Madame president, Ladies of the Convention:

I feel very much like a battle-scarred veteran this morning, felicitating his comrades in arms; for arent’ you my comrades?

Have we not fought a good fight, held many a skirmish, managed many a maneuver, bivouac[k]ed for days and nights at the very seat of justice, marching ever with our faces to the foe, never raised the white flag, never learned the word retreat?

But today the weariness of battle is forgotten, the bitterness buried and we remember only to rejoice in a victory we have won; not alone for the women of West Virginia, but for the women of America; but as we are assembled here in convention today, is it not into that we pause and pay tribute to the women who have given us this great gift of enfranchisement; the women who had the vision, the confidence and the courage to make that vision [come] true? The women who trod the lonely way, though the night was dark and the road was long and steep and winding, through sleepless vigils and hours of self sacrifice they have led us to the mount of triumph and the rights and privileges they fought so splendidly to win for us, must be held sacred and inviolate.

To be worthy of citizenship we must address ourselves at the cost of much time and energy to the understanding of the ways of business, to the claims of labor, to the nature of practical justice and to the essentials of national relations.

We must be free from partisan bitterness, charitable when we differ, ever believing in the honor and integrity of each other.

When you came to Huntington four years ago, strange to say, I welcomed you. Is it small wonder I now feel like a veteran? Then I welcomed you as crusaders, for on your march you carried the weapons of righteous warfare.

Today I believe I welcome you as conquerors, for on your brow you wear the wreath of victory and in your hands are the trophies of battle, the priceless gift of freedom.

I bid you a royal welcome to the city I love so well. Will you enter in and possess the city, this city that was built without the sound of a hammer and whose inhabitants continual praises do sing. In all deliberations, in the parting of ways where conscience may lead us apart, God grant that nothing may break the bods of love and loyalty, but with generosity of heart and with kindness of spirit may each soul breathe the prayer of Tiny Tim, “God bless us every one.”