help. They formed an admirable Women's Interests Committee, and looked
after all women's interests excellently.

When the Government issued its first appeal for women volunteers for
munitions and land, etc., it asked the Suffrage societies to circulate
them and to help them to secure the needed labour from women.

As the war went on it became clearer and clearer that the men of
the country saw more and more vividly why suffragists had asked for
votes--and more and more were impressed with the value of their work.
At meetings to do propaganda for Government appeals, when women spoke
on the needs of the country, men everywhere, although it had nothing
to do with the appeal, and had never been mentioned, declared their
conversion to Women's Suffrage in the War.

Women pointed out that they did not want Women's Suffrage as a
reward--but as a simple right. They had not worked for a reward, but
for their country, as any citizen would, but, in our country, the
great converting power is practical proof of value and they had that
overwhelmingly in our work. The Press came out practically solidly for
Women's Suffrage. The work of women was praised in every paper and
one declared, "It cannot be tolerable that we should return to the
old struggle about admitting them to the franchise." Eminent
Anti-Suffragists, inside and outside of the House of Commons, frankly
admitted their conversion. Mr. Asquith, the old enemy of Women's
Suffrage, said in a memorable speech: "They presented to me not only
a reasonable, but, I think, from their point of view, an unanswerable
case.... They say that when the war comes to an end, and when the
process of industrial reconstruction has to be set on foot, have not
the women a special claim to be heard on the many questions which will