ANTI-SLAVERY AND OTHER MOVEMENTS - 325 The candidate for governor on the light wine and beer platform in the 1922 election was overwhelmingly defeated. He received 50,000 out of 500,000 votes cast, one vote in ten. The Ohio Legislature in 1923 passed a measure which classifies as murder in the second degree the act of furnishing death-dealing liquor, makes the manufacture of distilled liquor a felony, the soliciting of orders for liquor a felony, and the solicitor equally guilty with the person selling it. The Legislature also adopted the Gordon bill, which supplements the Ohio nuisance act by adding the padlock provision of the Volstead law. This padlock provision is being used with telling effect throughout the state. DR. HOWARD H. RUSSELL The driest Legislature the state has ever seen was elected in November, 1924. Nineteen of the twenty-two members of the Ohio delegation to Congress are dry. Dr. Howard H. Russell, founder of the Ohio Anti-Saloon League, and its first superintendent became head of the national league at its inception in 1895 and carried on the work until 1903, when he resigned after having made the movement an active fighting force, representing the Christian people of all churches. Among the many men in the organization who might have qualified as his successor, it was with one mind that the delegates chose as the second national superintendent Dr. Purly A. Baker, who had been Doctor Russell's successor as superintendent of the Ohio League, and who for the remaining years of his life acted as national superintendent. Doctor Baker was an eloquent minister, an inspiring leader, an executive and organizer of rare ability. Doctor Russell was the man of vision, and Doctor Baker is regarded as the man who made realization of the promise and vision possible. The 326 - HISTORY OF OHIO third superintendent of the national League was Dr. F. Scott McBride, who was elected in 1924. The home and headquarters of this movement, both in the state and nation, is the old college community of Westerville, a few miles northeast of Columbus. There in 1909 was established the publishing house of the League, under the name of the American Issue Publishing Cornpany. It has been the Mecca if not the home of many of the men prominent as leaders in the movement. One of the men early enlisted in the fight by Doctor Russell was Wayne B. Wheeler, now in charge of the legal and legislative department of the League at Washington. It has been the remarkable experience of Dr. Howard H. Russell, still a resident of Westerville, to have seen a movement which he founded thirty-two years ago expand through state, nation and overseas and exercise a power of which neither its friends nor its enemies would have dreamed three decades ago. He is now associate general superintendent of the Anti-Saloon League and one of the four joint presidents of the World League Against Alcoholism, both of which organizations have offices in Westerville. The successive superintendents of the Ohio Anti-Saloon League since its founding have been : Howard H. Russell, Purly A. Baker, Wayne B. Wheeler, James A. White, Rev. T. M. Hare and E. J. Moore. While the Anti-Saloon League has always stressed its cause as a great moral movement and has addressed its appeal to the church and other temperance organizations, it has won its big battles by methods very similar to those employed by the dominant political parties. The leaders of the movement found the liquor traffic entrenched and able to command large sums of money to protect its interests. The Anti-Saloon League was' able to collect an ample "war chest." It met cash with cash in waging aggressive campaigns. It built up strong organizations in every county of the state, took and kept a card index poll of electors and was remarkably successful in getting dry voters to the ballot box on election day. It pledged members of the general assembly and congressmen and maintained a trained lobby to see to it that the pledges were kept. It bombarded wavering legislators with letters and telegrams and often landed them on the temperance side of the fence. Its agents became past masters in the art of practical politics. Its methods were kept within legal limitations, but in heated campaigns they differed from those of a Quaker yearly meeting or a well regulated Sunday school. The leaders of the league canvassed carefully the public sentiment of a community in the local option period of its operation and aimed to go as far as that sentiment would support its program. If it could not get a whole loaf it was willing to accept less. In this respect it differed from the organization that sought to make prohibition .a political party issue. Its appeal was to the temperance sentiment of citizens of all parties. This gave it strength and soon made it a power in all parties. If the movement for prohibition, local, state and national, sponsored and led by the Anti-Saloon League of America shall accomplish in large measure the social betterment confidently predicted and acclaimed by its friends, it will easily rank as the most beneficent reform achieved since the Civil war. There are those, it is true, who do not admit that prohibition has passed the experimental stage—who insist that it does not prohibit. In proof of their contention they point to the prevalence of the illicit traffic in intoxicating liquors, arrests for drunkenness and the failure of a large force of state and national officers and their assistants to enforce prohibitory laws. It must be admitted that the work of the friends of prohibition is not at an end. The liquor traffic has been outlawed, but in many sections of the United States it still exists. It resorts to evasions, subterfuge, and numberless devices to maintain a more or less precarious ANTI-SLAVERY AND OTHER MOVEMENTS - 327 existence. The mandate in the National Constitution against the traffic is still to be made effective in every part of the Republic. The friends of the prohibition movement have before them a great campaign of education and law enforcement. This is to be won only by the vigilance, courage and never lagging persistance that characterized the long fought battle to place the prohibitory amendment in the Constitution of the United States. It must be remembered that this is a campaign against a custom and a privilege that dates back to earliest history. In the Northwest Territory and the states formed from it the evils of intemperance were early recognized and efforts were made to prevent the sale of intoxicants to DR. PURLEY A. BAKER the Indians. It is only within the memory of men now living that serious and systematic effort has been made to prohibit generally the manufacture and sale of alcoholic liquors as a beverage. To hundreds of thousands of people this is still regarded as an unwarranted invasion of their "personal liberty"—the abrogation of a right as sacredly theirs as if it had been specifically named in the Constitution. Such persons must be persuaded that the best interests of the state sometimes requires its citizens to surrender privileges and even "rights" for the good of all. Upon that principle laws that we cheerfully obey every day were based. Even natural and vested rights must yield to the general good. The building up of a stronger public opinion in favor of prohibition is naturally a slow process. An appreciation of that fact should encourage the friends of the temperance movement to patient and continued effort. The prohibitory amendment to the Constitution of the United States seems to be secure. The enfranchisement of women assures that. A large majority of the great industrial enterprises of the country are against the traffic. The transportation and manufacturing interests 328 - HISTORY OF OHIO would not welcome the return of the saloon. The automobile has facilitated the illegal distribution of intoxicating liquors. It has also served as a solemn warning against the reestablishment of the traffic on the old-time basis. If intoxicants could be freely had on the principal streets of our cities, the auto traffic, it is believed, would multiply the tragedies, even now too common. There is a fear that a freer mixing of gasoline and alcohol would lead to disastrous results. Whether this fear is well founded or not, it has its influence. If prohibition is still in its experimental stage in the United States, law enforcement alone is necessary to carry it to the goal of practical and permanent achievement. The results attained thus far assure the movement a prominent and distinctive place in the history of Ohio. Already that movement has entered foreign lands. Ohioans will watch its progress with especial interest, for it received its most powerful initial impulse at Oberlin in the year 1895. The following editorial statement in the American Review of Reviews for August, 1925, is interesting testimony from an unbiased source on what prohibition is accomplishing where its enforcement is beset with peculiar difficulties : "The world at large is constantly informed that prohibition is a farce in New York City, and that crime and disorder are rampant. Much depends upon the ability to make reasonable comparisons. It is probably true that in many respects New York is more orderly and well behaved- than any previous time within a hundred years. Those who assert that prohibition has not affected prevalent conditions in New York would seem to be incapable of noting the difference between noontime and midnight. No such marked change within a brief period has ever been known in any great metropolis in the history of the world. This remains true even when one admits all the facts regarding smuggling, bootlegging, lawbreaking in restaurants and resorts, and the rest. This is not to challenge the position of those who believe that national prohibition was an unwise and ill-judged policy. We are merely remarking that the closing up of the saloons of New York, most of which were vicious resorts, and the ending of certain other forms of prevalent disorder and vice, have had an amazing effect upon external conditions in New York. "Fortunately, the destruction of the old saloon system seems to be a thing permanently accomplished in the United States. Nobody is demanding its return." CHAPTER VI THE WOMAN SUFFRAGE MOVEMENT IN OHIO By Harriet Taylor Upton 1 From the very