o put a woman suffrage plank in their platform,
although Miss Anthony addressed their convention and implored them to
keep their promise, assuring them that their failure to support the
amendment would be its death blow. The previous summer H. L. Loucks,
president of the Farmers' Alliance, had made a special journey to the
State suffrage convention at Minneapolis to invite her to come to
South Dakota to conduct this canvass. He was a candidate for Governor
on this new party ticket and in his speech of acceptance did not
mention the pending amendment. Before adjourning the convention
adopted a long resolution containing seven or eight declarations,
among them one that "no citizen should be disfranchised on account of
sex," but so far as any party advocacy was concerned the question was
a dead issue.

A bitter contest was being made between Huron and Pierre for the
location of the State capital, and the woman suffrage amendment was
freely used as an article of barter. There were 30,000 Russians,
Poles, Scandinavians and other foreigners in the State, most of whom
opposed woman suffrage. The liquor dealers and gamblers worked
vigorously against it, and they were reinforced by the women
"remonstrants" of Massachusetts, who sent their literature into every
corner of the State.

At the election, Nov. 4, 1890, the amendment received 22,072 ayes,
45,862 noes, majority opposed 23,790. The Republicans carried the
State by 16,000 majority.

At this same election an amendment was submitted as to whether male
Indians should be enfranchised. It received an affirmative vote of 45
per cent.; that for woman suffrage received 35 per cent. Of the two
classes of voters it seemed the men preferred the Indians. It was
claimed by many, however, that they did not understand the wording of
the Indian amendment and thought they were voting against it.[207]

As the School Suffrage possessed by women applied only to trustees and
did not include the important offices of State and county
superintendents, and as it was held that the franchise for this
purpose could be secured only by a constitutional amendment, it was
decided to ask for this. Through the efforts of Mrs. Anna R. Simmons
and Mrs. Emma A. Cranmer, officers of the State Association, a bill
for this purpose was secured from the Legislature of 1893. As there
seemed to be no objection to women's voting for school trustees it was
not supposed that there would be any to extending the pri