One element was invited
to neutralize the other. The politicians could endure the combination
better than they could face each faction separately. The advocates of
suffrage made their plea while their sisters promenaded the State House
corridors to the music of the band. The festival spirit dominated.
The members of the Judiciary Committee wore fresh waistcoats, pinks in
their buttonholes, and a genial air--and had not the least idea of
granting the suffragists anything except a benignant hearing. The report
of "ought not to pass" was a foregone conclusion.
But there were potted palms in the lobbies, decorations in the rotunda,
and masses of flowers in the House chamber which was given over to the
hearing. And sweet music softened legislative asperities. The women
asked, smiling. The men refused, smiling.
The federated women's clubs of the State had the suffrage matter in
their keeping. The delegates were not hard-faced women clutching
umbrellas. They were the strictly modern suffragists--radiant matrons,
fresh-complexioned girls, women who led in culture and fashion in their
respective communities.
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