beginning of the agitation of the question of woman suffrage to the end, Ohio stood well to the front. When the history and the philosophy of the movement is really written, Ohio will be credited with the second place, New York with the first. Ohio women began work in 1850 and ceased in 1920. The first woman's rights convention was held at Seneca Falls, New York, in 1848. This was not called to consider political rights, as is now generally supposed, but property, church and economic rights. Then, women had no place in church government, married women could own no property and the economic world was not open to them. After much discussion and in the face of strong opposition at last, the clause for political rights was added largely because. they wanted their, bill of rights to possess a certain number of claims. The second convention was held at Salem, this state, in 1850. There were valid reasons for choosing Salem. Many Quakers lived there--some of them Hicksites and all believers in liberty of conscience. Then Ohio was to have a constitutional convention and a chance was seen for omitting the word "male" from the new constitution. Little did women then dream that they would work, work hard, seventy years and the word "male" still be in the constitutional instrument. The dates of the convention were April 19 and 20. Betsey Cowles was elected president and Caroline Stanton secretary. No man was allowed any part in the convention, not to sit on the platform, to speak from the floor or to vote. They tried but were ruled down. All early conventions, whether of men or women, spent most of their time discussing and acting upon resolutions, and the Salem Convention was no exception. They passed twenty-two resolutions, memorialized the constitutional convention and prepared an open address to Ohio women. Elizabeth J. Hauser in an article on "The Woman Suffrage Movement in Ohio" published in the Ohio Magazine in 1908 referring to this Salem meeting, says : "A lengthy and favorable report of this convention was published in the New York Tribune, other leading newspapers commenting upon it, and the proceedings in pamphlet form were widely distributed. Even from the old world came words of congratulation and sympathy. But it is not pleasant to record that the discussions in the constitutional convention occasioned by the Memorial above referred to 1 - For eighteen years Mrs. Harriet Taylor Upton was president of the Ohio Suffrage Association. Her term of office extended over the last nine years of the existence of that organization when the work was especially arduous, and she had long .been recognized as the leader of the movement in Ohio when triumph finally came. Not only was her service recognized in this state but in the Nation. She is an efficient organizer and a speaker of rare ability and persuasive power. From 1885 to 1920 the Ohio Suffrage Association had six presidents: Mrs. Frances M. Casement, Painesville, 1885-1888; Mrs. Martha H. Elwell, Willoughby, 1888-1891; Mrs. Caroline McCullough Everhard, Massillon, 1891-1898; Mrs. Harriet Brown Stanton, Cincinnati, 1898-1899; Mrs. Harriet Taylor Upton, Warren, 1899-1908; and again, 1911-1920; Mrs. Pauline Steinem, Toledo, 1908-1911. - 329 - 330 - HISTORY OF OHIO `were voted to be dropped from the records because they were so low and obscene.' " Conventions were held in Akron, 1851 ; Massillon, 1852 ; Ravenna, 1853. The former was remembered by all the early suffragists because of the famous speech of Sojourner Truth, a colored woman who certainly was inspired, if such things be. It is a pity that her own people know so little of her. The reading of her speech,. even at this late date, brings tears to the eyes. The second was history making because the Ohio Woman's Rights Association was formed and the third because Mrs. Severance was authorized to prepare a memorial to the Legislature, which she did in 1854. It was ordered printed but was laid on the table. Ohio developed many women orators in the late '50s whose feelings had been stirred by the anti-slavery question. As the agitation grew, women forgot themselves and their cause and worked for the black man's freedom. For nearly ten years Ohio women held annual conventions. In 1853 the fourth national convention was held in Cleveland, and in 1855 in Cincinnati. The Civil war so occupied the attention of men and women that the woman suffrage agitation nearly ceased. Suffragists were told that when the negroes were placed politically they also would be placed. However, when negroes were about to be enfranchised, and women appealed to men to remember them, they were told that they must be patient a little longer, that this was the negro's hour and as soon as the black man was free their case was to be considered. Women believed men then, but they lived to see every kind of a man in possession of the ballot—black, white, yellow and red—while they continued to be reckoned with as minors. It was not strange that the women of the Seneca Falls meeting should have had a vision and thought the world would see the justice of their request, but that the women who for years that followed, with little or no encouragement, kept at the task passed all understanding. In 1865 Ohio women reorganized and held meetings, but there are no known minutes or records of the same. The suffrage work throughout all the earlier years was done by the women of the northern part of the state. This was natural. They were the descendants of the Puritans and their abolition sympathies had strengthened, if possible, the love for freedom. Whereas the people in the southern part had the blood of the Virginia cavalier and inherited Southern sympathies. Northern Ohio women should not be boastful of themselves but be thankful for their inherited good fortune. In 1885 Mrs. Rachel S. A. Janney called a meeting at Columbus. Judge Ezra B. Taylor of Warren, Ohio, was chosen president and Frances M. Casement of Painesville, vice president. judge Taylor was not able to serve because of his duties as a representative in Congress. He was heartily in sympathy with the cause and it was he, as a member of the judiciary committee, who made the first favorable report on woman suffrage from the House of Representatives. Mrs. Casement assumed the duties of president and at the convention which was held next year in Painesville she was elected president. She served for three years and had the aid of her husband, Gen. Jack Casement. The idea that the early suffragists had the opposition of the members of their families is entirely erroneous. The writer, who was associated for years with the leaders of the national and state associations, does not recall one case where such workers were not supported and upheld in their efforts. Susan B. Anthony used to say that she often felt very uncomfortable when people were praising her for her successes. She realized that from the very beginning she had had the moral support of her parents and her family and in later years her sister Mary worked almost as constantly as did she and received very little individual praise. What was true of her and ANTI-SLAVERY AND OTHER MOVEMENTS - 331 her work was also true of the younger women and their work. Suffragists who could put up with the jibes of the world could not stand it from their families and usually gave up rather than have to endure it. It was the happily situated woman who accomplished much for the cause. To Mrs. Casement, Rosa L. Segur of Toledo and Elizabeth Coit of Columbus the reorganized suffragists owed much. In addition to the conventions there were executive committee meetings held in Columbus to influence the Legislature. The records of these conferences and reports of field work show the history and the philosophy of the woman suffrage movement in Ohio. In 1888 the Legislature was asked to submit to the voters an amendment giving full suffrage to women. This did not pass, neither did the municipal bill. In 1889 a resolution to submit a full suffrage amendment was defeated in the Senate—nineteen voting for, nine against—a three-fifths majority being required. In 1890 a similar resolution was introduced in the House, and fifty-four voted for, forty-seven against, not the required majority. In 1891 the legislative ears were closed entirely to suffragists. In 1892 and 1893 school suffrage bills were def eated. In 1894 a municipal suffrage bill was introduced but did not come out of committee. This year, however, school suffrage became a law. The school suffrage bill, known as the Wood bill, in 1892 was lost by seven votes. It was a House bill. It was reconsidered in the adjourned session of 1893 and lost by six votes. A bill was introduced in the House in 1894 but was defeated, ayes, forty-seven ; nays, forty-three. Senator Clark was appealed to to introduce the same bill in the Senate, and it passed April 10th, by a vote of twenty-six ayes and nine nays. In the House on April 24th it was passed, receiving fifty-five ayes and twenty-six nays. It was possible for Ohio women to -obtain school suffrage under the Constitution, for that instrument left all school matters with the Legislature. In 1895 an attempt was made to have the law declared unconstitutional. Mrs. Earnhart of Columbus, wife of a senator, had registered and an attempt was made to strike her name from the registration list. The Board of Elections refused to do this and suit was brought. It was lost, as all judges of the Circuit Court of Franklin County concurred in the opinion that it could not be clone. The case was appealed to the Supreme Court with the same result. In The Anti-Slavery Bugle of April 13, 1850, appeared two calls, one addressed to the women of Ohio and asking them to attend a convention in the Town of Salem "to concert measures to secure to all persons the recognition of equal rights, and the extension of the privileges of government without distinction of sex or color," on "Friday the 19th day of April next" ; the other call was for a meeting at Salem on the 20th of April, 1850 for the purpose of submitting to the state constitutional convention petitions for "equal suffrage to adults without regard to sex, color or condition." This was declared "the question most sacred to a free people." It seems that both calls were heeded and those interested in woman's rights met together on April 19-20, 