City Party
headquarters were crowded with people waiting for the returns. Mrs.
Catt, Miss Hay, Mrs. Laidlaw and other leaders were present. Mr.
Laidlaw and Judge Wadhams were "keeping the count." Walter Damrosch
and other prominent men came in. From the beginning the returns were
encouraging and as the evening wore on and victory was assured, the
room rang with cheers and applause and there were many jubilant
speeches.

The election brought a great surprise, for the big city, whose adverse
vote suffragists had always predicted would have to be outbalanced by
upstate districts, won the victory, the latter not helping but
actually pulling down its splendid majority. The final vote in Greater
New York read:

_Majority_
_Yes_ _No_ _in Favor_
New York County 129,412 89,124 40,288
Kings (Brooklyn) 129,601 92,315 37,286
Bronx 52,660 36,346 16,314
Richmond 7,868 5,224 2,644
Queens 34,125 26,794 7,331
------- ------- -------
Total 353,666 249,803 103,863

Upstate districts, 349,463 ayes; 350,973 noes, lost by 1,510.
Majority in the State as a whole, 102,353.

Immediately opponents made the charge that suffrage won in the City
because of the pro-German, pacifist and Socialist vote. An analysis
showed that in many districts where the Germans and Socialists
predominated there was not as great a suffrage majority as in
Republican or Democratic districts; that some of the conservative
residential sections were more favorable than radical districts and
that the soldiers in the field had voted for suffrage in the ratio of
two to one.

Those who were best informed attributed the victory to many causes--to
the support of voters in all the parties; to the help of the labor
unions; to recognition of women's war work; to the example set by
European countries in enfranchising their women; to the endorsement of
prominent men and strong organizations. Most of all, however, it was
due to the originality, the dauntless energy, the thorough
organization methods and the ceaseless campaigning of the suffrage
workers, who in winning the great Empire State not only secured the
vote for New York women but made the big commonwealth an important
asset in the final struggle for the Fed