pporter said openly: "We had to do it
in self-defense."

The special election and the primary election were held on June 5,
1916, and after several days of waiting the final returns showed that
the amendment was defeated--ayes, 162,683; noes, 173,024--lost by
10,341 votes.

The adverse vote was almost entirely in the counties along the
Mississippi River. They were in revolt against the State prohibition
law and there was constant evasion of it and agitation for its repeal.
Naturally those opposed to prohibition were also opposed to woman
suffrage. The vote in these counties was large enough to overcome the
vote in the central and western counties where the sentiment was
generally "dry." Des Moines, the capital and largest city in the
State, voted in favor; Sioux City, the second largest, recorded a
small adverse vote; Council Bluffs on the western border returned a
favorable majority; Keokuk on the river in the southeastern corner of
the State was carried, but all the other cities on the eastern border
voted "wet." The river counties of Dubuque, Scott and Clinton gave
9,383 of the 10,341 adverse majority. They were the stronghold for the
commercial liquor interests of the State. The Republican candidate for
Governor received a majority of 126,754 and this party could easily
have carried the amendment.

It was evident that there were many irregularities in the election and
the board of the State Suffrage Association conferred with competent
attorneys but after much consultation it was decided that it would not
be practical to contest it. The defeat of the amendment was a serious
disappointment to the temperance forces and the Woman's Christian
Temperance Union determined to have the returns canvassed and if
possible discover the cause. The election proceedings and officials
returns were investigated in 44 counties and the report in affidavit
form consisted of 200 closely typewritten pages. The Des Moines
_Register_ of Oct. 15, 1916, said of this report:

The investigation revealed several strange conditions. The
records in the Secretary of State's office disclose that there
were 29,341 more votes cast on the equal suffrage amendment than
the total cast for all candidates for Governor by all parties.
The canvass in these 44 counties, however, shows that there were
13,609 more names listed as voting, as shown by the poll books,
than there were suffrage ballots. Add to this the 2,289