1850. It is probably true that the meeting at Salem, Ohio, was the first one in the United States called for the specific purpose of advocating and organizing to secure universal suffrage. After forty-four years of work the Ohio Suffrage Association at last had its first victory. It came at a time when there was little progress being made nationally and created a good deal of attention in the suffrage world. To Caroline McCullough Everhard, president, and Katharine B. Claypole, secretary, the most of the credit for the legislative success was due. They were remarkable women, supplementing each other to a large degree ; they were able and intelligent. Some Ohio suffragists opposed asking for partial suffrage. The fact that women were not allowed to have a voice in public affairs, it was thought, was a good talking point and probably ought to be held as a 332 - HISTORY OF OHIO weapon, the opposers reasoned. There was also a feeling that perhaps women would not vote in great numbers if given only partial suffrage and that fact might react against granting full suffrage. However, all rejoiced in the victory and it will never be known whether the granting of school suffrage helped or hindered. Women voted in large numbers in some places, were elected to boards of education and did good work, often being officers of the board, as presidents and in a great number of cases, treasurers. Thirty thousand women voted at the first election, and in 1902 80 per cent of Cleveland women voted. The writer as a girl interviewed a number of elderly men to ascertain whether or not men voted very generally when school elections were held apart from the regular elections, and although some of these men were interested greatly in politics, all of them admitted that they never bothered to vote at school elections. This did not prove much, because the number seen was small, but it did prove the claim of the suffragists that generally men and women acted the same, reasoned the same and ought to have equal chances. An advantage gained was that men got used to seeing women at the polls and did not talk so much either about their place being in the kitchen or their being contaminated if they went to the polls. No one now denies the good effect of women on school boards. They have served in all capacities. In business affairs they have perhaps not rendered as great service as men, but on the other hand, because they have had no business entanglements they have been freer to vote as they really wished to do. Their experiences in the home have made their judgments invaluable in planning and building schoolhouses ; they have specialized in heat and ventilation ; they have been familiar with the text books and known of their shortcomings ; they detect much easier than men shortcomings in the executive power and discipline of teachers. They know a good janitor the moment they enter the school building. In other words men from experience have better knowledge of some things and women of others, and the result is good. When women were first enfranchised in the Western states they took hold of the schools locally and otherwise. Wyoming at one time had the best system of schools of any state in the Union and there was a law that if any child could not go to school, that is, was too far removed from a schoolhouse, a teacher could go to him for three months. In many states a large number of women were county superintendents and in some they were and . are state superintendents or commissioners, as they are called. Women have been state superintendents of school in Colorado almost continually since women became voters in that state. However, all these good things for suffragists aroused the enemy, the liquor men, and from that time tab was kept on the suffragists and it was to the efforts of those engaged in the liquor traffic that Ohio never granted women full suffrage. There was a small group of well conditioned women who honestly believed that the granting of suffrage to women would lead to harm, but the results of their efforts were negligible. It was the different liquor organizations, sometimes one, sometimes others, sometimes all combined, with all the money they needed, that kept suffrage from women for so many years. In the campaign of 1914 the writer followed the man distributing campaign literature and picked up several bundles of literature, with the consent of the persons upon whose steps the documents were thrown and found that the liquor circular and the anti-suffrage literature were folded together. She has in her possession such a bundle which has never been unwrapped. During all the years between the formation of the association in 1884 and the end, 1920, suffragists were continually asking for change of laws, generally being refused or disregarded, occasionally being successful. In 1894 married women were given the right to sue and be sued. ANTI-SLAVERY AND OTHER MOVEMENTS - 333 In 1898 they were given the right to be notary public. This law was soon declared unconstitutional, as notaries must be electors. Voting for school members apparently did not make them voters. 1887 married women obtained control of their own property. They could contract with their husbands or anyone else, could hold and dispose of real or personal porperty, dower was retained but courtesy abolished, except for a man married before 1887 and regarding property owned by his wife before that day. In 1893 it was made legal for married women to act as guardians and in 1894 as executors and administrators. However, even to this day the father is the legal guardian of the child and may by will choose a guardian for a child even if it is not born at the time of his death. Other laws were amended or changed as time went on. These are mentioned here to show how long women struggled for betterment of laws and how meager was the result. For years the suffragists tried to secure the passage of a law which would provide for women on boards of state institutions where women and children were confined. The result was always the same refusal, for they were told that such commissioners should be electors under the law. Finally the Federation of Woman's Clubs asked the Legislature to pass this law and they did. Whether there had been some way to get around the objection or whether the Legislature hated to back down to the suffragists or whether they considered the federation a stronger and more consequential body is not known. The truth was that many women belonged to both organizations. In 1904 and 1905 the State Legislature was asked to submit an amendment to the constitution granting full suffrage, but the resolution did not come out of a committee. 1908 such a resolution was reported out, but did not come to a vote. 1910 came out, but was defeated on the floor. In 1912, January 22, suffragists appealed to the constitutional convention for the insertion of a suffrage clause in the new constitution. In 1851 women memorialized the constitutional convention with the result already mentioned. In 1873 they did the same. The latter convention did agree upon a school suffrage clause, but the constitution was so little understood by the people that it was lost. The women of 1912. had no idea of writing a ladylike note to the convention. They knew law makers and politicians pay little attention to notes. As soon as the matter of having a convention was decided upon they began looking over the candidates and wherever possible threw their influence towards the men of newer ideas ; these were largely the young men. They went to Columbus when the convention met and a committee stayed there most of the time until the end. The moment a chairman of the convention was appointed they telegraphed him naming the men they wished appointed on the suffrage committee. The request was immediately granted. If they had waited until the scramble for committee place had begun, they might not have gotten so choice and faithful a committee. On February 14 a favorable report was made by a vote of 20 to 1. It could hardly have been otherwise, because of women's request for appointment of suffragists. (The press referred to this report as Ohio's suffrage valentine.) It was adopted by a vote of 76 to 34. If accepted by the voters it would eliminate the words "white male" from Section 1, Article V of the constitution. Our enemies secured the submission of a separate amendment eliminating the word "white." This was done to alienate the negro vote from the suffrage amendment. Negroes were told that it was a shame that they should "be tied to women's apron strings." Of course, no help was given the negro from their professed friends and their amendment was lost. The old constitution was not rewritten, but amendments were added to it and these were submitted to the people. The suffrage amendment was No. 23 and at that time this number was considered unlucky. The 334 - HISTORY OF OHIO most illiterate could be counted upon to vote against 23. The constitution was finished on May 31 and the special election was set for September 3. Three months of vigorous campaign followed. The German-American Alliance and the Personal Liberty League, two associations representing the liquor interests, fought it in the field as it had done in the convention. It was estimated that the suffragists spent $40,000 and it was learned that the liquor interests first appropriated $500,000 and later added $130,000 to defeat the suffrage amendment. The chief work of the suffragists was done in cities, although women spoke at picnics, county fairs, family reunions, circuses, beaches, institutes, labor meetings, country stores, schoolhouses and cross roads. More than fifty workers came from states near and far, the larger number from the eastern states. They gave remarkable service and received no financial recompense. Many made contributions of money in addition. In August an impressive suffrage parade of 5,000 took place in Columbus. A supreme judge told the writer that for years he had watched the movements of the suffragists with little or no sympathy, but when he saw that procession he became converted to them and their cause. After election the president of the German-American Alliance at Youngstown openly boasted that his organization defeated the amendment. It advertised everywhere by posters and in street cars and had no voluntary