he little flag with its three stars. The ladies were
given the best seats in the great building. The delegates were divided
into two hostile camps, representing opposite wings of the party, and
the women had to move very carefully, as it was by no means certain
which faction would secure control of the convention. They also had to
frame many non-committal answers to the question, "How do you stand on
the A. P. A.?" The headquarters were thronged with reporters; every
woman was interviewed at length and her opinions telegraphed to the
great San Francisco dailies. Miss Anthony's interviews occupied a column
in the Examiner, each day of the convention. Those alarmists who fear
women will lose the respect of men when they are invested with political
influence should have had this object lesson.

The chairman of the convention was considered not favorable to woman
suffrage. Of the seven men appointed on the resolution committee, five
were said to be opposed to the plank. The spirits of the ladies began to
droop. In the evening permission was given them to address the platform
committee. Mrs. Harper wrote the San Francisco Call:

I wish I could picture that scene. In the small room, seated around
the table, were the seven men who held the fate of this question in
their hands. At one end stood Miss Anthony, the light from above
shining upon her silver hair until it seemed like a halo, and she
spoke as no one ever heard her speak before. On the face of every
delegate was an expression of the deepest seriousness, and before
she had finished tears were in the eyes of more than one. She was
followed by Miss Shaw, who stood there the embodiment of all that
is pure, sweet and womanly, and in a low, clear voice presented the
subject as no one else could have done. As we were about to leave
the room, the chairman said, "Ladies, we will take the vote now, if
you desire." We thanked him, but said no, we would withdraw and
leave them to consider the matter at their leisure.

Within a very few minutes we had their decision--six in favor of
the resolution and one opposed. Here I want to call attention to
one thing. Eight women knew of the favorable action of the
committee by 9 o'clock, but although we were besieged by reporters
and delegates until nearly midnight we gave no sign, and the
Wednesday morning papers could only say that it was probab