and disgusted when I went home just before election two years ago to find when I was passing through the city of Leadville a woman representing one of these Washington organizations making a stump speech against me, when I had been working and talking and voting for woman suffrage