workers. It was evident that huge sums were being spent, how much no one will ever really know. The amendment was lost by a majority of 87,455. Voting for it, 249,420; against, 336,875. Only twenty-four out of eighty-eight counties carried and but one congressional district, the eighteenth. The suffragists hoped and many expected to win. They were not downhearted at defeat. The initiative and referendum had carried and they determined early in 1913 to circulate an initiative petition. Such a petition required 130,000 names. The law was new and there was much uncertainty about it, so that the suffragists met with many delays and rebuffs and it was not until March, 1914, that the petition was ready. Who but women fighting for their freedom would have had courage to go on ? There was no money to pay circulators, all work had to be voluntary. Over 2,000 women circulated these petitions. To secure the names of 130,000 people with their addresses, have the petitions acknowledged before a proper official, was no small task. On July 30 the petition with 131,271 names was filed with the secretary of state. The "History of Woman Suffrage" by Harper says : "A petition was secured in every county, although the law requires them from a majority only and each was presented by a worker from that county. The sight of scores of men and women ladened with petitions marching up to the state house to deposit them brought tears to the eyes of some of the onlookers." The workers made a pilgrimage to Salem in memory of the first convention and in the same meeting house where women had met sixty-four years before ; they spoke and readopted the resolution of 1850 before a packed and enthusiastic audience. At the first convention men's presence was not desired. In 1914 men and women worked together and in entire sympathy. All summer women worked in the heat and under most trying circumstances. "They" followed party speakers, taking their audiences before and after meetings. State conventions of all sorts were appealed to and many gave endorsements, those of republicans and democrats refusing. Groups of workers would visit a county separately and canvass all the towns and then, to keep up their courage, return to the county seat at night and compare notes. Street meetings and noon meetings for working people were held. Women spoke from church steps in the darkness, as men who had worked all day in the field and had not the energy nor inclination to dress for an indoor meeting stretched themselves on the grass in their labor-stained clothes. To ANTI-SLAVERY AND OTHER MOVEMENTS - 335 talk into darkness with no response from the audience was one of the hardest acts of the campaign. The amendment was lost at the November election ; 853,685 voted against, 518,295 for. The majority against was 182,905. There were gains in every county, though only 14 carried, whereas in 1912 24 carried. In 1912 the enghteenth congressional district was the only one carrying; in 1914 the nineteenth district carried. The suffragists knew after these two campaigns that there would never be any use of trying to carry an amendment as long as the liquor question was unsettled. It was a fight to the death on their part and they had ammunition of all kinds. The constitutional convention had provided for home rule for cities and the suffragists saw a chance of entering a wedge there. The men who framed this amendment said that it was not the intention of the amendment to provide for woman suffrage, although they were suffragists and had helped in all campaigns. The suffragists were students, they knew that things had been read into constitutions which the framers had never dreamed of ; so when East Cleveland decided to submit a charter to the voters, the suffragists decided to ask for suffrage in municipal affairs and on June 6 the charter, with this amendment, was adopted. Litigation .followed. The suffragists defended their charter rights and won. East Cleveland was therefore the first Ohio city in which women voted for anything beyond school suffrage. In 1917 Lakewood, a city adjoining Cleveland on the west, gave its women suffrage under charter. Columbus put on a like campaign in the heat of the summer of 1917, and after a great fight won a decisive victory. Earlier the question of allowing women to vote for presidential electors had been agitated. Ohio women had made a partial poll of the Legislature in 1915 and found no promise of action. In 1917, January 16, a bill was introduced providing for presidential suffrage. In the House, on January 30, it had come out of committee with a favorable report and it passed the House February 1 by seventy-two ayes and fifty nays, 55 per cent of the democrats voting for it and 69 per cent of the republicans. The wets in the Senate attempted to sidetrack this bill by introducing a full suffrage measure, but House bill reached the Senate before the other came out of committee. At this hearing the women leaders of the anti-suffrage association occupied seats with the wet leader and his friends on the floor. The next morning the presidential suffrage bill came out of committee, passing by nineteen to seventeen. The leader of the opposition changed his vote from no to yes in order to move for reconsideration. However, a friend of the measure forced the reconsideration the following day. This was lost, so the bill itself went on record as having received the vote of the wet leader and having passed by twenty to sixteen. Governor Cox signed it February 21. Very soon the opponents opened headquarters in Columbus and circulated petitions to have the presidential suffrage bill referred to the voters for repeal. The story of this petition is a disgraceful one. During blistering hot weather the suffragists sat in the capital at Columbus and copied these petitions or such parts of them as they had time for. They found that four-fifths of these petitions were gathered in saloons, the petitions lying on the front and back bars (it was the first time that some women knew what the back bar was). Thousands of names were sworn to by men who declared they saw them signed. This was impossible unless they stood by the bar eighteen hours a day for weeks and watched every signature. Some petitions, according to dates they bore, were circulated by the same men in different counties the same day, a physical impossibility. Some petitions were written wholly by the same hand and some had names only, no addresses. It was a race for the suffragists ; the liquor men had no thought of their determination and desperation. The Ohio Woman Suffrage Association 336 - HISTORY OF OHIO brought suit in six counties to prove the petitions fraudulent. In four the courts ordered all but a few names thrown out. In Scioto all names were rejected and in Cuyahoga 7,000 were thrown out. In Franklin, Lucas and Montgomery counties the petitions on the face of them were fraudulent, unquestionably fraudulent, but the election boards were hostile to woman suffrage and powerful with the courts and refused to bring cases. When suffragists attempted to intervene the courts declared they had no jurisdiction. The suffragists were on duty in Columbus from January to October, long, weary, exciting months. It was clearly proved in the cases which were brought -that the petitions were fraudulently circulated, signed, attested and certified. When in course of legal procedure courts ruled that the secretary of state should be restrained from counting the signatures from seventeen counties, because the board of elections had not properly certified them, the secretary of state telegraphed the election boards and they were certified, although there .is no constitutional or statutory provision for recertification. There is no space here to narrate a detailed story of all attempts to arrest the fraud, but some courts ruled that they had no jurisdiction, others that the time was not right, some said it was too early, others too late. The suffragists had to meet the expenses of all this litigation and had to depend upon individual contributions. The amendment was so worded on the ballot that it was hard to know whether to vote yes or no. At the November election the opponents of presidential suffrage won and the law was repealed by a majority of 146,120, 422,262 voting for retaining presidential suffrage and 568,382 against it. More votes were polled in 1917 than in 1914. The law was upheld in fifteen counties, in eleven of which suffrage had carried three times. In Washington recently officers of the national committee of a dominant party, in speaking to the writer of the woman suffrage movement, said : "It came rather quickly and easily after all." Did it come quickly? More than seventy years ! Easily ? How little the world knows of the real bloodshed of that battle ! The defeat of 1917 convinced the suffragists that there would be no use to try to get suffrage in the state until prohibition was established. They therefore turned their attention to the proposed national amendment. This amendment was voted upon in the House of Representatives in 1915 ; five of the twenty-two Ohio representatives voted for it. In 1918, eight of twenty-two voted for it. On May 21, 1919, only two representatives voted against it, Hon. Warren Gard of Dayton, and A. E. B. Stephens of Cincinnati. When the final vote was taken in the Senate, June 4, 1919, Senator Harding voted yes and Senator Pomerene no. The Ohio Legislature was so eager to ratify the national amendment that it recessed instead of adjourning, and immediately upon reconvening, June 16, ratified. The House voted seventy-six aye and six no. In order that women might vote at the fall election, in case there was any slip in the national amendment, the Legislature passed immediately the presidential suffrage bill. The House was in an uproar of good feeling. Women, who heretofore had always witnessed legislative action from the gallery, were on the floor and the leaders escorted them through the legislative passageway, which always heretofore had been closed to them, to the Senate chamber where the senators immediately ratified by a vote of twenty-seven ayes to three nays. Later in the day the Senate passed the presidential suffrage bill. Ohio was the fifth state to ratify. New York ratified on the same date, but their action came at night, whereas Ohio's