House. While her speech was primarily intended to set the stage for Alice Paul, she also outlined the accomplishments of the Congressional Union. The fact that she was the first to speak at such a critical time for federal suffrage shows not only her courage in the face of opposition, but how well respected she was by her fellow leaders and suffragists. The speeches of Burns and Paul were incredibly important at that time in the movement because they showed politicians that women would unite as a voting bloc. Following this, the Congressional Union sent two organizers to each of the nine states where women had the right to vote. Burns went to San Francisco, California with suffragist Rose Winslow. Organizing women in these states was not an easy task, and raising adequate funds was found to be particularly troublesome; Burns is quoted as saying "If the women here, however, would only give me the money they are willing to spend on luncheons and dinners I will get along admirably." Burns spread the message about suffrage in theaters, on the streets, by going door-to-door, and by circulating cartoons and pamphlets. By election time in 1914 the Democratic Party had become an extremely vocal critic of the Congressional Union, and ultimately the Congressional Union claimed responsibility for five Democratic losses. In 1915 the Congressional Union decided to put its efforts into organizing in every state that did not already have a branch. The goal of this plan was to continue what their 1914 state-by-state campaign had started and make suffrage a national issue with demand in every state. In 1915 Burns also became the editor of the Congressional Union's newspaper The Suffragist. During this time period, NAWSA was experiencing a lot of internal strife. After their convention in 1915, Anna Howard Shaw stepped down as president, and many believed this would be a time for potential reconciliation between the Congressional Union and NAWSA. Burns and Paul met with NAWSA officials and other women from the Congressional Union at the Willard Hotel in Washington, D.C. on December 17, 1915. NAWSA wanted the Congressional Union to become an affiliate but they had numerous demands—the Congressional Union was to end its anti-Democratic Party campaign and never wage any political campaigns in the future. These demands were viewed as completely unreasonable, and the meeting ended without any reconciliation or possibility of future attempts. National Woman's