October 18th, 1919

Hon Harvey Varnum Jeffersonville Vermont

My dear Senator:

By some mistake a letter I sent you some time ago never reached you for the reason that I had been misinformed as to your name. I sent it to Mr. Varney as I have Just been informed by the Post Office Department.

You may have heard that we are getting up a legislative peti¬ tion to Governor Clement in the hope that he will call a special session of the legislature in order to ratify the Federal Suffrage Amendment before January first.

Senator Howland of Barre has consented to act as head of a legislative committee to call upon the Governor and ask him to state the conditions upon which he will call a special session and we are hoping to have the signatures of a majority of the men in both houses to be handed to him at that time. I am enclosing a blank with the hope that you will respond to our appeal. I tried to call upon you when in Barre this week, but you were not then in town. Mr. Howland is to choose his own committee and I trust that you will be willing to serve should he ask you.

The status of ratification is such that Vermont may have to be the thirty-sixth state to finish ratification before next Presidential primaries. Fifteen million American women will vote for President whether we get ratification or not, and we feel that it would be sad to have Vermont be in the position of holding up the women of the rest of the nation.

Hoping to hear favorably from you, I am,

Very sincerely yours,

Chairman of Ratification fot Vermont