was in the daytime. The fight seemed to be over, but not so. The liquor interests ("Home Rule Association") had initiated petitions on both ratification and presidential suffrage. The Ohio Suffrage Association persuaded the national association to attack the constitutionality of this referendum, ANTI-SLAVERY AND OTHER MOVEMENTS - 337 which was done. The case went to the Ohio Supreme Court and the United States Supreme Court and the decision was that the power to ratify rested in the Legislature and could not be passed to the voters. The liquor people had in 1918 carried an initiative measure providing that federal amendments must be approved by the voters before the ratification of the Legislature was effective. The adjourned session of the Legislature gave women primary suffrage in addition to presidential suffrage, but the final ratification of the federal amendment made this measure unnecessary. Ohio took an active part in the ratification of the thirty-six states. The president of the Ohio Woman Suffrage Association had been chosen to lead the national republican forces by the presidential candidate, Mr. Harding, and she had been ordered by Mr. Hays, the national chairman, to go to Nashville to work with the Tennessee republicans. The mountain men of Tennessee have always been republicans. She explained to these legislators that although they could not usually render the national republicans much service, because they were in the minority, yet here was a case where they could render invaluable service by redeeming the pledge of the republican platform to ratify the amendment. Fifteen of these mountaineers pledged themselves so to do and not any of them wavered throughout all that terrible fight during those August days. At the end twenty-two republicans from the eastern portion stood solidly and as the ratification came by only a few votes, two possibly, it is easy to see where the balance of power lay and also that Ohio, which began its work in 1850, was on the firing line in the very last battle. It seems strange to write an account of the Ohio suffrage movement and not mention the names of any women leaders, the activities of any special groups or the assistance rendered by any men politically. The truth is that the leaders of each generation did the very best they could. To single out any would be unfair. Some sections had more sentiment and larger population ; less favorable counties made equal effort. Ohio's work was team work and the result was due to all. That we began early and worked to the very last moment, and that women were enfranchised, is enough for all of us. Miss Elizabeth J. Hauser, 2 editor of the Bulletin, official organ of the suffrage association, said editorially : "We had just witnessed a perfect exhibition of team work and a demonstration of loyalty to the cause and to each other by members of opposing political parties that was heart warming. We had finished the suffrage fight in Ohio as Mrs. Upton had always wanted to finish it, with love, good will and harmony in our own ranks, and so far as we are able to judge, with nothing but good will from the men with whom we had worked since the present stage of the contest as inaugurated in 1912." SOJOURNER TRUTH AT THE AKRON WOMAN'S RIGHTS CONVENTION This naturally gifted but illiterate colored woman who acquired considerable fame in the days of anti-slavery agitation before the war has become something of a tradition and many are the stories. that came down to the close of the past century in regard to her eloquence and power to move great audiences. The following statement is from the reminiscences of Frances D. Gage, who presided at the Akron meeting, which was held on May 28-29, 1851. The speech of Sojourner Truth as recalled by Mrs. Gage is the one to which Mrs. Upton has referred in her contribution on the woman's suffrage movement in Ohio : "The leaders of the movement trembled on seeing a tall, gaunt black woman in a gray dress and white turban, surmounted with an uncouth sun-bonnet, march deliberately into the church, walk with the air of a 2 - Miss Hauser was closely associated with Mrs. Upton in the work for equal suffrage in Ohio. She is at present secretary of the National League of Women Voters, 338 - HISTORY OF OHIO queen up the aisle, and take her seat upon the pulpit steps. A buzz of disapprobation was heard all over the house, and there fell on the listening ear, 'An abolition affair!' 'Woman's rights and niggers !"I told you so !' "I chanced on that occasion to wear my first laurels in public life as president of the meeting. At my request order was restored, and the business of the Convention went on. Morning, afternoon and evening exercises came and went. Through all these sessions old Sojourner, quiet and reticent as the `Lybian Statue,' sat crouched against the wall on the corner of the pulpit stairs, her sun-bonnet shading her eyes, her elbows on her knees, her chin resting upon her broad, hard palms. At intermission she was busy selling the 'Life of Sojourner Truth,' a narrative of her own strange and adventurous life. Again and again, timorous and trembling ones came to me and said with earnestness, `Don't let her speak, Mrs. Gage, it will ruin us. Every newspaper in the land will have our cause mixed up with abolition and niggers, and we shall be utterly denounced.' My only answer was, 'We shall see when the time comes.' "The second day the work waxed warm. Methodist, Baptist, Episcopal, Presbyterian, and Universalist ministers came in to hear and discuss the resolutions presented. One claimed superior rights and privileges for man, on the ground of 'superior intellect' ; another, because of the 'manhood of Christ ; if God had desired the equality of woman, He would have given some token of His will through the birth, life, and death of the Saviour.' Another gave us a theological view of the 'sin of our first mother.' "There were very few women in those days who dared to 'speak in meeting' ; and the august teachers of the people were seemingly getting the better of us, while the boys in the galleries, and the sneerers among the pews, were hugely enjoying the discomfiture, as they supposed, of the 'strong-minded. Some of the tender-skinned friends were on the point of losing dignity, and the atmosphere betokened a storm. When, slowly from her seat in the corner rose Sojourner Truth, who, till now, had scarcely lifted her head. 'Don't let her speak !' gasped half a dozen in my ear. She moved slowly and solemnly to the front, laid her old bonnet at her feet, and turned her great speaking eyes to me. There was a hissing sound of disapprobation above and below. I rose and announced 'Sojourner Truth,' and begged the audience to keep silence for a few moments. "The tumult subsided at once, and every eye was fixed on this almost Amazon form, which stood nearly six feet high, head erect, and eyes piercing the upper air like one in a dream. At her first word there was a profound hush. She spoke in deep tones, which, though not loud, reached every ear in the house, and away through the throng at the doors and windows. " 'Wall, chilern, whar dar is so much racket dar must be somethin' out o' kilter. I tink dat 'twixt de niggers of de Souf and de womin at de Norf, all talkie' bout rights, de white men will be in a fix pretty soon. But what's all dis here taltalkin' 'bout " Dat man ober dar say dat womin needs to be helped into carriages, and lifted ober ditches, and to hab de best place everywhar. Nobody eber helps me into carriages, or ober mudpuddles, or gibs me any best place !' And raising herself to her full height, and her voice to a pitch like rolling thunder, she asked, 'And a'n't I a woman ? Look at me ! Look at my arm ! (and she bared her right arm to the shoulder, showing her tremendous muscular power). I have ploughed, and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me ! And a'n't I a woman ? I could work as much and eat as much as a man—when I could get it —and bear de lash as well ! And a'n't I a woman ? I have borne thirteen chilern, and seen 'em mos' all sold off to slavery, and when I cried out with my mother's grief, none but Jesus heard me ! And a'n't I a woman ? ANTI-SLAVERY AND OTHER MOVEMENTS - 339 " 'Den dey talks 'bout dis ting in de head ; what dis dey call it ?' (`Intellect,' whispered some one near.) `Dat's it, honey. What's dat got to do wid womin's rights or nigger's rights ? If my cup won't'hold but a pint, and yourn holds a quart, wouldn't ye be mean not to let me have my little half-measure full ?' And she pointed her significant finger, and sent a keen glance at the minister who had made the argument. The cheering was long and loud. " 'Den dat little man in black dar, he say women can't have as much rights as men, 'cause Christ wasn't a woman ! Whar did your Christ come from ?' Rolling thunder couldn't have stilled that crowd, as did those deep, wonderful tones, as she stood there with outstretched arms and eyes of fire. Raising her voice still louder, she repeated, `Whar did your Christ come from ? From God and a woman ! Man had nothin' to do wid Him.' Oh, what a rebuke that was to that little man. "Turning again to another objector, she took up the defense of Mother Eve. I can not follow her through it all. It was pointed, and witty, and solemn ; eliciting at almost every sentence deafening applause ; and she ended by asserting : 'If de fust woman God ever made was strong enough to turn de world upside down all alone, dese women togedder (and she glanced her eye over the platform) ought to be able to turn it back, and get it right side up again ! And now dey is asking to do it, de men better let 'em.' Long-continued cheering greeted this. "Bleeged to ye for hearin' on me, and now ole Sojourner han't got nothin' more to say.' "Amid roars of applause, she returned to her corner, leaving more than one of us with streaming eyes, and hearts beating with gratitude. She had taken us up in her strong arms and carried us safely over the slough of difficulty, turning the whole tide in our favor. I have never in my life seen anything like the magical influence that subdued the mobbish spirit of the day, and turned the sneers and jeers of an excited crowd into notes of respect and admiration. Hundreds rushed up to shake hands with her, and congratulate the glorious old mother, and bid her