Codman at its head and Mrs. Charles E. Guild as secretary.
This was a society composed of women alone. Col. Higginson said in
_Harper's Bazar_:

All the ladies move in a limited though most unimpeachable
circle. All may be presumed to interchange visiting cards and
meet at the same afternoon teas. There is not even a hint that
there is any other class to be consulted. Where are the literary
women, the artists, the teachers, the business women, the
temperance women, the labor reform advocates, the members of the
farmers' grange, the clergymen's wives? Compared with this
inadequate body how comfortably varied looks the list of the
committee in behalf of woman suffrage. [Distinguished names
given.] It includes also women who are wholesomely unknown to the
world at large but well known in the granges and among the
Christian Endeavorers. Can any one doubt which list represents
the spirit of the future?

The more cultivated social class--the "Four Hundred," as the
saying is--have an immense value in certain directions. They
stand for the social amenities and in many ways for the worthy
charities. Generous and noble traditions attach to their names
and nowhere more than in Boston. But one thing has in all ages
and places been denied to this class--that of leadership in bold
reforms.

On November 5 the mock referendum, which had been opposed by many of
the leading suffragists, was voted on and received a large negative
majority. (See Legislative Action.)

The State association held its annual convention, Jan. 14, 15, 1896,
with large audiences. It opened with a Young People's Meeting, Miss
Blackwell presiding.[311] The Rev. Father Scully and Mrs. Fanny B.
Ames, State Factory Inspector, were among the many who gave addresses.
At the business meeting the following resolution on the mock
referendum was adopted:

WHEREAS, The returns show that we only need to convert twenty per
cent. of the male voters in order to have a majority; and

WHEREAS, Public sentiment is growing rapidly and grows faster the
more the subject is discussed; therefore,

_Resolved_, That we petition the Legislature to give us a real
instead of a sham referendum, by submitting to the voters a
constitutional amendment enfranchising women.

The president, Mrs. Livermore, was made a Doctor of Laws by Tufts
College and wa