God-speed on her mission of `testifyin' agin concerning the wickedness of this 'ere people.' " CHAPTER VII THE OHIO STATE GRANGE The credit for the organization of the National Grange belongs first of all to Oliver H. Kelley, a farmer of Minnesota, who was, because of his known interest in agriculture ; summoned to Washington, October 20, 1865, by the Commissioner of Agriculture Isaac Newton, who wished Mr. Kelley to make a survey of agricultural conditions in the South in the winter of that year. Mr. Kelley did not receive his commission until he had an audience with President Andrew Johnson, who heartily favored the proposed survey. On January 13, 1866, Mr. Kelley left Washington on his mission to the South. He returned on the 21st of the following April and made his report. His trip through the South had greatly heightened his interest in the formation of an organization to improve the condition of the farmers. His supreme interest was in rural life and agricultural development. After making his report to the government he received an appointment in the post office department, and returned to Washington in May, 1867. "Here he became acquainted with six other men" who were deeply interested in the working out of his plans for an organization. These men were William Saunders and A. B. Grosh of the agriculture department; William M. Ireland of the postoffice department ; Rev. John Trimble and J. R. Thompson of the treasury department ; and F. M. McDowell, a pomologist of Wayne County, New York." These seven men spent two years in the formulation of the principles of the new organization and the preparation of the ritual which is still in use and has been highly praised because of its "originality of thought, purity of sentiment and beauty of diction." These seven men are regarded as the founders of the organization which they named Patrons of Husbandry. In popular parlance it is more commonly spoken of as the Grange, and we have the terms National Grange, State Grange and subordinate Grange, although at first the name Grange appears to have been applied only to what is now known as the subordinate Grange. The first subordinate Grange in the United States was organized at Fredonia, New York, April 16, 1868. The first State Grange was organized in Minnesota, the home state of Mr. Kelley. On April 21, 1868, Oliver Kelley arrived in Columbus from Washington and met Mr. Joe Dwyer, J. H. Klippart and Colonel Innis, who heartily endorsed the new organization and gave fifteen dollars for a dispensation "with the intention of organizing a Grange at Camp Chase near Columbus." It does not appear that this Grange was organized ; at least it was not the first established in Ohio. A year later Mr. Kelley returned to Ohio, and on March 2, 1870, and with the assistance of Mr. Anson Bartlett of North Madison, Lake County, organized Grange No. One at East Cleveland, Ohio. The character members were : Mr. and Mrs. O. D. Ford, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Hodges, Mr. and Mrs. Matthew Crawford, Mr. and Mrs. John H. Phare, Mr. and Mrs. M. G. Pentecost, Mr. and Mrs. William Crawford, John Phare and M. Reagin. One week later at this Grange was held the first social of the order in the state. Only twelve persons were present, but they had an enjoyable evening according to the report of one who was present. The second Grange in the state was established in Stark County and was known as Plains Grange No. Two. The next three were organ- 340 ANTI-SLAVERY AND OTHER MOVEMENTS - 341 ized in Hocking County. Grange No. Six, named Ohio Grange, was organized at Springboro, Warren County, November 1, 1872, with 50 charter members, 30 men and 20 women. In the membership of this Grange was Seth H. Ellis, a Quaker and an educated farmer, whose name was destined to figure prominently in the order later in its history Mr. Ellis states that it was not known, when this Grange was organized, that there were others in the state, hence it was called "Ohio Grange." When their charter came they discovered that five other Granges had already been established in Ohio. The newspapers now began to take notice of the order and to give it considerable publicity in their columns. In the meantime Mr. Ellis had been appointed general organizer and a number of Granges in the southwestern part of the state were established. The State Grange of Ohio was organized in Lebanon, Warren county, April 9, 1873. The first sessions were held in Halle's Hall, but the attendance was so large that the meeting adjourned to the court house, where the concluding sessions were held. The officers, elected were as follows : Master, Seth H. Ellis, Warren County ; overseer, Henry McDowell, Stark County ; lecturer, J. W. Stubbs, Warren County ; steward, I. B. Robbins, Mercer County ; assistant steward, F. M. Gordon, Hocking County ; chaplain, Lewis Mease, Montgomery County ; secretary, D. M. Stewart, Greene County ; treasurer, Col. R. Stevenson, Greene County ; gatekeeper, Thomas Fletcher, Clermont County ; Ceres, Mrs. Seth H. Ellis, Warren County ; Pomona, Mrs. S. Hoon, Clinton County ; Flora, Mrs. R. Stevenson, Greene County ; L. A. S., Mrs. Dr. Stokes, Warren County ; executive committee :—I. P. Schenck, chairman, Warren County ; Wilford Stiers, Hocking County ; W. H. Stokes, Warren County ; Col. R. Stevenson, Greene County ; Lewis Mease, Montgomery County. The second meeting of the State Grange was held in Xenia, February 17-20, 1874. There had been a remarkable growth of the order in the previous year and the subordinate Granges now numbered 550. The masters of these and their wives were accredited delegates, and more than 800 persons in this representative capacity were at the opening session. This meeting was a notable one. In the list of delegates was Capt. W. W. Miller of Erie County, a veteran of the Civil war, who had been severely wounded in the service, and later was state secretary of agriculture. The woman's temperance crusade was in progress where the meeting was held. Excitement ran high. The saloons were visited by the temperance women, known as the Woman's Temperance League of Xenia, who sang hymns and prayed kneeling on the pavement. The master of the State Grange, Seth H. Ellis, describes what took place at one of the sessions as follows : "On Thursday afternoon there was a communication handed to me while presiding over the Grange from the president of the Women's League. I read it to the Grange. It stated that the proprietor of a saloon known as the "Shades of Death" had yielded to their prayers, and had invited them to come to his place and empty his liquors into the street gutters ; and they requested that the Grange accompany them in procession. When I read this, someone moved that the invitation be accepted, and that we close the Grange and form in double rank and accompany the ladies. The vote was carried unanimously. We got on the streets as soon as so large a company well could, and formed two and two. But our large company occupied so much time in the movement that the liquors had been emptied into the streets before we reached the place. But the master of the State Grange was required to stand on the end of an emptied whiskey barrel and make a temperance speech before the crowd would disperse." At this meeting the State Grange passed strong resolutions in support of the temperance movement. Throughout its entire subsequent history it has consistently favored prohibition. The Grange was a most 342 - HISTORY OF OHIO important factor in opposing the saloon from this early date until the liquor traffic was forbidden by the state and national constitutions. The Grange, it is claimed, has exerted noteworthy influence in bringing about a better understanding and feeling between the North and South. In its early history there remained much of the bitterness engendered by the Civil war. At the Xenia meeting the following greeting was sent to a number of the State Granges of the South : "Seven hundred brothers and sisters send you their greetings and clasp your hands in faith, friendship and justice." This telegram was signed by the master and secretary of the Ohio State Grange. Every State Grange addressed promptly responded. The message from the State Grange of South Carolina in cordiality and fraternal spirit may be considered representative of all the others : "The greetings of 10,000 Patrons. May our Order bind us together more firmly than the ties of blood. Unanimously adopted by standing vote of the State Grange of South Carolina." This greeting was signed by the master. The responses from the Granges of the South were received with great enthusiasm. The order continued to prosper. It became apparent at the Xenia meeting that it would soon be impracticable to have two representatives from each subordinate Grange. A rule was therefore adopted making the county the unit for representation in the state body. The Granges of any county were entitled to send one delegate and an additional delegate for each eight Granges or fraction equal to five. With the growth in the years 1874-1875 came a demand for cooperative purchasing. There had been for some time past a feeling on the part of the farmers that they had been victimized by "the middlemen" ; that those from whom they purchased goods were getting exorbitant commissions and that those to whom they sold the products of the farm were paying low prices in order that they might make large profits in their sales to the consumer. As a result of this feeling there was general hostility toward agents, merchants and commission men. The Grange therefore organized to select their own business agent to make purchases for them. Col. W. H. Hill, of Sharonville, Hamilton County, was called to this responsible position in the spring of 1874 and gave bond in the sum of $40,000 for the faithful discharge of the trust reposed in him. It was claimed that in the first year a saving of $27,000 was effected on goods purchased through the agent. There was of course opposition to this feature of the program of the order on the part of those whom it was intended to eliminate. Possibly they were respnsible for much of the propaganda against the order in the '70s. There was much talk about the losses sustained by the purchasers of goods at low prices. It was claimed that they were often victimized by the vendors of inferior goods. It was even claimed that their agent purchased for them at one time a large consignment of "wooden nutmegs." This could hardly have been true. There can be no doubt, however, that in many instances the quality of the large purchases was distinctly inferior. This feature of the program as originally adopted was unsatisfactory and the cooperative department conducted by Colonel Hill in Cincinnati was abandoned. The business agent policy, however, was continued for a time and is declared still to be satisfactory. In these later years, however, Grangers usually buy of agents and merchants much as do their fellow citizens outside of the order. The status of women in the Grange was the subject of considerable controversy at the Cleveland meeting of the State Grange in 1876. By close vote the right of women to vote in the state meeting was confirmed. It was at this session that the order took a firm stand in regard to the attitude toward other organizations. This is clearly defined in the ANTI-SLAVERY AND OTHER MOVEMENTS - 343 following quotation from the "Golden Jubilee History of the Ohio State Grange" : "Another interesting feature of this session is that it adopted the policy of cooperating with all but combining with none. The Sovereigns of Industry, later becoming the Federation of Labor, sent a strong appeal to the Grange, pointing out how the producers on the farm and in the city should work close together, and they proposed some sort of a merger. Their communication was referred to a committee which reported that the Grange was always willing to cooperate for mutual interest and advancement but that it could not combine with any other organization." As early as the fifth annual session of the State Grange, which was held in Cincinnati, February 20, 1877, every county in the state was represented. Seth H. Ellis, who had been master of the State Grange from its organization in 1873, in 1882 refused to be a candidate for reelection, and J. H. Brigham was chosen to fill his place. Brigham was master during 1882-1889, and was then chosen master of the National Grange. The position of master of the State Grange was then again filled by Seth H. Ellis, whose second period of service covered the years 1889-1892. In 1892 T. R. Smith of Delaware was elected master of the State Grange, and served four years. He later served two terms as state representative in the general assembly from his county. In the fifty-two years since the Grange was organized in Ohio, the office of state master was filled for over a third of this time by Seth H. Ellis. His third period of service followed the term of Mr. Smith, covering the years 1896-1900. From 1880 there was a decline in the membership of the Grange in Ohio from 50,000 to 20,000. There appears, however, to have been no decline in the activity of those who remained in the order. Important achievements in legislation, due largely to the influence of the Grange, belong to this period of declining membership. Frank A. Derthick became state master in 1900 and served to and ,including 1908. Mr. Derthick was an able speaker, a man of liberal education and wide public interests. He had been dairy and food commissioner of the state and in this position was largely instrumental in the enactment of laws regulating the sale of oleomargarine, fertilizers and feeds. He was a student of taxation and a lecturer for the International Tax Association in the United States and Canada. He was a soldier in the Civil war, a member of the State Board of Agriculture, of the Ohio State Board of Commerce, and of the board of trustees of the Ohio State University. He was born in Summit County, January 3, 1844, and died at his home in Mantua, Portage County, January 4, 1922. In 1908 T. C. Laylin of Huron County was elected state master and served to the year 1914. He was succeeded by L. J. Taber, who had joined the Grange in 1900 and at once became an active member of the order. He served as lecturer and organizer until 1914, when he was elected master of the State Grange, a position which he resigned in 1921 to accept appointment as director of agriculture. Mr. Taber was later elected master of the National Grange, a position he still holds. He was succeeded as master of the State Grange by Harry A. Caton of Coshocton County who still (1925) holds this office. Prominent among the Grange workers of Ohio is Charles M. Freeman, who was elected secretary of the Ohio State Grange in 1900 and of the National Grange in 1903, a position which he still holds by successive elections. Community service has been emphasized in the work of the Grange in Ohio. As we have seen, this Grange early recognized the equality of women, and this brought all other members of the family together in social activities. Picnics, dinners and suppers were frequently 344 - HISTORY OF OHIO arranged for members of the order, who were often permitted to bring their friends with them. Plays, entertainments and singing schools gave opportunity for the development of dramatic talent among the younger people. The social activities were supplemented by educational programs. There were discussions of agricultural topics, household problems, debates, spelling bees and the consideration of local school problems. Sewing schools, corn huskings and apple cuttings had preceded the organization of the Grange, but these cooperative movements were encouraged by the order. The county fair had also been established much earlier, but the Granges took a special interest in theses annual events and vied with one another in the exhibits of the products of the farm. The erection of Grange halls greatly facilitated the social and educational work, and tended to give permanence to the order in the communities in which they were built. Since 1900 the Grange in Ohio has steadily grown in membership and influence. Perhaps no other order can point to a greater number of worthy measures and movements within the last fifty years than those included in the program to which the Grange has given its earnest support. Of its present status Mr. Louis J. Taber, master of the National Grange, has recently said : "The Grange in Ohio has about 700 local organizations and a membership approaching 100,000. Subordinate Granges own over 350 Grange halls used as community centers, with a replacement value of more than $2,000,000. "This year Ohio led the nation in the organization of juvenile Granges, 40 being organized, twice as many as in any other state. "The Grange is supporting the movement to reduce and equalize taxes. It favors strict enforcement of law. The Grange is active in obtaining clean fairs, it has opposed all gambling and games of chance on fair grounds. It has favored making agricultural fairs educational." The Ohio State Grange claims to have been the pioneer of the great forward movements in the state since its organization. Among approximately a hundred specific proposals or general measures actively supported by the order, most of which have been carried out or enacted into law, the following are presented as worthy of especial notice. The place and date of the state meeting at which these measures were first favored and the date of the successful culmination or enactment are given. Xenia, 1874 : Asking for equal suffrage. (1920.) Columbus, 1875 : Declaring that railroads are public highways, that the individuals who manage them are public servants and that they should be controlled by the laws of the state. (1906.) Cincinnati, 1877 : Favoring the establishment of a wool house in the state so that the wool of Ohio and adjoining states could be handled, graded and sold collectively. (1919.) Cincinnati, 1877 : Favoring compulsory education in Ohio. (1889.) Galion, 1878 : Asking the legislature to enact a local option law. (1888.) Galion, 1878 : Asking for laws to punish persons engaged in the manufacture and sale of impure or adulterated articles of food. (1884.) Columbus, 1879: Asking Congress to prevent the importation and spread of contagious diseases among livestock. (1884.) Columbus, 1879: Protesting against the adulteration of woolen goods. (Truth-in-fabrics bills recently before Congress.) Columbus, 1880 : Asking that the elements of agriculture be taught in the common schools of Ohio. (1911.) Akron, 1884: Asking the Ohio legislature to submit an amendment to the constitution to suppress the traffic in intoxicating liquors. (1919.) ANTI-SLAVERY AND OTHER MOVEMENTS - 345 Cincinnati, 1885: Favoring the election of U. S. Senators by direct vote of the people. (1914.) Mt. Vernon, 1886. Asking the prohibition of the issuance of railroad passes to public officials and for a two-cent per mile railroad fare in Ohio. (1906.) Lima, 1888: Asking for laws restraining combinations in restraint of trade. (1898.) Lima, 1888: Demanding the same rights for women as for men. (1920.) Lima, 1888. Asking for prohibition of the killing of quail in Ohio. (1917.) Lima, 1888: Asking for the inspection of all cattle killed for food. (1906.) Lima, 1888: Asking that children be required to attend school six months each year. (1902.) Springfield, 1889: Asking for the Australian ballot system for the state. (1891.) Springfield, 1891: Asking for the free delivery of mail in rural districts. (1896.) Delaware, 1892: Favoring the establishment of postal savings banks. (1911.) Van Wert, 1895: Asking that candidates be required to file an itemized account of election expenses. (1911.) Van Wert, 1895: Asking for the establishment of central township schools and the transportation of pupils to and from them. (1900.). New Philadelphia, 1898: Favoring the initiative and referendum system of law making. (1915.) Defiance, 1902: Favoring a direct primary law. (1908.) Defiance, 1902: Favoring a parcel post system. (1913.) Mansfield, 1903: Favoring the passage of laws to regulate the use and speed of motor vehicles on the public highways. (Speed, 1908 ; registration, 1909 ; license fee, 1919.) Springfield, 1909: Asking for industrial training for the rural schools. (1917.) Salem, 1912: Endorsing the movement for installing county agricultural advisers or agents. (1915.) Salem, 1912: Asking that it be made a criminal offense for an intoxicated person to drive a motor vehicle on the public highways. (1913.) Columbus, 1919: Asking for the passage of the Capper-Volstead cooperative national law. (1921.) Recently, the weight of influence of the Grange was cast against the child-labor amendment to the federal constitution, and was an important factor in securing defeat of its ratification by the Ohio legislature. OHIO FARM BUREAU At the outset the object of the farm bureau in Ohio seems to have been agricultural, extension. Prior to the enactment of the Smith-Lever law for the appointment of country agricultural agents, voluntary county associations known as county farm bureaus were organized in a few counties of the state to accomplish in a measure what has' since been attained through the Smith-Lever act. In Portage County, Ohio, a county agent had been employed through a voluntary organization as early as 1913. While great encouragement was given to this movement by the enactment of the Smith-Lever law, the growth of associations to take advantage of its provisions was gradual prior to the entrance of the United States into the World war. The demand for increased food production, elsewhere noted, greatly 346 - HISTORY OF OHIO stimulated the increase in number of these voluntary associations or farm bureaus as they were called. At the close of the war it was felt by the leading agriculturists of the state that the farm bureaus might be systematically organized to carry out an enlarged cooperative program, that would include not only economical production but "cooperative marketing, purchasing, legislation, and other economic problems." The Ohio Farm Bureau Federation was organized during farmers' week at the Ohio State University, January 27-28, 1919. Following are the names of the first directors : Harry G. Beale, Mt. Sterling ; George L. Cooley, Dover Center L. J. Taber, Barnesville ; O. E. Bradfute, Xenia ; H. P. Miller, Sunbury ; H. C. Rogers, Mechanicsburg ; Frank Balyeat, Van Wert ; Depew Head, Marion ; H. E. Shaver, Cheshire. This body chose from its own membership the following officers : President, O. E. Bradfute; vice president, H. P. Miller ; secretary-treasurer, H. C. Rogers ; recording secretary, Depew Head. Later in the week a delegation from the newly formed Ohio Farm Bureau Federation attended a conference at Ithaca, New York. This conference resulted in a meeting there on February 12, 1919, of representatives from twelve states to consider the advisability of forming a national federation. This meeting decided in favor of calling a convention in Chicago on November 12-13, 1919, to consider a plan for the formation of a national federation. Oscar E. Bradfute of Xenia, Ohio, was chairman of the Chicago convention, at which representatives of thirty-one states were present. The prevailing sentiment of the convention favored an extended agricultural program of work and stressed especially cooperative marketing and the enactment of legislation favorable to the farming interests. Interest in the new organization developed rapidly. This interest was reflected in Ohio. At the second annual meeting at the Ohio State University during farmers' week in 1920 the dues for membership were raised from one dollar to ten dollars. An intensive campaign for the increase of membership was planned and the work of extending the organization was pushed with great enthusiasm. Solicitors for members took up this work. "Active farmers or persons directly interested in farming were solicited." The qualifications for membership, however, were determined by the constitutions of the different county bureaus. Memberships for a three year period were urged in the interest of continuity of service and economy in organization. Later the three-year limitation was superseded by a continuous membership contract. Of the annual dues one half was to remain with the county bureau, and the other was to be forwarded to the state bureau. Of this latter amount fifty cents was to be sent to the national federation. Organized at the close of the war, when money was plentiful and farmers, as well as American citizens generally, were still in the habit of contributing freely to any cause that claimed their interest, the growth of the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation was rapid. The membership increased by thousands until it appeared destined to reach the hundred thousand mark. Later, however, came the agricultural depression, "the deflation of the farmer," and a reaction in the growth of the federation. The membership rapidly declined for a time, but it is still large and has reached what seems to be a permanent basis. The friends of the movement confidently predict a steady future growth. In the beginning, the county bureau was the unit upon which the superstructure was built. As the membership increased there developed a demand for the subdivision of counties and the organization of "township or community units," of the farm bureau, with regulations similar to those originally adopted by the county bureaus. Membership appears not to be limited by age or sex. "Women and young folks as well as the men serve on committees and as officers." These local units afford the opportunity "through which every member of the family can have ANTI-SLAVERY AND OTHER MOVEMENTS - 347 direct contact with the farm bureau and through which he can work and give expression to the general policies and work of the entire organization." Where a complete organization has been effected "the county bureau is governed by a group of directors representing each of the townships or communities." In some counties an executive officer has been employed to see that the details of the program of the farm bureau and affiliated organizations are effectively carried out. This officer is paid by the farm bureau and other affiliated organizations, such as the county wool association or the county livestock association. State headquarters of the Farm Bureau Federation were established in the Southern Hotel in Columbus in March, 1920, and Murray D. Lincoln of Cleveland was employed as executive secretary, a position which he still holds. Larger quarters were occupied in the Franklin Building at the corner of Main and High streets soon afterward. These quarters by September, 1923, were outgrown, and an entire floor of the Copco Building at 199 East Gay street was leased. This is the present headquarters of the State Federation. For purposes of organization the state is divided into 22 districts. A director is elected from each of these districts for a term of three years. In addition, three woman directors-at-large are elected each year at the annual meeting of the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation. The presidents of affiliated associations are also voting members of the board of directors and the executive committee. "The master and secretary of the State Grange and representatives of the College of Agriculture are invited to meet with both bodies but without power to vote." The 25 directors elect an executive committee of nine members, and this executive committee employs the executive secretary, treasurer and minor employes of the federation. When organized, the farm bureau sought to cooperate with other agricultural organizations already in the field, to avoid duplication of effort and secure harmonious cooperation. Working agreements have been established with the State Grange, the Ohio Livestock Cooperative Association, the Ohio Wool Growers Cooperative Association, a number of cooperative dairy marketing associations, the Ohio Fruit Growers Cooperative Association, the Miami Valley Tobacco Growers Cooperative Association, the Ohio Poultry Producers Cooperative Association. In their initial efforts at cooperative marketing the farm bureau was embarrassed by the Valentine anti-trust law, which imposed penalties for restraint of trade to secure a monopoly of commodities. In cooperation with the Ohio State Grange, the farm bureau was largely instrumental in the enactment of the Farnsworth-Green Cooperative Marketing law, which was passed in 1923. It removes all such cooperative agencies as are fostered by the bureau from the operation of the Valentine law. This measure has greatly facilitated the marketing program of the bureau, and cooperative marketing associations have greatly increased in number since its enactment. In conclusion it may be said that interest in the farm bureau, which has had a remarkable growth in a comparatively few years, is still in the ascendancy. Features of the work that it has undertaken in Ohio have been successfully carried out in the fruit growing sections of the west, where cooperative marketing is firmly established. It seems probable that the abiding interests that called the farm bureau into existence will assure to it a permanent mission. The officers of the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation for the year 1925 are : President, L. B. Palmer, Pataskala ; vice president, D. M. Odaffer, Bucyrus ; executive secretary, Murray D. Lincoln, Columbus ; treasurer, A. S. Thomas, Mt. Sterling. Directors, by districts : 1. H. C. Fast, Napoleon ; 2. Leroy Herring, Oak Harbor ; 3. George L. Cooley, Dover Center 4. D. L. Hower, Warren ; 5. Ersel Walley, Paulding ; 6. H. W. Tomb, Bloomville ; 348 - HISTORY OF OHIO 7. R. J. Elliott, Mansfield ; 8. James Fluke, Ashland ; 9. C. J. Halverstadt, Leetonia; 10. A. F. Moon, Conover ; 11. Frank Dill, Lock-bourne ; 12. Clarence Henry, Hebron ; 13. M. E. Foltz, Malvern ; 14, U. S. Ray, New Madison ; 15. Edward C. Rector, Williamsport ; 16. Oliver Edgerton, Chester Hill ; 17. O. J. Bailey, Tacoma ; 18. W. K. Swan, Oxford ; 19. W. R. Lewis, Wilmington ; 20. J. D. Van Houten, Georgetown; 21. G. C. Evans, Jackson ; 22. H. E. Shaver, Cheshire. Directors at large : Mrs. N. W. Rinehart, Dayton ; Mrs. H. W. Lawrence, Monroeville ; Mrs. James Devol, Marietta. The directors who constitute the executive committee are: Fast, Cooley, Tomb, Moon, Henry, Bailey, Evans, Shaver, Mrs. Lawrence. Directors by commodity affiliation :—L. B. Palmer, president Ohio Wool Growers Cooperative Association ; Edward Taylor, Urbana, president Ohio Livestock Cooperative Association ; Fred Sheaffer, Germantown, president Miami Valley Tobacco Growers Cooperative Association ; E. M. Fackler, president Ohio Poultry Producers Cooperative Association ; A. C. Robison, president Ohio Fruit Growers Cooperative Association ; Jared Barker, president Ohio State Dairy Council.